What's Next?

We had an earthquake.

We had a hurricane.

What could possibly be next?  Here are some options on the next one-in-a-million events that may hit us on the East Coast:

• Congress could agree on something significant.
• The glass industry will rebound because Donald Trump declares Buy American on all projects.
• One solitary Republican will say something nice about President Obama.
• All tempered glass will be delivered on time on September 1, 2011.
• One lonely Democrat will say something nice about Michele Bachmann.
• In the month of September, 2011, no glass fabricators will go out of business, be merged, or change their name.
• The Mets will play above .500 ball for September
• You won't receive a single IG unit with a sticker inside during September

So, just when you think something can't happen, it may.  Be ready for anything in your business.  Remember when you said you didn't want to do board-up work anymore?  

Never say never.  What goes around comes around.  The sun will be shining tomorrow. And it is time for me to go do something productive. 

The Solution That Will Work For Every Glass Shop

So, this past week was not a good one in terms of the US economy.  We are all thinking, "What's next?"  I hereby offer every glass shop the answer to increasing sales and making millions.  Honest.  This Will Work!  Don't you trust me?

I am sitting at my desk working on a project for a consulting customer, and need to print a 28 page document.  Hit the print button, 19 pages come out, and the printer stops.  Look at the display panel, it says insert a black cartridge to continue printing.  I do that, and the wondrous little Hewlitt Packard (HP) printer continues to spit out paper.  And the light bulb clicks on over my head.

The printer cost me $199, four years ago and has worked flawlessly.  On the back of the scratch pad, I figure I have spent over $1100 on ink and $300 on paper in the four years.  HP is a firm of geniuses.  Sell the printer cheap, make a fortune on the ink.

So here is what every glass shop should do.  Drop the price on every piece of glass you sell.  Flat glass or auto.  Just about give it away.  But, tell the customer that they must clean this glass with your brand of glass cleaner and paper towel.  Otherwise, the glass won't work properly, if at all.

You are now out of the glass business, you are in the cleaning supplies business for glass.  You'll have to build a drive-through window just to sell glass cleaner and paper towels.  You will be shipping cleaner and towels everywhere.  Price won't matter.  Charge what you want for the paper towels, because your customers will have to buy from you or their glass won't work!

HP's sales last year were about $133 Billion.  It may take you a couple of years to get to that level of sales of cleaner and towels, so start quickly.  You trust me, don't you?

What Would You Do With $228.9 Million?

This is more than pocket change.  Its even enough to cover the increasing cost of gasoline for at least a couple of years.  This was the amount won in the Powerball lottery last week.  By one person.  I called him the other day, and offered myself up for adoption, telling him I was eight years old and homeless, with a big dog named Molly protecting me.  When I sent him my picture I hoped he wouldn't notice my gray hair and beard.  He offered to adopt Molly.

So, you own a glass shop and considering the times, you make a living.  A fair living, but certainly not fantastic.  What would you do with $228.9 million?

Would you keep working?  Would you give up your business?  Would you invest in the business?  Your chances of the millions are remote.  But what would you do?

Do you plan for the future years of your life.  If you don't, shame on you.  I have seen so many people keep on working because they don't know how to slow down.  Then they work themselves to death.  Start planning your exit from the business world by the time you are forty.  It may be ten years out, or twenty, it doesn't matter.  Run your business with this in mind.  Look at potential hires as possibilities to run your business, or maybe buy it down the road.

Do you run your business by making all the decisions?  Or do you train your staff to make decisions in your absence?  Once you leave the business, will it be able to stay afloat without your input?  Now you are probably not going to win the lottery, but you may break a leg and be away from work for a month.  Will your business be viable without you watching every thing?  If not, start giving responsibilities to others.  Get rid of all of your repetitive duties, except signing checks, letting people learn from you now, before that leg is in a cast.

Get some hobbies now.  Start picking up an occasional book that you would like to read.  Give yourself some emotional releases from work.  You will feel better about work and yourself if you allow yourself a little relaxation.  Set certain times of certain days that your phone is turned off.  If the problems at business do not involve someone being injured, or something that will cause legal issues, the call can wait an hour while you are at your child's little league game or visiting an old friend.

Think of all the taxes you would have to pay if you won the big lottery.  And all the people like me bothering you.  You are better off without $228.9 million. Sure.

Is Memory The First Thing To Go?

I can still find my keys.  When we moved to New Hampshire, it only took me a month to remember our new phone number--and I still know it!  I remember most of the players' names on the NY Mets, but lately, I need to look up the batting averages of the old timers.  I run into people who say "hi" to me, and I don't have the faintest clue who they are. 

I am sure that when I got my AARP card there was a secret powder dusted on it that effected memory.  My card must have had an extra dose.

Last week I wrote a column about adding color to glass.  I remember it--honest.  After doing some research the column came out OK.  But then I got the email.  It scared me.  The email was from a man who said he knew me, and why hadn't I mentioned his very colorful product in my column?  At first I thought it was spam, someone trying to link my blog site to their site selling rainbows in a jar.  But then, after a minute, it hit.  I did know this gentleman.  He mentioned we had met at the Northeast Glass Show in March, only five months ago.  And I had totally forgotten.  And he had a great product!

I asked my wife Elaine, if I was more forgetful, and she said, "No more than usual".  I shivered at that response.

Then I remembered the incident last week.  I couldn't find my car in a parking lot. I bought a new car a couple of weeks ago, and was looking for my old Chevy, which was traded in. 

Back to business. Here is the letter I received:

Paul,

Personally I am worried about you. How's your memory?

You stopped by the Custom Glass Machinery booth at the Glass Expo Northeast and we spoke at length about Dip-Tech digital ceramic frit printing. I even gave you a place to sit and rest while we did so. Now you blog about color, but alas no mention of digital frit printing which can be found at 8 fabricators in North America.

"No respect no respect" as Rodney Dangerfield used to say. Gee, hopefully this provocation has jarred your memory banks back into action. Take care my dear colleague.

Sincerely,

Matthew Tangeman
Agent for Dip-tech 

The only thing that makes me feel better is that Matthew forgot to put his company's web site in his note.  And I remember him as a young guy, too.  Take a look at: dip-tech.com.  They have a very interesting process. 

Add Some Color To Your Glass Business

Business stinks.  The economy is in the toilet.  The only people that walk into your showroom are the sales forces from the metal and glass fabrication folks.  So, what's a boy to do?  Add some color to your life!  Could it be the blue and orange of my NY Mets? Nah.  Could it be the red and white of a candy cane?  That's silly.  Why of course...the answer is for you to add some color to your laminated and float glass sales!

There is some plain vanilla work out there.  But plain vanilla doesn't create big bucks.  You can only sell on price, and that is a sure way to loose money.

Add some color to your work.  A customer who wants to renovate a kitchen or a bathroom, and may be shopping prices, will be super-excited when you show them a red back splash or a sandblasted shower door.  You have to sell color.  Orders won't come to you because the first person to suggest it, usually gets the order.  After all, the customer has gone to three shops, and finally sees something that is special.  They'll reward the glass shop that has the creative stones to be different!

Spiff up your showroom with color.  Call you lami supplier and get samples of Solutia's Vanceva line.  This product can make any color in the rainbow, translucent or opaque, and it has all of the great qualities of lami.  Here is the link:   http://www.saflex.com/en/Vanceva.aspx.  Ask your supplier about Dupont's graphical lami for that special one-up custom piece that you can make a killing on.
Here is that link:  http://www2.dupont.com/SafetyGlass/en_US/products/sentryglas-expressions.html.  A lot of distributors are stocking back painted glass from Gardner Glass' Dreamwalls collection.  This is an easy to use, full color sheet with many applications.  Their link is:  http://dreamwallscolorglass.com/.  ICD creates paints for spandrel and annealed applications that can be used to inexpensively create one-up specail colors on glass.  Their brand name is Opaci-Coat and the link is: http://www.icdcoatings.com/.  Walker Glass has done a great job with their Textures line of acid-etch products.  In our industry, color strongly includes shades of acid etching, and patterns.  Their link is: http://www.walker-glass.com/.

You have to work to sell color.  Every sales quote should have an alternate to improve the design of the job, and color is the key.  Great design will draw customers into your customer's storefront.  Color will improve any kitchen or bathroom.  Now, start selling color.  It makes glass unique in the building trades.  Let every architect and GC know that you think outside the box and can help them to help their customers.  You will make a few bucks more.  And that is what we are here for.

(Full Disclosure--I own a very small amount of shares in Solutia)

Rupert Murdoch Taught Me An Important Lesson Last Week

He sure did.  And I was surprised that I could learn from Mr. Murdoch.  After all, I am a small businessman, ran a company with 250 employees, do a little consulting and writing now, and was nowhere in his multi-billion dollar league.  So, I want to share with you what Mr. Murdoch taught me.

First, a little background.  There are two results of learning by observing others.  One way is that you observe someone doing something well; you take the same steps in your company, and lo and behold, your company is now doing something well.  The other is to observe someone purposely stepping into a deep mud puddle, and saying to yourself, I should not follow in his footsteps.

To me, Mr. Murdoch stepped into the mud puddle relating to the telephone hacking scandal in Great Britain. 

A British Member of Parliament asked, "Was he ultimately responsible for this criminal enterprise at his British Operation?"  "No", he replied, "I hold responsible the people that I trusted to run it and the people they trusted."

Now, Mr. Murdoch is the Chairman of the Board and CEO of News Corp, which owned the newspapers involved.  His family owns controlling interest in this multi-billion dollar company.  Last time I went to school, I learned that the person in charge is responsible for everything.  President Harry S. Truman said it best with a sign on his desk, "The Buck Stops Here".  You make the big bucks, you sign everyone else's paycheck, you are responsible.

The surest route to ruining any organization is to not accept responsibility and to blame those under you.  No employees will take risks after that.  No one will respect you after that.  No one will be eager to gain a promotion after that.  No one will want to work for you after that.

A leader cannot side-step around taking responsibility.  That is one of the very definitions of leadership.  When you run your glass shop, or any business for that matter, you can be disappointed in an employee who makes a mistake; you can teach them, or ultimately you can fire them.  But that does not take the place of accepting responsibility for every action that takes place in your organization.

Not that I ever would have wanted a job in Mr. Murdoch's vast empire, but after his comments, I won't even bother sending my resume.

How Granite State Glass Is Fighting The Recession

I have a friend, Malcolm, who is an architect in Keene, NH, the closest city to where I live.  He invited me to a 'lunch and learn' session at a local general contractor where the subject was Doors and Windows.  He thought it would be of interest to me.  He was right.  I came away with knowledge, but what I gained most will help every glass shop and contractor in the country.

The program was taught by two representatives of JELD-WEN windows, and they really knew their stuff.  They kept the program clear of advertising and self promotion, teaching about different kinds of windows and doors.  There were twelve estimators from the GC at lunch, and they knew who was doing the teaching.  In fact, they were more impressed with JELD-WEN for being neutral and not taking advantage of the situation.

But the real winner, from a business point-of-view was Granite State Glass, the leading glazing contractor in New Hampshire, with eight locations in New Hampshire and one in Vermont.  They were the ones that set up the program and recruited JELD-WEN to do the teaching.  Two senior members of Granite State's marketing team were there, but in the background.  They introduced the speakers from the window company, and at the end, thanked everyone for coming.  They also offered each person there a binder with ad sheets on some of their specialty products.  It was just a perfect undersell.

Granite State didn't wait for some business to come knocking on their door.  They created an image of knowledge and competency in the estimating crew of the largest GC in our region.  Talk about hitting a home run!

You can do the same.  Every major vendor you deal with will be glad to send in an educational team for a presentation like this.  Whether it comes from the aluminum sector, a glass fabricator or floater, or fenestration suppliers, there is a tremendous amount of knowledge out there that your customers would be eager to learn.  This didn't cost Granite State a ton of money.  They had a box lunch for a dozen people, and their invested time.

Line up your vendor(s) of choice...people who have a story to tell about new energyy-savings products, decorative products or safety for building occupants.  These are all hot topics right now.  If your vendors are certified by the AIA to offer Continuing Education Units, which will be important to the GC's and the architects, this will help.

The work you have to do is to prepare your own marketing materials.  Now you don't have to create new stuff.  Use the brochures from your key suppliers, and place them in a three ring notebook with a sticker from your company on the cover.

Don't skimp on the lunch.  The difference between a $6 lunch and a $10 lunch is a good will bonanza.

Granite State, as far as I saw, didn't get any work that day.  But the impression they left of professionalism and knowledge about glazing and glazing products will get them work in the future.  You can do this too.