?? Saying Goodbye to 2022 with Cheesecake, Resolutions, and a canceled Southwest Flight.
Black-eyed peas and grapes. Rice pudding and fireworks. Balls dropping and possums plummeting. (Yes, that's a?real thing.) No matter where -?or how?- you celebrate December 31, do so safely;?we've all got big things to accomplish in 2023.?See you next year!?-?Matt and Luigi
WHAT’S ON TAP THIS WEEK? ??
THE CLASSROOM
Today's Lesson: New Year’s Resolutions for your Small Business
by Luigi Rosabianca
In just a matter of days, we’ll be closing the door on 2022 and welcoming a brand new year - and with that, many of us will set resolutions for 2023. Now, whether we KEEP those resolutions is another matter entirely (an estimated 65% are abandoned in the first month), but it’s important to at least try, right?
Here are six resolutions you could consider making for your small business:
HEARD ON THE STREET
?? The Shortest Distance Between Two Points… Is a Freight Line
Landlines, fax machines, pen + paper.?It sounds like the 1970s, but it’s how the $1T trucking industry is operating?right now.?And it’s as messy as you’d expect: Companies can’t track their shipments, and drivers don’t know when (or if) they’ll get paid.
You see, when a company needs to ship freight, they don’t call a trucking company to do it. They call a middleman broker who finds the trucking company.?And that inefficiency is a lousy deal for everyone.?Truckers lose?29B miles of potential revenue?per year from driving?without cargo. Phone-book-flipping brokers charge shippers up to 50% on top of shipping costs. Enter?LaneAxis.
Their blockchain-powered platform connects companies needing freight shipped?directly?to the truckers who haul it. Plus, they handle everything from insurance to payments, all for a minimal fee.?It’s a win-win!
-
?? Quiet Quitting Curve Ball
Pull out The Kleenex before reading this piece…
According to Gallup, the percentage of US workers who said they were “actively disengaged” at their jobs hovered around 20% from 2007–2015 before dropping to 13% in 2018.?Fast forward to the pandemic years; between 2020 and 2022, that number increased to 18%.?At the same time, the percentage of employees who say they were?engaged?at work has fallen in the last two years to just 32% now.
So why did quiet quitting hit a nerve in 2022??After two years in a global pandemic, constant rumors of an upcoming recession, and lattes costing more than craft beers, it makes sense that people might be rejecting “hustle culture” and are now just a little less focused on replying to emails.
While some business execs (and probably your parents) were quick to jump into their “lazy millennials” shtick to explain quiet quitting,?it may not be wise to blame workers when they start to turn off email notifications earlier in the day:?A bad boss can?burn out?employees faster than anything, according to the?Harvard Business Review.
-
? Point-to-Point Model Plummets
If you're not reading this from where you are supposed to be this morning, it's probably because Southwest Airlines left you stranded.?The airline has canceled 5.4K+ domestic flights this holiday season, with more on the way, putting into question its unique point-to-point business model. Its stock sank faster than its reviews, while passengers turned to social media to gripe about?missing luggage?and missed plans.??
In October 2021, Southwest canceled 2K+ flights over four days due to bad weather and staffing, resulting in a $75M loss. Then-CEO Gary Kelly?said?it'd made adjustments to prevent future chaos. (And those were…?) While recent winter storms strained many airlines, Southwest accounted for ~2.9K of Monday's 4k+ cancellations, compared to Delta's 276.?Southwest also faced the following:?
-?Big storms?at its Chicago and Denver hubs
-?Tighter schedules?than other airlines (given its shorter flights)
-?Staffing shortages, due in part to "triple-demic" illnesses and crew members hitting federally mandated work limits
领英推荐
-?Outdated scheduling systems?that crashed under pressure, leaving employees in chaos
-?Dogs eating homework?(this last one hasn't been proven -?yet.)
Southwest will operate about?one-third?of its schedule.?CEO Bob Jordan has also acknowledged that the airline needs to "modernize" its tech.?Good catch, Bob!?Meanwhile, the US Department of Transportation is investigating if Southwest's recent cancellations were "controllable" and if it's complying with its?customer service plan?(what it's promised to do in the event of controllable cancellations and delays).
Meanwhile, back in cozy St. Croix: Uncle Joe has?encouraged?affected passengers to see if they're eligible for compensation.
-
?? Gluten Gluttony
While coastal residents are obsessing over gluten content, calorie counts, and fad diets – in middle America,?The Cheesecake Factory reigns supreme.
First opened in 1978 in Beverly Hills, the restaurant now has 211 North American locations and consistently?ranks?as a customer favorite. And it’s?seeing record revenues despite doing arguably everything wrong.?The F+B rule book is straightforward: Minimize all costs. That includes labor, ingredients, and menu offerings. Meanwhile,?the Cheesecake Factory maximizes everything. It has 250+ items on the menu, makes its food on-site from scratch, and strives for a lavish, in-person dining experience!
During the pandemic, however, the chain was showing its kinks. The company furloughed?41K?hourly workers and was charged by the SEC for failing to disclose it was bleeding out?$6M?in cash per week.?Cheesecake pivoted its efforts to delivery,?rehiring?the majority of its employees in a carbs-to-couch model, causing the business to bounce back (see what we did here!).?The company reported record revenue of?$769M?in July ‘21, topping it with?$832.6M?in Q2 of ‘22, despite inflation and reduced consumer spending.
Even more shocking: The restaurant’s most popular dish is fettuccine alfredo, ordered 200K+ times every month.?Some things just don’t make sense.?Buon appetito!
THE MONEY MINUTE WITH MRM
Do You Know What Your Business Credit Score Is?
with Matthew R. Meehan
When was the last time you took a look at your business credit reports??Just like our personal credit score, your business credit is continuously changing -?and it can have a big impact on the amount of credit you can get and what your terms and interest rates will be.?You never know when you might need a loan, so it’s important to be proactive.?According to the?U.S. Small Business Administration,?here are 5 reasons to monitor your reports:
?? LAST CALL WITH THE LIQUID LUNCH PROJECT PODCAST
Remember during the pandemic when we started running out of toilet paper? Rolls were flying off the shelves, and stores placed limits on the amount you could buy per family. It was pandemonium, and Americans quickly became acutely aware of supply chain issues (not to mention the importance of this very precious resource).
Our guest on today's show is here to talk about?another type of very precious resource: Titanium. And just like the TP debacle of 2020, titanium has experienced its own set of supply chain issues.?
Meet?Taso Arima, CEO & Co-founder of IperionX. Dubbed "Master of Metals," he recognized that?the global titanium supply chain is complex, costly, and environmentally unsustainable?- not to mention a lot of it is processed through other countries. His company is on a mission to?usher in a new age of American industry?and be a?leading developer of US-based sustainable critical mineral and critical material supply chains.?And that starts with titanium.?
Through?focused investing, providing?jobs to communities that once relied on coal?mines, and?showing kids there is a future worth exploring?in these new and exciting industries,?Taso hopes that titanium will be as commonplace as having a smartphone; it's everywhere!
What You'll Learn:
AROUND THE WEB