As the fiscal year draws to a close, it may be worth considering Section 179 to lower your tax burden for 2023. To refresh your memory, Section 179 allows a business to deduct the full purchase price of certain equipment for the year it was put in service. By deducting the full purchase...

For years, TDC has promoted the idea of using reliable estimated work minutes (R.E., S.U., Man-Minutes) for scheduling, pricing, and understanding true labor efficiencies. The most important aspect of properly developed work minutes is that you can create a short scheduling time standards...

Over the last few months, we’ve been adjusting the rates on our factor sheet upwards as the Fed continued to raise interest rates. The Fed has now raised its target rate to the highest level in 22 years, to 5.50%. Despite the higher rates, we have not seen the demand for funding slowing...

Lumber is mission-critical to every component manufacturer (CM). On average, it represents two-thirds of your cost-of-goods (CoG), roughly half of the value of your product (Revenue – Pretax Profit). So, what are the market dynamics that surround the purchase of lumber? And how/why can CMs...

As the Fourth Quarter got underway, there were strong signs that the U.S. economy remains resilient, despite stock market volatility and consumers beginning to express some wobbles in confidence. But the crisis in the Middle East, political divisiveness in the U.S., and chaotic developments...

It’s easy to consider the bank down the block for your financing needs. After all, it’s close and you know the bank manager; it seems like you’re at the branch a lot dealing with the in’s and out’s of everyday business. But, is that bank always your best option for...

A near certainty in the component business is that your customers will, to some extent at least, shop your price against your competition. Depending on the relationship history you have with your client, you may have the opportunity to match a lower price, but your competition will still be used...

Investing in new, or even used, equipment can be a game-changer, but the upfront costs can be daunting. Many vendors are requiring a 50% deposit with the order, even though lag times for delivery of the equipment can run up to nine months or longer. That means your cash outlay that could be used...

For many, the first thought that comes to mind when they hear the word “broker” is “middle man,” and extrapolating that into thinking that by using a middle man, the funding costs will be more expensive. It’s a false assumption. And it goes deeper than that. Some...

The U.S. economy started the second half of 2023 with a sense of resilience and more optimism than last year at this time. Inflation has been trending downward since its peak in June of 2022; the Federal Reserve hit the ‘pause’ button on interest rate hikes; the job market has been...