Fabricator’s Coach

It is the start of a New Year and we want your business to perform better than ever. One way to help you is to provide a tool and some resources that help you make informed business decisions.

The tool, the Decision Matrix and Example, is free and it can be found at https://fabricatorscoach.com/free-helpful-tools/

Listening to this podcast, while looking at the tool will help with implementing it at your company.

So, you’ve taken all the advice in my SRG articles this year, your business is running more smoothly, and now you are wondering what to do next.  The answer:  Craft your 2023 plan for the business now.

As you consider what 2023 may have in store, you may have questions like:

• I think I need to add an install crew – will I have the sales to sustain them?

A great aid in answering these questions is to put together a month-to-month plan that not only forecasts your sales but also helps you think through what staff changes you need to make as your sales change. 

Download the Annual Planning Spreadsheet at: https://fabricatorscoach.com/free-helpful-tools/

Will you have a place to sit, or will you be “out’ of the game?  In the game of musical chairs, we have to guess when the music will stop and hope that, when it does, we will have a place to sit so we can continue to play the game.  Otherwise, we are out.

We know the economy is shaky.

Would you rather ‘guess’ when the music is going to stop – when this super strong demand for countertops will end – and hope you will still be able to play the game - or would you rather have a plan for when the music stops and know you are prepared for whatever this economy throws at you?

Do you feel like your business is running you into the ground?

Do you feel like you always have to be at the shop just to make sure the business functions properly?

Do you think it’s just impossible to get away and relax?

If you find yourself answering ‘Yes’ to these questions, then you should consider this question:  Are you a fabricator or are you a business owner?

Mentioned in this webinar-to-podcast:

Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business, by Gino Wickman (Amazon is a good resource)

Download our Management Rhythm Tool at: https://fabricatorscoach.com/free-helpful-tools/

Have you ever had a month when sales were strong, you worked harder than ever, yet your month-end Profit and Loss statement (P&L) showed poor results?

Being able to quantify which market segments and which specific customers are financially better for your business is an essential piece of preparing for an economic slow-down. While you already have a good intuitive feel, learning the calculations discussed in this webinar can quantify your intuition. 

The article discussed can be found in the Slippery Rock Gazette, August 2022 issue, at: https://www.slipperyrockgazette.net/index.cfm/pageId/4688/Is%20That%20All%20This%20Data%20Is%20Good%20For%3F/

Contact Ed if you want to talk about applying this in your business specifically. 864-328-6231 or [email protected]

We all know that, if we want our business to improve, we have to change something about how we run it. While it can be tough to know what to change, it can be even tougher to begin the change process. Even more challenging is implementing changes that will truly last.

Join Ed and fellow fabricators discussing this challenge.

Even if you don’t need to increase sales for your shop today, you soon will if we hit the recession that the newsreaders are forecasting.  If that happens, you are going to need a sound marketing strategy and implementation plan that doesn’t rely on pricing to get sales leads.  You will also need new sales techniques to effectively convert those leads to booked sales. This podcast discusses options you can execute.

This is a podcast from the live webinar in the same name recorded on July 15th, and based on the July article in the Slippery Rock Gazette. 

The article is at: https://www.slipperyrockgazette.net/index.cfm/pageId/4650/How%20Do%20We%20Feed%20This%20Beast%3F/

Information on the Fabricators Business Academy's 10-Week Workshop "Recession Ahead: Get Your Shop Ready in Just 10-Weeks" mentioned in this podcast can be found at:

www.FabricatorsBusinessAcademy.com

Feel free to contact Ed:

[email protected]

864-328-6231

We don’t know when it will happen, but this phenomenally tight labor market will eventually loosen up.  Until then, we still need to run our shops profitably.  This requires taking a different approach to how we utilize the people we already have as well as how we recruit and retain new employees.  

Listen to this session with fellow fabricators as they discuss how to make the most of the people you already have and how to make sure your new hires are successful – by reinforcing them early and often.

The article related to this session, originally published in the Slippery Rock Gazette, can be read at https://fabricatorscoach.com/whose-job-is-it-anyway/

Mentioned during this session:

Free tools download including Skills Matrix and Example Position Description: CNC Operator can be found at https://fabricatorscoach.com/free-helpful-tools/

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It; Gerber, Michael E., 1995

Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business; Wickman, Gino, 2012

The Power of Positive Leadership: How and Why Positive Leaders Transform Teams and Organizations and Change the World; Gordon, Jon, 2017 (other books by same author mentioned)

Over 140 Stone Industry example position descriptions can be found on the NSI website (requires membership) at https://associationdatabase.com/aws/MIA/pt/sp/members_toolkits

Apps and Software discussed in the podcast (not an endorsement):

Trainual   https://trainual.com/

EOS Traction Tools https://www.mytractiontools.com/

This podcast discusses with Fabricators from across the US whether they:

• have months of backlog and need MORE CAPACITY NOW, or

When Fab Shop owners prefer to have excess capacity, they often think this gives them time to respond quickly to a customer need, because they can drop a job into the schedule. However, this creates a cultural lack of urgency, and can even lead to complacency. And the negative impact to the profitability of the shop can be huge!

We discuss how to really differentiate your shop from others by having a strong marketing strategy, one that is not just based on "low price", but on understanding the purchase from the customer's point of view and building stronger relationships with these customers.

Someone once asked me how to know if a business had grown too big for the owner to manage. 

I think the answer is, if you can’t get your business to generate consistently good results, or if you have management problems in your business that you don’t know how to resolve, the business may be outgrowing your ability to manage it. 

One key to managing your business well is understanding the true capacity of your shop. If you don’t know your shop’s capacity, you could wake up one morning and realize your business has not made any money. And, you can’t explain why.

This podcast is from a session with several Shop Owners and is based on the article published in the Slippery Rock Gazette by the same name. This article can be found at https://fabricatorscoach.com/how-much-work-can-your-shop-handle/ .