Printing Industries of America (PIA) announced the recipients of its 2014 Best Workplace in the Americas awards. A total of 28 graphic arts companies, both members through PIA affiliate organizations and non-members, were selected by a committee of industry HR experts.
The most successful printers don't refer to the weather forecast when assessing their next move; they plunge head-first into a scenario that has the potential to be parlayed into handsome profits. We've got three success examples for your consideration—firms that have enjoyed immense success even as the economy provides little to no optimism for the immediate future of print.
You may be familiar with one of several versions of the following story; the original author is unknown. It carries a powerful message that I want to share. Look for the employees like "Jim" in this message and you might find your successor and certainly employees that are keepers.
An EXIT—Stage LEFT business was not a pretty site for many Boomers who lost heavily during the Great Recession. How many "Boomer" business owners out there wish they would have sold their company a few years before the Great Recession?
Choosing 20 graphic arts industry professionals—all under the age of 40—who are rising industry stars is, admittedly, a subjective undertaking. Surely, some high achievers who might have qualified didn’t appear on our radar screen. Likewise, some people who were nominated elected to avoid the spotlight for personal reasons. These 20 up-and-comers weren’t just handed positions of authority. They typically worked their way up, toiling in several job capacities within their respective organizations, to earn their stripes.
Celebrate your wins, create a positive work environment and make your workplace fun. It makes good business sense and pays dividends. Don't ignore the losses either. We certainly don't want to celebrate them, but we should put plans in place to fix them.
The old idiom, "You win some and you lose some," when applied to a business, can mean customers coming in the front door and going out the back door—in other words, the business is just running in place, going in circles, but not gaining ground—NOT GROWING.
There are many football and sports analogies that apply to business, but how does this one apply? In our fast-changing environment with all of the talk about diversification and "becoming marketing services providers," we often leave the basics to chance and assume they will take care of themselves. Not true. The fundamentals are something that must be constantly practiced and inspected.
My week began with a call from “the big sales guy” of a large company out of state; a potential ongoing customer for our commercial printing company, that could make all the difference in our bottom line for the next few years at least—IF we are who we say we are!
Complete with office, sales, warehouse and support staff, Lotters Wire has opened a new sales/distribution center in Tucker, GA. The company is part of the Lotters Group in Germany.
