Your worst employee isn’t an employee at all, but it does cost you an “hourly wage”, misrepresent your company with it’s ugly face, and is standing in the way of your success. It’s common, and even popular in our industry to neglect “office stuff” and because of that, this ugly “employee” is likely one of your slowest, most ineffective “employees”. His name is data flow.

Disruptive innovation is a term that was coined by Harvard professor Clayton Christensen, and discussed in his book The Innovator’s Dilemma. You might think ‘disruptive innovation’ is about inventing something SO unique that it disrupts an industry. In reality, it has a much more concise definition, usually interpreted as a cheaper, simpler and more accessible version of a product or service for a completely different market share than the original, more expensive counterpart - which eventually overtakes the industry.

It’s no secret that this “new workforce” is unlike any we’ve ever seen. It seems like everything outside of Snapchat and Clash of Clans is torture for them. Their noses are buried in their phones, ALL OF THE TIME. A question I keep hearing is, “How do I hire and train employees to manufacture in this new economy, with this new type of employee?”

The Theory of Constraints (TOC) is a business theory introduced by Wolfgang Mewes (a German business economist), which was then further proliferated in the United States by Eliyahu M. Goldratt in his book The Goal, (a cult classic). In order to optimize profits at your shop, you need to understand this theory.

Mass emailing, cold calling, and visits are all versions of outbound sales that are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Compare those to inbound sales - the process of allowing customers to come to you, and you’ll see a vastly improved way of acquiring new customers.

If you haven’t heard the ‘Blue Light’ metaphor, you’re in for a delightful discovery. I would just tell you to Google it, but I’m too excited. When was the last time you thought deeply about improving the workflow and productivity in your business? I mean really looked around and scrutinized each process for efficiency- even if that means making uncomfortable changes?

Inventory management can be a headache to navigate for many companies. Controlling excess inventory is a straightforward idea you can work on to save space, cost, and waste.