The shop has been busy the last few months and that has left little time for updating the blog and twitter on a regular basis. I figured I would update what's been going on in this micro world of business that we play around in daily. The overall business environment for us has improved since this time last year and I would expect that to continue into 2012. However, the environment that is improving is also changing, for the better and I hope this can continue into the future for us as a business.

Gone are the days of knowing a house foundation will be poured and ready in the month of May, the job scheduled for sometime there after and solid work locked in for a few months. That has changed to a more streamlined, get in, get out mentality for our tiny little company. One that has helped us change small things and set proper boundaries that may not have existed in the past.

We have done better this year as a sub-contractor rather than the company going out and landing the new house being built around the corner. We have gotten the word out to small plumbers and builders that we are a niche fabrication company that can come in, measure, fabricate and install a small residential change-out quickly and for a quality fee. This benefits us and them, along with keeping cost down for both and upping the potential job flow. We are finishing more jobs for a reasonable fee rather than a few home runs throughout the year.

Some are reluctant to give us a try and others seem to like the fact that they can let us do our job while they are setting up another job somewhere else. The new agreements, as stated earlier, have kept our cost down and our business up while being on each job for a shorter amount of time. We hope that this can continue into 2012 and maybe be our main focus through the next few years as our more niche clientele grows.

Most of our business to business customers are finicky and getting them on board with a new idea can be challenging. They want to keep as much in house as anyone else might, but the positives seem to be outweighing the negatives. We are finding that in the slower and pickier environment we find ourselves in these days, finding new and easier ways to do business are becoming the norm.

Creativity is key going forward...