Michael Clement
May 19, 20221 min
This is also a reason to beware of paying up front for cheap systems... it's essentially a last-ditch cash grab before the doors shut, and it's rife in our industry right now!
This year has killed so many trade companies. We heard of Metricon months ago from a number of people, and unfortunately, this is the tip of the iceberg. Many of our competitors do solar on the side and work for builders. We don't do this because of the risks that come along with it, and this is a prime example.
To be fair to all these companies experiencing difficulties, it's not their fault this time around. The weather has been the worst on record, we've never seen anything like it, and many of us have been in the industry since the late 2000s when it started in Australia! That's bad enough to finish many, but the price rise of around 35% last really sunk the boot in.
We have another huge price rise coming in the next few weeks. We don't know exactly when it will hit, but the destruction will be unfathomable to the building industry. Because of this, if you do buy cheap systems, well, most likely you'll never see that money again. Be very, very careful, and remember that the age of the business has nothing to do with bankability anymore. In fact, you could argue it's actually a bad thing to have been around pre-covid in this day and age... what a time!