By Dan Beaulieu, for the 1000th edition of “It’s Only Common Sense” The Long Game of Weekly Truth-Telling One thousand columns. 20 years. The first edition of It’s Only Common Sense was published on September 5, 2005- Twenty years ago the first 10 columns were monthly. But then on July 31st, 2006, the column went […]
Avoid the Comfort Zone: The Dangers of Staying Stagnant in a Changing World
We all love the comfort zone—it’s safe, familiar, and predictable. But in business, staying too comfortable can be your biggest enemy. The world is constantly changing, and if you’re not adapting, you’re falling behind. The comfort zone may feel good, but it’s a dangerous place for any business leader. It’s only common sense: if you […]
Invest in Yourself: The Most Important Resource in Your Business is You
Most Saturdays I take the time to invest in myself. It’s kind of like a personal webinar day. I usually have a couple of books I’ve saved for the day. There are times when I go and watch some videos that are germane to the topics I am studying that day. I will take a […]
Why You Need to Learn to Say No
Why is it so hard to say “No”? I must admit that this is a problem I deal with all the time. I am a people pleaser, many of us, nay most of us are people pleasers, we like to say yes, we like to try to help people, especially when they are offering something […]
The Power of Consistency
Why Showing Up Every Day is Half the Battle Woody Allen said it best when he said that half of being successful in life is just showing up. It’s being there every day in that tortoise-beats-the-hare kind of way. Consistency is the secret sauce that sets successful companies apart from those that struggle. It’s not […]
Pay Your Bills!
When Will Big Companies Start Paying Their Bills on Time? Okay it’s about time that someone talks about this! Let’s address a truth that PCB and PCBA providers across America know all too well: there’s an alarming and frankly disturbing trend with our customers—especially the larger ones—not paying their bills on time. For the industry’s […]
More Great Business Ideas From Breaking Bad
Cruising around YouTube the other day I came across a ten- year reunion of the cast of Breaking Bad. What a great show! So I went and found it on one of the streaming channels and started rewatching it. Then it struck me that years ago I had done a column about business ideas from […]
Why Do Customers Buy?
How much time do you spend thinking about this? I mean really studying customers and trying to figure out why they buy in general and why they buy from you? What makes a customer choose one product or supplier over another? What drives that decision? I have found that we often spend so much time […]
Why? Why? Why Are You In Business?
What is your mandate? People can tell you what their company does, they can do that all night long. They can also tell how they do it and yes, they can tell you who they do it for. But they can seldom tell you why? Why do they do it? What is the purpose of […]
Get Ready For Price Increases
Okay you know they are coming. In fact, in many cases, they have already hit. Our PCB and PCBA companies are going to have to raise their prices this year. No, it is not a matter of greed. No, they are not trying to gouge you. No, they are not trying to take advantage of […]