So many cargo nets, so little time. That’s what my sewer said to me from Texas the other day. They are out 2 months minimum on any new cargo net orders but they can squeeze in a single cargo net around 2 weeks out, so they are going with the flow.
Keeping the little guy moving and catering to the bigger guys as best they can at the best prices, because prices have gone way up for everything.
It’s interesting to see it, watch it unfold and then see how badly it affects your business. As our sales go up or down, so do the market trends, and it’s almost one right after the other.
For example, when we hear good news, sales get a bump. When the country is in a major slump like we are right now, sales go down. Companies lay people off, and the lead times get longer and everybody suffers because nothing’s getting done. This is one reason we’ve always stayed small.
Right now, some of our cargo nets are anywhere from 8 weeks to 16-20 weeks out depending on what we’re manufacturing whether it be custom or a one off.
Patriot Net
When it comes to custom boxes for pickup trucks, we are looking at 24 weeks (that’s 6 months folks) for some, and that’s unheard of, usually it’s no more than 4 weeks out. Now it’s 6 times that? That is not a good sign for this economy.
One thing it does do is it opens up opportunities for smaller companies with money to come in with new ideas on how to save time which will take them to the top if they’re financially sound.
We rely on repeat business. We have a few customers, who we almost guarantee their products will be there on time for delivery, but now it’s up in the air. Doesn’t make for good retention chances. Now we may have to worry about the future if our turnaround times are like this for cargo nets and the like.
We’ve been here for 21 years and have survived other tough times, and we will make it through this one. Just need patience and a little bit of a rough edge.
Some of the things that small companies like mine will do is while things are slow:
We’ll work on website development, updated pricing, experiment with new designs and product development and social media marketing. It never ends, and we do everything we can to keep things going including writing blog articles like this. Not all the time is it productive or does it turn into sales, but we do the best we can regarding cargo nets, custom cargo nets and other products.
heavy duty cargo net
Need a custom cargo net application? Give us a buzz and we’ll get back to you asap. We live for helping people stay organized, and we always will.
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