“I should’ve seen this coming,” he told me. “I just kept hoping it wouldn’t really happen.” That phone call still haunts me. This isn’t a story about a bad businessperson. This is a story about having the warning signs, the leading indicators, and not doing...
Getting from here to there safely: the path to transforming your business can feel like a daunting journey. The trail is riddled with potholes, whether you’re a healthy company trying to get to that next level, or a business that is stuck, and can’t seem to get past...
It’s frustrating. Your revenue is up and the production floor seems busy. Your staff is working all out and new accounts are knocking on your door. By the looks of it, the business is working well. Unfortunately, the P&L still looks the same or even worse. You...
Ask most print company owners what’s holding their business back and you’ll hear many of the same answers: equipment cost, technology gaps, difficulty winning new work and a competitive market. I almost never hear anyone say, “honestly, I think it’s the people.” But...
For years now, Michael Porter has reminded all business leaders that their performance is shaped by forces largely outside of their control. Well, in the print world, those forces are alive and well, and at times more intense than ever. None of this is new...
It’s easy to get caught up in the mindset of being a train conductor. Your daily objectives are to keep the engines gassed up, and the schedules tight. With additional goals of keeping the day-to-day operations gliding along without going off the rails, especially in...