COVID-19

CEO Daily Update – 8.14.2020

August 14, 2020 by Craig Haynie

3M N95 Masks back in stock | NIB CP-8831-K9 DEAL | Touching Customer Feedback

Happy Friday!

Welcome to the CablesAndKits CEO daily email. Read more about this email by scrolling to the very bottom.

OMG … Super short but so hilarious … check this prank video out. LOL

I don’t know about you, but I plan to have a good weekend. How can you have one if you don’t plan it? I suppose there are accidental good weekends – I’ve had some of those but not as often as when I was intentional. And this weekend we are at “Mimi’s and G’s house” and the kids (and us) love visiting.

Our surprise visit with friends yesterday was awesome, and we even ate lunch with them at an airport restaurant nearby! Planes would taxi right up to the restaurant and the kids loved it. Then on the road to Mimi and G’s, and driving the motorhome was pretty awesome. The wife took a nap, and I pulled over a few times to walk back to the bathroom (I have been drinking a ton of water the last few months) – both things we could have never done in the car. (I am trying to convince the wife that we need to buy one!)

We will spend time with the parental units in law hanging out and such, and the kids will also get to play with their cousins which are just a little younger than them. They always love that and we don’t get to do it very often.

It’s SO easy to find 100 reasons not to “take that vacation”. But, 30 years from now you/we won’t wish we worked a few extra days, but we will certainly be glad we made memories. Ponder those ponderables in your ponderer (I am learning as I go!)

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CEO Daily Update – 8.12.2020

August 12, 2020 by Craig Haynie

Kids Masks | UV Sterilizers | Light Bulb Moments

Happy Wednesday!

Welcome to the CablesAndKits CEO daily email. Read more about this email by scrolling to the very bottom.

I mentioned yesterday that the wife and I decided that we wanted to buy a camper. We’d gone and looked at some on Saturday after having talked about it off and on for months. To my complete surprise last night after we’d looked online for a little while, my wife said “why don’t we rent one and go on a trip … tomorrow”. That is so not like her! I had mentioned wanting to go see her family in South GA (a 5-6 hour trip) and she suggested that we combine the trip to see them with an RV trip. So, we looked for rentals till 3am!

The idea was to rent something that was similar to what we think we WANT so we can get a feel for it. After lots of looking and talking we decided that we thought a class C might be best for us. I locked down a rental, went and picked it up, and by the time you read this email we will be packing up and hitting the road!

When I got home we surprised the girls and they lost their mind. They are so excited about the camper and the adventure. More to come!

From Joe, our friendly Safety Supplies Product Marketer:

I hope everybody is having a great week so far! Today is an AMAZING day as we’ve added new products to the site! School has officially started for many kids and I know it can be worrisome but I’m here to give you guys a little extra comfort! CablesAndKits is finally HAPPY to announce the arrival of kids masks! With 5 different patterns these boxes of 50 masks contain girl, boy, and neutral patterns, perfect for stocking up the whole family or sending with your kids to school for the teachers to keep in the classroom. It can be insanely hard to get the little ones to cooperate and wear a mask all day, so a nice design may it make it much easier!

Two new products in one day?!?! YES! On top of the children’s mask we’ve also added UV Sterilizers to the site which are awesome! With rechargeable batteries and a compact design these are perfect for bringing with you on the go. Whether it be your keyboard, car keys, steering wheel, or even a carpet, enjoy a clean surface without having any sticky residue or scents left behind from disinfectant agents! These UV wands are small enough to fit in your pocket, purse, car, etc and are great for killing germs and viruses on surfaces where sprays are not appropriate or practical.

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CEO Daily Update – 8.11.2020

August 11, 2020 by Craig Haynie

Craig’s Birthday | Wipes are back! | Its time to go camping!

Happy Tuesday!

Welcome to the CablesAndKits CEO daily email. Read more about this email by scrolling to the very bottom.

Happy Birthday to me … happy birthday to me … happy BIIIIIIRRRRRTHHHHHHDAAAAAYYY dear MEEEEEEEE, Happy Birthday to MEEEEEE.

I get the idea that today might be my birthday. To be honest, almost every year I forget about it until the day of or maybe the day before. This year I actually remembered a few times last week. Odd! More below …

From Joe, our friendly Safety Supplies Product Marketer:

WIPES!!! We have a very limited supply of Progressive WipesPlus Disinfecting Wipes! With school starting and requesting parents to bring in wipes for the classroom this is a perfect product for you. More serious environments such as a classroom full of young children require a trustworthy disinfecting wipe. These are bleach-free and EPA registered ensuring maximum disinfecting power safely. Whether they’re used for a classroom, kitchen, or office they’re the perfect disinfecting wipe and comparable to big name brands like Clorox.

More 3M N95’s are live on the site as well! Like in the past, these are also in a very limited supply. It’s crazy how much has changed in these past few months. You used to be able to find masks like this in most everyday stores you walked into and now it’s like finding a needle in a haystack. These seem to be the next Clorox and Lysol wipes… Impossible to find! Act fast before they’re gone!

Some thoughts from Craig:

So, I turn 42 today, and let me tell you – time really does fly. On one hand it seems like just yesterday when I started this business. On the other, it seems like an eternity ago. I was 23. The other day my wife and I were going to look at Campers (See below) and we went to a place in Tucker, which is part of the Atlanta burbs. When I first moved here, I lived in the Tucker/Norcross area and worked nearby at a computer component distributor as a sales guy, but that’s another story. Anyway, we drove by the apartment complex I lived in back then and it was like “wow, that was like a lifetime ago!”. It’s funny how some things seem like yesterday and some things seem like eons ago.

Getting older sucks. In the last few years I have had more health issues than ever before. I had a hernia and surgery for it, major back issues (which are now mostly under control, for now, thank the Lord), tendon issues that resulted in weeks on a scooter to stay off my right foot, and of course bowel issues that resulted in a Crohn’s diagnosis that I still deal with daily. The point is that I can personally attest to the fact that getting older causes all sorts of issues! I don’t recommend it. …. Well wait, compared to the alternative I guess I do recommend it.

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CEO Daily Updates – 7.30.2020

July 30, 2020 by Craig Haynie

Moving to a new computer |Clorox Wipes in Stock | A prayer request

Happy Thursday!

We are a mere one day away from the glorious weekend! Do you have anything interesting planned?

My new Macbook Pro: Moving to a new computer

I bought a new Macbook Pro last week to replace the one I had. It was having some funky issues and I DO NOT play when it comes to my computer having issues. I will allow a tad bit of troubleshooting but if that doesn’t solve the issue completely, I am buying a new one. I do not ever reformat the one I have … I buy a new one, get completely up and running, and then format and sell the old one, or pass is to someone else in the company that is due for a refresh.

I have learned the hard way that when you format the computer you are using you are just asking for trouble. I have had issues that kept me down for a couple days, I have lost data because I didn’t remember everything I needed to move over, etc. Then you are without a computer “until”. Nope. I buy the new one, start getting things working on it as I have time, and when I am completely done, I give myself several days or a week to make sure I don’t realize something I am missing from the old one before I wipe it.

During this switch over it took me two days to realize I didn’t move my email signatures over from the old Outlook to the new one. You would think that using Office365 would cause those to move automatically, but alas, the work is mine. I have 11 email accounts each with their own signature. Fortunately my old machine isn’t wiped yet. 😉

My last Macbook Pro was the 13″ and I really loved it. Small, powerful, and super portable. This time, I was on the fence but at the suggestion of my IT guy I went for the 16″. It is more powerful than the new 13″ and of course has a bigger screen. I was nervous when it was on the way – I really didn’t know if I would like the bigger screen / bigger form factor. I was a little shocked when I opened the screen but in just a short while I was thinking “OMG – this is amazing”. It removes any desire I might have had for using a monitor, and it fits in my same laptop bag so the only thing that changed was the weight. And I am not joking – I had a book that stayed in my bag that I never read. I removed it and now the bag is back to what I am used to.

I didn’t intend to do a 16″ Macbook Pro product review in this email but it sorta feels like I did – ha!

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CEO Daily Updates – 7.29.2020

July 29, 2020 by Craig Haynie

An analogy of Financial Reports | KN95 Masks on Sale | COVID-19 News Updates

Happy Wednesday! (Huuuuu……. Huuuuuuuuuuummm…)

During our weekly leadership meeting, Gary (our Chief Administrative Steward) was giving the leadership team a refresher / class on financial statements (P&L, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Statement). In an effort to help with some understanding I jumped in with an analogy that I personally really liked (it came to me in the moment), and I thought I would share it with you.

First, the overview of the financial statements.

In a business there are three primary financial statements used to monitor financial health and to inform decisions – the P&L, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow Statement. You may or may not be familiar with these statements so I will, in my own words, explain what they tell you.

The P&L (profit and loss) statement, or Income Statement, shows your income, cost of the goods or services you are selling (COGS), expenses, and profit (or loss). Income minus cost of goods equals your gross profit. It is from this gross profit that you can pay your expenses, and what’s left over is your net income. Taxes are a factor but they only show up on the P&L if you are a C corp. Otherwise, if you are an S Corp or LLC the taxes are the responsibility of the shareholders each year and therefore do not show up as an expense in the business.

The Balance sheet shows the cash and assets of the business, as well as any liabilities – usually loans, but also the money you have booked as an expense but have not yet PAID. For instance, if you booked an expense for a vendor onto the P&L but have not yet sent the check, it shows up as a liability on the balance sheet in the “Accounts Payable” account. Glancing through the balance sheet you can see what cash you have in the bank, what people owe you (Accounts Receivable), what you owe as balances of loans and accounts payable, and also any “balance of value” of any fixed assets you purchased. For instance, if you bought a big ‘ol underwater basket weaving machine for $250,000 it is not (typically) able to be “expensed” on the P&L, and therefore shows up as an asset on the balance sheet. The IRS allows you to “depreciate” (write off) assets over a set amount of time, depending on the asset type, and to do that you transfer a piece of the value of that asset away from the balance sheet and onto the P&L. You are basically reducing the value of the asset and taking that reduction in value as an expense a little at a time. That one is maybe a little hard to wrap your head around without looking at it on paper.

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CEO Daily Updates – 7.28.2020

July 28, 2020 by Craig Haynie

Latest Stimulus Bill | IT Project Management Tips | Today’s COVID-19 Updates

Happy Tuesday!

So there is a new stimulus bill in the works and I just saw this article about it.

Latest Corona Virus Stimulus Bill

https://apple.news/AZCieL5H3S62G99ORswBtdA

I found this especially interesting:

“On ending the additional $600 in unemployment benefits the federal government was supplying, Kudlow argued that the extra money was hurting small businesses from hiring workers. “We have had a flood of inquiries and phone calls and complaints that small stores and businesses, restaurants can’t hire people back,” he said. “They went too far. Maybe last March, it was necessary for that, but, really, there are consequences of people not returning to work.” Mnuchin earlier in the day on “Fox News Sunday” said it a little more bluntly: “I think workers and Americans understand the concept that you shouldn’t be paid more to stay home than to work.” Mnuchin said the new bill will provide additional unemployment benefits, but noted that it will be less than the payments issued under the CARES Act. He said some workers were collecting more than they earned on the job. As a result, when businesses were reopening some employees did not have an incentive to return to work.”

At CK we tried to hire someone several weeks back that said “naa, I am making more (than the job paid) sitting at home”. I get that when all this went down they were moving fast and perhaps overlooked the possibility of these scenarios, but I am certainly glad they are fixing them. You could call it an ethical issue for someone to turn down a job because the unemployment check is more than what they could earn – but we just shouldn’t put people in the position to have to choose. That’s like laying $100 bills all over the office and having hidden cameras so you can fire anyone that touches one. Anyway, I am glad they are fixing it.

I am also glad that there was money available for people during the beginning of all this when places like restaurants were closed completely. I am also VERY grateful that in our business almost everyone was able to work from home. Many businesses did not have that luxury. I remember when all this first started some restaurants trying to hang on by doing take out. I was going to every restaurant around my house daily trying to do my little part to keep them going, but it wasn’t anywhere near enough. For those reasons I am glad that this unemployment was available when it was. Most people were not working not out of their own choice, but because there just was no work to do. But now we must start reeling this back in.

Your thoughts? How has this been a blessing to you or someone you know during this time?

From Joe, our friendly Safety Supplies Product Marketer:

Carrying some sort of method of sanitation on your person at all times has become a norm. I’m not talking about only hand sanitizer either. Anything from eye glass cleaner, soap, deodorizers, household cleaners, face sprays and any other mixtures that are used daily. We have an array of bottles, including spray pens and personal size bottles, that are perfect for dispensing any liquids you throw their way! Check ’em out.

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