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Trampolineman's Running a Small Business Blog
trampolineman.wordpress.com
33
Running a small business manufacturing and selling outdoor toys, trampolines, above ground pools, garden games and table games
#40425 in Alle , #11 in Entrepreneurship

Weather effect

In thirteen years of running a seasonal business I can not remember such a sustained run of poor weather. We know the weather has a major impact on our sales. People simply dont buy a giant jenga if ...

09 Mai 12

Perfect Storm for Outdoor Toy Industry

Langhale Limited, one of the big three manufacturers of sheds and playhouses has gone in to administration this week. It is unusual for someone in the outdoor toy industry to go bust during the summe...

02 Mai 12

Google Meeting

A friend sent me a link to this video of a meeting at Google. Google is a truly modern company; its techie, run by young people, with a Californian attitude and a leadership position they want to hol...

27 Apr 12

Table Tennis Table Margins

We don’t discuss margins or prices here as a rule, since it is confidential, and I was always told that talking about money makes you look cheap. But, of all the markets we play in, why are mar...

26 Apr 12

Playtents and Wigwams

Its been a while since my last post, with two massive holidays and just general busyness interfering. I am now back again and ready to blog. so what has happened in the world of garden games in the l...

26 Apr 12

Is it worth going to University?

We have many graduates here, some got their degrees in the days when you not only got tuition paid, but a living expenses grant too. But, the younger ones have huge Student Debt and pay an extra 9% t...

01 Mär 12

Sports Balls and Dolls Houses and……….

For those who have asked me this month, I thought I would update where we are on some new projects, since they seem to interest people. If you follow the blog you will know that we have given people ...

17 Feb 12

Economic Green Shoots

It’s nearly Spring, and we can see the bulbs coming up a little more every day. The Snowdrops are out, and the Crocus next, followed by the Daffodils. But, are we also seeing green shoots for t...

17 Feb 12

Girls Favourite Trampoline

Our garden is like an Outdoor Toy display site, and our little girl has the opportunity to try every new toy, every new accessory and even the ones that only make it to prototype stage. Yesterday, de...

01 Feb 12

Is rbs a state owned bank?

Is RBS a state-owned bank or a bank that the state owns, temporarily? Is its role to be a state-owned bank, doing good for the state, a department of the government? If so, why? Do we need that we ow...

29 Jan 12

Why is GDP going down?

Last quarter of 2011 was -0.2%. those who know me will know that we have been pessimistic since May last year. We expected things to turn down, based on the early indications that our market had slow...

26 Jan 12

Are customers stupid? Or is it us?

Sometimes we do things that look silly, but sometimes the reasons are sillier. For example, we sell Trampoline Safety Netting. just the net. It’s for when the wind has mangled the net part of y...

23 Jan 12

Snowdrops are out

Whoops. Just published a post and managed to delete all at the same time, leaving just a headline. So, where was I? Well I was telling you that the winter here is like a long dark tunnel. We never re...

23 Jan 12

Barcelona best team in the world

In May, at the Champions League final, Barcelona outplayed Manchester United. after the first ten minutes, Man Utd were totally outclassed, and genuinely Barcelona were fabulous. for the next few mon...

06 Dez 11

Too Dependant on Google

It amazes me just how dependant we are on the Internet now. We receive orders, even from Trade Customers electronically. We talk in real-time using Skype and email. We send photos of new products in ...

29 Nov 11

Discounts at Busy Periods

We don’t supply any of the really big retailer shed style stores anymore, because we made a business decision not to. Two of the Directors have worked for big Grocery companies in the past, no...

25 Nov 11

TP Genius Trampolines Problem

Sometimes suppliers cause you trouble you don’t need, without meaning to. This week the problem supplier is TP. They have told us they have some new ranges for 2012. Next year, there will be 3 ...

17 Nov 11

Water Polo – The Toughest Sport in the World

According to this article, Water Polo is the toughest sport there is. It beats Gymnastics, Rugby, Boxing. http://bleacherreport.com/arti cles/832927-what-is-the-worlds -toughest-sport/page/12 You have ...

16 Nov 11

Climbing Frames

The Climbing Frame Market is very competitive. And whilst we are busy tidying things ready for next season, we have started a new website for Climbing Frames. www.climbingframes.com is not quite a co...

15 Nov 11

New range of dolls houses

We are under pressure in the summer, and it seems to go so quick, but during the winter times seems to drag, and frankly, we don’t have enough for everyone to do. So, it’s imperative that...

06 Nov 11

The rules of business (part two)

No one ever wants to make cock-ups, so when they happen there is something else going on. Your business has a system for getting things done. Even if you are a one man band, you have a process and a ...

04 Nov 11

The rules of business (part one)

I have many pet sayings which I use everyday, often at some times, prefaced by ‘what’s the first rule of business. But in the last year it’s become certain, there is only one first ...

03 Nov 11

Why Business is like Football

For our US readers, we actually mean soccer, the national sport of the UK. We think running a business is much like running a football club. So, if you think like a football manager can you get bett...

22 Sep 11

Why is the Euro so strong?

We make our Climbing Frames with timber from the Ardennes in Belgium. Of course we pay in Euros, so the exchange rate is critical to the profitability of our Climbing Frame business. When we first st...

21 Sep 11

How to get Growth in the UK Economy

The worlds financial markets are in a mess again today, with stock markets down, banks taking provisions against National Debt and consumers just stopped spending. Around the world, but importantly h...

05 Aug 11

Improved Croquet Sets

There are things that come in to the category ‘should have done earlier’, that once done you wonder why it took so long. I suppose a mistake we made this year is in launching too many new...

02 Aug 11

Recovery comes in 2012

We have been quiet this summer on the blog. Truth is we have been busy, not with massive sales unfortunately, but with activities to try to find ways around frankly disappointing sales. So, its been ...

02 Aug 11

Recession 2011. Will we have a new recession?

Recession? I hear you say. ‘That has been over for a year and a half’. We don’t think so. We think we are back in a trough and you will come to see later just how bad things are. In...

11 Jul 11

How important are warranties?

A debate we have all the time here is how do we communicate important issues with customers? Are we always totally honest, even if it looks uncompetitive? A prime example is warranties. Of course eve...

07 Jun 11

Rectangular trampoline or oval trampoline madam?

I don’t get much chance these days to talk direct to customers and to be honest it’s a change I welcome, but every now and again it’s good to spend a day working direct with the peo...

30 Mai 11

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