Dear friends,
I had a conversation with a customer this week, and we laughed remembering the stable times just three years ago.
Before Corona, there were at most films that dealt with such disasters, which were then accompanied by beer and popcorn. Electrical current came from the socket and gas was just there. Price adjustments were needed once a year, if at all, and then something like 1.7% …
Seen from now it feels like ages ago and sounds like one of my grandfather’s stories. Today’s reality is different!
On the other hand: there have always been challenges and this is just one, albeit a huge one which can really dampen everybody`s mood. My optimism, especially with regard to our industry, is based on the fact that we live in a very rich, very safe country. The need for residential and commercial space is there, now and for the foreseeable future. The world is on the move. Perhaps more so than before, certainly more irrational, more polarized, more emotional. There is no alternative to moving with it. Flexible and agile action instead of contentment is required. As hackneyed and overused it may sound by now, but it remains an important truth, even if it is damn exhausting. We are right in the middle of it, and this is our time.
Nevertheless, it is good that November and then December at the latest are traditionally the months to pause a bit and look back.
At KNOBLOCH, however, November in particular is reserved more for looking ahead. We are planning for 2023, and that will be a real challenge – because it is foreseeable that price and cost increases will continue in all areas.
How will you respond, dear customers? What options do you have? Are you personally ready and willing to accept ever higher prices (because that’s what it boils down to in all sectors and for almost all products and goods) and if so, in what magnitude? Are your customers willing and able to follow? The biggest challenge for the coming months will be to find a sustainable balance between willingness and ability, wishes and constraints.
Despite all this, the development to date (that’s indeed a brief initial review 😊) is not bad. The outlook for demand is also fundamentally positive and optimistic, even if the market is currently very quiet and buried. There is a bit of building going on, there are plans to build even more….
And with all our mailboxes, mailbox systems, parcel boxes, bell boxes, display boxes, house numbers… thanks to you, we are right at the forefront.
That’s simply great, and we are rather thankful for that.
With this in mind, we wish you every success, health and sunshine in your hearts, and a wonderful November.
Most sincerely yours,
Thomas Kolbe
