Several times in the past, I have written (see previous posting) about copper prices going up up and away. For a while, it seemed I was getting hit from all sides. Copper way up, Canadian dollar way up (hurts because I sell mainly in US dollars), fees and gas way up. Tough times!
Well, things are changing fast. For example, the market price of copper. From a high of over four dollars a pound just a short time ago to near $1.50? Wow. However, this has not yet translated into any reduction of the copper wire and piping I use. Those prices seem, for now, to be stuck at their all time highest. But there is hope. Perhaps in the not too distant future those prices will start to creep down.
The Canadian dollar is so far the biggest and most direct positive on my front. A couple of months ago no one I heard was talking about a lower Canadian dollar. At that time it was around $1.10 US. Ha! Now, at around $.80, I could not be happier.
These small things make a huge difference in the bottom line when running a (very) small operation like mine. You need to really watch the nickels and dimes, as that is where the profit, if any, can be found. Trading in $100 US dollars and getting $85 vs. trading in the same and getting $117-- that's a really important difference.
Driving down to the post office a bunch of times, filling the tank for $85 a few months ago, or filling it now for $50-- there is another significant positive.
Not all is roses. Obviously many people are worried, or having a really hard time, and this is reflected directly on sales, or rather lack of sales. This means more sale prices, lower prices, (see the great low prices here) and so, in the end, there are only a bunch of positives and minuses, and one struggles on.
