Most people I know, including me from time to time, do not like failure. There can be lots of financial and psychological costs to failure. However, most successes in business and life are preceded by failure. Most times, lots of failure. Additionally, sometimes winning ideas come from losing. Here’s a great example: In 1985, Proforma…
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There are more than 100,000 education institutions in the United States. From elementary schools to graduate and specialty schools to everything in-between, all of them need printed forms and labels. But if you want to sell into this market, timing matters. Schools don’t operate on the traditional calendar year. They operate according to the school…
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If you sell labels into the consumer product markets, you know how frequently those labels change. When this occurs, it leaves your customers hanging with obsolete inventory as they race to reprint those labels while wondering how much those changes are going to cost them. Those changes not only cost them in obsolete labels, but…
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Ask the Accountant… Question: When I enter my credit card charges or bank entries, I don’t always know where to put them in QuickBooks. Do I have to wait until I know before entering them? Answer: QuickBooks has an expense account that allows you to “park” an entry until you can figure out where it…
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If you’ve paid attention to the retail shelves lately, you’ll know that the number of SKUs is exploding. According to 2023 Grocery Industry Report, many producers have doubled their SKU counts over the past few years. Health and beauty markets have also seen SKUs increases to account for different shades, sizes, and finishes. Nearly every…
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I love Dan Pena. He tells the unvarnished truth. He has a great short (30-second) speech that you are 2,000 cold calls from being a millionaire. He’s right. But the problem, as he so truthfully says, is that most people don’t want to be a peddler. Check it out: Yes, most buyers are happy…
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We have all postponed starting a new program or activity at times in our life. Whether it’s personal goals or business goals, committing to start sometime in the future is much easier than starting right now. Instead of saying: “One day I will lose weight.” “One day I will start working out.” “One day I…
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I have had the wonderful opportunity to personally get to know thousands of people in our industry. Truth is that most of them never became all they could be because of fear. Fear of making sales calls. Fear of learning new product lines. Fear of asking for referrals. Fear of introducing yourself at a networking…
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Ask the Accountant… Question: In QuickBooks Online, I have gotten used to the options on the left side of the screen that included things like Dashboard, Banking, Sales, and Expenses. Now an entirely different list of options is showing with things like “Get things done,” “Business Overview,” “Bookkeeping,” and “Commerce.” What happened? Answer: QBO offers…
Read MoreWhat creates the greatest opportunity for long-term success for a print industry company? Culture. Culture, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is “the beliefs, customs, arts . . . of a particular group” and “a way of thinking, behaving or working that exists in a place or organization.” It is the industry leader’s responsibility to set the…
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