With social distancing in effect and travel cut down, more and more people are turning online to find what they need. That includes manufacturing customers. If you have a website, you may not have had many visitors to it before, but that has likely changed. Your shop’s website can be a way to convince people…
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So, you’ve decided to put your shop on social media. Now, you have to decide which network to use and if you want to use more than one. With any network, you’ll want to commit to an update schedule that you can handle. For example, at first, it may seem like a good idea to…
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Google isn’t just a way to answer your questions. It can also be a marketing tool for your job shop. Because Google is such a popular search engine and advertiser, it’s a great idea to take advantage of its tools. Using Google effectively makes it easier for customers to find your shop, and some of…
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The idea of marketing your shop can be intimidating. After all, big companies have entire marketing departments to promote your business, while you might be on your own. Instead of worrying about “marketing,” here are three steps to get people to speak positively about your shop and bring in new customers. 1. Pick Your Strengths…
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Do you feel like your machine shop is in a rut? There’s plenty of work and you and your team are always busy, but still, you never seem to get ahead. It feels like there’s always a cash crunch looming or there’s always a crisis that you have to deal with. Sometimes you may even…
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You sit down at your computer and see a familiar sight. It’s another email from another frustrated customer. They want to know when their job will be complete. When will it ship? What’s taking so long? How much longer? Do these questions sound familiar? Are you getting complaints from customers about your long turnaround time…
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In 1989, Stephen R. Covey published his landmark management book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It was an instant success and has gone on to sell more than 15 million copies in 38 languages around the world. If you haven’t read it, you should. It’s an easy read and is packed with useful…
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If you’ve been in this business long enough, then you know the story all too well. A shop opens up in a shiny new facility with brand new equipment. The owner and other shop executives are knowledgeable about the industry. It seems like the shop has everything it needs to be successful. For some reason,…
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Expansion. It’s a word that’s a double-edged sword for many shop owners. On one hand, expansion is a sign of growth. That’s a good thing. Expansion can allow you take on more business, offer new products, and generally scale your business. On the other hand, expansion takes capital. It can be expensive, especially if the…
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Ernest Hemingway once wrote about losing money that it, “happens at first very gradually, and then all at once.” If you run a shop that’s losing money, you probably know what he meant. Small losses slowly accumulate, turning into big losses. Eventually, there’s nothing left to lose. Far too many shop owners get stuck in…
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Raise your hand if this sounds familiar. You come home from a long day at the shop. Your kids are all over you. They’ve been waiting anxiously for your arrival. Your spouse has dinner on the stove and has a million things to tell you about his or her day. You all sit down for…
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Every business wants to grow, but sometimes it feels like only a select few have figured out the formula for how to do it. The truth is there isn’t one single formula for achieving growth. Rather, there are a lot of different things you need to focus on. Putting out high quality products helps because…
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What’s the most valuable asset in your shop? Your equipment? Your employees? The building itself? Those are all pretty valuable, but chances are good that there’s one other asset your shop couldn’t do without. It’s your customers. Specifically, it’s your relationship with those customers, especially the ones who send the most business to your shop….
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I recently had the opportunity to address a large group of our customers, most of whom were either job shop owners or pretty high up in operations. I asked for a show of hands, “How many salespeople do we have in here today?” A sparse number of hands went up. I challenged the group and…
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A machine shop customer of ours recently asked us for some tips on marketing a job shop. He said he didn’t have a Super Bowl ad budget, nor a whole lot of resources to manage it. I told him not to worry: it doesn’t take tons of money to put in place some effective job shop…
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For a manufacturing company any enterprise for that matter, controlling waste is always a top priority. During periods when the economy is sluggish, there is an even greater need to streamline processes and find ways to mitigate or eliminate value-diminishing activities. Waste does not only result from the misuse or disorganization in the handling of…
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