The Economy

Some business inspiration

Those who know me can tell you without hesitation that my favorite reality TV show is “The Biggest Loser.” This show is inspirational on many levels, but I’m most inspired by the fact that the trainers, Bob and Jillian, give people hope. It sounds corny, but it reminds me that no matter how big the [...]

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Lessons learned in 2009

We’ve all heard it before: in 2009 the economy had a big impact on the promotional products industry. And although the industry as a whole took a hit, individual businesses experienced the recession differently. Some people sank, losing up to 50% of their business. Some treaded water, surviving but not thriving. And some people swam, [...]

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A Prescription to Avoid the Death Spiral

Change is a frightening word, especially for businesses, and especially when the economic reality is dismal. But sometimes change is the only way to prevent an inevitable slow decline in your business–the proverbial death spiral. Sometimes you have to do something drastic to stop it in its tracks.
I’ve written about the death spiral as it [...]

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A Business Planning Experiment

A vision is a clearly-articulated, results-oriented picture of a future you intend to create.” – Jesse Stoner Zemel
At Boundless, I have recently began an experiment with five of our top professionals. My objective is to design a foolproof recipe that can make any professional successful. I am modeling this plan after many [...]

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The Digital Generation

Seth Godin wrote a blog the other day called “From Sixty to Zero” that talked about how to prepare your business for hitting the brakes in tough times. He asks, “how would you manage or market differently if you knew that you had to hit the brakes, and hard?” I thought this was a great [...]

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Innovation in Short Supply

This article by Pascal Levensohn struck so many cords with me that I was compelled to share. As a pro-business, entrepreneurial business owner, I too am disturbed about the emerging trends in our macro economy.

I pride myself on being politically “agnostic”—I’m not in the corner of any political party. In a recent political conversation with my co-founder Henrik Johansson, I said that I could care less if our leaders are Democrats or Republicans, as long as they want to get back to the fundamentals that made our country great. Greatness comes off of the backs of hardworking Americans that are innovative, entrepreneurial and take risks. These are the people that will put people to work.

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2008 vs 2009 Budgets

One thought that has been circulating in my pea brain the past few months centers on the budget cycle of companies that typically takes place in Q4.
Are you, as a promotional products professional, planning 2009 based on your clients’ 2008 budgets?
This time last year (Q4 of 2007) companies broke into their respective management teams [...]

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The New Economy

Last week I sent an e-mail to top professionals in our industry about the looming recession and its effects on the promotional products world. I invited them to join me in a conversation about what I call the “New Economy.”
Not surprisingly, the response has been overwhelming. Hundreds of folks have already signed up to be [...]

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Surviving the “R” Word

I am going to write a couple of blogs on the stress that is being placed on distributors, sales professionals and end customers.I want to inject a little reality into our current situation. I truly want all folks to be successful (with or without Boundless Network).
Hopefully some of the topics will create a sense of [...]

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Politics and Promotional Products

I have to admit: I am enamored with this political season. I love the gamesmanship of the candidates, watching the debates and arguing (soft debating) with my friends and co-workers. Candidly, I don’t have a dog in this year’s presidential race, as it’s my personal opinion that neither of the candidates are very good and that the entire system is broken and quasi corrupt. I won’t go into more detail for now, but if you see me at a show and you want to talk politics, we can rant and rave about the election with a couple of cold ones.
As I lay awake in bed last night at 3 a.m., my sleep-deprived brain started taking the race in some interesting directions. I began to wonder: if I was putting together a company and could only hire prominent members of the political arena, who would I pick, and for which roles? And, most importantly, would they survive in my company?

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