The Pound Shop Economy.jpg "The pound shop economy")
The pound shop economy
.jpg "The pound shop economy")
By Said Ul Amin | Submitted on August 19, 2022.
Many under the 30s assume that the pound shop economy is a new phenomenon and that its convenience and prices are great, but how new is the concept?
I have often marveled at the extraordinary growth of the 'pound shop' economy and how on earth they can think of making a profit on most of their items in the store when they have to pay rent, staff wages, storage, and freight. , advertising, and I'm sure a lot more.
Then I remembered a comment from a man who rented an old and battered diesel concrete/cement mixer in the early 1970s when I was working on Lower Earley, Great Hollands, Furze Platt, and many other sites in the Thames.
At least one of these pound shop families has a 'trading counter' that offers incredible discounts to people with a hole in their pockets, so how on earth can they 'afford' to do that. ?
But used to give. Valley area. I subcontracted for a main plastering contractor at the time (AJ Moran) - very nice guy, very fair, but didn't pay as much per square yard as it was then.
He didn't charge too much from the developers either, but I'll get back to Andy, for now, I'll focus on the cement mixer, King Bevan.
No matter what site you were on you would almost always see this chap with his trailer pulled up on site and another beat-up old mixer, although usually 100% capable.
Have confidence, and put it where it's needed on the site. He'd pop in for a few minutes of chat and a cup of tea/coffee before he left, then one day I thought I'd find out the going rate for hiring one of his mixers because I was becoming more 'private'. the work.
He surprised me by saying that he only charged £7- a week including delivery and pick-up.
"What? - only £7- a week? How on earth can you afford that" I said.
He took another sip and said with satisfaction, “Yeah, but now I've got over 200 of them that I've only paid tenners for at various auctions, and usually they're several.
They stay on site for weeks, before I put them in. On another site, I don't have to find storage because I always have contractors 'begging' me to take them to them.
They' do all the stocking for me, and as you know, I'm not in a hurry about anything" He didn't either, he was the most relaxed person you'll ever meet (our boss , except Andy Moran).
Now I also learned that he had cannibalized two or three of these wrecks into a good banger, and that 'he' would be the one to appear on site if rarely accompanied by anyone.
Have a problem, but do the math; If he had 200 mixers for just £7 - a POP! That was £1,400-a-week (a good income then in the 1970s) to drive my old Land Rover and trailer around various sites, a few hours a day as a mechanic, and the evenings and weekends all to myself. .
His formula was simple. Set a price that the big boys can't match. Deliver goods as promised and on time, and don't be the number one factor 'greedy'.
This was also the motto of 'Super od' (Max Quarterman) who I worked with on several sites and 'learned' how to make more £££££ than anyone at work.
Now as I said before, Andy Moran was the main plastering contractor in the area for many years (along with his brother Noel) so he started out just like the rest of us tinkering around the area.
That Caversham Park began and he went from Subby to a park.
A 'trial' as a contractor (along with several other small to medium plastering contractors) where he got the likes of me and many others to put out as many houses a week as possible to keep the main contractors happy.
He was a great manager in his quiet, easy way and made the best of most of his subordinates, and as he took a piece from each man, his coffers grew rapidly.
They got a good reputation there for maintaining schedules and 'variable' standards?
He eventually took over almost all the development and won bigger and bigger contracts in the Thames Valley (and beyond) due to his reliability and the fact that he kept his prices very competitive for builders.
Gained strength from strength. And subbies for us.
Now after a while, as I said, I started doing more and more 'private' work. Other small builders, private renovations, etc.
But! As he kept reminding us, we could have 'runs' of houses to plaster.
We never had to work consistently and move on to other jobs, and everything was 'delivered' to us just to crack on and make money. (Which most of us did - very successfully).
By the mid-seventies I was well 'in my pocket' thanks to Andy and his foremen being so reliable and willing to keep us producing equipment which in turn earned 'them' their money.
Friends and relatives also insisted that it was impossible to make as much money as I was making for so few yards. (So I took a couple to work with me over the weekend - they've never worked so hard in their entire lives)
There were other builders and plastering contractors who were paying 'more' than Andy, but because they didn't have much organization skills, you couldn't make good money with them (seems like learning there is a good lesson for ) and so Andy wins every way. And so we did!
But one question that keeps coming up is "Do you know of any 'really reliable' electricians, plumbers, carpenters, tilers, painters and decorators?" etc., etc., who will charge competitive rates like mine.
Back in the day (before computers) I had a good list that I photocopied several times and always kept a batch of them in the van to hand out to my customers/clients when or after work.
I never charged, it was just a complimentary item that cost me nothing but photocopy ink and some paper. It proved very popular, and it continued until I had to quit several years ago.
Since then I have avoided creating a business-to-business/customer referral website called CheckFred.com.
I've listed a few of the 'reliable trades' I talked about earlier, as well as a free e-library and business development resources. I've bought them all as PLR over the years and continue to give free access to anyone who comes to the site, whether they use TrustedTrades or not.
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