How will the economic stimulus package affect your business?

How will the economic stimulus package affect your business?>>>

Hi 2ndgen,

Good to see the positive attitude in Government is having a positive effect.

The Irish Government would do well to follow a similar course because there are people here with plenty of cash sitting in bank accounts doing nothing positive.

I think there is a feeling of shock here, most countries can take an internal downturn because there is usually the safety valve of being able to move to another country or where investments can get a reasonable return.

The difference with the present situation is all modern economies have been hit so any answers must come from within each country, perhaps our people will recognise that being paid 3 time more than people in countries like Poland for the same quality of work was not sustainable.

I think one of the big lessons will be we can't afford to ship all manufacturing to countries like China, the Walmart era was good while it lasted I believe if our respective governments fail to recognise that we should be producing goods in our own countries at prices that are competitive in other countries balancing trade budgets will not be possible.

If our Governments fail to see that the financial services sectors need to be overhauled instead of just patched up to the point where they go back to business as usual nothing will have been learned and it will be just a matter of time before the same thing happens again.

Relying on a strong construction sector where consumers borrow way past their means for houses instead of buying the starter homes they need at prices they can afford is what has us in the present mess.

Banks allowed greed to cloud their judgement and were lending way beyond what the borrowers could afford to repay, in turn the borrowers were left with no option except to demand higher pay making industry uncompetitive.

I believe the picture is very similar in both our countries, our Governments were benefiting from the high tax resulting from the strong construction sector.

Strong leadership would have called in the banks early and set strict guidelines for lending which in turn would have kept prices realistic and instead of crashing both sectors would have cooled and not imposed the need for the high incomes that made our economies unstable.

The legality of imposing sanctions on the financial sector may have been in question, I believe the laws should be changed as part of the present re-structuring, the changes should be based on common sense.

Bonuses should only be paid to the top executives based on sound growth and profitable trading which does not cause long term difficulty for other sectors of society and business.

The crazy practice of paying executives millions per year based on turnover instead of profits must also be addressed, with all the problems we are having in the banking sector one executive tried to get away with paying himself one million euro as his pay and another million in bonuses in a sector that would have collapsed without government intervention !

Such action is exactly what makes consumers extremely cautious about spending their hard earned savings because it clearly displays the Government is still not in control of the financial sector.

I hope the feel good factor in the US starts to display positive results soon because it appears that consumers are willing to spend if they can see they are getting value for their money.>>>

Sarah Said: How will the economic stimulus package affect your business?

It affected my work in that as soon as it was announced, I got a $100K/year job (which I just walked off of to go back to work for myself again after only 2 months. LOL ).

I already see the effects. It's not actually monetarily as much as it's "attitude". I've noticed people now wanting to pull the trigger on jobs that they'd been holding off on. There's this sense now that things are finally being attended to and that something is at least being tried.

We have the money...people are just being tight about it (as is the case whenever there have been active wars).

I see a lot of work being freed up now and with all the incentives for homeowners to repair their homes (just like in the 90's that caused the boom economically), we're going to get out cut.

Matter of fact, this seems like the early 90's all over again to me. Only this time, I'm not a newbie in his 20's but a seasoned vet who just turned 40 with the experience of how to ride this wave that's about to come in.>>>

Never leave home without your goggles.>>>

And to think.....This is The Topic Of The Month, which will be published for all of our compadres to read how deep and introspective we are, and how well we are capable of holding a professional respectful discussion about the merits of the topic.

Ed>>>

Had to goggle that one Jed tendentious ;) :laugh: :woohoo:>>>

Yeah Jed if I didn't have one ....ah you think you can't follow my thinking now . Whoa !!! Stick around pal . I remember back in the day when I had a lot of employees. Most were black and spoke street black with a bag of marbles stuffed in there mouth . I couldn't understand a Damn thing they said . I knew I was in trouble . ASAP , I litterly hired an interpreter. I learned to listen and began to understand. All that for this......you will understand me eventually I'm a patience man. Now go back to the corner . :laugh: :laugh:>>>

Hi ed,

Good to be back and your memory is spot on although there is an update, the gent who drove the Mercedes died very young for a multi gozillionaire, well young for any man but you get the picture.

The solar I was thinking of is for hot water, the panels for electrcity are very expensive and hard to justify when all the real numbers regarding output and pay back are taken into consideration.

One major advantage California has over Ireland is plenty of sun, if I can get a store of water up to 45 degrees centigrade from a small panel on my office roof today I reckon 65c should be easy in your climate.

While the customer has to spend buying and having the system installed people love anything FREE, which is what they get, free hot water.

Might be worth looking into, if I can be of any help you all know where I am.

>>>

I have no idea the original source . It was sent to me in a email. It was really just humor. I have heard and read many jokes from many sources many of which I had no idea how old or who started it or if it even was an original form . The next time you tell a joke you should reveal who was the author or did the original.... That was really petty Jed... Is that really your face in the avatar??? Or was that plagiarized ? I can't believe some one heading or supervising a large roofing company could possibly look like that and be successful. Sort of the prison look . Just curious. Of course it is Baton Rouge hmmmm Jed put a cone on your head and go stand in the corner. I don't know the original sourse of that . Or you could go play in traffic. ;) :laugh:>>>

I have considered opening an Ice Cream shop that serves only one flavor ...... New Ice Cream Flavor! In honor of the 44th President of the United States , " Barocky Road "

" Barocky Road " will be a blend of half-Vanilla, half-Chocolate, and surrounded by Nuts and Flakes. The Vanilla portion of the mix wil not be openly advertised and posiably denied as an ingredient. The Nuts and Flakes are all very bitter and hard to swallow.The cost is $100.00 per scoop. When purchased it will be presented to you in a large beautiful cone, but then the Ice Cream is taken away and given to the person in line behind you.Thus, you are left with an empty Wallet, no change, holding an empty cone, with no hope of getting any Ice Cream. I'm not feeling very stimulated maybe that is how it will affecdt my new business? :laugh:>>>

Very good to see you in print Peter. Many is the time I have thought of you and wished you well. Still remember your quote from the rich arab investor that lined out the generational chronology he envisioned for his family. Something like 'my grandfather rode a camel, I drive a Mercedes, and my grandson will ride a camel' although I confess I am not doing it justice in the telling. There might have been a volkswagen in there somewhere. lol. By the way, I'm still using my little greenstone on my keychain everyday that I got from MikeNZ. Little things in life can do a lot to brighten a day.

Bay, that Energy Star credit has less potential for us roofers than for some other types, but it does have the potential to make a deal fly in the right circumstances. Among the downsides are: it only applies to buildings that are the principal residence of the applicant and it only applies to the material cost of certain materials and so far it is only a one-time thing if you tap the full 1500 credit which is not hard to do with insul and/or a coolroof. I calculate it defrays the increased cost of coolroof asphalt shingles over standard ones on a good-sized residence. I'm planning to upgrade windows on my own home because of it. The plus, if you want to be a purist, which I do, is that there isn't much hanky-panky possible with inflated numbers.

Peter, out here in Ca. roofers don't have much opportunity connected with solar. It would be invalid for me to say none, but you really have to be an electrician to get much action in that biz. That's not to say there aren't ways to achieve principal involvement if the desire is compelling and you have plenty of capital. The technology has certainly improved since the last cycle that you and I are not too young to have witnessed, which reminds me I need to go up on my very elderly mother's roof and finally remove that eyesore that never worked right in the first place and hasn't worked at all for over twenty years.>>>

Well we already have to pay more taxes than we can hardly manage and i guess in a couple years when its time to pay all this free money that we never saw any of back we will be paying much much more. :unsure:>>>

Hi Jed,

A very accurate description of roofing in Dublin and Dingle in the 90's :)

Hi Bay,

I reckon Solar is not too difficult for any roofer to add to his list of services, fairly good margins and with the incentives people do buy it. >>>

I had a crew from Sligo....I swear they never slept..... worked as hard and as long as you wanted them to.... and it didn't matter what you needed done.... Poor blokies, got deported on Christmas eve at Logan airport, picking up some friends that got caught on the plane without proper documentation. Getting back to the stimulus package issue... the 30% up to $1500 is a tax credit...dollar for dollar deduction, not a tax deduction, for weatherization and energy improvements.....

creative stuff like solar, wind energy, geothermal heat pumps, and fuel cells qualify for 30 % with no limit. >>>

Hi Jed,

I haven't come across Johnny Graden but I met up with Paddy Crickley a few times.

Hmmm anyone using the phrase "out of" you must have real Dublin connections :)

If I am right then you would know half of Finglas have used the title of roofer at some time LOL.

Where do you hail from ?>>>

Hi Guys,

Jed, I am in Ireland it's been a while since I posted.

Those who know me are aware I strayed from my true calling :) and entered the world of renewable energy.

It has been a rocky road but since I like a challenge it has been fun, first thing I learned is I am a terrible retailer, to say I hate working in the showroom would not be an under statement, the freedom of working on the roof is something we don't appreciate until we retire the ladders.

One advantage of a retail outlet was I could see the crash coming before most, sales started to drop big time this time last year, lucky I stayed small and was in control of the finances, honestly I fail to understand how so many big companies did not see the fall off in customers and more important cash at the till.

I think so many of the owners had so much credit available to them and never having experienced a down turn could not recognise what was happening.

Basically the average consumer was at their credit limit, banks began to realise that they had run out of viable borrowers and that serious amounts had been lent to inexperienced business people who were actually gambling on the construction market.

Honestly Guys it is sad to see customers who were in high paying jobs most construction based going to the point where they can't make the monthly payments on the beautiful homes they built all with borrowed money.

I have built a nice little business that does not rely on new sales because I took the time to visit the factories and learn about the products I was selling so now I have the back up of after sales service not just from my own customers but the other companies that have had to close down due to crazy high overheads.

Surprise all those years of roofing is also paying because so many solar systems were badly fitted and need skill to repair the leaks !

I do believe we are living in very interesting times, I hope our elected leaders do not spend too much time trying to rescue a financial system that is obviously flawed, instead I would like to see them fix the system and learn from modern history, the last 10 > 15 years should be far enough back to ensure the future for our children.

How is life for the small business in the USA ?>>>