When you’re in the middle of a feast or famine marketplace, it’s important to try and reduce your running costs to ride the famine period. You’ll also have to sharpen up your sales techniques to ensure a better conversion rate.  

Small independents are in a good position to change direction on policy because anything implemented can happen immediately, such as in-house promotions. Famine periods focus the mind on one’s business and are good times to shape your company for the future. The good news is that if you manage to survive the famine , you will be in a good place for the feast.

 No one should wish ill on their competitors, but periods of famine undeniably cause a thinning out of the competition, which must be regarded as a positive for the more established businesses.   

 It’s difficult to trade during feasts or famines because you still have fixed overheads to pay – rent, rates, salaries and the numerous overheads in running a showroom/business. 

Famine puts strain on the cash flow, especially when famine periods go on for months. The strain on cash flow can be huge and this in turn can influence decisions about staffing, marketing expenditure and expanding your business.  

 If one needs to inject more money into their business to ride the famine period, then spare a thought that if you were starting your business from scratch, how much money would you need for a start up? 

Any monies injected into your business will be paid back to you when things improve.

Wishful thinking

The good news is that there are two things on the horizon that will help even out the marketplace.  

The first is the abolition of stamp duty. There is talk of scrapping or reforming this which will assist in curbing the feast or famine marketplace. It’s the stamp duty holidays that prompted buying and selling last year and it was also responsible for the void that happened once that holiday was over. It will help a lot if the buying and selling within the property market can even out.

The second is the reforming or scrapping of business rates for hospitality and retail. For those of us who have showrooms, this is a major overhead and is around a third of annual rent. You have to be optimistic that this will happen at some point in 2026 to help save the high street.    

Perhaps some of the following uncertainties due for review in the November budget will encourage people to spend more on home improvements such as new kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms?   

The threat of a raid on the 25% tax-free lump sum on private pensions last year, and again this year, has meant that loads of people have taken the cash out of their pensions.   

The threat of reducing the annual £20k tax free ISA allowance and a raid on higher income earners’ pension allowances should also hopefully put a bit more into the economy.

 So, it has been a difficult year, but remember: things can only get better!