Keeping any business open is challenging, and CNC machine shops of all sizes are no exception. According to the Small Business Administration 50% of businesses fail within the first five years, and two-thirds fail within 10 years.
Keeping any business open is challenging, and CNC machine shops of all sizes are no exception. According to the Small Business Administration 50% of businesses fail within the first five years, and two-thirds fail within 10 years.
Running a CNC shop, or any business for that matter, is usually more than a 40-hour-a-week job. In fact there never seem to be enough hours in the day. So how do you make time for family and for yourself?
Generational differences can have a profound impact on the workplace. The values, drives and personality differences between CNC shop owners/managers from previous generations and their Millennial employees (born between 1980 and 2000) are significant. This is not to say that Millennials are better or worse employees, just different. Which means their supervisors need to understand some basic Millennial characteristics so they can maximize their value to the company and to themselves.
There are 170,500 CNC machine shops in the U.S. This is what your business could be up against in finding employees with the skill sets needed for exceptional productivity and quality.
Getting more business for your CNC shop is a lot easier if you let potential customers know who you are, remind past customers you’re still around, and make current customers aware of all of your capabilities. Hopefully you’re doing this through personal contacts, email marketing, and inbound marketing using blogs and your Web site.
When Gosiger sponsored the first Executive Roundtable Discussions last February with a dozen shop owners and managers in southeast Ohio, the three top of mind issues that came up were: (1) Finding and keeping good employees; (2) Pricing to be both competitive and profitable; (3) The desire for help from suppliers when tackling difficult problems.
A CNC shop owner recently lamented that the machining business is a perfect example of “feast or famine.” It’s true that shop owners have a tendency to actively look for new jobs only when the pipeline is emptying. Otherwise they’re focused on getting work out the door as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.
There may be some sadistic types out there who actually enjoy firing people, however most of us don’t look forward to such acts. Certainly if an employee has stolen from our CNC shop or committed an egregious act we’re less likely to feel bad about the firing. Most of the time, though, we have to let people go because their performance isn’t up to standards or their behavior is disruptive. Regardless, firing is stressful, painful and could come back to haunt us if done improperly. So here are 5 important considerations when it’s time to pull the plug:
As the new Congress takes shape there will likely be a number of tax issues that will be impacted by legislation. Like it or not, new tax laws and extensions or curtailments of existing programs may affect your manufacturing business. It’s best to keep in close contact with your trusted tax advisor as you move into 2015. Here are 7 important areas to keep an eye on:
We’ve all been there: That big order was suddenly postponed or canceled. Even our best paying customers take their sweet time sending the check. An unexpected expense drained our cash reserves. Whatever the cause, slow cash flow keeps us up at night.