Decline in work levels

Not a problem here, but we're in a rural area, so I don't know if that makes a difference. This is quite a busy February for us, but then we have a lot of company clients who have a 'non-standard' year end as it were.

Not a problem here at the moment.  Wish it was to be honest as I could do with some time off :(  Last year we were slow around April/May, I expect that to continue this year

and looks like being a record for me. Ok, all things are relative and I am just a sole practitioner but the income will be the same as I would expect in a typical July/August. Like my colleague in Norfolk I too would actually appreciate the break!

I have just picked up a new client from one of the volume on-line providers who specialise in contractors and lo and behold the after sales service proves to be rubbish if you actually have any questions to ask.

I'm still getting similar levels of enquiries from new clients as ever, and it seems to be business as usual for most existing clients.  No busier or quieter that the last couple of years other than for the clients I've sacked.  Funny thing is that the quality of new clients seems to be improving.  In the so-called boom years, it seemed every man and his dog was starting some kind of "business", the likes of ebayer or market traders selling tat etc., but the last few new clients have been what I'd regard as proper businesses with real growth potential.

I'm seeing a lot good quality people who have been made redundant and are looking to see what they could do themselves be it by consultancy in a familiar trade or something completely new. These certainly outweigh the clients 'in trouble' list which three years in to this downturn is still mercifully small. I conclude that the downturn is predominantly hitting big employers and the public sector which is not exactly my hunting ground!

 I haven't noticed any dips for us, still pretty steady.

I tend to find you get a quiet patch and then a busy one for no real reason other than random chance so you might be having one of those. Its always a bit disconcerting however when you get nothing for a full week, even if we are not planning to take anything on.

Feb/early March and late August are the quietest months for me. I always schedule annual housekeeping/clear out tasks for Feb/March. To be honest, if I was very busy in Feb/March I'd be worried as it would mean that my corresponding workload in "peak" months would be just too much.

This week we had four new enquiries, which have resulted in at least two new clients.

It's probably one of those random 'lulls'. Make the most of it and catch up on the housekeeping/practice development.

Scheduled workload for February is low but nothing unusual there which is why I have just taken a week's holiday. I returned to new client meetings as a result of our January marketing campaign and referrals.

Perhaps the snow last week slowed things down a bit for you?

.....but Febraury is always busy dealing with the slippage from January.  I made good use of the tax return filing deadline "extension", and the 7th for filing the VAT returns.  I have lots of micro-businesses in a semi rural area - but also quite a lot of online/postal clients too.

It's interesting to read the feedback as Paul seems to be the only practitioner who is experiencing a downturn. My company Landmark works with a number of firms across the UK and my impression is that results are mixed. Those that are being successful, cross-selling to existing clients or picking up new clients, tend to see themselves as distinct in some way from their competitors. How to achieve this is a whole other matter!