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When you listen to a good speech, there are usually a couple of standout phrases that stick with you. A really good speech will have you jotting down notes of a few key quotes that you don’t want to forget. This was the case for me as I listened to a few different speeches throughout the 2022 Affiliated Distributor’s PHCP North American Meeting.

If you’re selling your business, one of the most important considerations is who to sell the business to. Before you do a deep dive, think about whether to sell to a strategic or financial buyer.

A homeowner in Michigan sent an email that had me shaking my head, and not for the first time. Listen:
“Our house is heated by a Utica Gas Boiler that was here when we purchased this house.  Sitting next to the boiler is a Hoffman boiler-feed pump. The problem we have encountered is that we’ve had to have the pump replaced five times since 1981. We have hard water (with iron) but I am not sure if that is the problem.

A common cause that supposedly exacerbates or even causes this back pain is commonly thought to be linked to cold weather. Individuals that currently suffer from pain in their lumbar area often state the conditions worsen in colder winter months.

ASA IPD membership offers, among other benefits, a forum to address the business and industry issues affecting your company and exclusive opportunities to interact with industrial and mechanical PVF distributors and suppliers from across the country.

Every industry is dealing with a pending “brain drain” and working hard to find new people to join their teams. Add in the challenges of appealing to a new generation of workers that have unique desires for their nascent careers, and you can be left with a daunting challenge.

When a product niche reaches this level of performance consistency, most manufacturers gravitate toward the same basic product platform. Is a faucet from vendor A really that much different than one from vendors B, C or D?

A recent report by the Together Platform found that 37% of HR professionals say employees are not being supported to reach their full potential. I continue to hear news about mentorship programs in the PHCP-PVF industry, both formal and informal, and the tremendous impact they have on new employees, younger employees and those that are new to the industry.

During an acquisition, the buyer must conduct exhaustive due diligence to ensure that they have a complete picture of the company they are seeking to buy. This involves many steps, but perhaps one of the most important is producing a quality of earnings report.

Marketing’s value is often overlooked, but I think it’s safe to say it might be even more so in this industry. I’ve often attributed this to simple misconceptions or ignorance of marketing’s value in the industry. Perhaps the expensive nature of hiring marketing experts (whether it be in-house or outsourced) also adds to this, which would certainly not be unique to this industry.