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Thursday, April 3, 2014

First Things First For Manufacturers

Most business people and #manufacturers in Scottsdale, Arizona and across the country face myriad issues every day just to keep the doors open. Human resources, customer matters, facilities, sales, collections and payroll are just a few of the daily “fun” things businesses deal with. In the process of getting through the day and putting out the fires that have popped up, some business owners lose sight of how to gain ground and move the business forward.

Opportunities and needs are handled like another fire drill and decisions are made without a plan in mind.
What you really need to do is make a prioritized list of long-term needs and work on them in that sequence instead of in a spur-of-the-moment order.

One thing that needs to be first is paying your employees. While this may seem simple, many businesses ignore this matter at their peril. Even if you don’t get paid, your employees must. Several matters become clear when this is a priority. You need to make a profit and collect money for your work. Again, in many businesses, these are not considered important.


I hear a business owners in Arizona talking about increasing sales. Do they have a plan? Probably not. Could they handle the increase if it came? How would they get this additional work? I agree that a business must continue to increase its sales just to stay even but you’ve got to prioritize this and create a plan.

Perhaps you have thought about buying new machines. Again, is there a real need, what would you buy and how would you pay for them are among the serious questions and considerations that must be fleshed out. These are not issues that can be thought about and decided on the fly.

If you are overloaded, consider making your first priority hiring people who can take over some of your tasks. You are not Superman or Superwoman and cannot “leap over tall buildings in a single bound.”

By off-loading some of your more mundane tasks, you’ll have the time to manage the business instead of the business managing you. Whatever matters you think are important, you’ve got to prioritize them and take some time to plan out how you’d achieve each of them.

If you need assistance in helping you achieve your goals or getting your manufacturing company back on track, give my office a call. 

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