Tired, and homesick - My company

[TheVictorianCobbleCo]

I hope I'm not doing an illegal here, or in the wrong section, if so, apologies. Short version, my companys' about 3 yrs old now, I'm 59 now, the economy sucks, and I'm tired and would like to return to the UK. Is there anyone interested in moving to the beautiful Cape of Good hope, and has the guts, money and enthusiasm to buy me out, Won't let it go for a song, but not unreasonable in expectations. Any interest, give me a shout, and take a decko at the website.
Ta.

[lutonlagerlout]

all the best bill with whatever happens, but there isnt a great deal happening uk wise right now
A mate of mine moved to Australia last year and hes getting set to return already
I thought the southern hemisphere economies were doing ok recently? I know the pound is getting less and less rand and aus$
anyway good luck
LLL

[TheVictorianCobbleCo]

There is business, we're in a niche market supplying paving to swimming pools, including bespoke installations, so don't compete with the bottom end. The football world cup basically killed business for the next 4 -6 months and the climb back is slow. Speculation is that it won't get worse, but might take another year to get better, and winter months slow down as well. 10 years ago South Africa was about 2/3rd cheaper than the UK,now its' basically on par, excluding rent and petrol. SA follows the economies of the UK and America closely, within three months of their downturn we follow. Johannesburg is far more viable financially but the absolute pits to live in. But we soldier on.

[Tony McC]

There are a couple of reasonably big manufacturers in SA that used to call or email me on a regular basis, but over the last 18 months or so, not a peep! I heard from another source over there that the market for paving was very, very difficult and the distance between conurbations made it almost impossible to establish a real presence in the country.

I'll ask around, Bill, and let you know if there's any interest.

[TheVictorianCobbleCo]

Thanks for the support, sometimes carrying the load on your own is seriously uphill.
I've picked up two months of orders in the meantime so bit of groceries in order now.
The biggest guy in Cape Town sells at below cost on condition the buyer purchases exclusively from him for the next three months, so thats painful for the rest of us, and one of the main players I know personally is down a third on production, and has been for the last 9 months.
Lastly, transport is a killer, can easily add 20% to the price per square m if sending further than 250km.

[lutonlagerlout]

I was talking to a financial analyst about the way business work and he said the geography of countries plays a big part

countries like UK,Eire,Holland Belgium,Israel etc etc
are suited to road distribution networks
so companies like argos , can thrive in these countries

but once a country gets too big the logistics outweighs the profit so you get regional companies rather than nationwide

USA AUS china India RSA all fall into this category of being too big for certain business models

its why tescos and sainsburys cannot make it in america

hope it works out for you bill
all the best
LLL