The insider perspective on 2022’s backyard boom
Compass Pools Melbourne: Ted Martin
“The lingering impact of these supply issues and beyond makes us nervous about being caught in a profitless boom. We don’t want to get caught out taking on work we can’t pay for, which is why we’ve closed our books to new business.”
We are so busy right now that we made the decision to close our books in early March. This means that we are not selling any more pools for 2022. The simple reason - we’re nervous about prices. We were expecting this backyard boom to start to decline soon, especially with the reopening of the borders. However, we’re not seeing any evidence of this decline at all! Quite the contrary – there are literally thousands of enquiries - up to 30 a day. Our organisation has strong systems in place to respond to enquiries promptly, but at times we simply fall behind because we literally can’t keep up. When will this bubble burst? We don’t know. While we’re happy with the amount of work on our books, we’re also nervous about managing our profitability. The uncertainty of the world right now makes pricing new business tricky. Supply chains are broken - the price of petroleum is driving up costs in fibreglass construction as we rely on those resins for manufacture, plus the cost of transportation is all part of the big unknown. The lingering impact of these supply issues and beyond makes us nervous about being caught in a profitless boom. We don’t want to get caught out taking on work we can’t pay for, which is why we’ve closed our books to new business.
Consequently, we are not signing unconditional contracts for 2023. We are considering some conditional, uncommitted agreements with consumers where we can ensure that the option to confirm prices prior to construction is readily available. BUT, it important to note that this is a work in progress for us and continues to change all the time. We are reviewing our procedures and doing our best to be adaptable to the changing environment that we find ourselves in. As for Pool & Spa Expos – we’re going to continue going. We believe that it’s very important to keep our brand in the consumer’s mind by remaining active in the marketplace. Coke never stops advertising! Compass Pools Melbourne is unique in the marketplace as we train our own installation staff to meet our particular skill set. Finding new installation staff at the moment is difficult, but our Sales and Administration staff are excited about the forthcoming July show. I have been in the business for 42 years, and along with others like me in the industry, I have never EVER seen anything like this boom. Not even close!
AQUA MAGAZINE | EDITION 7 - AUTUMN 2022
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