In Part One, I focused on the seven key barometers of business health and marketing performance — cost of garments, production payroll, advertising, rent, telephone, utilities and professional development — and what each ratio tells me about a company’s financial performance and its management and marketing cultures.
June 22, 2009
One of the main reasons Impressions asks me to write an online column is simply what I do for a living; I’m a full-time management and marketing consultant in the apparel graphics industry. I’ve been at it 30 years and still look forward every day to plying my trade.
June 08, 2009
Based on my field observations in this industry, I estimate that more than 95% of embroiderers and screen printers don’t acknowledge or confirm orders — especially orders received by phone and where there’s no paper trail. The verb “acknowledge” here refers simply to the act of sending out a written confirmation of an order placed with the vendor who’s selling this order.
May 11, 2009
In Part One, we looked at how companies handle incoming inquiries on the phone and the first impressions people get when visiting companies in our industry. Now let's turn to improving your company's marketing identity, educating and informing your prospective customers, and improving the follow-up with these prospects.
April 27, 2009
Why should a customer buy from you instead of your competitor? What’s so special about your company that it would inspire a customer to choose your services over your competitor’s? What are you doing to create — and then reinforce — the perception that buying from your company is a wiser choice?
April 13, 2009
Each year, many apparel decorators go from 1st Quarter famine to 2nd Quarter feast — it’s a common phenomenon in our industry, though there are always exceptions to this rule. As peak season blooms with a burst of incoming orders, few companies consider expanding their advertising investments during the strong spring months. That’s because the majority of industry entrepreneurs believe in the conventional wisdom that you don’t need to advertise when times are good, and use that as a way to cut marketing expenses overall.
March 16, 2009
Learn how good phone technique and follow-up will help create loyal, long-term accounts.
March 02, 2009
Follow these tips and tricks to find and hire the right freelancers.
In Part I of this column, we discussed some of the challenges in finding free lance artist. Now we’ll explore where to focus your search.
February 13, 2009
There’s more than a few tricks to finding and hiring the right freelancers, and building trust and loyalty so they’ll be available when you need them.
Do you recognize any of the following scenarios?
• Your top artist just quit his job at your screen printing shop and you have a custom job that will bog down the rest of your art staff, which is already on overload.
• You're exhibiting your new preprint line at a January trade show and you're far from completing your spring designs.
• You have a talented illustrator on staff, who you want to be creating custom logos and other artwork. You also have too much production-oriented graphics work that doesn't require a lot of skill — such as lettering, downloading clipart, scanning a provided logo and simple design composition.
February 02, 2009
Always a tricky subject, determining the right price for materials and labor is crucial when customers are shrinking budgets.
The questions I am most frequently asked revolve around pricing your embroidery services. Pricing seems to be an issue embroidery shop owners struggle with often. The truth is that pricing is not too difficult, it just requires a little bit of discipline. Establish a working a budget and then use it to charge what you are worth. That sounds easy enough, but sometimes it can be hard to execute.
January 16, 2009
Hosting an open house shows off your shop's capabilities and attracts new customers.
Looking for a way to boost first quarter sales? Consider hosting an open house at your shop.
December 08, 2008
This holiday season, send creative gifts to clients to show off your talents.
Planning on sending holiday gifts to your customers? Thinking now — and fast — about what to send can pay big dividends in impact, recognition and response.
November 21, 2008
Accepting credit cards improves cash flow and reduces headaches, giving you more time to focus on growing your business.
Most apparel graphics companies take credit cards, but it’s clear that very few make it a practice to encourage their customers to use them. Why? Conventional wisdom says that accepting credit cards consumes an unacceptable percentage of your profits. This logic measures costs against benefits — but without really weighing and understanding the benefits.
November 10, 2008
Selling promotional apparel and products to political organizations can yield high profits, but make sure you're aware of the possible risks.
The U.S. presidential election is only a week away — along with U.S. Senate campaigns in 33 states and 435 races for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. The national election brings 1,000 candidates in need of what we sell. Add to these campaigns those of several governorships and contests for office seekers vying for municipal, county and state legislative, executive and judicial positions. For our industry, that means tens of thousands of orders — and reorders — for T-shirts, sweats, caps, bags and promotional products.
October 27, 2008
Confidentiality agreements protect more than your assets. Just as importantly, they protect your customers.
Some of you might recall a column I published last November that addressed how to keep contract customers out of your production area in order to protect your work. This week's column looks at the other side of the same coin -- employee confidentiality agreements. These are legal agreements that are intended to keep your employees from talking about who's placing orders, for what quantities and dollars, what's being produced and who the end-user might.
September 15, 2008
Charging for rush service is justifiable, but be sure to outline policies upfront and inform your customers.
The issues of whether and what to charge for rush service are common in the decorated apparel industry and there are valid arguments on all sides. Most companies feel they’re entitled to some degree of additional compensation for going our of their way to accommodate a rush order, for bumping other customers a notch or two back in the production line and for having to deal with the potential hazards of doing something faster than necessary. Oh, and the more sanguine reason: you can, if you choose, stick it to ’em when they’re on the ropes.
August 29, 2008
Thanks to Uncle Sam, you can deduct certain trade show and conference expenses from your income tax filing. Learn what’s deductible — and what’s not.
Imagine an enjoyable — and educational — vacation with Uncle Sam picking up part of the tab. That's right, every decorated apparel business, the owner and employees of that business (even someone who is a shareholder/employee), can legitimately claim an income tax deduction for the expenses paid or incurred in attending trade shows, conventions and meetings.
August 18, 2008
Embroiderers, screen printers and promotional products distributors can profit from breaks in the tax code to educate their employees and themselves.
Finding, hiring, training and retaining “smart” workers have long been key factors in the success of small businesses, including decorated apparel companies. Lawmakers have also recognized the importance of a smarter workforce and created a number of educational and training-related tax breaks and incentives. Those tax benefits allow every commercial embroidery, screen printing and promotional products business, large or small, to offer training and education as a “fringe benefit.”
August 04, 2008
Decorators interested in expanding their business or replacing old equipment can rejoice in the new round of government incentives designed to help small business owners.
Earlier this year, Congress passed, and the President signed, the Economic Stimulus Package of 2008, a $168 billion economic “rescue” package that included rebates for taxpayers and tax breaks for businesses. In addition to those tax rebates, the heart of the package, there also were tax breaks for businesses such as decorated apparel operations — breaks retroactive to the beginning of 2008!
July 21, 2008
Recognizing the source of cash flow problems in your screen printing or embroidery business is one thing, doing something about them is another. Here's how.
In Part I, "Cash Flow Blues," we looked at how screen printing and embroidery businesses get into cash flow ruts and introduced you to the evil Cash Flow Monster. Now we'll explore eight specific steps to learn how to gain the favor and blessings of the Positive Cash Flow (PCF) Fairy.
July 07, 2008
|
Apparel Decorating Equipment Information That Matters
An apparel decoration business relies on sturdy, well-made equipment to handle the workload of decorating hundreds of articles of clothing a day. Because there is no room for down-time in the apparel decorating business, only the best equipment and methods should be used. Learn all about the best apparel decorating equipment and methods from the industry’s most trusted resource — Impressions.
|
