Challenge #1: Jump Starting a small business - The Trade Show

 

Challenge: A newly formed small start-up business with a minimal track record and almost no exposure. A “no cost” opportunity arose to have a “booth” at a vendor show totally unrelated to the business, with both local and out of town people attending. The question was: how to get the most out of the vender show?

 

Solution: One of the keys to success in exhibiting at a vendor/trade show is to know specifically what you want to come away with after the event. This a high-tech related company at a food and art show. The business owner set several goals. She teaches classes and wanted at least 10 sign-ups at the show. (Sales) Repair, configuration and update jobs are the other part of her business. She wanted to have at least 30 people leave contact information so she could contact them after the show and talk specifically about jobs or classes. (Leads) She wanted to get at least one job she could do the following week, as a result of the show. (Immediate Income)

 

In line with these specific goals, she printed a banner to ID the business, simple and to the point. She printed up a class schedule, with dates and prices – and had a sign-up sheet right there. To generate leads a “free” drawing and a sign-up for her monthly newsletter were available. She had her web-site open in the exhibit. She stood up and smiled and talked to every one of the over 9,000 visitors that she possibly could. Her results jump started her business because of all her hard work.

 

Results:

• ·         (Sales) 15 people signed up for the classes. (150% of her goal.) (Plus several leads about classes or requests for classes other than what she was immediately offering.)
• ·         (Leads) More than the 30 she was hoping for. (Over 100% of her goal.) (In talking to her four days after the show – she had already closed on five jobs as a result.)
• ·         (Immediate Income) – one job got scheduled for a couple of days after the show.
• ·         In addition, she found a local business that volunteered to be a lead generator for her and that paid off with another job almost immediately.
• ·         In the two weeks following the show she had multiple jobs nearly every business day.

 

Conclusion: With planning, focused on specific issues and skills Plackett Enterprises can assist you in maximizing results, control costs and bring in more sales, when you exhibit in expo, trade, vendor and festival shows.

 

Challenge #2: Bookselling – No More Inventory

 

A small company’s owner has written two books, and sold them in his seminars over the years. In order to sell them, he has always had several thousand of them printed up, stored, and then packed two or three dozen at a time to take to the seminars. Of course, then he had to bring home the ones that didn’t sell, or promise to mail (more expense) copies to those that bought them after he ran out of copies.

Solutions: One answer to the expenses involved in printing thousands of book copies, storing them, hauling them as you travel, postage etc. --- Publishing on Demand (POD). With the right POD Publisher, he can put his book in a digital format for under $100. The POD site prints the book and ships the book as it is ordered. No inventory expense.

 

An additional bonus, these books can be listed and available at Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble stores. Remember you still need to sell the book; they wonÕt sell it for you. But you can refer them to a bookstore if you want to do that.

 

In this example the cost per book, after the initial $100, is less that $3 per book. Digital printing (POD) greatly minimizes costs and increases profits.

 

Results:Over the last few months, he produced a 'store' on his website, which the delivery of sales easier. He can refer people to his website, and they can order the book directly. This solution is easy to do, inexpensive to maintain, and can create net profit cash with a minimum of on-going effort.

 

Conclusion: New technology solutions are often available to help you reduce time and dollar expenses. Plackett Enterprises can help you identify the ones best suited to your challenges.

 

 

Challenge #3: 3 Seconds = $2,000,000 in Savings!

In this company's manufacturing process, they were convinced that they could find no way to create the savings (and subsequent increase in profit) they knew was available to them in the process. The machines could handle a faster process. The resources were available, and the workforce one of the best in the area.

 

Solutions:

We delivered a company wide training program that focused on combining leadership, management and hourly workers as a real team. The second focus, as a team, was to find solutions and work through them with a specific set of end results in mind. If the solutions fit the end result, then they were brought forward. If not, while still being valued, then those went into a 'let's consider these later' category.

Results: Within weeks of the end of the training, they found those 3 seconds of process saving and found they could deliver it in several ways. This plant became one of the most profitable in their ownership group.

 

Conclusion: Focusing an organization on a specific end result, where each person is treated as valued can provide stunningly important results. Plackett Enterprises can help you achieve these kinds of results too.

 

Challenge #4: Oldie Goldie's

I was introduced to this group with the following, "This is the oldest work group we have in the system, working with the oldest equipment of any shop we have. These workers have been told that if it doesn't get better, we'll close it down."

Solution

I got leadership to get specific about what success looked like to them. What does 'better' really look like in their shop? I got together with management to make sure the equipment could produce these results, and what they saw as the problems. We delivered a shop wide training series that include leadership, management and workers focusing on the desired end results.

Results: This workforce that averaged 55 years old began producing at a level that hadn't been seen in that shop in fifteen years or more

Conclusion: The roadblocks only matter when the success you want isn't there. Once you focus on what you define as success, and let the rest of the team in on it, and let them see their value in achieving that success, the roadblocks disappear. Plackett Enterprises can help you refine that focus and break through those roadblocks.

 

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