My very first article for TransWorld, which became Market Watch, was on foreign exchange. I guess in some sense we’ve come full circle. But it’s never much fun ending up where you started, so I want to ask your help in keeping Market Watch valuable to you and occasionally controversial. It use to be, when the pace […]
China’s Fixed Exchange Rate; What It Means for Snowboarding Read More »
Well, maybe not a new business model. Expense control is always important. But somehow, in every industry I’ve ever seen, it’s always assigned a lower priority when you’re selling everything you can make. Cash flow makes it easier to not worry so much about how you’re spending your money. You’ve no doubt noticed that skateboarding (especially in hard
Focus on Expense Control; A New Business Model for Skateboarding Read More »
It doesn’t matter if you’re a retailer, distributor or manufacturer. It doesn’t even matter if you’re in the snowboard business. In every industry, companies get in trouble for the same basic reasons, and require the same things to recover All businesses in trouble share two characteristics: denial and perseverance in the face of inescapable change. It’s easy to
Getting In Deep Trouble; Why Companies Get There, and What it Takes To Recover Read More »
“Blanks are killing the industry.” “Yeah, but they give the skater a good deal.” “But pros are what builds the industry, and we can’t support pros on blank margins.” “The problem is that we have too many pros to support.” Etc., etc., etc. In this highly emotional debate, there’s some truth to everybody’s position. A lot of people seem to
Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde; The Dilemma of the Skateboard Factory Owner Read More »
I know it’s because of crossover, and the mainstreaming of action sports, and because we’re selling to parents as much as to kids. I know all that. Largely, I believe it. I just did my occasional and not nearly frequent enough sojourn into a bunch of local snowboard retail stores, big and small, and looked at what they’re
Cash Flow Revisited; Why Hardly Any Successful Business is Just Snowboarding Anymore Read More »
It’s not that this group of retailers, speaking at the Transworld Industry Conference in Banff, was wrong in the comments they made about how suppliers work with them. God knows I wouldn’t want to be a snowboard retailer and, in the words of one participant, it may indeed be a good year if you manage to
Everybody Needs a Balance Sheet; Notes from the Conference Retailer Panel Read More »
Rarely, but once in a while, I come across something I want to plug. Not too long ago, it was the new Board Retailers’ Association ( www.boardretailers.com . If you haven’t joined yet, get moving. Opps, there I go plugging them again.). This time, it’s some inexpensive, easy to use, financial planning software that the Retail
I do confess it. I was trained as a finance guy. I have an MBA, started out in international banking (Ask me about Carnival in Brazil sometime!), and did some corporate treasury and investment banking kind of work. Given the way things have changed, I decided it was okay to come out of the closet. Please don’t throw me
Numbers, Numbers Everywhere And Who Knows What They Mean Read More »
I’ve had the luxury, over the last couple of years, to be able to dispense advice and commentary from the relative safety of an observer’s perch. Suddenly and, amazingly, of my own choosing, I’ve given up a perfectly comfortable life style to reenter the snowboard management fray. I must be out of my mind. I’ve done this
Life in the Real World; Hoisted by My Own Petard Read More »
This is the industry. Snowboarding. Some are in it to make a buck, some because they love the sport and just want to make a living doing what they love. Occasionally, the two collide and the golden rule prevails; the one with the gold makes the rules. When there’s a business lesson to be learned that might help some
Hard Learned Lessons; You Can Do Everything Right and Still Get Screwed Read More »