how was it for you 2011 good or bad

wymondham

Not been a bad year - 1st year self employed IT engineer. It's paid the bills so thats the main thing - won't be retiring early though!

vintagebrighton

Bit of a rocky year if I'm honest But, I have loads of new ideas for steering my main business on a bit of a tangent given the current (and future) financial climate and I'm sure that'll be positive. If not, I'll just find new tangents ~ as long as I can pay the bills and not work for anyone else I'm happy!

Absinthe_2

It ended up good.

Radsteral

plastering business here... a bit slow at times and a bit hectic at times...last week i done the summary of my guys days work and in average it was 21 days a month.
considering that i pay them a bit more that average wage, and that for a reason.. i believe it has been a very good one even though some times we end up with few days off a month

zenmaster

First quarter, rubbish. No work.

Last three quarters, pretty good. Got a local job which has saved me at least £600 per month (it's like a pay rise ). Also a bit of overtime instead of driving time. Invoices paid within the week. Looks good for the first half/three quarters of 2012 too.

The 3 months "resting" taught me a thing or two though and gave me time to get my finances in order. For the first time ever I have pretty much all of my tax bill set aside.

I'm not taking it for granted though - it's going to be a tough year for everyone.

Best of luck to the rest of you. Report back next year.

glasgowdan

My landscape maintenance business has done well in 2011. I continued to gain mew clients on top of an already full schedule so this enabled me to ensure I did the most profitable work. I also gained a client in the commercial sector which is a hard-won group to win over.

I expect to be employing close to full time come March 2012. I am invvesting significantly in the business over the next 8 weeks including a nearly new van, new personalised clothing, safe contractor registration, further tree surgery tickets (around £2500 worth of training this winter), and a few new tools and mowers.

There may be a depression but a downturn allows those who do a good job to shine.

FatVonD

We've made losses on our startup business, mainly due to renting premises rather than going mobile. On the plus side we've been able to exit the lease after one year and at least we've proven there is some demand for what we offer even if it's not enough to make it our full time business. We'll continue but just rent space as and when we need it and won't be giving up our day jobs just yet!

property.advert

I was astounded at some of the ridiculous figures asked for commercial units which were and are still standing empty. No amount of negotiation would bring them to realistic figures nor allow the inclusion of beneficial clauses so often used elsewhere. Letting property rot rather than let it out is madness.

The FX rates are not helping at all. So far has sterling fallen in the last few years that overseas investment is prohibitively expensive for many ventures. That is an ongoing shame.

Business confidence is shocking and though I have been through a number of recessions before I have never seen one where people are steadfastly "stocking up the food cupboard" in case of shortage and simply refusing to spend money on what used to be considered necessities but are now considered luxuries.

Mistral001

property.advert wrote: »

I was astounded at some of the ridiculous figures asked for commercial units which were and are still standing empty. No amount of negotiation would bring them to realistic figures nor allow the inclusion of beneficial clauses so often used elsewhere. Letting property rot rather than let it out is madness.

The FX rates are not helping at all. So far has sterling fallen in the last few years that overseas investment is prohibitively expensive for many ventures. That is an ongoing shame.

Business confidence is shocking and though I have been through a number of recessions before I have never seen one where people are steadfastly "stocking up the food cupboard" in case of shortage and simply refusing to spend money on what used to be considered necessities but are now considered luxuries.

You are the only one so far in this thread to tell us (more or less) what you do, so well done for that.

The bit I highlighted above is hardly a "shame" as maybe more people will stop investing in other countries and start investing in their own.

IrishGypsy

As a video game strategy guide writer (my second job and the business that I run from home), it's been a busy 2011 (and yea, there's worse ways to earn a repectable living ). It could have been an awful, awful lot busier if I wanted it to, but with a FT job to also hold down (and a pregnant wife to help with) it's hard to find the time to really expand my business as much as I know I could. :(

And that's the kicker, with our first child on the way, it's hard to keep pushing the business side when I can look for more 'security' (at least income wise) from my FT job (even though I have all the equipment, knowledge and contacts to really make a go of the business ).

Shame I didn't pursue this line of work sooner when I knew I should have... DOH!