The Right Time For a New Equipment Investment

I am happy to say that after years of financial stagnation, we are finally taking steps toward growth with our first major equipment investment in years. Business has increased to a point where this decision makes sense, but that is not the reason we are taking on the risk of a major investment. The company has been mulled in a soup of non-growth for many years and it was time to start taking advantage of sexy interest rates and tax breaks to help the business move forward. Currently we are in the process of purchasing a new table plasma cutting system for our little sheet metal fabrication job shop. This would be our biggest equipment investment in many years. However, it would increase our production greatly and make it possible to search out bigger projects in the residential HVAC sheet metal fabrication markets locally. Seeing as our shop doesn't weld and has never owned a handheld plasma cutting machine, we are a bit green when it comes to dealing with consumables and pneumatic tools. The learning process will be educational, very interesting and eventually profitable.

Having the ability to decrease cut time and waste will make fabricating fittings like cold air boots, trunk duct reducers and custom transitions far easier and profitable for our micro-business. After hemming and hawing for a few months we finally took the leap and started heavily researching our new equipment investment.

I, as a business owner, want to create jobs in my community, but in order to make this happen the machinery needed to come first. I need to know I can bring in new business in order to keep a new employee working. The company is not in a position to do this just yet. Increasing productivity first was the most economical way for the company to reach some short and long term goals.

The quoting process is near completion and financing is on the horizon. Best case scenario would be  a initial equipment investment in our new plasma cutting table within a month or so, hopefully having everything installed by the end of the year. Hoping my optimism continues through the process.

Fingers X'd

5 Reasons Your Micro-Business Should Have a Linkedin Company Page

Our teeny tiny little company could be the poster child for local, micro, niche business. So why should a company so diminutive in size make it a priority to focus on their Linkedin company page?

Here are five reasons why any micro business should have a presence on Linkedin:

1. Don't Judge a Micro-Business by it's Cover

Nobody really knows the size of your micro-business and most could really care less. The customer wants the job done right, for a good price. That's it, that's the list. They don't care about the number of employees or how colorful your trucks are. Most customers want the project done properly, on time, by good people and priced fairly in accordance with the market.

Your Linkedin company page is a great place to make those connections, to show and promote the products and services that make your company special, no matter how big or small you might be.

Just because Linkedin seems like only a place for big business and financial or law firms, doesn't mean that local, micro-businesses can't flourish and learn from the site. Many business employees on the site and in groups are very gracious with their time and insights about business best practice.

You have knowledge as well, make your voice heard no matter what size company you currently have.

2. Budget Should Not Be an Issue

Anyone running a micro-business knows that sweat equity is the only way to get things done. You have to put in the hours to move the company forward. Yes, budget is a concern, but the internet is a never ending, low cost business tool that every owner should be using. Linkedin company pages should be one place you focus to grow relationships for no dollars.

The page is free.

It's your job to put the time and effort into making it a powerful tool to help grow your micro-business. Believe me, I'm still learning and updating my pages to get our name and what we do out into the world. However, I am the one putting in the time to save the money. No one knows my business better than I do. Don't feel like everything has to be subbed out just because you don't understand it. Not only is the web a powerful business tool, it's also a free education on any subject you choose to learn about.

Learn something new, create these micro-business advantages yourself and save money in the process.

3. Networking is Important for Micro-Business Too

I did not want to believe this a few years ago when our company was struggling to find good partners and contractors who we could trust. My anxieties got in the way, making it difficult to put our company out there, working to find new business connections and innovate at the same time.

Our micro-business is very niche and boring, not on the minds of customers until their furnace quits or a contractor informs them new ductwork is a must. My job is to make sure that not only customers know who we are and what we do, but also business owners who can promote or use our services as well.

Linkedin and Linkedin company pages is 24 hour networking service, finding the business owners in your industry who can help promote your business and find customers, even for micro-business owners. Sometimes the hardest thing is locating good partners and people that can help your business to grow and prosper. Linkedin promotes this process and Linkedin company pages make it easy to inform those connections about what your doing daily.

Good relationships is what keeps our micro-business afloat when times get tough. My father always preached to never burn bridges. I hated the cliche when I started working here 15 years ago, but it's completely true and has worked in our favor more than once over that time period.

4. Keep Your Linkedin Company Page Current

We are still working to update and make our web presence as pleasing to our customers as possible. Again, sweat equity to keep costs down. I do the designing and updating myself of all our pages and the website, making the process slow and tedious, but necessary for our micro-business to flourish in a world moving feverishly toward the web and the cloud.

There is nothing more annoying than searching for a local business and seeing the stock avatar and business name only. We get it, you signed up and have never been back to update, you're too busy. However, this makes any connection via that platform meaningless and worthless for your micro-business or potential networking opportunity. Focus to take any and every business relationship you can get.

Keep those Linkedin company pages current

5. Don't Sell Yourself Short

I struggle with this on a daily basis and it's something a micro-business owner should never do, whether in person or on the web. I'm still working to sell our company properly whether on our Linkedin company page or any other. The thing is, I know we do a great job and it's not egotistical to let our customers and business partners know that.

This doesn't mean telling everybody your company can produce anything under the sun for the cheapest price possible because truth is, that is completely false. You know what your micro-business can do and it's more than likely small scale, but the quality is probably bar none. You know your pricing is good and you do everything you can to make the customer happy. Do what your micro-business does well, to the best of your ability and promote the hell out of it.

Our company makes sheet metal boxes for residential heating and cooling systems. My whole business life that's how I thought of our business. However, those tin boxes have a function and we fabricate each of them custom to the customers needs, locally and at a great price. My job is to make sure people in my community and on the web know this about our company.

My business may be small, but we do fantastic work and care about customers. Our business partners are important to us and making sure we are accessible any way possible and on a budget is key to growing and promoting our micro-business into the future.

This is what you should be focusing on in your business, getting the word out and making connections in your industry and a properly setup Linkedin company page is a great way to start.

 Follow the K & E Sheet Metal Company Page

Learning The FACTS About Manufacturing

Currently I am in the process of researching and acquiring prices regarding larger capacity manufacturing equipment for our micro-business. Although, until this morning, I did not know the FACTS about manufacturing for a business our size or TYPE as stated in a great post on Manufacturing.net by Mike Collins titled "Small Manufacturers Aren't Little Versions Of Major Manufacturers" In the piece he lays out a compelling argument that many manufacturing improvement products are made and marketed to larger companies, but bought and implemented by all. Because of this, these particular programs are abandoned due to lack of results and consultants later ca vetch and make excuses--my conclusion--as to why certain companies couldn't implement the system. However, Mike lays out a better, more logical reason to these issues. Laying out the FACTS about manufacturing systems and process for the range of companies in the industry.

From Manufacturing.net:

I think there may be other explanations as to why many of these process improvement programs fail.

• Management perceives that the cost of implementation exceeds the expectant results.
• Tools and program are viewed as too complex and requiring extraordinary amounts of indirect labor hours.
• The manufacturer is told they must swallow the whole banana bunch (continuous improvement program) to achieve results rather then get incremental results.
• Smaller manufacturers are told they can use the same program used by Toyota or Caterpillar, no matter what shape their systems or resources are in.

To better understand why many manufacturers back away from these programs you must first understand that manufacturing companies in the U.S. are not a homogeneous group. From more than 30 years of working with manufacturing companies of all sizes, I suggest that there are at least four distinctly different types, and there are logarithmic differences between these types, in terms of resources, knowledge, experience, staff, and the where-with-all to deal with change....Keep Reading

Mike later mentions particular FACTS about manufacturing for companies smaller in size, something I had never heard before and it fits our company to a T.

The second point is that all small and midsize manufacturers are restricted by resource limitations. "FACTS" is an acronym that best characterizes the reality of the small manufacturing environment, described as:

             F - Fear of making a wrong decision

            A - Limited Access to capital.

            C - Cash flow problems

            T - Time constraints

            S - Small or no Staff.

Going forward, as I look into what manufacturing system will fit us best, I will remember the FACTS about manufacturing systems and implementation. The last thing I want to do is make my company machine poor, investing too much in something that will eventually bankrupt us as opposed to helping increase production, customers and cash flow.

Source:

Small Manufacturers Aren't Little Versions Of Major Manufacturers (Manufacturing.net)

Not Letting Anxiety Dictate How to Expand Our Business

Since the beginning of the year I have dredged my brain for answers to the question, how to expand our business. The process has been rocky at times, my therapist helping with the majority of those situations, distraction taking care of the balance. However, I have found that being positive and stopping my obsession with perfect timing has made the job much easier to deal with. Our company is small. If you have read any of this blog in the past, you know this. I have wrestled, through the years, with ideas of how to expand our business, making our minuscule sheet metal fabrication shop bigger. Able to handle larger residential and light commercial projects, but keeping the integrity and intimacy of the shop my father and I currently run. There are plenty of union commercial shops in this area to take the much larger commercial work that I, as a company owner, never wanted in the first place. However, being able to fabricate a larger and quality capacity for our target market is an advantage I would love to have.

When the housing markets shit the bed I learned more in those few years about myself and our business than ever before. Depression from personal and business issues led me and my anxiety to seeking therapy, understanding what I needed in my life to thrive. Since then I have made a concerted effort to be positive, especially in my home life as a whole. Any issues in your personal life will fracture any motivation you may have to make your business a success. I realized this after 34 years on earth and 15 years in business, but it's never too late. There is plenty of time to create a successful business, on the back of what already exists. Something my father and I can be proud of.

The question of how to expand our business looks different to me now than it did a few short years ago. Things are clearer and I know that I must have goals, making strides to build on the foundation my father and I have already built, no matter how small. Keeping our already solid customer base is key, but technology and organization must be something we focus on to satisfy an old and new, growing customer base.

I have been researching and reaching out to find information on the best way we can accomplish our new found goals. Something I never did when I was struggling with ideas on how to expand our business, finding it easier to stay hidden inside an already comfortable cocoon of anxiety and fear. Not anymore.

Don't let the fear of success drain the opportunities that may await.

When I sat in my office, thoughts circling with ideas of how to expand our business, I left every night frustrated and fearful of the next step. K & E Sheet Metal is not a successful business on paper at this point. We are a good business, working hard everyday to produce quality sheet metal fabrication and customers happy with their new furnace or air conditioning installation. We have a lot to learn, which is tough to say for a functioning business of 23 years and counting.

Finding our niche and focusing on goals is what needs to be thought about before leaving the shop each day. Answering that question of how to expand our business and becoming the company we wanted years ago, but never had the courage to pursue is the road we need to follow. There will be tight bumpy corners along the way, but positive thoughts, hard work and focus will make the trip a little easier to navigate.