F ID I CO N FI DE NCE BAR O METER FIDI REVEALS LATEST GLOBAL CONFIDENCE BAROMETERRESULTS With two full years of Affiliate data now available, FIDIs Business Confidence Barometer provides an essential illustration of the evolving mood within the moving industry and the background against which companies are likely to be trading in the near future. FIDI Secretary General Jesse van Sas reports on the latest results A ggregating large amounts of data over a longer period of time can give fascinating results. This is the case with our FIDI Business Confidence Barometer project. Now that we have our second year of full data results, it is getting really interesting. We can see a pattern - and it actually makes sense. We started this Business Confidence Barometer for movers in the last quarter of 2019, right before COVID hit the world. The idea behind the project was to measure how optimistic or pessimistic you all were about your business, as well as data on key indicators such as your revenue, prices and workforce. The tool was immediately tested by the global crisis, plummeting the barometer from cautiously optimistic to deeply pessimistic. The second quarter of 2020 gave us a particularly gloomy outlook. Since Q3 of 2020, JESSE VAN SAS, SECRETARY GENERAL OF FIDI GLOBAL ALLIANCE FIDI Business Confidence Barometer / 2021 Entrepreneurial Confidence 80 60 58 51 40 50 38 20 12 0 -20 -40 -60 -19 -26 -15 -48 Q4/2019 Q1/2020 Q2/2020 Q3/2020 Q4/2020 76 FF305 Mar_May 22 pp76-77 Business Confidence Barometer.indd 76 Q1/2021/ Q2/2021 Q3/2021 Q4/2021 however, we have seen hopeful signs in the barometer slowly at first, but increasing at the beginning of 2021, just as vaccines arrived on the world stage. With full barometer results from 2021 in hand now, we can see optimism returning to the industry. This has been confirmed by news, from all of you, that 2021 has been a very busy year, with revenues matching or topping those of 2019 for some. Entrepreneurial confidence in the moving industry seems to be back. It is not a rose garden yet, however. Revenues are up, and price levels are under control, but increasing costs are weighing on the margins, so optimism is generally lower with regards to these. This confirms a view many of us have been defending for a while now: movers must find a way to pass these costs which are beyond their control on to the customers, to safeguard the longevity of the business. There is no point in riding it out: many of these external costs are here to stay. The FIDI Business Confidence Barometer will further gain in value as quarters of data are added. It is fed by FIDI Affiliates, and can be used to monitor output growth and anticipate turning points in our activity. It helps FIDI gauge the industry mood: are movers optimistic, and should a boost in business be expected, or is the industry slipping into another recession? A business confidence index is a welcome addition to the many other indicators in our industry, and will help FIDI to adjust its services and even determine our next strategic options. More importantly, however, it will help you benchmark your own efforts and results, to plan better, invest with knowledge, and increase your confidence when considering future projects. WW W.F I DI FO C US . O RG 08/03/2022 08:33