Self Employed Marine Engineers and COVID 19. The First business casualties.

Are there no gift / loyalty card schemes you could piggyback on to sell some labour in advance to loyal customers? Obviously when you are time & materials and can't work and would probably have to discount a little this is less than ideal but.
 
JumbleDuck said:
That's neat. Basically a complete inversion of government guidance.
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What I say might not be completely accurate but these type of business premises could get an automatic payment of 10.000 up to 25.000 with free rates for 1 year. I tend to think it's good financial support to cover the restrictions they are supposed to have in place.might not be relevant to a club though. Steveeasy
 
LittleSister said:
...... A big call out, then, to those who have boats stuck ashore (and not in yards that have shut down or ban outsiders anyway) to consider commissioning independent marine engineers, electricians, etc. now for those jobs you've been contemplating but have put off.
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All over people are tightening their belts and at best deferring expenses and at worst will be in recovery mode for some time before they are capable of luxury expenses. It is a really worry where all this will end.
 
It is happening all over in little industries. I'm a pro photographer, my paramedic couple getting married this Sat cancelled the wedding 10 days ago. I returned their £1850 package fee in full the same day (cos of their job and how grim & dangerous I thought their life was soon going to be). I had to close the studio, £4k's worth of takings booked in over the next fortnight gone. Then all weddings in April & May postponed, so the balances I was relying on are now not due till next year! And as of this morning, my June weddings are all postponing or cancelling too. We are absurdly lucky, if you can call it that, as my wife's cancer meant a critical care insurance policy had paid out, there is enough of it left as savings to see us through till next year if we eat beans on toast. But I know that most of my colleagues will not survive this. If it is a much longer term issue, ( and Lancashire registry office has already said no weddings until 2021) which it probably will be, then postponements will become cancellations, and under the frustration of contract concept, all monies paid to suppliers will be due back, and no balances due. That will wipe out almost every wedding photography business I know. There will be so many small businesses going down like ninepins, with an unprecedented hit to the economy. They really should have just unveiled a universal income system for 3 months for simplicity and speed.
 
steve yates said:
It is happening all over in little industries. I'm a pro photographer, my paramedic couple getting married this Sat cancelled the wedding 10 days ago. I returned their £1850 package fee in full, (cos of their job and how grim & dangerous I thought their life was soon going to be). I had to close the studio, £4k's worth of takings booked in over the next fortnight gone. Then all weddings in April & May postponed, so the balances I was relying on are now not due till next year! And as of this morning, my June weddings are all postponing or cancelling too. We are absurdly lucky, if you can call it that, as my wife's cancer meant a critical care insurance policy had paid out, there is enough of it left as savings to see us through till next year if we eat beans on toast. But I know that most of my colleagues will not survive this. If it is a much longer term issue, ( and Lancashire registry office has already said no weddings until 2021) which it probably will be, then postponements will become cancellations, and under the frustration of contract concept, all monies paid to suppliers will be due back, and no balances due. That will wipe out almost every wedding photography business I know.
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I am sorry. I hope you can somehow survive this and eventually get your business back on track again.
 
steve yates said:
If it is a much longer term issue, ( and Lancashire registry office has already said no weddings until 2021) ...
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I know it doesn't help much, but they actually say that weddigs are being postponed till October onwards and they are not taking new bookings - which is understandable if they are already cramming nine months' worth into the last three months of the year. Photographers who make it through will be rushed off their feet when things restart. Good luck.
 
steve yates said:
It is happening all over in little industries. I'm a pro photographer, my paramedic couple getting married this Sat cancelled the wedding 10 days ago. I returned their £1850 package fee in full the same day (cos of their job and how grim & dangerous I thought their life was soon going to be). I had to close the studio, £4k's worth of takings booked in over the next fortnight gone. Then all weddings in April & May postponed, so the balances I was relying on are now not due till next year! And as of this morning, my June weddings are all postponing or cancelling too. We are absurdly lucky, if you can call it that, as my wife's cancer meant a critical care insurance policy had paid out, there is enough of it left as savings to see us through till next year if we eat beans on toast. But I know that most of my colleagues will not survive this. If it is a much longer term issue, ( and Lancashire registry office has already said no weddings until 2021) which it probably will be, then postponements will become cancellations, and under the frustration of contract concept, all monies paid to suppliers will be due back, and no balances due. That will wipe out almost every wedding photography business I know. There will be so many small businesses going down like ninepins, with an unprecedented hit to the economy. They really should have just unveiled a universal income system for 3 months for simplicity and speed.
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Sounds very familiar, hang in there. This package they announced for self-employed? by June most will be wiped out. No if's no buts. Too little too late.
 
My charter boat business earns all our money from now until September, the profit takes us through the winter when we have no work. I'm grateful for the payment but I don't know how I will pay the bills this winter.
 
38mess said:
My charter boat business earns all our money from now until September, the profit takes us through the winter when we have no work. I'm grateful for the payment but I don't know how I will pay the bills this winter.
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You hang in there. If you get stuck with any dings on stainless for coding PM me to see if I can help. We can wonder together how to pay our bills next winter.
 
You sound like good guys and I hope you weatherout this virus crises. Unfortunately I have no sympathy for the 2 local boat mechanics we are forced to use in this region of Denmark, it has been impossible to get them to look at any acute problem and they arrogantly told you to find another option if you could not wait 1 - 2 months, if they came they charged a fortune just to plug in their computer software and give a list of vague possibilities without fixing the problem. 3 of us at the marina have resorted to learning to fix and service our Mercruiser and Volvo engines ourselves . Thank God I finally changed to Nanni which is just a Toyota engine. Long story short, I won’t be missing them and I hope this is a reality check for them to realize that the last 5 years of financial boom in the boating industry should it make them neglect the smaller private customers.
 
Its worth pointing out that small businesses with "small business rates relief" are getting a cash grant of £10K ... we are expecting ours around the 4th of April.

Additionally, they can "furlough" workers (and that includes the owner if it is a limited company running as a one-man-band ) and get 80% of the wages.

Self employed will get 80% of their normal profits ...

No reason for anyone to go to the wall really, the support from the government for small businesses is frankly amazing ... its the first cash I;ve managed to get out of the government in 30 years of trading!
 
GregOddity said:
Sounds very familiar, hang in there. This package they announced for self-employed? by June most will be wiped out. No if's no buts. Too little too late.
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It appeared to be sound bite nonsense.

Some help for the self employed, possibly in June at the earliest and a 'by the way' going forward we are going to really screw you when you get back on your feet, it's only fair as we're helping you out.
 
I was in business from the day i left college until I sold up in 2000, Then went part time until I was 70. Mainly because I could not get the building industry out of my blood . So I have been through a few recessions & suffered a few sleepless nights.
I really feel for these guys
What really annoys me is that although the govt is arranging loan guarantee support for business the bar stewards at the banks are ( so it is reported) are charging small businesses as much as 15% for these loans. (that is over base rate). Bearing in mind the govt is the guarantor & bearing in mind that at some time in the future small business has got to pay that loan & interest off, it is not such a clever deal after all. It is a loan, not a gift.
This will go on for years. Those deferred late rate bills are going to land on the mat the same time as the following years rate bills. Same with the PAYE & VAT
On top of that a lot of owners have possibly stuck their houses in hock to the banks already, so could loose those as well.
It is not just a simple case of going broke. It is the stress it must bring to the whole family. What do a couple of kids feel when their parents get stressed all the time & then they get slung out of the family home, to a rented house away from friends etc?

I discussed with the wife what I would do if I was a small out of work self employed trader . The first thing I would do is stick a mattress in the van & drive to Norfolk & try & get a job picking lettuce. They have 5 million likely to go rotten if they don't get picked. Minimum wage, backache & having to carp in a field is better than nothing.
 
Poignard said:
I am sorry. I hope you can somehow survive this and eventually get your business back on track again.
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Oh aye, as I said, we will be fine thanks, just skint. But we will still be here to earn more when the time comes. It's all the others that will not be that I feel for, some of them are my friends. The good thing about my work is the margins are high and costs low, compared to little dress shops for example, with huge investment in stock and high running costs. They are doomed and thousands like them.
 
rszemeti said:
Its worth pointing out that small businesses with "small business rates relief" are getting a cash grant of £10K ... we are expecting ours around the 4th of April.

Additionally, they can "furlough" workers (and that includes the owner if it is a limited company running as a one-man-band ) and get 80% of the wages.

Self employed will get 80% of their normal profits ...

No reason for anyone to go to the wall really, the support from the government for small businesses is frankly amazing ... its the first cash I;ve managed to get out of the government in 30 years of trading!
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That grant is to pay the rent on the premises that the small business rates are levied on , it doesn't go into your pocket as the landlord still needs paying.Almost all owners are on £8k pa and then take dividends from profits. 80% of £8k is helpful sure, it will buy food. It won't necessarily keep a business going , almost all businesses would fail if there takings were just £550 per month. No sales, usually means no business. Your statement that there is no need for any small business to go to the wall is naive in the extreme. Mine won't, but not because of any govt help. ( Not that I'm slating it, if it comes through it will be very useful)
 
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