Let’s take a look at how and why we communicate with our clients, employees, and everyone in or lives.

While the physical world still has some justification for a wait time, information is now required instantly. Consider the amount of patience you have spending 10 minutes to get a hair-cut, versus waiting even 1 minute for a page to load with a list of local barbers. We expect our things fast, and our information now!

As wood industry professionals, our relationship with technology has been “stand-offish” at best. We’ve all been frustrated when dealing with super technical “code gurus”. We’ve felt the pain of having a 12,000 lb “paperweight” machine rendered useless by software that nobody besides a German engineer understands. Tech and woodworking have had a rough go and, there has always been a giant gap between the two.

The face of your business is a big deal - logos, websites, brochures, images and everything else you use to advertise is a direct representation of who your business is, and what your business offers. People are naturally visual creatures, and put a lot of importance on beautiful design.

What’s the ‘thing’ that really sets you and your employees into action? When “X” happens, we go to work… For an employee at the machine, it’s usually something like “When the cutlist is put on my clipboard, I cut it out”, which is pretty simple. What about you, though? How do you know what to do and when to do it? What is ‘it’ that makes you act?

Seth Godin, a well-known author, recently wrote in his daily blog what he called the “Two-Review Technique.” In this post Godin challenges readers to write down two kinds of reviews for a project (company, product, or service).

In so many ways, man hours are expensive and inefficient, so if you’re allowing employees to spend time doing simple but time consuming tasks, you’re probably wasting your own money.

Doing market research is a great way to make sure you’re on the right track with your offering.

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?”

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?