Saturday 31 January 2009

Corus And Other Redundancies

Corus and other redundancies will have a big impact on South Wales and elsewhere similar events occur.

What’s to be done? More people under threat for their livelihood with the Corus announcement and others in the last few days. The more redundancies there are the less people there are to spend money and the retail businesses order less from the wholesalers who order less from the manufacturers who make people redundant.

There are a whole pile of problems along the way. Some businesses have money tied up in loads of perfectly good stock that the punters have turned away from temporarily in the spirit of self protection and caution that stalks the land. The motor industry is a case in point. While we no longer have the vast acres of factories we once had churning out tin can motors with a rust life of 10 years if you were lucky we do still have a significant motor industry that exports about 80% of its production. Even if it is foreign owned the benefit to the UK is still very much in evidence and at least 5 times their size is wrapped up in businesses that supply them, steel being one. As a barometer of wealth and confidence the motor industry is a good measure.

The big industries illustrate that we are experiencing a global phenomenon. It’s not just us. Well,  having said that some of it is. The first businesses to go under are the ones built on shaky foundations. In some cases they have problems now because they took a flier at just the wrong time. Another time it would have been good.

Being in business is a little risky. Being your own boss has risks and has pitfalls and is not all jam. On the other hand the compensations are there. So if you are one of those who have been made redundant and you have a little money from it, consider your options. Remember the bible story of the talents – the cautious and careful will bury their small pot of wealth and eke it out carefully. The adventurous and care free will blow it in a few months. When big industries have closed in the past there have been substantial redundancy packages and a recognisable boom period for some businesses as the former employees  spent their unaccustomed wealth doing up the house, putting everything right and even going on holiday to make themselves feel better.

The sensible and middle course is to keep some rainy day money by and use the rest wisely. That might include starting up your own business. Have you an entrepreneurial spirit undercover there? The point is to ‘use the rest wisely’. Some of your money has to keep you going in basics while you sort everything out and do your research. As soon as you have an idea you think is reasonable get some help! Consultants are out there with a wealth of expertise that will save you their fees time and again. Our own experience is that new businesses are good at their own field of expertise – your own widgets whatever they may be but do not have the experience or the knowledge of all the background stuff that gets in the way of starting a successful business. And why should you? Finance, investment, grants; marketing, resources, legals and all the paraphernalia you need - It’s a tall order to be good at it all.

Set it all going properly and work hard to get it going  you will wonder why you ever thought you needed a proper job. Seek help from Bob Shepherd Associates today.

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