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I'm just curious if the price of gas is effecting your businesses. When I was a demo I was doing around 12-16 workshops a month and driving an hour to and an hour from them. That was when gas was only $1.89-2.10 a gallon. I would definitely not be able to travel that much now for the cost of gas. That would be a HUGE expense.
Okay, nobody has any thoughts on this?? I totally understand. It seems kind of slow on the General side lately. Where is everyone???? This place used to be hoppin'!!
it definitely has changed what I do. I had the opportunity to participate in a women's expo that was about 30 minutes away. I opted not to because I knew the new customers that I would have picked up would live that far from me and I wouldn't want to be delivering orders or doing workshops that far away with the cost of gas. It is $3.99 a gallon here in Michigan today.
Location: Oh that poor carrot! It's been fondue'd!
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Originally Posted by robynstamps
Okay, nobody has any thoughts on this?? I totally understand. It seems kind of slow on the General side lately. Where is everyone???? This place used to be hoppin'!!
with all the convention chatter, new specials being announced, and general buzz, the demo forums are definitely hopping right now....
but to answer your question:
It hasn't really effected my business yet but I'm currently doing more classes and clubs than workshops anyway. My customers come to me. They, however, have started to carpool where needed....
Hi Robyn. I've been a demonstrator for over 4 years and I do all my events in my home. I found that my customers like coming to me as they don't have to clean their house, displace their family for a party, and get a girls' day/evening out. So in answer to your question, no the high cost of gas is not effecting my business. I just make sure I demonstrate a lot of wow scrapbook pages & cards to my customers so they 'just have to have' the stamp sets I use, lol!
It sounds like you were a very successful demonstrator. May I ask why you got out?
Well, actually it is affecting my teaching at the scrapbook store where I have done classes more than it is affecting my business. Why?
When I do a class, I end up making at least 3 trips to the store: the first trip to pick up the materials I'm going to work with. The second trip to prep all the materials for the class. And the third trip to teach. And I'm not even talking about going to pick up the check when I get paid, so I guess I'm counting 4 trips.
It's a 10 mile round trip to the store. My van gets 15 miles per gallon. So it costs me around $3 to just to go up to the store. If I make 4 trips including picking up the check, just gas for teaching 1 class costs me $12. If I don't get many attendees (and class attendance has been down for the past year) then it eats up almost all my profits. And once I factor in what I paid out of pocket for stamps, it's gone. So I'm not teaching classes there anymore...it just does not pay unless I get at least 10 people.
Whereas when I do a workshop I typically make one trip there and back. My hostesses usually live within 4 to 5 miles from my house (sometimes a little further away.) So while it's an expense, it doesn't affect my business nearly as much as it affects teaching at the store.
I'm just curious if the price of gas is effecting your businesses. When I was a demo I was doing around 12-16 workshops a month and driving an hour to and an hour from them. That was when gas was only $1.89-2.10 a gallon. I would definitely not be able to travel that much now for the cost of gas. That would be a HUGE expense.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.
Are you thinking about starting out with SU! again?
I actually give very few home workshops/classes. Most gals want to come to my house for them, so that suits me just fine! They just keep bringing their friends to my house! So I guess I could say no the gas prices are not affecting my business!
Hey, Robyn!
I am a 7 year demo and I am no longer doing camps or workshops. I just have too much going on at home right now. I am a "hobby" demo. So, the price of gas is not an issue for me.
I have branched out with other companies now....too many great products out there for me to not indulge!
I do camps and classes at my home, so the cost of gasoline doesn't directly affect my business. But the effect I have felt has been that people--including me!--simply don't have the same disposable income to spend on hobbies.
I haven't found that it's affected my business at all. I live in a rural area and so my customers are used to having to do some amount of driving to do anything.
__________________ Erika Martin * Vermont * SU! Demo * My blog: Stampin' Mama
Hi Robyn. I've been a demonstrator for over 4 years and I do all my events in my home. I found that my customers like coming to me as they don't have to clean their house, displace their family for a party, and get a girls' day/evening out. So in answer to your question, no the high cost of gas is not effecting my business. I just make sure I demonstrate a lot of wow scrapbook pages & cards to my customers so they 'just have to have' the stamp sets I use, lol!
It sounds like you were a very successful demonstrator. May I ask why you got out?
I retired a year after I served on the Advisory Board and earned all my awards. I was just done with running my own business. I was pregnant with my 5th child with my oldest only being 8 and I just decided that my family needed me. My downline was self sufficient at the time of my retirement so I felt I could let it all go. I'm very happy with my decision but am still very involved with Stampin' Up!.
Hey, Robyn!
I am a 7 year demo and I am no longer doing camps or workshops. I just have too much going on at home right now. I am a "hobby" demo. So, the price of gas is not an issue for me.
I have branched out with other companies now....too many great products out there for me to not indulge!
Hi Erin! Yes, there is a lot of other goodies, aren't there??
I do camps and classes at my home, so the cost of gasoline doesn't directly affect my business. But the effect I have felt has been that people--including me!--simply don't have the same disposable income to spend on hobbies.
Hi I'm not a SU demo and I live in Canada. Up here if you are a consultant/demo you can use your gas receipts for partys/classes as a tax deduction. I am wondering if it is the same way in the US? It might help as the price of gas is suppose to keep going up.
Hi I'm not a SU demo and I live in Canada. Up here if you are a consultant/demo you can use your gas receipts for partys/classes as a tax deduction. I am wondering if it is the same way in the US? It might help as the price of gas is suppose to keep going up.
Yes, we can use our receipts as a write off on our taxes.
__________________ Erika Martin * Vermont * SU! Demo * My blog: Stampin' Mama
Everything I buy I can write off (as long as it's for the business anyway) but it still has to come out of my pocket first...
I hear ya.
I remember when one of my recruits asked, years ago, why she didn't get a refund for her gas receipts at tax time. I had to explain the difference between a tax deduction and a tax refund. Oh, if only.
This country needs a serious political revolution.....but that's another subject for another forum. ;)
__________________ Erika Martin * Vermont * SU! Demo * My blog: Stampin' Mama
Everything I buy I can write off (as long as it's for the business anyway) but it still has to come out of my pocket first...
That is sooo true!! My DH wanted to invest a big amount of money in something last week and he says to me, but honey, it's a tax write off. I'm like, but the money has to come from somewhere!!! They don't just give you the money at tax time!!!
I only do SAS's and have an Open House 2x a year in my home so it doesn't affect me either. I have noticed that the attendance to these though is getting to be smaller. I have started offering to mail the classes to them though and this has been fairly good for me to do, as long as they have the stamp set!!
I was teaching a class in Plainfield (about 45 minutes away from me) once a month and I have cut it out. By the time I figured in the cost of gas and travel expenses it wasn't that much of a profit margin. I've been sticking closer to my home instead.
Question for demos.....
