Business Management - Operations

What was the inflation in your cost structure last year and what will it be this year? How much have your rent, utilities, payroll, supplies and delivery costs gone up? Have the courage to always build inflation into your pricing, or it will eventually put you out of business. It’s happened to many of your competitors.

Have you heard of The Deadly Law of Attrition? If not, I may shock you with this statement: You are going to lose your best customer. It’s not a matter of if; it’s a matter of when.

Back in the mid 90's, selling for our printing company and, as many owners of small businesses are required to do, I landed a very nice account with a company that had 10 locations. It nearly doubled our company's sales. We developed a good relationship with this customer's general manager, "Barbra," a very capable administrator and business person. All went well over the next five years, until another company in town that was planning to go nationwide, hired Barbra away to oversee the expansion project.

The Saturday Evening Post, famous for its Norman Rockwell covers and at one point 6 million subscribers, is attempting a turnaround—a redesign and move of its editorial staff to Philadelphia. Its new look, which targets baby boomers, debuted in the January/February issue.

The goal: to double the number of subscribers in five years, to 750,000 and to charge more for subscriptions, which now cost $9.95 a year.

“I’ve got the right people, and we’re set to go,” Joan SerVaas said.

The new Post returns to its roots as a general-interest publication—celebrity profiles, recipes and in-depth pieces on serious topics, such as prison reform.

The Printing Industries of America (PIA) announced the recipients of its 2012 Best Workplace in the Americas Awards. A total of 36 graphic arts companies, both PIA and non-PIA members, were selected by a committee of human resource experts from within the industry.

Engineering and manufacturing are hands-on and iterative processes. When the two are separated, the other competency fades quickly and engineers can forget how to design for efficient, high-quality and productive manufacturing. Innovation declines, and good ideas are left on the table.

I’ve always felt it critical to keep constant track of my company’s sales break-even number. The strategy is to build your cost structure so that you can at least “break even” in the projected lowest sales month of the year.

Last week, I was interviewing a candidate for an enterprise QC management position. His response to one of my questions struck me as profoundly disturbing: “Never in my career have I been called with good news.”

Which would you rather be? Which would make your family better off, at least financially better off? With all of the focus on health insurance, it’s easy to forget about disability insurance. Consider these statistics: someone 35 years old has a

David Harding, president and CEO of HardingPoorman Group, a $34 million printer, cut his teeth in the industry as the owner of The Printing Co., a quick printing operation. Harding has never been afraid to take up Plan B.