The last few years have presented plenty of challenges for small businesses. Service companies like yours – which make up the backbone of the U.S. economy – have been threatened by the type of fiscal calamity most of us haven’t seen in our lifetimes.
For a sobering picture, take a look at your recent retirement account statements, if you dare. Most of us have lost significant ground since the market instability began late in 2008. Portable sanitation orders remain slow in some areas, and chances are you’ve had to run leaner in your business as a result of the economic malaise.
Still, I see reasons for hope. And I’d rather spend my time looking forward rather than nervously peering in the rear-view mirror.
Many PROs I call are busy, responding to calls for special events, disaster relief and new customers in niches that seem to be growing – commercial development in some regions, infrastructure jobs like road and bridge building, and small-scale parties and weddings. When I call on PROs any given day, I am usually catching them in the truck, running between jobs, or at the very start or end of a busy workday. I’m not finding them in the office, waiting for their next customer to call.
GOOD WISHES
While I know some contractors are still suffering with too much inventory in their yards, or an extra truck sitting idle, I am also encountering PROs who are using all of their equipment, keeping their crews on the road, and just hoping for a little more work, which would push them to replace an aging service vehicle or take on another service technician. They’re looking for the boost that signals a full-fledged economic recovery.
I’m encouraged by some of the daily reports I get from contractors. But I also know that it’ll take more than the anecdotal evidence I gather to right the ship. As we close the books on 2011 and head into 2012, this is what I wish for in the upcoming year:
Renewed optimism
Turn on the news and it seems like you hear only the bad economic news. The market plunges make bigger headlines than the market upturns. Every time an unemployment number is up or a durable goods order is down, you’re sure to hear about it. But oddly, when I go to the shopping mall or a big box retailer, the parking lots are full and the checkout line is surprisingly long. Commerce continues despite the doom and gloom. Attitude is everything, and I think the outlook for portable sanitation in 2012 will be a lot better if we all start accentuating the positive.
Loosening of corporate purse strings
I can’t remember another time when major corporations have been hoarding so much cash. Reports are that while many companies are maintaining profits and running more efficiently than ever, they just aren’t putting their money to work. Billions of dollars are being salted away as companies look for a sign that it’s time to get moving. If corporations would spend a fraction of what is being kept on the sidelines, construction would ramp up and more portable restrooms would be put to work.
Better availability of capital
There is a lot of money in safe havens right now, earning a pittance in interest. So why are banks being so stingy in loaning to small businesses that have proven to be good risks in the past? It seems like the tightening of the reins we’re seeing is an over-reaction from financial institutions snake-bitten by their own foolish lending practices over the past decade. Why should a bank penalize a reliable PRO who wants to upgrade his vacuum truck because the lending institution made so many bad loans in the past? The banks might discover that failing to make solid business loans now turns out to be as bad a decision as giving loans to any warm body that walked in the door in the early 2000s.
An upturn in construction work
Business can only ignore a crumbling infrastructure for so long. And at some point the demand for housing stock will catch up with the glut of foreclosed homes on the market. A rebound in commercial and residential construction is inevitable because remodeling, modernization and expansion have been put off for too long. I believe it’s already started in some desirable markets. Let’s hope a full-fledged turnaround takes root in 2012, putting more of the U.S. portable restroom inventory to work.
Realized potential of communications technology
Every day I see at least one vastly improved website for a portable sanitation company. And if there has been one benefit of the financial downturn and rising fuel costs, it’s that PROs are looking for every possible technological hedge to preserve revenue and compete in a crowded marketplace. Since the market slump began, the number of contractors using the Internet and social media to get their message out has grown incredibly.
As fuel prices rose toward $4 per gallon, PROs sought ways to run routes more efficiently. Using GPS and routing software is becoming more the rule than the exception. I hope more PROs embrace any and all technology advances to increase profits and communicate with customers.
Health and happiness
How many times have you heard it said, “Without your health, you have nothing?” It’s absolutely true. I wish you and your families the best in health and happiness over the upcoming year.
There’s a lot of talk about a broken healthcare system, and I don’t want to enter into that debate here. But despite all the negativity, we are still in the golden age of medicine, a time when more people are surviving cancer and living longer and more productive lives. We have a better understanding of eating healthier and exercising. Most of us can find a healthy balance of work and home life and achieve greater happiness than ever before.
KEEP ON THE SUNNY SIDE
If we make even modest gains in some of these areas over the next year, the outlook will be a lot rosier when 2012 draws to a close. Here’s hoping for the best!
