I’ve always believed that most business owners are a single phone call away from extinction. Let’s spend some time today on what we can do to minimize the risk of ownership.

Succession planning can be a powerful and strategic tool that organizations and managers use to drive sustained performance. It is a long-term plan merging an employee’s career ambitions with an employer’s future talent needs.

In the mid-1940s, James Sanford Mitchell Sr. and Charlie Baker were two enterprising friends working for Crane Co., and on a mission to break out on their own to open a wholesale distribution company.

The Granite Group (TGG), a family-owned and -operated plumbing, heating, cooling, propane and PVF wholesale distributor based out of New England, announced the launch of its “My Granite Access” mobile app.

With 100 employees spanning six locations, Chino Hills, Calif.-based Western Water Works Supply Co., a distributor of pipe, valves and fittings for potable, waste and stormwater in southern California and Utah, is dedicated to providing “smooth-running jobs from start to finish.” 

Asking showroom people how they handle pricing can lead to some interesting conversations. Many showroom professionals use a flat discount-off-list habit that has been common for ages. For some reason, we think consumers know that 25 percent off list is the “right” price. But why? 

According to Thomas J. Donohue, CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “small independently owned businesses” are the backbone of American industry. He further believes that digital technology will accelerate their economic growth.

There is an age-old adage in professional selling circles that says, “A customer with no objections is not a buyer.” I think it’s time we modify this saying to make it more 21st Century:  “A customer with no objections is not buying.”

Among the products on display at NAVAC’s Booth #2018 will be the NRDD Recovery Unit; the NRP8Di and NRP6Di, a pair of smart vacuum pumps; and two members of its BreakFree Series of cordless HVAC tools.