My COO would say that I have a bad history when it comes to purchasing inventory. And he would be right. In one of the reports he created upon joining the business last year, he showed 26 “months of supply” for a particular product for which I had had high hopes. I called it “planning for success.” My COO called it “overstock.”
As I look to scale, I’ve become curious again about selling in Costco. But it does raise some questions: Should I knock off my own product with a lower-priced version? What exactly would I have to do to get into Costco? And how would this help or hurt my brand?
I once hired a publicist who got some nibbles from target publications but was never able to close the deal. Eventually, he reluctantly shared with me his back-and-forth emails with those publications, and to my dismay, I saw that his pitches were weak and definitely not worth the $5,000 a month I was paying him.
Early on, Stack learned to see recessions as opportunities, using each one since 1983 to buy assets, shift strategies, and transform the business. And now he's doing it again.
The bet paid off–but not precisely according to plan. Drew Greenblatt, CEO of Marlin Steel, reflects on the economic turmoil of the last few years and the outlook for American small manufacturers.
The pandemic forced my eyes open to see pre-existing conditions that had long hampered the business. Some had to do with fundamental underlying issues like managing cash flow and the supply chain. Some had to do with my leadership.
Liz Reisch Picarazzi will be writing a regular column about her journey building CitiBin.
When Ryan Wilson and TK Petersen set out to raise money to create the Gathering Spot, he got 97 straight noes. Which just proved how badly it was needed.
It is absolutely crucial that the list be kept free of people who are considered simply because they might be hurt or insulted if they were not included. These folks somehow always manage to end up on the board, and they are mostly disastrous.
Have you read our testimonials? At 21 Hats, don't tell you how to run your business. But we do publish news articles, Q&As, webinars, podcasts about what it takes to build a business.
