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Revenues take a plunge
The average revenues for our respondents was $995,000, a 17 percent drop from 2007's $1.2 million number. Half of all respondents reported their revenues were down in 2008, and another 14 percent were basically unchanged. Even in this challenging climate, 36 percent of companies reported an increase in revenue.
Once again, the middle seemed to be the place to be, as 58 percent of firms below $500,000 reported a drop in business, as did 51 percent of those over $3 million. Only 45 percent of the companies between $500,000 and $3 million reported a decrease.
Contractors in the Midwest also saw less of a downturn than their brethren in other regions, with only 42 percent reporting a decline in revenue, compared with more than 50 percent in every other part of the country. Whether related or not, Midwest contractors also had the smallest average revenue at $765,000, with the Northeast ($950,000), West ($1 million) and South ($1,102,500) all coming in significantly higher. For every region, those numbers represent a decrease from 2007.
Contractors are also not very optimistic about 2009, with 43 percent of them saying they expect to see a decrease in business this year and only 34 percent expecting an increase. Larger firms were less optimistic, with 52 percent of those doing more than $1 million in business expecting a decrease, compared with 34 percent of those under $1 million. Those numbers held steady across the country with negligible regional differences. It's worth noting that as of this writing the economy has declined even more since the survey was conducted and many remodelers might have an even more pessimistic view of the year ahead.
Last year, remodelers were overly optimistic, with 56 percent of remodelers saying they expected an increase in business in 2008 and only 21 percent expecting a decrease. Clearly, the numbers did not justify that optimism.
To read more of our survey, click the links below:
Examining the depths of the downturn
Labor is top expense
Small workforce the norm
The amazing shrinking job
Repeats and referrals dominate
Lean sales operations
Remodeling revenues take a plunge