September 14, 2009. Oldsmar, Florida. Web-Est, LLC, A provider
of Collision Repair Estimating Software, announced results of a
follow-up survey taken on market conditions affecting the small
collision repair segment of the industry. The survey indicated most
shop owners feel business conditions for the small shop market has
improved from the last six months compared to current sales &
revenues. In a similar survey taken in May of this year, 27% stated
business had improved over the previous year compared to 40% in the
survey taken from September 5 to September 9, 2009. The change
represents a 13% increase. 36% of those surveyed in the new survey
responded that there had been no change; this is down by just over
3% in May. In other results, the number of shops who responded
their business was "worse" back in the May survey, came down by 10%
in the recent survey. Potentially another sign overall busness is
improving.
However, the survey also demonstrated a growth in those who felt
business would return to the same "Pre-Economic downturn" levels
any time soon or ever for that matter. The September survey showed
a growth of nearly 10% who felt the recovery would take longer, not
fully returning until the end of 2010, with 12% predicting business
would never return to those levels; this is a growth of 6%.
The most recent survey taken in September included over 800
shops. Of the respondents, 85% identified themselves as having four
or less employees.
See the results below.
Web-Est SurveyConducted 9.5.09-9.10.09 Public Results
1. How many employees does your shop currently employ?
1 Employee 19.10%
2 Employees 26.97%
3 Employees 20.22%
4 Employees 19.10%
5 Employees 5.62%
6 Employees 2.25%
Other 6.74%2.
Compared to the last six months, how would you describe your
current volume of business?
36.67% About the same
23.33% Slightly improved
13.33% Improved
4.44% Greatly improved
22.22% Worse
3. In your opinion, when do you think business will improve to
pre-economic downturn revenues?
8.89% Never Changed
10.00% Has already returned
7.78% By the end of 2009
15.56% Early- 2010
16.67% Mid-2010
28.89% Late-2010
12.22% Never
800+ shops invited to participate
