Blog Archives




 

  • You Don't Appreciate it Until It's Gone
    By Denise Gustavson - Tuesday June 12, 2012
    Signs are something we more or less take for granted. You get on the highway and you know there will be signs that help you find the right exit, the right street, even the right address. Signs warn us when the road up ahead is treacherous or if there's a traffic camera at the next intersection. I have to admit that I didn't realize how much I relied on signs until I was in Ireland and in some cities, they simply didn't exist. It can become very frustrating to circle around a National Park that you can see on a road atlas, but there are no signs on the road to indicate the entrance to the park, the road you're on, the speed limit on the road, or even if you're in the right place going in the right direction. It's even more frustrating when...

  • What is the Owner's Job?, Part 4
    By Tom Crouser - Monday June 11, 2012
    What is the job of a business owner? In this fourth and final edition I add performance to the tasks listed in our previous three issues. Management types who work for someone always have to perform and they have to report to someone in order to keep their job. A branch manager or a store manager reports to a division director or vice president somewhere. A vice president reports to a president or CEO. Presidents or CEO’s then report to a board of directors representing stockholders. Even the board reports to the stockholders. And each and everyone can be thrown out on their ear if they don’t perform – even if it’s not their fault. So, they have one thing in common – perform or else. Only in these businesses that we create can...

  • What is the Owner's Job?, Part 3
    By Tom Crouser - Monday June 4, 2012
    What is the job of the business owner? In this installment three of four, we add to the tasks of the job described previously – especially in the areas of sales and finance. In the last two installments we said that ownership is a passive verb. An owner has a right to a return on investment in both time and money. We found owning a business was much like owning a car – that it is limited in usefulness until someone drives the car. And we found that ownership is broader than the founder – that it extends to the entire business family who are stakeholders in these businesses regardless of whether they are stockholders. Most people confuse the title of owner with the function of the one person who runs the business – the function...

  • What is the Owner's Job?, Part 2
    By Tom Crouser - Monday May 28, 2012
    The question is, “What’s the job of the person running the business?” In our last installment, we focused on the primary duty – to make and meet all budgets. In addition, we said they also are responsible for reporting on their progress of meeting the budgets to the stakeholders. Okay, you may ask, but how does that relate to print shop tasks such as writing up jobs, waiting on customers and ordering supplies? Well, it doesn’t because that’s not the job of the general manager. Huh? We must organize around functions – not people. In our size shops, the job of the general manager is not a full time job – even after you read all the things I am going to list. Rather, the job is a part-time effort even at the two and three...

  • Is Your Employee Ready to be a Manager?
    By Debra Thompson - Friday May 25, 2012
    When a managerial position opens up, it is usually an opportunity to move a top performer into the position. No one would argue that promoting from within sends a strong message to the rest of the company about investing in people and cultivating management talent. Unfortunately, when it comes to actual qualifications, current job performance is given greater weight than the competencies required for a managerial position—most notably, management traits and/or experience. The fact that individual job performance and management are two entirely different sets of competencies too often gets ignored. Before you know it, you have someone in the position that doesn't know the first thing about managing a group of people. Dr. Laurence...

  • What is the Owner's Job? Part 1
    By Tom Crouser - Tuesday May 15, 2012
    By Tom Crouser So what’s my job as business owner? Makes my head hurt. Wrapped up in one short question is one seriously long answer. So, this is part one of four and my first answer is that there’s not a job for an owner. There is for the person running the business, however. Ownership is a passive verb. If you own stock in General Motors, you have a right to a return on investment and you have a right to expect your management will focus on increasing your shareholder value. In our kinds of businesses it is no different. You may own a car but that does you little good until you take on another role – the role of driver. Same is true with our businesses and the refusal of many business owners to actually drive their car is a...

  • Successful GPO Print Suppliers Form Partnerships
    - Monday May 14, 2012
    By Deborah Snider, senior vice president, e-LYNXX Corporation Three quarters of all printing for the federal government is provided by public sector printers, and that is a proud partnership that dates back to when the United States Government Printing Office (GPO) opened its doors on March 4, 1861 – the same day Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated the 16th President of the United States. For 151 years, the GPO has depended on thousands of printers nationwide to keep the public informed. In her FY 2013 appropriations request for the GPO, acting Public Printer Davita Vance-Cooks told the U. S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Legislative Branch Appropriations, Committee on Appropriations: “Other than congressional and...

  • Buying Is More Than Writing the Check…
    - Wednesday May 9, 2012
    By John Giles With all of the cool new print equipment and technology at drupa and at the upcoming Graph Expo, printers need to make sure they are covering the basics before they add something new to their production mix, especially if it requires a big investment. Financials – In this day and time, you need strong financial information before you make a decision and ask your banker for help. Many printers are coming off slow growth years and don’t have the cash they need to safely add new debt. A strong current ratio is needed before adding to your liabilities. Not enough cash can cripple a company, even if sales are climbing. Creditors don’t want to wait until your customer pays you before they get their money. You have to...

  • Procurement Innovation Can Drive Productivity Gains
    - Tuesday May 8, 2012
    By William Gindlesperger, chairman and CEO, e-LYNXX Corporation Innovation is required if the United States is to regain the level of productivity that it enjoyed toward the end of the 19th Century through the mid-20th Century. However, innovation by itself is not enough. Just as our parents and grandparents adopted electricity, the automobile, credit cards and airplanes in the period from 1870-1950, businesses and organizations of the 21st Century must embrace change. This is one of the conclusions of the McKinsey Global Institute Report on Productivity, prepared by McKinsey & Company in February 2011. “U. S. infrastructure is not only inadequate to meet the needs of a dynamic, growing, and productive economy, but its quality has...

  • One World, One drupa
    By Karen Hall - Tuesday May 8, 2012
    After my sojourn to Dusseldorf for drupa 2012 there is no shortage of things to tell you about — the dilemma is knowing where to start. The theme of this year's show was "One World. One drupa." That speaks to the fact that this is truly an international trade show. I encountered people from all corners of the globe: Europe, Asia, South America, the Middle East, and Africa. Most printers in the US don't make the trek to Germany every four years, but if you have never done so, I highly recommend that you start making plans now to be there in June 2016. Being at drupa reminded me that, while the US may have the largest printing market in the world, from the global viewpoint, it is just a big region. In so many press conferences, I heard...

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