Business
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Tom Hodges: The Importance of Discipline and Going Big or Going Home
- June 20, 2018
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Leadership
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I recently had a chance to ask some of my old friends and distributors to contribute a guest article to my blog. “What do you want us to write about?” they asked. “How about something you’ve learned in our years working together?” I said. This week’s article is from my friend, Tom Hodges. I’ve always
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Brian Chase: Invest Back in the Company
- June 13, 2018
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Leadership
I recently had a chance to ask some of my old friends and reps to contribute a guest article to my blog. “What do you want us to write about?” they asked. “How about something you’ve learned in our years working together?” I said. This week’s article is from my friend, Brian Chase. While I’ve
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Jack Floyd: How I Saw Leadership and Commitment Modeled
- June 6, 2018
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Leadership, Management
I recently had a chance to ask some of my old friends and reps to contribute a guest article to my blog. “What do you want us to write about?” they asked. “How about something you’ve learned in our years working together?” I said. In all my years working with David, I learned the importance
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Claudia Steed and the Be Uncommon Initiative
- May 23, 2018
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Innovation
I’m not a big fan of fitting in and being just another face in the crowd. I love standing out and being known for doing good and interesting things. So I started a philosophy at Robroy called Be Uncommon. It means, if you’re living in the shadow of giants, (i.e., your company is small and
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Can You Create a Business Culture?
- May 9, 2018
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Leadership, Management
An important part of a business, it’s very identity, is its culture. And it’s possible to develop one, but it’s largely intangible. It’s a collective attitude, not something you can put your finger on. It becomes an intellectual and emotional thing, like enthusiasm. Some companies try to manufacture a culture by recreating many of the
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What Owning a Business in South Africa Taught Me About Managing Diverse Groups
- February 21, 2018
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Leadership, Management
Years ago, at the start of my career, I worked in the fencing manufacturing and construction business. I manufactured a chain link fence and installed it myself too. That was in Durban, South Africa in the 1970s, when it was a different time and place. I just came back from a visit to South Africa
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How Will 3D Printing Change Manufacturing and Warehousing?
- February 14, 2018
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Manufacturing
I saw a funny tweet a couple years ago that said “I bought a 3D printer and printed out another 3D printer. Then I took the first one back.” We’ve come a long way from the beginnings of 3D printing, when you could pretty much only print out small plastic objects with a $2,000 “home”
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The Power of Three: How We Owned Three Brands and Ran Three Sales Forces
- December 13, 2017
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business
When you’re a manufacturer with a national reach, you’ll often work with manufacturers reps as well as your own sales force. In fact, your sales force will often call on the manufacturers reps as part of their territory. Manufacturers reps often have access to projects and clients that you might not otherwise get because they
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Headquarters and Second Offices Don’t Have to be in Expensive Cities
- November 29, 2017
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Management
The big expansion news over the last few weeks has been Amazon search for a second North American headquarters and the speculations about where they’ll actually place it. Dozens of cities are all clamoring for Amazon’s $5 billion investment and hoping to be the city to employ 50,000 employees, many with six-figure salaries. Many cities
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I Don’t Believe in Remote Work for Employees
- November 15, 2017
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Management, Productivity
This one is going to make me unpopular, especially with today’s modern marvels of broadband technology, video conferencing, and our ability to multi-task and work anywhere in the world. I don’t believe in remote work for employees. (Not a big shocker, I’m sure, since you already read the headline.) But I believe that if you’re