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REAL ISSUES. REAL ANSWERS: The Winter Slowdown

slow months

“We stay busy by selling and installing windows. We have winter promotions and install all year round. Our crews are subcontractors. Salespeople are involved in extensive training during this time period and take vacations. We just tough it out and budget accordingly. We don’t lay people off.”

“We reduce our payroll by up to 30% with layoffs and hourly reductions. It just makes sense, and I hate doing it, but all our new hires know upfront that this is the way it is.”

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“With all the potential volume we see coming up this fall and winter (ranging from large residential home to commercial), it’s full steam ahead this winter to get a larger piece of pie than we normally do. We’re projecting to have our best winter ever.”

“You plan and adjust accordingly. However, it’s also a good time to buy lumber. It’s at a good price and it’s so cold outside mold won’t form!”

“We work on projects inside the facilities to be better prepared for the spring. We also reman some lumber products ourselves to keep busy and thus can have everyone work their 40-hour week.”

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“Our primary focus is interior millwork, so there is a fair amount of that type of work, since our winters tend to be long and harsh, builders want to get their jobs dried in so they can work inside during the bad times.”

“Our company is also quite small and run pretty tight year round, so there isn’t much fat to cut come wintertime. The shop guys may go on reduced hours if demand isn’t there, but sales calls still need to be made, takeoffs done and orders delivered. We are actually pretty fortunate to be relatively small, so there aren’t the big holes to dig out of like many companies are forced to do on an annual basis.”

 

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