For large and smaller companies, national trade shows can be very expensive and can be one of the largest uses of a company’s marketing dollars. Look at all of the costs associated with trade shows from the booth, to prepaying for exhibit space, all the shipping costs to get trade show items there and back,…
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As of March 2021, both the CPI (Consumer Price Index) and PPI (Producer Price Index) have shown increases. The CPIs are based on prices for food, clothing, shelter, and fuels; transportation fares; service fees, such as water and sewer service, and sales taxes. The producer price index (PPI) measures the price that industrial producers get…
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There are businesses that do well and prosper during difficult economic time (recession, pandemic, legislative changes, inflation) while other businesses struggle or go out of business. Businesses that experienced an economic upside during the pandemic were real estate, home furnishings, home improvement and technology companies. People moved to the suburbs, set up home offices,…
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As of January 1, 2020, the Federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. There are numerous states that have set their minimum wages higher than the Federal minimum wage. See the map below for your state’s minimum wage. An employer of tipped employees is only required to pay that employee $2.13 per hour in direct…
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The “Feckless Business” is a business that is managed irresponsibly and lacks initiative. Or another way of putting it, a business that has no budget or strategic plan and just exists day to day with ownership and management dealing with problems of their own making. It is easy being a “Feckless Business” with no…
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“Willful Blindness” in a business is the conscious act of avoiding the truth, which gives credence to the knowledge of an issue in question, but never resolving the issue. Willful blindness can be at any level of management or on any type of business issue that needs to be addressed and resolved. A business’s willful…
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What is the path forward into 2021? A strategic plan will make the journey into 2021 easier.
“Business Drift” is a perpetual problem with any business, big or small, in any industry. In the food and distillery industry it is called “Flavor Drift”. In business, “Drift” is the act of slowly drifting away from the core business. This can either be intentional or unintentional. Businesses that avoid “Drift” are emphatic about…
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There are numerous businesses starting to reopen and recover from the past months of slow or no business. Sales are starting to rise as customers are starting a buy again, both of which are great signs for a business recovery and business growth. Now let us talk about the difference between a business’s recovery and…
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The chart shows producer price index (PPI) data that measure price changes. Percent changes in prices from a year ago are shown for both stand-alone hotels (the gold bar) and hotels attached to casinos (the red bar). Prices began dropping for hotels in February 2020 and the price reductions continue to persist, but hotels attached…
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