『Buy the Numbers』のカバーアート

Buy the Numbers

Buy the Numbers

著者： Mike Payne
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A deep dive into the financials of running a Manufacturing business.2024 マネジメント マネジメント・リーダーシップ 経済学
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  • Why You're Never too Small for an ERP, Ep. 52

    Why You're Never too Small for an ERP, Ep. 52
    2026/08/06
    Almost every shop owner I talk to has told themselves the same story at some point: we are too small for a real ERP, so we will keep running the business on the old system and a pile of Excel spreadsheets. On this episode, I wanted to kill that myth, because the cost of believing it shows up in underpriced jobs, broken handoffs, and a value chain that quietly leaks money from quote to cash. To dig in, I brought in Jon Hughes, a CFO consultant and principal at CLA, and Brian Schoonover, corporate controller and acting CFO at Turfco, a third-generation manufacturer in Minneapolis. Brian is right in the middle of replacing a system that was implemented back in 1989, so he is living this decision in real time, and Jon sees the pattern across dozens of shops. We get into the question I hear constantly: am I too small for an ERP? Both of them land on fiction. The point is not that a two-spindle side hustle needs enterprise software tomorrow, it is that the moment you decide to scale, a system built around getting product out the door becomes one of the best investments you can make. Accounting should be the non-event at the end, not the thing the whole system was designed around. We also spend real time on build versus buy in the age of AI. Everybody has a story about vibe coding an ERP or an instant quoting tool over a weekend. It is impressive, but you give up industry best practices, and you take on security and vulnerability risk you can't even see. My take is simple: keep your core data secure and built on best practices, then point AI at that data to do the heavy lifting. I used it to crunch a thousand work orders down to the twelve that actually needed my attention. Then we walk through the part that scares people most, selection and implementation. Brian shares how he built his own RFP, made vendors sell themselves to every department, and started the demo at the back of the building instead of the accounting office. And we both get honest about change management, the ROI math, and the surprise that the real resistance often comes from the front office, not the shop floor. What's Covered in this Episode (1:00) Meet the guests: Jon Hughes of CLA and Brian Schoonover of Turfco(4:08) Buying Hill Manufacturing in 2018 and inheriting a homegrown Access and Excel system(5:55) Turfco's system from 1989 and the transition to an ERP(8:21) ERP is not an accounting system: the QuickBooks misconception(10:34) How CLA helps manufacturers tap into millions in revenue and cost savings(11:12) Selling an ERP change to ownership when they are happy with what they have(15:11) Mike's broken Excel quoting template and the underpriced jobs it caused(17:29) Fact or fiction: I am too small to have an ERP, and why both guests say fiction(20:33) Acumatica, NetSuite, and Intacct: strip the labels and they are the same class of software(22:14) ProShop ERP paid for itself in weeks with per-user pricing. Book a demo at ProShopERP.com(23:50) Vibe coding and the security considerations of a homegrown, AI-built system(30:38) Using AI on top of a secure ERP to crunch a thousand work orders down to the twelve that matter(32:57) Brian's selection process: building an RFP, starting at the back of the building, and narrowing to four(39:49) Check out the Job Shops Workshop and Networking Reception at IMTS(42:15) Implementation at the halfway point, and mapping what each department actually does(45:43) The ROI math: save an hour per person per month and the SaaS pays for itself(51:03) The biggest surprise: the real resistance came from the front office, not the shop floor Resources Mentioned CLAConnectProShopERPIMTSAcumaticaLearn more about Brian's company, Turfco, at Turfco.com Connect with Jon Hughes and Brian Schoonover Connect with Jon Hughes by email at Jon.hughes@claconnect.com or find him on LinkedInConnect with Brian Schoonover by email at bschoonover@turfco.com or find him on LinkedInExplore manufacturing resources from CLA at CLAConnect.com
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    57 分
  • The 9 Numbers That Tell You If Your Marketing Is Working | Ep. 51

    The 9 Numbers That Tell You If Your Marketing Is Working | Ep. 51
    2026/07/23
    You spend money on a website, LinkedIn posts, maybe some email and a trade show booth, and then you ask the question every owner asks: is any of this actually working? For most of us the honest answer is a gut feel. The machines are cutting chips, so marketing must be doing its job. That is not data, and on this episode I wanted real, practical advice on how to know. So I brought in Brendon Forrest from Gorilla 76, cohost of The Manufacturing Marketer, to walk through it with me. Brendon's whole world is building and running marketing programs for manufacturers, and he came with a list of nine metrics that turn marketing from a guessing game into a set of numbers you can manage the same way you manage scrap rate or on-time delivery. Along the way we get into the difference between a marketing qualified lead and a sales qualified lead, why you should probably count deals instead of dollars, and how to back into a marketing goal from your growth number. I also come clean about something a lot of you will recognize. For years my CRM lived in my head, and that is exactly why good opportunities slipped through the cracks. Brendon makes the case for getting that out of your brain and into a system, and explains why speed to lead matters so much: the shop that follows up first almost always wins the deal. We close on the metrics that do not matter, the vanity numbers that make you feel good but never tie back to revenue, and a simple five-step framework you can start using today. Set a goal, capture the data, analyze it, then execute. Same as everything else we talk about on this show, because the math does not lie. What's Covered in this Episode (0:15) Welcome to Buy the Numbers, and why even a one-person shop is already a marketer(0:53) Brendon Forrest joins the show for the first time, from Gorilla 76 and The Manufacturing Marketer(3:42) The real question every owner asks: I'm marketing, but is it working?(5:01) IMTS Job Shops Workshop and Networking Reception, Tuesday September 15, a half-day built for shop pros. Register at IMTS.com(5:57) Marketing is just data gathering: It's another business function you should invest in(7:01) How marketing and sales work together as one funnel(8:48) Pipeline metrics: new contacts, marketing qualified leads, and sales qualified leads(12:34) MQL-to-SQL conversion rate (and what a low number tells you)(14:21) Revenue metrics: opportunities opened and what matters most long term(17:03) Count deals or dollars, and the lead-time problem that a CRM solves(23:14) Mike's growth math and backing into how many MQLs a month you actually need(26:38) Pinpoint whether you have a lead-gen problem or a closing problem(27:34) ProShop ERP: implement best practices shop-wide and see fast ROI(29:11) Efficiency metrics: cost per opportunity, web traffic, and how AI search is changing it(35:19) The qualitative story: green, yellow, red tracking of lead quality and why the trend matters(39:13) Verdant Capital: get pre-qualified for equipment financing before IMTS, application only, good for 90 days(40:08) CRMs: Why Brendon recommends HubSpot for small shops(45:31) The metrics that don't matter: attribution, open rates, and the 3,500 dollar IMTS badge scan(50:49) The 5 steps you need to take to hit your goals Resources Mentioned IMTS.comProShopERP.comVerdant CapitalThe Manufacturing Marketer, Brendon's weekly showIndustrial Marketing SummitHubSpot, the CRM Brendan recommends for small shops Connect with Brendon Forrest Connect with Brendon Forrest on LinkedInListen to The Manufacturing Marketer
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    55 分
  • The Owner Bottleneck: How Getting Out of the Way Can Double Your Shop's Value, Ep #50

    The Owner Bottleneck: How Getting Out of the Way Can Double Your Shop's Value, Ep #50
    2026/07/09
    Most shop owners believe the number on their business is locked in by their earnings. It isn't. Two shops with identical profit can sell for wildly different prices, and the gap almost always comes back to one question a buyer is quietly working out in their head: does this thing run without you? For this one I brought back Phil Hanke from CLA and added Heather Parbst, who leads CLA's owner transition advisory team, to dig into the owner bottleneck. Not the operational kind everybody talks about, but the identity kind. The traits that built your shop—the grind, the "I'll just do it myself," the standards nobody else can hit—are the same traits that keep you buried in the day to day and cap what your business is worth. We get into the math, too. In precision machining, a business that leans entirely on the owner tends to trade around two to two and a half times earnings. Take the owner out of the critical path and that same business can fetch five, six, even seven times. Same earnings, double the value. Inside a three-year window your earnings are what they are, but the multiple is still yours to move, and the multiple is really what this conversation is about. We also get honest about the part nobody plans for: what happens after. Heather walks through why owners have to uncouple their identity from the business years before they sell, and what it feels like when the social equity you built over decades disappears the day you hand over the keys. If you've ever answered "what do you do?" with "I own a shop" and felt that was who you are, this one lands close to home. Whether you're one year or fifteen years out, the move is the same. Start now. Build the team, install the culture, and get clear on what you love and what you should hand off. I close with the simple four-bucket exercise I use to decide what stays on my plate and what goes. What's Covered in this Episode (0:00) The four-bucket exercise: keep what you love and do well, hand off the rest(0:52) Phil Hanke returns and introduces Heather Parbst, who leads CLA's owner transition advisory team(2:44) Two kinds of bottlenecks: operational problems versus identity beliefs(5:40) CLA helps manufacturers unlock revenue and cost savings. Hear real stories at claconnect.com(6:17) The traits that grew your shop are the same ones now trapping you inside it(9:17) When the business becomes your whole identity, and nobody does it your way(11:25) Build a culture of continuous improvement so the team carries the load, not you(13:20) Servant leadership: setting the vision, clearing hurdles, and allowing the team to fail small, without blame(18:26) Mike's email example: coach the team to your standard, then step out(21:28) Navu adds AI chat to your website so buyers get accurate answers fast. navu.co/makingchips(22:40) Does company size decide when the bottleneck bites? Assets versus real enterprise value(25:07) The $1.5M to $2.5M, twelve-employee shop where the owner does everything(27:13) The owner bottleneck: how holding every relationship discounts your multiple, and where to start(30:30) Shift from operator to architect: build leaders and ask questions instead of giving answers(32:37) The real work: uncouple your identity and self-worth from the business(36:01) Heather's hometown social equity vanished the day she sold her business(37:45) You can only golf so much: finding sustainable purpose after ownership(39:24) Hire MFG Leaders is built by shop owners, not just recruiters. makingchips.com/hire(39:53) Letting go: the "launch the kid" analogy for a business that runs without you(42:55) Mike's four-bucket matrix for what to keep and what to hire out(48:19) Closing advice from Heather: start early, don't wait until you're burnt out(49:38) The multiple is easier to change than the earnings, so remove yourself and double the value(50:48) How to reach Heather and Phil at CLA Resources Mentioned CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA)Give buyers reliable, accurate answers in real time by adding AI chat to your website with NavuHire MFG Leaders Connect with Heather Parbst and Phil Hanke Connect with Heather Parbst by email or call her direct line at 407-244-9385Connect with Phil Hanke on LinkedInFollow CLA on LinkedIn for weekly manufacturing articles, worksheets, and resources
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    53 分
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