Harsh Realities of Expanding

December 2007, I am a junior in High School at Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook Illinois. Everything had been going great! Laurens Restoration was flourishing, business was coming in by the truck loads, and our company had finally reached it’s peak bringing in the most amount of business we have received in almost 2 decades of being open. No one saw it coming, especially us! The recession had officially hit and marked a global economic decline that affected the entire world economy.

At first, we thought we were lucky. Laurens Restoration isn’t run by the economy, we would say, it’s run by the elements. As long as there are still fire’s, floods, mold, and wind-damage we can’t be stopped. Or at least, that’s what we thought. Until about a full 2 years after the recession hit that’s when a harsh reality set in.

It almost seemed as if homeowners all of a sudden had no use for a restoration company in their lives anymore. Business had been officially affected by the recession and our worst nightmare is starting to unfold right before our very own eyes. It was hard to grasp the fact knowing that our company might still run off the elements; but our nations economy still can play a major role.

Once everyone became so money hungry after the recession when homeowners experienced a type loss on their house they did what they always would, and would call their insurance. It’s what happened after that which cause Laurens Restoration to have an entirely new outlook on the word, “recession”. Homeowners would collect the money from their insurance only to hire the handyman that sat on the corner of their street to do a make shift repair. They’d save a few bucks on the handyman opposed to hire a professional company. Homeowners took the risk on getting the job fixed for cheap in exchange for being able to pocket a few extra dollars.

It was officially time to buckle down. Employees had to be let off. Bonuses were skipped, and raises weren’t even an option at this point. Laurens Restoration had officially become affected by the declining economy.

After tightening the belt and being more cautious the company was saved before things got out of control. The recession is still something that is with us and we have learned to never assumer just because our company is run by the elements to think that the economy still cant play a huge issue on the amount of business a disaster restoration company can receive.