Tightening margins

[muleman]

We are forever being told to price things and shop around to try and run our business more cost effectively but these salesmen don't seem to like it when people try something different and they might lose a sale.
They will have to get back to their bosses and sharpen their pencil, but then I suppose it is just us at the end of the chain that are supposed to work for nothing.
A sign of the times tho, it will get worse ....but I suppose quite reassuring to realise how many people do rely on us for a living!

 

[Flatlander]

We are forever being told to price things and shop around to try and run our business more cost effectively but these salesmen don't seem to like it when people try something different and they might lose a sale.
They will have to get back to their bosses and sharpen their pencil, but then I suppose it is just us at the end of the chain that are supposed to work for nothing.
A sign of the times tho, it will get worse ....but I suppose quite reassuring to realise how many people do rely on us for a living!

Its frightening how many make a living out of everything we produce yet they aren’t the ones being told to tighten their belts when times get tough. Too many creaming off the top and the government keeps wanting to add more.

 

[muleman]

Its frightening how many make a living out of everything we produce yet they aren’t the ones being told to tighten their belts when times get tough. Too many creaming off the top and the government keeps wanting to add more.

Yes that's what gets me a bit .....I don't think anyone will have tightened their margins apart from us at the end of the line.
But they just expect the gravy train to keep feeding them!

 

[unlacedgecko]

Stop using them then.

 

[S J H]

I can never understand people cutting costs when things go down. I try to keep mine as low as possible all the time.

 

[livestock 1]

Stop using them then.

How? Insurance rep was around today the mrs dealt with it she told them to come back with a better renewal quote they said they would but warned insurance was only going to go up
That’s only one thing along a big list

 

[ritchiekirkland]

Our insurance did that to us this year and rightly on not we just stopped insuring half the stuff we normally do. F em !

 

[livestock 1]

I can never understand people cutting costs when things go down. I try to keep mine as low as possible all the time.

There’s not a stopping point with cutting costs. It’s open ended. Cutting some costs will cost you more than the saving

 

[Aspiring Peasants]

I can never understand people cutting costs when things go down. I try to keep mine as low as possible all the time.

True but there’s too many things we have to use that have , shot up in price and as the OP said we are at the end of the line with no one to pass it on to.

Insurance, fencing material, hardcore, drainage materials, hurdles, gates, parts, medicines, building repairs, vehicle running costs etc, the list goes on, and they’ve all shot up in recent years

 

[livestock 1]

Our insurance did that to us this year and rightly on not we just stopped insuring half the stuff we normally do. F em !

I think I did that last year and the years before that. How do you know which thing to insure and which thing not to?

 

[Aspiring Peasants]

Just to add to that, you can concentrate on cutting costs too much and find you’re worse off

 

[livestock 1]

It depends if you are cutting costs due to the cash position or cutting costs to enhance the profits

 

[Aspiring Peasants]

It depends if you are cutting costs due to the cash position or cutting costs to enhance the profits

It’s a bit like walking a tightrope

 

[livestock 1]

Farming usually has a backlog of required expenditure which isn’t done in the bad years but done in the good years

 

[Jonp]

Got to be careful cutting your costs if cash is short, can effect your profit in the future and can end up on a downward spiral. Still learning that lesson.

 

[z.man]

Our insurance did that to us this year and rightly on not we just stopped insuring half the stuff we normally do. F em !

Know how you feel, thinking of doing the same, re quotation taking place …..just a bit worried that anything we take off will become uninsurable in future

 

[S J H]

There’s not a stopping point with cutting costs. It’s open ended. Cutting some costs will cost you more than the saving

Yeh but it’s judging that one, I could feed a lot more hard feed but I don’t think I’d end up any better off financially, probably worse in a bad year and I’d of had all that risk.

 

[Aspiring Peasants]

Got to be careful cutting your costs if cash is short, can effect your profit in the future and can end up on a downward spiral. Still learning that lesson.

Not all expenditure is a “cost” , some is an “investment “

 

[S J H]

True but there’s too many things we have to use that have , shot up in price and as the OP said we are at the end of the line with no one to pass it on to.

Insurance, fencing material, hardcore, drainage materials, hurdles, gates, parts, medicines, building repairs, vehicle running costs etc, the list goes on, and they’ve all shot up in recent years

You can still get the best price though, I don’t see the good in cutting costs when things get hard, they should be cut already.

 

[Aspiring Peasants]

You can still get the best price though, I don’t see the good in cutting costs when things get hard, they should be cut already.

Yes but the “best price” will still have gone up significantly in recent years and there is nothing we can do about it. You can cut costs by deferring things which is really just kicking the can down the road and will often result in higher costs in the future. Maintenance of drains, walls, fences, hedges springs to mind