Brexit: Any Small Business Owner On Here?

[Blitz]

Defo a current trend. Look at the high st shops and internet sales all down atm. People still have money but holding on to it. It’s company budget time but this year they can’t take in to account what will happen after April. Management run scared and so workers do too. Will I have a job in 6months time? Result we stop spending just in case.
How long this will last is a real uncertainty.

 

[Murdoch]

I find that every school holiday, election, local election and referendum makes my phone go a little quieter .... sometimes January too, as people recover from Xmas and their over spending

Persistent negative news by the once great BBC doesn’t help .......

 

[Keith_75]

I've been a self-employed, mostly heating and gas work with some plumbing thrown in, since 2007 and this is probably the quietest winter I can remember. Usually at this time of year the phone is non-stop and I'm having to work 6 days just to keep up. This year it feels more like April or May rather than 'the depth' of winter in terms of volume of work. I'm putting it down to a combination of the exceptionally mild winter and the general uncertainty about what the short-to-medium term future holds.

 

[andys]

Persistent negative news by the once great BBC doesn’t help .......

And this is a big part of the problem. It’s bad enough that a sizeable chunk of the population have Facebook as their only source of news and believe whatever they read there (one of the young girls that works for me thought brexit was happening because Teresa May did a deal with Ireland so she could get us out of Europe even though the majority of British people wanted to stay in!), but the once reliable and calm BBC now indulge in the same sensationalism and clickbait that used to be the preserve of The Sun a decade ago.

 

[Tourershine]

I watched the Brexit movie the other day, and although there's speculation as to it's validity, it is food for thought.
It's rather scary how data is used and manipulated in such a way as to brain wash certain groups of society into doing pretty much anything 'they' want, be it buying the latest gadget, subscribing to the latest faddy diet, or the next path your country should head.

It's easy to sit here spouting that many of us are above these tactics, but the scary thing is most of us aren't, and we are all influenced in one way or another to buy things we don't actually need, simply through targeted marketing watching our internet searches, and even the location/shops we visit.
Ever been into John Lewis, and noticed several minutes an advert on your social media about the same shop you were in earlier? They even have an acronym for it. LBA Location based advertising. Very clever.

We are all living in a Black Mirror world

 

[Keith_75]

Let's be honest here, this forum wouldn't exists without the compulsion to buy things we don't need.

It is concerning though, the control that media is able to exert over our everyday lives, be it the crisps we buy or the way we vote.

 

[Tourershine]

Let's be honest here, this forum wouldn't exists without the compulsion to buy things we don't need.

I have no idea what you mean?
I needed 4 sets of wheels, front and rear spoilers, B14s, H&Rs, flappy paddle steering wheel, side bars, LED interior bulbs, LED fog light bulbs, Forum mugs, Forum screen stickers, Forum mini sticker, Forum VIP membership, and of course a van that costs as much as a Range Rover.

My previous Vivaro just wasn't doing it for me.

 

[Keith_75]

Same here. Every other van I've owned has been serviced, had fuel put in it and the occasional wash. Now I've got a set of wheels, sidebars and lowering springs in the garage and a multitude of mods already done.

All necessary though!