WE ARE SEEING THINGS STABILIZE
May 20th, 2009 by Bruce CaseWe are seeing things stabilize verses the “free fall” many of us experienced over the last 6 months. Great news but I find it is still very challenging – if not more so – to find the right path for the company. It has stabilized in a relative sense but it is still a battle out there. Is it a time to take some calculated risks and try to gain market share, enter new markets, etc? Or is it better to play it safe and live to fight another day – after we get through this winter which is likely to be challenging given shorter backlogs and potential further diminishing of consumer confidence/demand? Any thoughts out there?
May 27th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
In March of 2009, we surveyed our 500+ homebuilders and remodelers, asking them about their predictions for next six months. Sentiment was considerably more positive than it was when we conducted the same survey in October of 2008.
Though significantly more people expressed an expectation for improvement rather than decline, their prevailing strategy for success remains aggressive expense management. The builders and remodelers that are still standing are reluctant to take risks, and are still laser focused on making it through the the dark tunnel.
You can read all of their feedback here:
http://www.guildquality.com/blog/2009/05/06/members-predictions-and-strategies-2/