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IF IT’S BROKE, FIX IT! THE IMPORTANCE OF PROCESS REFINEMENT
For the last few months, the team at Teeco Solutions has been busy working to ensure every employee is on board with our company values and goals. Our mission has been to get everyone marching to the same tune. The idea behind this philosophy is that if we are all on the same page, we have a better chance of success and can get a lot more done.
who is responsible for each step. Once our processes are mapped, it’s easy to see where we have gaps and holes. From there, we are able to come up with ways to fill those gaps, guaranteeing the process will flow smoothly and efficiently. Once a process has been changed, it’s up to the leadership to relay the information to their teams. They make sure everyone understands how the process is supposed to work and the ways in which we fixed the holes.
“As we continue to redefine our processes, we improve our efficiency and our relationships with vendors and customers.”
A process of organization has to exist in a business. By reevaluating, making changes where necessary, and implementing new processes, we have experienced many additional unexpected benefits. There’s an old saying: “If you want to go fast, go by yourself. But if you want to go far, go with others.” I think about that saying often, and even more so since we’ve been evaluating our processes. It is true — you go much further when you have everybody working together, aiming for the same goal. At the beginning of my career, it was hard to grasp that concept because I wanted to grow as fast as I could with as few people as possible.
One of the most valuable things this expert has taught us is to welcome change. Sometimes it’s hard to get away from things we’ve been doing for many years. But if the process doesn’t work, we have to let it go. Once we scrap an old process, it’s much easier to build a new and better-functioning process. I’ll admit, the first time we scrapped a process, it was hard not to let my feelings get in the way. But once we all understood it was for the betterment of the company, we were on board.
Not only have our new processes been transformational for us as a company, they’ve
However, as I grew and learned more about business, that desire changed. I’ve put together a great team over the years and learned that people are assets, not hindrances. Today, we constantly want to get better at what we do, and processes are a big part of improvement. Recently, I hired an expert to help us get better by evaluating how we operate and making changes where we needed them. With this expert, we often sit down and talk about our systems, the reasons why they were in place, and the ways we could improve them. Sometimes, we even found we could do away with a process altogether.
also had a positive impact on our vendors. Once we included our vendors in our processes, we saw a major decrease in errors and miscommunication. Orders that used to take days to process now take a day or less. Teeco Solutions is committed to excellence, and our new processes have been game changers. As we continue to redefine our processes, we improve our efficiency and our relationships with vendors and customers. As a business owner, I highly suggest you take a long, hard look at your own processes. Who knows? You may end up making many changes for the better.
With this expert’s help, we’ve learned how to properly map out our processes. This means considering every action involved and
–Steve Arendt
Contact Us • info@teecosolutions.com • 877-712-9172 • 1
Published by The Newsletter Pro • www.NewsletterPro.com
TIPS FOR SMALL BUSINESSES
ACCOUNT FOR FLUCTUATIONS Even if you don’t sell Christmas trees or pool toys, your business probably has a sales cycle. Assuming that your revenue and spending will be consistent throughout the year sets you up for failure. While making your budget, be sure to consider when you expect an off-season. This will allow you to focus on marketing efforts in your downtime and keep profits coming in when you need them most. Similarly, you should limit unnecessary spending during the months when you expect revenue to be down. REALISTIC PROJECTIONS Too many companies look at the future with rose-tinted glasses. “You never want to be in a position where you’re spending more than you have coming in,” says Annie Scranton, owner of Pace Public Relations. How do you end up in this quagmire? There’s no surer way than projecting huge growth without the data to back it up. Your sales forecast needs to be realistic, if not a little lean. After all, 20 percent extra in revenue is a bonus, but 20 percent under can be a catastrophe. When a disgruntled client goes off on your star employee, there are few better cures than the attention of a friendly dog or cat. Not only that, but pets can serve as conversation starters. They even foster trust between teams, as reported in a 2010 study from Central Michigan University. A common gripe among managers is that, though regular breaks have been empirically proven to increase worker productivity and health, too many employees simply skip them to keep working. Allowing office dogs gives your worn-out employees a valid excuse to take a quick walk. If the increased happiness of your team still isn’t enough to convince you, you might want to consider your customers. A potential client or customer’s interest is piqued when they see a dog ambling around your office. It’s just one more way you can connect with them, and the presence of an animal lends your company a relaxed and personable atmosphere. Pets in the office might seem a little millennial, but even a cursory glance at the research reveals it’s worth mulling over. Although, you might want to stick to dogs and cats — we’re not sure an office snake would be received quite as well.
As you begin the year, you’re probably developing a new budget for your business. No matter how much you sell, there’s no quicker path to a cash shortage than bad budgeting. Victor Butcher, head of Butcher Financial Services, says a well-prepared budget serves as a road map for companies. “You need the road map to understand where you’re going with your business,” he says. With that in mind, here are a few tips to ensure you make the most accurate budget possible for 2018. DON’T UNDERESTIMATE EXPENSES Whether you’re talking about internal projects, marketing initiatives, or client services, you should always assume you’ll encounter unexpected costs. If you don’t leave wiggle room in your budget, you’ll have to borrow cash allocated to other endeavors. “Every project seems to have an extra cost that was never anticipated,” notes Shufflrr CEO James Ontra. It’s much better to budget for these speed bumps than run out of gas before you reach the finish line
The modern office has changed. Gone are the days of musty cubicle wastelands and domineering bosses. In their stead, we have in-office mixers and peppy startup cultures. In fact, 20 percent of American companies either allow employees to bring in their pets or adopt a furry friend of their own, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association. If you’re on the fence about whether to let a literal animal into your workplace, you should know the data firmly supports it. In 2012, Virginia Commonwealth University found that employees who brought their dogs to work showed reduced levels of cortisol, a hormone commonly associated with heightened stress levels. The Centers for Disease Control has also released several
studies that show the connections between pet contact, lowered cholesterol and blood pressure, and heightened happiness — all of which would benefit no place more than the office.
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How the Extractor Came to Be …
The Extractor Stake Puller is a new hydraulic puller designed by guys who work in the tent industry.
YOUR BUDGET ISN’T ONE AND DONE So, you’ve finished a budget, but that doesn’t mean it will never change. At the very least, you should review your planning on a quarterly basis. Change is the only constant in the business world, and adaptability based on profit patterns is a key component of budgeting success.
TEECO’S TIPS
MIKE HESS
Stop Doing and Start Thinking! Downtime is the perfect time to take a good, hard look at your overall operations — you know, really think about your methods and systems. When things get crazy busy during the season, are you a well- oiled machine or are you barely keeping up? Or worse, are you constantly falling behind? If you don’t know what activities in your business are most profitable for you, you might be doing the same wrong thing over and over again and not producing the profits you need. You must stop doing. Instead, you must measure progress, you must look at your numbers, you must analyze, and you must study ways to have the most profitable plan moving forward. You must set goals. If you’re completely lost in this, there are plenty of advisors out there who can help you. Otherwise, if we don’t stop and think, we don’t know what we don’t know and we’ll consistently think that we’re growing the business while we’re actually doing all the wrong things. As a result, the business is not growing nearly as productively or as profitably as it potentially could. So, stop, think, evaluate, track, and assess. Work on your business while you have this downtime. It’ll make a huge difference when your back to working in your business!
Mike Hess, owner, started Hess Tent Rental LLC in 2008 after working in the rental industry since 2001. Continuing to be involved in the day-to-day functions of HTR, he grew frustrated by his personal experiences with pulling stakes, which led him to develop and market a new hydraulic stake puller. The Extractor is compact with a detachable cylinder that can easily reach into tight areas. With 9,000 pounds of pulling power, this unit pulls stakes out of any surface in under four seconds. For more information and video footage, visit extractorstakepuller.com or call 717-665-0138.
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www.TeecoSolutions.com Toll Free 877-712-9172 info@teecosolutions.com
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Offering the best in tent washing & drying machines
PAGE 1 Poor Processes Hinder Success
PAGE 2 Don’t Make a Budget Blunder
The Boons of a Pet-Friendly Workplace
PAGE 3 Teeco Tips: Stop Doing and Start Thinking!
Vendor of the Month
PAGE 4 How Saying No Improves Your Life
DEATH OF THE PEOPLE-PLEASER: HOW SAYING NO IMPROVES YOUR LIFE
SUGGEST A DIFFERENT ROUTE. Whenever possible, give the person asking for your time an alternative. If you can’t help them this time, but know someone who could, give them the contact information. If you aren’t available today but would gladly help tomorrow, ask them if they wouldn’t mind postponing the task. This will show that you care without agreeing to something you simply can’t do. It’s not always easy to say no, especially if you’re a people-pleaser. But having the power to manage your time — even when it might put someone in a tough situation — is essential to staying healthy and productive for the things that matter most. NO!
For modern professionals, and especially for professionals with family to care for, going above and beyond is expected. But if you say yes to every demand, consider learning the impact of a simple no. Having too much on your plate can not only be exhausting, but also bad for your health. We all know how the body
reacts to stress, so why add to it unnecessarily? If you want to reduce stress, be more productive, and build the wherewithal to politely decline in the future, you can remember a few tricks for remembering to say no the next time a demand gets you down. BE REALISTIC. If you don’t have the time to spare, don’t pretend you do. Additionally, if taking on the extra task will infringe on time with your kids or cause you additional stress, remember that it’s okay to prioritize and say no. Your family and your health should always come first.
DON’T OVEREXPLAIN. Giving a ton of excuses as to why you can’t do what was asked of you is
not only optional — it’s unnecessary. To teach people in your life to respect your time constraints, give them a firm no without the fluff. They’ll appreciate your honesty.
4 • Cleaner Tents For Maximum Profit • Teeco Solutions
Published by The Newsletter Pro • www.NewsletterPro.com
OUR CLIENTS SAY IT BEST!
“We use to clean our tents by hand thought Teeco 3000 washer. One of the best invest made them look brand new. It was like a fo savings and quality improvement in my opin turnaround time, to get the tents back up in
“BUYING OUR FIRST MACHINE WAS A BIG DECISION FOR OUR COMPANY. AFTER LEARNING ABOUT SO MANY DIFFERENT CLEANING STYLES BEING USED IN OUR INDUSTRY, WE DEFINITELY MADE THE RIGHT MOVE. OUR MACHINE NOT ONLY DOES A BETTER JOB, BUT DOES THE WORK OF TWO FULL-TIME STAFF AND SHOWS UP FOR WORK EVERY DAY.”
“ w O pi
“OWNING A TEECO TENT WASHING MACHINE WAS THE BEST DECISION I COULD HAVE MADE. OPERATING A RENTAL COMPANY WITHOUT THIS PIECE OF EQUIPMENT WOULD BE THE SAME AS NOT USING TWO-WHEEL DOLLIES, CHAIR DOLLIES, PALLET JACKS, ETC. THE INITIAL COST CERTAINLY CAUSED ME TO MOVE SLOWLY, BUT SO DID THE CLOCK AS THE CREW WORKED TO HAND-WASH. THE COST CAN BE JUSTIFIED; AUTOMATING YOUR TENT WASHING IS THE RIGHT DIRECTION TO FOLLOW. ONE BENEFIT IS THAT IT DOES GIVE YOU A COMPETITIVE EDGE.”
a d c s
h a di d
“We use to clean our tents by hand t Teeco 3000 washer. One of the bes made them look brand new. It was li savings and quality improvement in turnaround time, to get the tents bac
“WE USED TO CLEAN OUR TENTS BY HAND. WE THOUGHT WE DID A GREAT JOB UNTIL WE BOUGHT A TEECO 3000 WASHER — ONE OF THE BEST INVESTMENTS EVER. IT TOOK OUR OLD TOPS AND MADE THEM LOOK BRAND- NEW. IT WAS LIKE A FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH FOR US. HUGE LABOR SAVINGS AND QUALITY IMPROVEMENT IN MY OPINION. THE BEST THING FOR US IS TURNAROUND TIME TO GET THE TENTS BACK UP IN THE AIR.”
Deep down, you know the irate caller will probably not be a repeat customer because you’ve seen it happen before. And it gets worse — it’s a proven fact that, on average, a customer will tell 10 of their friends about their bad experience. Maybe you send someone out to clean the tent and make the customer happy, but the sting of the phone
The key to success is to never let a dirty top leave your building. You may be a bit skeptical that this can be accomplished. But we know it’s possible, and for $8,500 we will be your partner in guaranteed success. Most tent rental companies are faced with a myriad of costs to keep their tent tops clean. Throughout the year, you must pay people to scrub them. After a rainy weekend, it always costs a little more to get everything
clean in time for the next weekend. Returning to a customer’s site to clean a top is never a pleasant cost to incur. The cost of not having a washing machine is easily more than $8,500 a year. Additionally, try the machine for up to 3 years. If you find you need a larger machine, trade it in for what you originally paid.
Mighty Mini owner since 2010
call — and the potential fallout — lingers. Secretly, you know this will not be the last time a customer complains about a dirty tent top. Most tent rental business owners have had this feeling at one time or another. We started a tent rental company in 1997 and within two years we were faced with the same reality. Then one day we made a vow to never offer a customer a dirty tent again. Since that day, over 250 tent rental companies across the world have used the tent washing machines we developed to eliminate the hassles of dirty tents in their business.
“One wash made this tent top from 2002 look as good as the tent top from 2016.” –DAVID DECUBER OF PARTY REFLECTIONS
A SPECIAL PARTNERSHIP
We are offering you a special partnership opportunity to get started with the Mighty Mini tent washing machine. Just plug it in, attach two hoses, and start washing. Included is a hot water heater and enough detergent to wash over 180,000 square feet of tent tops. Your cost to try this machine for the first year is only $8,500* .
Included: 90-day money-back guarantee and 5-year parts and workmanship warranty.
Done with irate calls? Dirty tents? Having no inventory in the busy season? Do what over 250 companies across the world have done and partner with someone who can help take some of the pain out of growing your company. Get started now! This offer expires February 5th, 2018.
VISIT WWW.TENTCLEANINGMACHINE.COM TO FIND OUT MORE
*Lease is for qualified customers. Pay only $100 for the first 3 months you own the machine. Then pay $910 per month* for the remaining 9 months. Lease payment based on 57 payments of $910 per month and the first three payments at $100 per month.
“What the machine does that you can’t do by hand is get all the stitching and webbing and strapping glistening white — that’s been a great thing!” –STEVE TRAUBE, TRAUBE TENTS AND STRUCTURES
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