Top 5 Things Restricting Your Workflow

Top 5 Things Restricting Your Workflow

Let's talk about workflow. I want you to picture in your mind a simple garden hose. It is about fifty feet long. Green. Coiled up on the side of your house or building. It is attached to the structure at the spigot. When you turn…
The Critical Need for Proactive Action

The Critical Need for Proactive Action

How proactive do you think your management team works each day in your business? To me, leadership is all about working to elevate the outcome. Having a "proactive management style" helps diffuse the bombs before they go off. This requires…
Setting, Understanding, and Exceeding Your Limits

Setting, Understanding, and Exceeding Your Limits

Do you know your limits? You know, the outside edge of what is possible. People push their limits all the time. Weightlifters want to know the heaviest they can lift. Teenagers want to challenge their parent's authority. Fighter airplane…
Man stuck leaning in a doorway.

Are You Stuck?

Are you stuck? It is natural to feel that you aren't making any progress as a shop owner. A common theme with entrepreneurs everywhere is exhaustion, as you are giving every ounce of energy you have trying to keep the train on the tracks.…
...but it's cheaper

...but it's cheaper

"Then the discussion turned to the reason why they went somewhere else was that it was cheaper." This was a statement made by one of the Shirt Lab Tribe members during a recent open Q&A call for the group. A customer decided that even…
The Magic of CBE: Career Best Effort

The Magic of CBE: Career Best Effort

Today I want to share an idea that I just bumped into...Career Best Effort or CBE for short. Lately, I've been working with methods of gathering, using, and visualizing production data to help shops make better decisions. That's the fun…