Now that the price of fuel has somewhat subsided, the road haulage industry is now gaining back a sense of normalcy. The global economic slump raised a lot of questions as to how the once booming road haulage industry would ever recover. It is very much common knowledge that once fuel prices finds itself in a volatile state, the price of transporting essential goods from one place to another is also very much affected. Companies are likely to jack up the prices of the goods they are transporting which eventually will leave the ordinary consumer confused as to why prices have gone up so much.
The once rising price of oil also had a toll on those who wanted to delve into the road haulage industry. Since trucking companies also had to drive up the prices of their services, the manufacturing institutions had no choice but to either limit the production of goods or to just raise their prices as well. Let’s explore the pros and cons of these options. If manufacturing companies were to limit the production of goods, this would bode ill for the road haulage industry as they would have to also limit the number of truck drivers that they have on their roster. This means that those drivers fresh out of LGV training school would have spent their hard earned money in vain. If these companies went for the second option and raised their prices, consumer demand would drop as well. Less demand means manufacturing companies will have to cut production. This means more people with no jobs.
So if you’re one of those fresh graduates of LGV training school, what you would be looking for is for the prices of fuel to be relatively stable. Yes, you’d want them to go down as well, but stability means that companies can more or less predict and make preparations when it comes to pricing their goods and services. This is good for you because this means that you will (more…)
US economy has seen several changes in the past few years. They have gone through a very high phase where the money came in almost for free and then it is now - when the common man is facing a shortage of cash flow. The property market is down, stocks are down and the banks & mortgage companies are facing vigorous losses. President Barack Obama seems to have taken a knack of all these and has launched a stimulus package worth $ 787 billion. He has announced several loan modification plans, tax credits and grants - all to let people have their own homes and have a life with no financial constraints.
Can Obama’s stimulus package 2009 fix the Sub Prime Crisis?
Actually in after the 911 episode the banks offered open loans & mortgages at almost no price. Then, many individuals with a sub prime credit records got the loans. Now with the increasing rates or interest and dipping prices of properties, they can no longer afford those homes. As a result, they all landed up in bankruptcies & foreclosures.
Now the Obama’s 2009 stimulus package is based on ‘affordability’.
They have appointed several home loan professional counselors who shall help the home owners get their loans modified and / or negotiated with the bank or the mortgage company. They won’t charge any thing to the home owners for their services.
Further, the new monthly payment is restricted to 31% of the gross monthly income of the borrower.
Also, the total of all the credit & loan payments like car, home and credit cards can not exceed 55% of the pre tax income of the borrower. This way the deal becomes affordable for the borrower in the long run.
Now the loan modifications are done mainly on a fixed rate of interest. The economy is at its all time low, so these deals would be more feasible for the borrower for the years ahead.
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This economic environment could end up being one of the greatest opportunities for small Independent Business Owners. I know you probably think I’ve been drinking the kool-aid for breakfast. The facts are, we are in a position to even the playing field with the dreaded “Chain Restaurants” and claim all our lost business back.
Here are some of the reasons I believe I can grow my business in this economy.
1. The Chains are very cumbersome, it takes months to react to problems or launch a new program. As Independents, we can change today.
2. The Chains have a Corporate Anchor that costs a lot of money to maintain. As Independent Owners, we don’t have a lot of overhead.
3. A number of Chains are publicly traded; investors expect dividends at the end of the year. Independent Restaurants only have to answer to the Owner.
4. Most Chain Restaurants are all over the country, it’s hard to design a menu that works in all four corners of the Country. As an Independent Restaurant, we can tailor our menu to reflect our region. Utilizing unique products from our specific area.
5. The Chain Restaurants are typically all built on top of each other. Many Independent Restaurants have unique locations.
6. The Chain Restaurants change their appearance every five years. Independents are always tweaking their appearance and have the ability to enhance their image at their own whim.
7. Chain’s expand so rapidly, it’s hard to get that many quality GM’s to run their stores. I know my GM is on board with my program and coupled with my knowledge and input, we can out perform any local Chain Restaurant.
8. Lastly, I personally am meeting with my Management Staff daily to tweak our program and make adjustments to our menu specials and marketing campaigns.
I see a number of restaurants closing down around us, I feel bad (more…)
Sometimes you run through a patch of life that is so bad that you just have to laugh. Hey, you need bad times to recognize the good ones, right? Well, we seem to be going through a collective bad patch right now. Finding silver linings in this can be difficult, but there are a few.
I live in a rural part of San Diego. I know it is hard to imagine that there is such a thing, but there is. Part and parcel to my isolated area is a lack of a particular necessity. While I have an internet connection that flies, I don’t have a mailbox!
Alas, I had a dream of being one of those very modern persons who didn’t need a mailbox because I was above snail mail. Unfortunately, that dream came to an end fairly quickly when I realized certain groups only communicate through snail mail. This includes the IRS [groan]. As many Americans do, I’ve gone ahead and purchased a post office box. It is sweet. Surround sound. A view across the hall to other post office boxes. Yep, plenty nice.
I don’t receive a lot of mail at the best of times and wasn’t expecting anything to change. I thus made the mistake of picking the smallest size available. After a week, I knew this was a mistake. Why? Well, opening it became a task. The box should have a warning on the front - “contents under pressure.” After nearly losing a finger once or twice, I learned to turn the key and whip my hand out of the way as the door opened.
Assuming 911 didn’t have to be called at this point, I was faced with the mere task of getting the mail out of the box. My postman seems to take a perverse pleasure in seeing if he can stuff in boxes and envelopes that are slightly too large for the available space. He puts them on an angle and push, push, pushes. Eventually, the box becomes a compressed mass of paper wadded up, torn and heavily wrinkled. I often wonder what my creditors think wh (more…)
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