• GUILLERMO DEL PALACIO

Updated on Monday, 20September2021-01: 57

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Despite the fact that in some cases the bill has increased by up to 45%, the rise in the price of electricity is not the only problem that many small entrepreneurs face. According to freelancers, associations and clients, the high price of the materials has also caused that of the reforms to skyrocket at a time when demand continues to increase, which makes budgets obsolete in a matter of weeks.

Added to the few materials available are the high price of fuel, which makes the transport of containers from their country of origin more expensive by up to 1,000%;

from 1,800 euros to 18,000

. The situation is, in a way, a perfect storm that has been fanned by the winds of the pandemic. And not only because it has disrupted all international markets, but also because it has made people consider the need for reforms. Many have not endured spending a year locked up at home watching the gotelé.

The forced impulse of telework has also had an influence, according to

Pedro Parra

, coordinator of the National Association of Rehabilitation and Reform Companies (ANERR): "They want to close the terrace or isolate a room or house." And that's if they haven't bought a home outside the city. "All those people need a reform," explains Parra.

"This started around April," recalls Alejandro, who has a metal door company in Malaga. He received a bill from one of his providers so high that he thought it was a mistake, so he called you to correct it. "He tells me no, that prices are like this and that from one month to another it has risen

almost double

and that until then they had been assuming that rise, but that they can no longer because then they would be selling at a loss," he says.

"From that moment, I have to take on jobs that I already had budgeted for, because even if the materials have been uploaded, you already have a commitment to your client," the worker laments. "From then on you have to review all the budgets and you have to go to the penny," he explains. "And above all, you have to give a very small budget validity: if you give it more than two weeks you may find yourself losing money again because the iron rises again."

"Materials have risen by 30%", calculates Parra, with special emphasis on metal derivatives, although without forgetting others such as wood, which has made building exactly the same piece of furniture have gone from costing 400 euros two years ago to 1,000 today.

"From one month to the next I have to give

a 100% difference in the price of the square meter of iron

, directly", contextualizes Alejandro.

From the sector they see the situation with "great concern", especially at a time when there is "a lot of competition and, above all, unfair".

"We are talking with manufacturers and reaching agreements so that they maintain prices for a time and be able to give a budget that lasts more than 15 days," laments the ANERR manager.

The rise affects both reforms and rehabilitation, although this second activity is somewhat more stopped, precisely because the health crisis has paralyzed neighborhood meetings. Parra also points out two other problems that already affect the sector and are expected to continue to affect this crisis: the

lack of labor

- "mainly tilers and bricklayers" - and, of course, the rise in the price of electricity, which " it is expected "that it will also have an impact on the price of raw material, in addition to what it already means on the companies' bill.

"For now I am not applying the rise to budgets; I am assuming it," acknowledges Alejandro.

"In the end, small companies are assuming costs until it is irremediable," he admits.

"We work with the end customer, it is a very close relationship and you try to have empathy and adjust the price as much as possible because you know how the situation is in general."

The problem is that the increase is of a magnitude difficult to transmit to the clients, because they are tens or hundreds of euros of difference.

"In general people are not understanding it", the Malaga businessman hurts "because as a general rule they think you are trying to deceive them."

In your case, remember, one of the ways to increase your customer base is something as old as word of mouth.

But from what one mouth paid in February to what the other is budgeted for in August, six months and a crisis have passed: "I know it sounds like science fiction, but I can't give that price anymore; the materials have gone up more than 100%, so the price I gave your neighbor I can't give you anymore. "

A lost customer.

In Alejandro's case, the solution is precisely that: lose them now and get them back later.

"What I say to many clients is that if they are not in a hurry, wait, because if prices fall we are obviously not going to maintain this rise," he says.

A customer is a customer, even if it's six months later.

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