Small Business e-Report

November 15, 2000

Welcome to the ninth issue of the Small Business e-Report, brought to you by INDA, Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry. This is our monthly e-publication designed to provide insight and advice on operating a successful small business in today's nonwovens industry. Enjoy, and let us know what you think.

IN THIS ISSUE …

IDEA 01 AWARDS: ONE LAST CHANCE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES
As we began working on this issue of the INDA Small Business e-Report, we were inundated with submissions for the inaugural IDEA 01 Achievement Awards. It seems like everyone waited until just before the November 15 deadline to get their nominations in for one of the seven IDEA 01 Achievement Awards that will be presented during the opening keynote session of IDEA 01 in Miami Beach, FL March 27, 2001. We'll announce the three finalists in each category early next year.

Because we're so nice and appreciate the contributions our smaller businesses make to the industry, here's a special offer only for readers of the INDA Small Business e-Report: If you missed the initial deadline, we'll extend it until December 1 for submissions in one category only - IDEA 01 Entrepreneur Achievement Award. That's given to the company formed since IDEA 98 that has made the most significant contribution to the global nonwovens industry. Email us at mjacobsen@inda.org TODAY if you have a nomination to make. Note: Companies can nominate themselves. FOUR QUESTIONS EVERY IDEA EXHIBITOR SHOULD ASK ... NOW
Don't look now, but IDEA 01, March 27-29, 2001 in Miami Beach, FL, the largest gathering of the global nonwovens industry of the year, is a little over four months away. Now would be a good time to put the full weight of your massive marketing and trade show machine into motion. Okay, how about if just you and your assistant sit down over lunch and take the necessary steps at this time to make sure you get the most out of your IDEA 01 participation. To jumpstart your effort, ask yourself these four questions:

  1. What will I have that's new at IDEA 01? Everyone is looking for what's new at a trade show - the press, your customers, even your competitors. Tell everyone in advance why it would make sense for them to stop by your booth to see something new at the show.
  2. What's my theme? Your booth at IDEA 01 should coordinate with your advertising and integrated marketing effort for early 2001. You don't have an integrated marketing plan? Then that should lead off your next staff meeting.
  3. What makes me different from the rest? In other words, what will IDEA 01 attendees find at your booth that they can find no where else? Determine your unique selling position, then figure out a way to tell everyone about it (see No. 2 above).
  4. How do I want to be remembered after the show? It's about more than giving out free key chains with your company logo. Do something unique that will set you apart.

More IDEA 01 tips next month. UPON FURTHER REVIEW
Yikes, it's almost the end of the year. Time for the annual bonus, the office Christmas Party and, OH NO!!!, the end-of-the-year performance review. For employees and employers alike, the first two annual events offer their own unique sets of challenges, but it is the latter - the performance review - that really makes both sides sweat. Perhaps because it mandates face-to-face communication among people accustomed to a cursory nod in the lunch room or formal presentation at a meeting, but this anxiety can be overcome by some proper planning ... and the right attitude. Experts offer the following advice for people on both sides looking for a pain-free and, dare we say it, productive and motivating review process:

  1. Schedule the meeting in private. The reviewee's cubicle is not a good place; a closed office works, but is a bit stuffy. How about an informal breakfast meeting?
  2. Don't schedule the meeting too far in advance, or too late. Proper planning allows for both sides to be ready for a fair exchange of ideas, but having the date and time on the calendar two months in advance only increases the anxiety factor.
  3. Have a couple of meetings a year. If you have only one review meeting, and that meeting comes at salary review time, you tend to focus only on pay scale and such. More informal meetings every quarter or so allow for a freer exchange of ideas between people accustomed to speaking with each other.
  4. Write everything down. And not just to cover your posterior. It's a way to review with a memo afterwards what goals were set. That way everyone is clear.
  5. Smile. Unless you know the axe is about to fall - or that there are no raises this year - there's no reason not to be friendly. Tip to employees: Don't offer to share your Dilbert comics with your boss, though.
INDA WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS
The past 12 months have been another record year for membership recruitment. The 13 companies listed below, along with 41 other companies recruited earlier this year, have combined to make a grand total of 54 new member companies recruited in 2000! INDA is pleased to welcome the following companies who have joined the association in the final quarter of 2000:
Air Techniques International
Appleton Paper Mills
Conversion Technologies Int'l.
Glens Falls Interweb, Inc.
Henkel Adhesives
Herman Reeves Sheet Metal, Inc.
Hickory Springs/Inno-Therm Products
Kleissler Company
Matador Converters Co., Ltd.
Milliken Coated Products
Naltex
SRI Consulting
W.G. Steve Company, Inc.
SMALL BUSINSSES NEED TO KEEP AN EYE ON PROPOSED OSHA RULE
Do you have any employees? Do they tend to get injured and like to complain a lot? Then pay attention. In the closing days of the Clinton Administration, a defiant Occupational Safety and Health Administration is reportedly planning an end-run around Congress by publishing a final rule that would force sweeping requirements on employers throughout the country to protect their workers against repetitive strains caused in the workplace. The rule, which has been in the works for more than eight years and is bitterly opposed by business interests, is estimated to cost American industry at least $4.5 billion each year to implement.

It would require virtually every employer in the country to make corrective changes in their workplaces if a single worker develops carpal tunnel syndrome, tendinitis or some other injury that has been related to repetitive stress. As such, it is expected to have a significant impact on hospital, restaurant, grocery, trucking and courier industries, but will also apply to workplaces where employees spend long hours using computers. While several court challenges are planned, the rule is expected to take effect next October. (Information provided by Peter Mayberry, of INDA's Washington, D.C. Office.) WHAT IS YOUR HIRING PHILOSOPHY?
Here's our monthly test of your small business IQ. How would you answer the following question: When hiring people:

  1. I take far too long
  2. I look for the cheapest person
  3. personality is more important than experience
  4. I look for the best person, and am willing to pay
  5. I only hire at the trainee level

Ever hear of the old adage, "You get what you pay for?" Well. if you answered "b" or "e," you're dooming yourself to mediocrity. On the flip side, "d," looking for and hiring the right person, and being willing to pay for that person, gives you the ammunition you need to compete. And don't worry about taking too long ("a"); it's easy to get married, hard to get divorced. DID YOU KNOW ...
About 19% of U.S. companies have on-site fitness centers, 24% subsidize health-club memberships and 40% sponsor employee sports teams. - Society for Human Resources Management. DOING IT BIG
Every month this INDA Small Business e-Report focuses on one "small" company that is doing it "big." This month we take a look at adhesive supplier The Reynolds Company, Greenville, SC. With annual sales within the $30 million range, this company knows that size isn't everything - it's all in how you play the game. President Lex Reynolds lends his insight into a "small company that thinks big."

Key competitive advantage: "Though we are small players among many giants, we never view ourselves as such. We feel very strongly that we have more to offer than most of our larger competitors and our mission is to prove just that."

Setting up a successful future: "It is important that we pick our markets carefully and we try to specialize in areas where it is possible to do so. We have to know our limits and, by the same token, we must know where we can succeed. We must pick areas, markets and customers where we know we have something to offer and where we know we can gain an audience."

Meeting the challenge: "The biggest challenge for us as a small producer is overcoming the wrongly perceived notion among some industry members that only the large manufacturers can offer them the products, quality, cost and service that they need. From this, we have learned to be patient, as sometimes it takes a long time to bring about change and we have learned to understand and accept that you don't always win; all you can do is the best that you can do and move forward."

Any advice: "Be positive, honest, persistent, flexible and patient."

IMPORTANT MEETINGS FOR SMALL NONWOVENS BUSINESSES

THAT'S ALL, FOLKS
That's it for this month. Enjoy you end-of-the-year events, and we'll see you at an industry gathering soon. The INDA Small Business e-Report will come to you again December 15, just in time for your holiday shopping. In the meantime, we would love to hear from you, whether you have a thought you want to share with the hundreds of INDA members reading this newsletter, or if you want to tell others how you are a small company existing in a big world. Just email us at mjacobsen@inda.org and we'll pass it along.

See you in December. Enjoy.

Michael Jacobsen
Editor
INDA Small Business e-Report

If you would like to have your name removed from this e-mail list please respond to Ann Pleasants at apleasants@inda.org. Thanks.

e-News Index

 

© 1997-2010 INDA - All Rights Reserved.