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Electrical contractors still see more business opportunities and growth ahead in the Voice-Data-Video field, though most do not believe it will be as robust as in previous years. Whereas in the 2007 VDV survey, predictions of VDV growth were evenly split with 34 percent of contractors predicting sales gains in the 1 to 5 percent range and 33 percent expecting growth in the 6 to 10 percent range, this year's survey shows 44 percent believe VDV growth in the 1 to 5 percent range and 23 percent predict growth in the 6 to 10 percent range. The culprit? As you may expect, it's the economy.
But there also is a statistical basis for 44 percent of contractors expecting VDV growth of 5 percent or less in 2008 as 44 percent of those surveyed said growth last year was in the 1 to 5 percent range. Only 15 percent of respondents said their VDV sales grew 6 to 10 percent in 2007.
On the flip side of it, in last year's survey, only 9 percent of respondents expected their VDV sales to fall by 1 percent or more. In the 2008 survey, 33 percent of respondents said their VDV sales fell in the past year. About 24 percent of the 2008 survey respondents predict their VDV sales will fall this year.
In the 2007 survey, 83 percent of the electrical contractors said VDV was a part of their service offerings. This year, slightly less than 82 percent said they conduct VDV work, which is basically a statistical tie in the political polling sense.
There was a tie between those contactors who consider themselves electrical contractors and those who listed both electrical contracting and low-voltage contracting, with 40 percent each. Only 7 percent of readers who took the survey said they are just a low-voltage/VDV contractor.
Business trends
Respondents were asked what factors may contribute to any decline in their VDV business and 43 percent cited the economy. A slowdown or possible slowdown in residential and/or commercial development in a contractor's geographic area came in second with 21 percent.
