Double Forte’s Post

Chicken and egg theory, but with a twist…     A freight twist.. Would that be called a “twist of freight”?   A friend of mine was a recent casualty of a round of layoffs at a big box brokerage. I was surprised to hear this given they were always one of the top sellers at the brokerage. Naturally, I had to ask questions on what happened because I knew there was more to the story. After talking with them, it sounds like this brokerage had made a round of layoffs to their operations team about six months ago due to the market shift last year. The problem was they kept their sales team intact, but with a much smaller operations team to execute on what the sellers were bringing in. This quickly led to a drop in service and communication, diluting the service that the sellers were selling. Once you lose the trust of a partner that you can execute, you move from a partnership to a transactional relationship or worse, you go the way of the dodo. All of us in this industry know, you are either part of the solution, or you are the problem.   Now this is obviously just one side of the story. But it got me thinking about finding the balance between sales and operations. Without a solid sales team, the operations team has nothing to do. Without a solid operations team, the sellers have nothing to sell. Finding the balance is critical for any company that wants to survive, and realistically it’s not as hard as some companies think.   I’d like to hear everyone’s take on what comes first, the sale or the service?   #sales #logistics #leadership

The last 14 months have been brutal in the pharma and biotech industries. For many of us, it has become a famine, with low investment, work has been scarce, layoffs have been frequent, and people going back in-house after years working independently growing their businesses becoming a trend. All of this has an emotional and mental impact. Personally, I have been working soilidy on business development over the last 14 months, and winning new business has not been easy. I have had many positive conversations leading to the signing of NDAs/CDAs, and MSAs, along with many promises of work, but so far, nothing. Being ghosted by people who were keen to work with us before Christmas has sadly been common. Each day, I wake up with hope, go into my office with a plan for business development, and work on executing that plan. It has been incredibly tough. I am not the type of person who accepts defeat, but losing has become a daily thing. Winning for me is getting projects over the line to keep my team busy, providing value to our clients, and having the bank account positively active. Of course, I enjoy the small wins like getting replies from people, and I am incredibly happy and grateful for people who have given me their time to speak with me on calls. Some I am blessed to now call friends and allies! Despite such a tough and challenging time, I persevere. It helps that I am tenacious and a stubborn so and so. Of course, all business owners take risks, and I am no different, and my personal as well as professional circumstances are in the mix here. If you are going through a tough time, no matter how emotionally draining, mentally exhausting, and psychologically challenging it is, keep going to bed with a feeling of having given your absolute best, wake up with renewed focus and hope, and go into work with a plan, and keep executing - pivot where necessary - but keep going. We will encounter losses, but defeats are a part of victory. However, we can only lose when we accept defeat and give up. I have never enjoyed losing because I am so ambitious and competitive. I will never never never give up! And neither should you! Despite not being in the same place mentally, physically, and emotionally as I was when our industry was doing well, I will keep fighting on for the win, for myself, my team, and my family. Keep going, the next yes might be after the umpteenth no, but it will be there, we must believe!

A lesson in authentic company values from Torani, a non-tech Bay Area company that has never had a layoff. The news of a company avoiding layoffs might seem unusual in today's economy, but this may inspire us all to keep striving to do better. Not all tech companies fall into the pendular hiring trap but many do. I've experienced the dynamics of leadership teams facing layoffs... 5 times. One of those, my first, left the greatest impression on me as a lesson in strong leadership. The company was in growth mode, then the market changed abruptly. Investors called for immediate cost cuts. My CEO faced a tough call and invited me and our head of finance to meet live on a Sunday to hash it out. He could immediately extend the runway, or double down by trusting in the team & company culture. It was a risky, but calculated decision to bet on the positive impact of increased employee morale. Avoiding a layoff became a rallying cry, ultimately driving the company to a successful IPO. #SuccessStory #BayArea #NoLayoffs #Inspiration #startuplife Madrone Consulting Group

If the economy and downsizing has been on your mind as a business leader, this article offers some timely insights from several business owners and experts.

30 Big Companies That Notoriously Have Layoffs Companies Laying Off Mass Numbers of Employees Unfortunately, many companies are currently struggling to stay afloat and are being forced to lay off a significant number of employees. Tyson Tyson is one of the biggest meat processing companies in the country, but even they are struggling to stay afloat right now. At the end of April 2023, Tyson announced that they would be cutting roughly 25% across corporate and senior roles with the company, but they made no mention of how many employees that would be.  When announcing the cuts to jobs, Tyson CEO Donnie King said, "While we have made progress on our strategy, fully realizing the opportunity ahead requires continuing to align our business and our priorities to enable long-term success of the enterprise." According to the most recent earning reports, Tyson saw a 70% drop in earnings from last year. Walmart Walmart is a major retailer that sells (usually affordably) basically anything a person could possibly need. However, leadership from the company warned that the year ahead will be a tough one for the company. In April of 2023, it was announced that Walmart would be laying off more than 2000 workers.  These workers come from around the country, but all work at warehouses that Walmart uses to fulfill their online orders. According to Walmart, this was done to "better prepare for the future needs of customers," which sounds like business speak for announcing that their online presence isn't doing well. Tuesday Morning It's been a rough year for Tuesday Morning, and it seems like they just lost the battle to stay in business. The discount merchandise business started the year by announcing mass closures of its stores across the country. Then, at the end of April 2023, the store announced they were going out of business and that all stores would be closing down. While the exact timeline for closures is still unknown, Tuesday Morning has warned customers that their gift cards will stop working by May 13th and that the closures themselves will take place in the weeks following. Roughly 200 Tuesday Morning stores remain in the country at this time. Morgan Stanley All sorts of companies have been negatively affected by the recent business downturn, including the financial services behemoth Morgan Stanley. They recently announced plans to cut more than 3,000 jobs by the end of the second quarter of 2023. That accounts for about 5% of the business's workforce.  While the company hasn't made its specific reasons for the layoffs public, the CEO, James Gorman, has recently mentioned that many of the company's main activities, like underwriting and mergers, have slacked off in the past few months, and he doesn't expect them to resurge anytime soon. Gap Since September of 2022, Gap has been cutting positions across the company in an attempt to save money. As of now, roughly 2000 jobs at Gap have been eliminated, with a majority of the cuts taking plac

Here's another Hamilton Noel. Not all layoffs are due to overstaffing or shrinking markets. Some truly occur for underperformance, and sometimes, grace should be employed. In my mid 20's, we were pitching our tech co for sale, and I had to make a trip to Japan. Timing was bad: my marriage wasn't working but we'd agreed to resolve it upon my return. However, when I opened the door, the house was empty, everything gone, including my son. As the law did its job, I went to work every day, doing my best w/the product teams, agencies & contractors to keep it together. Shame and heartbreak kept my mouth closed to everyone.  18 mo. later, the business sold, personal issues were resolved & I felt like I'd joined the ranks of "weathering the storm," emerging with the scars of a damaged, but sea-worthy vessel.   Shortly thereafter, the co-founder revealed my head had been on the chopping during this x as the company sought to trim resources to get a higher value. One of my peers, & a person I considered my best friend, had suggested I be let go. His reasoning was that I wasn't performing to standard. My direct boss had agreed w/my performance but not on firing me. He was convinced something was going on in my life. One day, he'd taken me aside, asked me if all was OK & I shared. He was shocked & sympathetic. He'd been through a divorce & knew full-well the brutal, but temporary challenges associated w/a life crisis. Looking back, it would have devastated me financially, emotionally and mentally; the only thing viable was my job. It kept me sane and busy during this hard time.   I began using the word "grace" in business & it wasn't long before I had the opp to apply the word. A client was $40K in arrears. My attorneys wanted to sue, but I was prompted to send a handwritten note to the CEO, essentially communicating this was unlike him, and I hoped he was ok. I got a call w/in days: his 13 yr old daughter had committed suicide. His wife was in bed, work had taken a back seat w/customers & creditors alike. He was also pained that not one client, partner or person in his world had reached out to understand what had caused his own 'storm.' Assumptions were made, actions taken & not an ounce of grace given. He said I was the only person to reach out & offer a fraction of the amt owed, which I accepted. Today, he's bounced back with far greater success.    Side note: wondering abt my friend, & if I held his suggestion against him? An unequivocal NO. He'd never married nor experienced major life challenges. He was antiseptically looking at the balance sheet, my performance & drew a logical conclusion while others took the long view. The word grace wasn't a part of his vocabulary.   Hard employee decisions are a part of business. It's my sincere hope that for those incredible, valuable performers who are experiencing a (temporary) life crisis, that reason will prevail, and grace be shown.

Don Vultaggio. He is a billionaire and the CEO of Arizona Ice Tea. The price of his product is the same as when it launched 32 years ago — 99 cents. His response to why he didn't increase the price: “We're successful. We're debt-free. We own everything. Why? Why have people having a hard time paying their rent have to pay more for our drink?" he said. "Maybe it's my little way to give back." I LOVE LOVE LOVE his approach. Lately, you see CEOs being greedy, making millions, and their pay increasing much faster than an average worker. Their companies are profitable but still raising product prices and doing layoffs. I understand companies want to be profitable, but it has been too much lately. Consumers struggle to afford things, especially the ones affected by layoffs. Maybe Don Vultaggio is not perfect, but showing compassion for consumers is a great first step.

Too many rules! Poor performance! Too many layoffs! In 2024, we are still seeing top logistics organizations going through layoffs with the latest one being Kuehne+Nagel, other companies that are struggling to find their entrepreneurial identity back, and most of them as a result are performing poorly. Just a vicious cycle! Allow your revenue generating teams to have some freedom. Making your sales rules too complicated and rigid slow down growth, and it does not promote entrepreneurship! Do not put your people in boxes! So the questions we ask our people are: ▶ What are you good at or passionate about? ▶ What do you want to go after? ▶ And, what is your plan?" It is true that the economy is rough but, it is a massive market out there and what I am the most thrilled about is that at Custom Goods Transportation, we make it a focus to be customer centric and growth driven. Our mission is to continue to develop a successful ecosystem of clients, vendors, and team members. #entrepeneurmindset #customercentric #flexibilitybringsperformance #accountabilitytogrowth #keepthingssimple #drivenbypassion #removeinternalobstacles #gofaster #successfulecosystem

Sadly, more layoffs announced at UPS. This time at a major air hub, Ontario California. The interesting part is the sort that is being eliminated, the sunrise. (generally, 0400-0800) Past layoff announcements at UPS focused on the day sorts (generally, 1200-1600) at ground hubs. The predominant product handled at air hub sunrise sorts is second day air. This product is not broken out in company financials and is included in the “deferred” category. Second day air makes up the vast majority of deferred. As one can see from the graphic for the deferred category for both FedEx and UPS, things do not paint a rosy future. Takeaway: Macroeconomic headwinds, combined with shifting consumer preference for lower cost shipping options, portend continued tough times for the deferred category.  #fedex #ups #parcel

Reflecting on the twists and turns of my career, I'm compelled to share the story of my hat-trick of layoffs. The first strike came in May 2019, coinciding with Imran Khan's ascension to PM and the subsequent economic downturn. As the local market faltered, companies began downsizing, and I found myself among the casualties, just days before Eid. The second blow landed in January 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged global markets. Once again, I felt the sting of being let go from my position. The third and final blow arrived on March 11, 2024, during Ramadan, as Devsinc, my employer, succumbed to the pressures of a downturn in the US market. Despite their assurances of being a 'family', I was politely asked to resign due to a lack of work. Sharing this journey serves as a stark reminder that despite rhetoric about loyalty and support, corporations often prioritize their bottom line above all else. We, the employees, pour our hearts and souls into our work, sacrificing personal time and peace of mind, only to find ourselves discarded when economic winds shift. It's a wake-up call to those still tethered to corporate structures: invest in your own ideas, nurture your entrepreneurial spirit, and embark on your own journey towards independence. Learn from my mistakes; I was ensnared in the relentless rat race, but with newfound clarity, I vow to forge my own path, to build my own empire, and reclaim my sovereignty. Until then, I'll continue my pursuit with unwavering determination, for in the realm of opportunity, I shall hunt until I reign supreme. #Entrepreneurship #CareerJourney #Resilience #LinkedInStories