When you work in the party rental business, buying inventory can be kind of a black hole because of how many different things are available, including tents of various sizes and styles and a long list of accessories that go with them. Having inventory on hand is essential for a growing rental company. But what is the right inventory? Avoid the Inven A BETTER WAY T
Life on Earth can be hazardous to the human ear. Although sounds at 85 decibels or more can damage people’s hearing after two hours of exposure, rock concert fans regularly experience 130 decibels, and exploding fireworks may reach 150–175 decibels. However, you wouldn’t need earplugs or noise-canceling headphones to listen for any of those activities in outer space. In fact, the product of any loud sound in outer space is … crickets. How can the rich smorgasbord of sounds we hear on Earth not exist in space? Sound cannot exist in a vacuum. To be heard, sound waves require a source, a medium to travel in, and a receiver. Matter vibrating in oscillations called sound waves allows us to hear sound. The vibrations caused by a jet plane taking off reach 120–140 decibels or more. Those sound waves travel through the medium of air surrounding the plane. If the powerful reverberations of the jet’s massive engines are loud enough, people nearby can hear them and feel the vibrations. The source, the medium, and the receiver work together like a successful defensive play in baseball: The batter (the source) hits a ball, the shortstop (the medium) fields and throws it to first base, and the first baseman (the receiver) catches the ball to complete the play. The play never happens if the shortstop (the medium) isn’t there! In space, the medium is the missing shortstop. Interplanetary space consists of nothingness, lacking the air, gas, or water to serve as a medium through which sound waves can travel. So, when a person or machine emits a sound in outer space, the waves dissipate. A meteor plummeting toward Earth would not make a sound passing through the solar system. But as soon as it entered our planet’s atmosphere, which serves as a medium, we would hear any sound the meteor makes here on Earth. So, if you are ever fortunate enough to orbit the Earth on a space flight or visit the International Space Station, you can feast on dazzling views of Earth outside your window, and the thin blue line of its atmosphere blanketing the planet. But beyond your crewmates’ chatter and the sound of the spacecraft’s own engines, you will hear only a vast, interplanetary silence. 2 THE SCIENCE BEHIND A UNIVERSE WITHOUT SOUND Silent Space
With over 30 years in the industry, I’ve spent plenty of time on both sides of the trade show table. At a show, it’s easy to
look at something and think, “That item will pay for itself after just two rentals.” And it sounds logical. If you buy a tent for $2,000 and rent it for $1,000, it’s paid for itself after two uses, right? Not quite.
You have to look beyond the sales side and focus on profit. What does that tent actually earn
each time it goes out? You might rent it for $1,000, but various things eat into that, including labor, fuel, and storage. Account for those things, and you could be looking at $700 in costs. So, you’ve really earned $300, and it will actually take six or seven rentals to earn back what you paid.
If you’re not thinking about the profit of each rental,
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