Quite frankly, if I had the chance to start up a brand new installations company from the ground up, I would probably decline the offer. Looking at our industry now, and the wider business world we have to operate in, if I stood at the start of a new installations business, I would most likely become overwhelmed.
I want to look at this sort of scenario as though I was brand new to this industry. No previous experience. But, I had seen the progress the fenestration industry has made in the past few years and from the outside in it looks an attractive prospect.
The way I see it, there would be one hell of a mountain to climb.
A very messy product world
So, I begin my journey to create an installations company and I have to decide what products I want to sell to the general public. It wasn’t like it was ten or so years ago. The industry has diversified massively since then, and now we have aluminium and timber making a comeback.
I could choose to sell all three to the general public. PVCu will always be popular, but to be safe I would probably choose to sell timber and aluminium too. But which ranges? Which suppliers do I go for? There’s plenty of them in each material sector. I choose to go to the higher end of the market. Cheap and cheerful isn’t where the profit is.
Problem is how do I get round the immense amount of choice within my chosen supplier’s portfolio? My current experience working at our own family installations business is that most fabricators struggle themselves to effectively communicate their options across to the installer. There is that much choice now in each individual range, that some installers struggle, and fabricators fare little better.
This is an issue. Complications about knowing what is and isn’t available on a product range quickly turn into very expensive mistakes when it comes to ordering and production. There has been a number of occasions at our office where we have all lost patience with it all, frustrated with what is and isn’t available, only to be met with confusion also at the other end of the phone.
A sign of the times we operate in I guess, and perhaps it’s no one’s fault. But, if I were a brand new person to this industry looking to set up an installations business, I would be confused in a matter of minutes as to what products are available and what is and isn’t possible with each individual one.
Regulations
It’s no secret that the UK has a lot of red tape. In fact, we could probably export it in vast numbers, seen as though we’ll be leaving the EU soon! As a potential new owner of an installations business without any industry background, I could quite easily be utterly bamboozled in the amount of regulations and laws that apply to my new business.
Things like:
- waste carrier licenses
- health and safety regs
- MTCs and NVQs
- self-certification i.e. FENSA/Certass
- data protection
- storage of materials such as solvents and other potentially harmful materials
- public liability insurance
- employment law – for office staff as well as installers
- first aid
- contracts of sale
- supply agreements
- image ownership
- copyright protection of own works
- fire regulations
- post consumer waste management
- MOTs and servicing of vehicles – if owned by the business
And these are just the things that come to mind, I’m sure there is much more besides the above. I know that we have regs for a reason, to keep people safe and protect all parties. Or so we are told. But if I was exploring the idea of creating a new installations business from scratch, and those bullet points were just a flavour of the things I needed to learn and know about, I’d probably closed the book on the whole idea.
King consumer
I guess another issues that would worry me would be the general attitude of consumers to business overall right now. Profit has become a dirty word unfortunately. Something people bashing on business need to be reminded that profit keeps doors open.
Business has seen more rights go to the consumer in recent years and has left business more open to be attacked and abused by a small percentage of consumers who will seek to make the most of their new rights and take as much as they can, without a thought for the business. This is a point that frustrates me deeply. Where is the protection for business against rogue customers? Arbitrary bodies seem toothless. Protection for business continues to be eroded away, so it seems.
The attitude I have come across from some consumers towards me, and our business is sometimes shameful. The abuse of liberties, failure in even basic manners. The lack of reasoning. You could bend over backwards and meet yourself at the top again for some home owners and often it would not be enough. I often wonder if there is any respect less for businesses of any kind.
If I was looking to start a new glazing installations business and I was looking at the list of consumer laws versus the protection for business against rogue consumers, I might give it a second thought.
A generally unhelpful industry
During my 12 years in the glazing sector I have found the group of people who work in it to be a very mixed bunch. Unfortunately, I would say that there are less genuine, decent people in it than there are generically sleazy, gross, selfish characters who have an inflated sense of entitlement and importance. Overall, these types of people help to create a less than helpful environment in which to start up a new business or venture. At least in my opinion.
The good news for the better folk in our industry is that they stand out even more against the rest. I am lucky enough to know a few of these people.
Generally though, I have often found this industry unhelpful in all manner of meaning. Perhaps that is to be expected. You don’t get competition by helping your fellow entrepreneurs do a good job too. I guess what irks me is the standard of character of some people of influence at the heads of businesses in our industry. They take a lot out of the industry for their own benefit, yet very few put anything back into it to help it grow and become better for all.
Skills shortage
So the scenario moves on a little. Hypothetically, I launch my new glazing installations business. I get my head around a Bible’s worth of regulations. I manage to settle on my suppliers and make about 50% sense of all the products on offer and the options they come with. I prepare myself for awkward and demanding customers. And the good news is I get off to a flyer. Orders coming in from all over the place. Problem is, I only started small, as most new businesses do, and only got myself a single fitting crew.
I need to expand rapidly. I need skilled installers with qualifications and experience to help take some of the burden, relieve the lead time and improve cash flow. But oh wait. There are non. Our education system has funneled everyone off to University to get a degree, leaving the whole of the construction industry at a loss as to where all the new trades people are going to come from. The country couldn’t import enough foreign labour to plug the gap it has.
I now have a situation where I will have to be turning away work because I won’t be able to get it fitted. Something that I actually happening right now in our industry. How could a new person looking to set up a brand new company hope to make any progress if the talent pool of skilled installers is so low? I have very serious concerns for our industry going forwards in the next few years if something drastic is not done to reverse the trend we are already deeply rooted in.
It wouldn’t be plain sailing for a newbie wanting to set up a business in our industry. There are too many hoops to jump through. Too much complicated red tape. A very harsh, negative business environment, cultivated by greed at the top and the erosion of business protection from rogue home owners.
If I were going to start a new business, I’d probably ditch the window idea and go into tech instead!
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