Business Archives

Multigenerational struggles

December 1, 2023 | Business

Hello and welcome to the second column of the Covered Conversations series brought to you by the Tent Rental Division (TRD) and TRD board. As the youngest member of the current board, it is only fitting that I get to write about multigeneration workplaces. Let me introduce myself: My name is Kyle Ri…

Encouraging curiosity

October 1, 2023 | Business, Management

Curiosity is a catalyst for creativity, problem solving and continuous improvement. By creating a culture of curiosity, we can tap into the collective creativity of the people that work with us and for us. It stimulates critical thinking, encourages us to be open to possibilities and leads us to exp…

Why I attend Tent Expo

October 1, 2023 | Business

In 2014, my wife, Amy Kohn, and I started SOHO Events and Rentals in our garage, renting tables and chairs, with no experience in tenting. As SOHO grew, we began adding tents and trying to learn as much about safety, installation and training techniques as possible. In late 2018, Joe Langehaug with …

Getting into a gross margin state of mind

August 1, 2023 | Business, Management

While working in my family distributorship, I had the importance of gross margin dollars drilled into my head at a very young age. We occasionally talked about sales when it came to an extraordinary order, but the next question out of every mouth was—how did we do on it? In other words, did we mak…

Navigating the workforce of the future

August 1, 2023 | Business, Management

Organizations need to be thinking about tomorrow and, more specifically, how the future of work, the workforce and the workplace will be dramatically different from what we know today. And more importantly, from what it has been in the past.

Can outsourcing mitigate labor shortages?

June 1, 2023 | Business, Management

I was recently speaking with a group of operations managers and they raised the topic of outsourcing. Outsourcing of services has always been something that my clients have traditionally shied away from. They often outsource functions in the early years, but as they grow, there is a tendency to brin…

Leadership tips for reducing stress

June 1, 2023 | Business, Tips and Techniques

A certain level of stress can be motivational and stimulating. It can help us focus our energy. It can emphasize our passion and commitment. But as Albert Einstein reportedly said, “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”

Better scheduling can improve employee retention

June 1, 2023 | Business, Safety

Editor’s note: When discussing employee retention problems, one of the most commonly cited causes are the hours this industry requires—early mornings, late nights, weekends and holidays.

Leadership and management

April 1, 2023 | Business, Management

Leadership and management are closely related; however, despite often being spoken of in the same breath, they are certainly not synonymous. If we use those terms interchangeably, we tend to behave as if these roles are interchangeable and equivalent. Doing so means we miss critical components of ex…

Tips to improve engagement at sales meetings

April 1, 2023 | Business, Tips and Techniques

At some point, as sales organizations, we need talk about how all this selling is going. In a recent group discussion with some sales managers, we had a healthy discussion about engagement and how to make these gatherings more productive. Salespeople, by their very nature, tend to be independent fre…

Category: Business