How's business?

[Rusty914s]

Just wondering how things are going for you guys. We had inventory (RE) earlier in the year in Denver and Oklahoma City which went quickly. For the past few months, things are really dragging and we have postponed larger projects and moving very cautiously through the summer.

How's the economy working for you guys?

Please keep out of PARF, I don't care what you think of Obama.

[mikesride]

My pay packet for June is considerably more than 20k....I am but one of dozens of sales guys thru 22 branches.....I think the company is doing pretty good. (FYI.... Canada wide construction equipment supplier) So for certain sectors of your neighbors to the north, the economy is strong and trending upwards at a comfortable but patient pace,
I hope things pick up for you.

[rusnak]

I'm probably going to close one business after Jan 2015 because of the second of two minimum wage increases in October 2015. But my main business is doing well. I'm going to keep my best employees by moving them over, but everyone else is going to be out of work. The most important thing for employees who want to survive cutbacks is to be willing to take on new tasks and learn new skills.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Fall 14 is my best season to date.

High expectations for Spring 15.

[VillaRicaGA911]

Medical sales - down - not trying to be PARF just stating facts. The device tax is hurting some worse than others as is a decrease in payments for the same procedures just a year ago. Yet more and more of my customers operating rooms are seeing increase in volume just getting paid less. Overall we are still doing ok but something is going to have to give soon.

[Oh Haha]

We pick up medical waste. Our business doesn't fluctuate much year to year. My job is to control costs as best I can with fuel, payroll, and business expenses.

We are rolling out a new routing system based on the UPS model. The savings potential is enormous simply by having the drivers do their pickups more efficiently.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Laid off in April (aerospace) as part of a mass reduction in force after being bought by a competitor, most of my department gone as well. Not much luck finding a desirable new gig so I'm formalizing a side job into a real business and continuing to look at full time or consulting opportunities. Business aviation has flatlined since 2008 and hasn't shown much sign on recovery. Regardless I'm excited about what the future holds.

[Icemaster]

Too much work, not enough people. Yet account managers still sign on psychotic clients.

[Rusty914s]

Villa, no...no issues with parfing this up. I am partial owner of an insurance company and oh my gawd, we have been thrown into an incredible loop.

I really appreciate you guys answering me, we are after all real people all over the country and opinions here count more than any forecasting that we're attempting to do.

Ice master, would you care to share your area of expertise?

[Icemaster]

Sure. I work in Program management in a very specific niche of the IT space, dealing with IP telephony infrastructure and enterprise contact center hardware/software.

I'd put you to sleep if I told you more.

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by VillaRicaGA911

Yet more and more of my customers operating rooms are seeing increase in volume just getting paid less.

I'm slightly busier this year than last, but making less money.

[slodave]

My IT biz started to dwindle about two years ago and things were starting to get rough. The 917 shift knobs I have been producing for the last year and a half is starting to take off and I'm starting to end my IT career and segue into the auto industry producing the shift knobs for other makes besides Porsche and making wood dash trim for older 911's.

Things are looking up for me.

[vash]

I'm pretty busy. Infrastructure is old and beaten down nationwide. I'm building less and less new stuff, but getting busier spit shining the old stuff.


Sent via Jedi mind trick.

[fastfredracing]

I seem to be doing pretty well. Feels as if things have slowed just a tad as summer kicked off, and I have had a few decline on larger ticket repairs, but overall, the auto biz seems to be chugging along nicely .

[Craig T]

I do mergers and acquisitions in the diagnostic healthcare space. The uncertainty around the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) and draconian Medicare reimbursement cuts has my industry on a black diamond descent. It's a tough road ahead for me, and I may go for the early retirement and downsizing.

[Rusty914s]

I presently have my house on the market (800k, was 1.2 in 07) and still can't move it. I've downgraded cars and now watching every penny.

I'm trying to pull my resources into 5 or 6 condos in Denver and parking my money there while I figure out what's next. Unfortunately, my entire career is in building and real estate. My insurance biz was always my play money but I may need to learn more.

It feels like I'm hitting a wall, wondering if others are doing better. The first 3 months of this year were fantastic but then off of a cliff biz went.

[Craig T]

I'm in a similar situation with the house, but values here are coming up quickly. I bought in late 2006 for $1.3MM. In 2011 it bottomed at $795K (on Zillow.com). Thankfully, it's back up to $1.1 now. That takes some of the pain away.

[krichard]

Craftbeer is up up up. Thankfully growth in the industry nationally is steadily over 10% annually and locally is well over 100% year over year. I'm thankful to be in an industry that allows us to pay employees a great wage while being profitable and still be able to fund growth. Prost!

[foxpaws]

In automotive aftermarket and global renewable energy, both are very busy.

[Cajundaddy]

Business is better than it has been in quite a while. The last 4 months are very solid and reminiscent of 2006 but I can't count on that forever. Housing activity is picking up, and that tends to affect us. We had two really tough years in 2012-2013 and after running lean and mean since 2008 we were running out of resources. Nice to put some cash in the bank again.