‘I Thought Maybe You Liked Hats’
‘I Thought Maybe You Liked Hats’
Feedback from readers and listeners indicates that not all 21 Hats subscribers have understood the 21 Hats name.
Good morning!
Here are today’s highlights:
How safe is your CRM data?
A car dealer explains how car dealers avoid paying taxes.
Apple wants to sell iPhones on a subscription plan.
New unemployment claims are the lowest in more than 50 years.
MARKETING
Should we keep the name 21 Hats? In this week’s podcast episode, I announced the sale of 21 Hats to Toby Scammell, founder of Womply, which provides software services to small businesses. While I will continue as editor-in-chief, much of what this will mean for 21 Hats has yet to be determined—including whether the new entity will keep the 21 Hats name. That has brought some interesting responses from smart listeners. For example:
Andrew Eichenblatt: “I listened to the discussion in your recent podcast on the name. I am not sure if you should change, but I had no idea what 21 Hats meant until that conversation. I thought maybe you liked hats. I don’t think you should assume your listeners know what it means. If you keep the name then maybe you should embrace the name and list the hats or refer to the hats on a weekly hat change tip. Something to tie the name to some type of branding and meaning. Like take off your marketing hat and put on your sales hat. etc. Hat tip of the week. Needs to be tied together.”
Harry Elston: “I just finished Tuesday's podcast, and I'd like to chime in on 21 Hats as a name/brand. When I came across the podcast in a general search for something business-y to listen to during commutes and dog walks, I came across the name ‘21 Hats’ and I immediately knew that the podcast was designed for small businesses—without even looking at the podcast description. The name ‘sang’ and was immediately recognizable as a small business resource. Of course, you can't tell the quality of the podcast until you hear it so after about a half-episode, I subscribed then went and binged-listened to everything from the beginning. So, if your new corporate overlord wants to change the name, I would consider that kind of a jerk move on his part. But that's just me.”
You can subscribe to the 21 Hats Podcast wherever you get podcasts.
THE ECONOMY
New unemployment claims are the lowest since 1969: “Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, decreased by 28,000 to a seasonally adjusted 187,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. That was slightly below a level last seen in December, and the lowest level for initial claims in over 52 years, since September 1969. The four-week average, which smooths out volatility in the numbers, decreased by 11,500 to 211,750.”
“‘It’s just a reflection of how tight labor markets are,’ said Nancy Vanden Houten, lead U.S. economist at Oxford Economics.” READ MORE
SMALLBIZ TECH
Recently, Gene Marks writes, the provider of a CRM platform that he sells issued an update to its terms of service, explicitly stating that it assumes no responsibility for anything that happens to customer data: “Can a software company get away with this? Sure. They all do. Why? Because they can. That’s one of the biggest problems with the cloud. The cost of switching from any of these cloud-based services, particularly after going through the pain and agony of implementing them is just too significant. And who are we going to switch to? Another platform with the same terms and conditions? The big question is: what does your business do? It’s not realistic to reject these terms and you don’t have the attorneys to fight it. Your cloud data strategy — like all of your business strategies — should be about measuring your risks and preparing for the worst.”
“You can back up your database. Most CRM platforms will provide their users with backup data and usually for an additional fee. Once you get that data you can then back it up to a separate resource using online backup software like Carbonite or Barracuda.”
“You can make sure your employees — particularly your work-from-home employees — are trained, have security software installed, are connecting to secure routers and are using the most recent operating systems. To do this you’ll likely have to employ an outside IT firm to monitor their activities and make sure they’re set up the right way.”
“Cyber Insurance won’t stop any of this from happening. But it will provide funds if your business is interrupted because of a breach. Liability insurance could cover you if your customers sue you because your data got breached. Talk to your insurance provider and make sure you have the appropriate coverage to minimize your financial risks.” READ MORE
PRICING
Southwest Airlines is introducing a new type of ticket: “The new fare will rank above Southwest’s cheapest option and be positioned below two pricier tiers. It includes additional features the airline hopes travelers will pay up to get: the option to cancel flights and give the credit to a friend, family member, co-worker or anyone else who is a member of Southwest’s frequent flier program; and same-day flight changes without paying any price difference.”
“Southwest said in December that it was planning to start offering a new type of fare that, along with other initiatives like a modernized revenue-management system, would bring in an additional $1.5 billion in pretax earnings next year.”
“The new fare will likely go on sale in the coming months, and Southwest hasn’t said how much more it will cost. Executives said the airline’s new offering, its first new fare type since 2007, won’t take any benefits away from its lowest-tier tickets.”
“Southwest found in its research that customers possess credits they don’t have the time or ability to use and would like to transfer them to someone else, said Jonathan Clarkson, Southwest’s vice president of marketing, loyalty and products. ‘That is a pain point that a lot of our customers relay.’” READ MORE
Apple wants to sell iPhones on a subscription plan: “The service would be Apple’s biggest push yet into automatically recurring sales, allowing users to subscribe to hardware for the first time -- rather than just digital services. But the project is still in development, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the initiative hasn’t been announced.” READ MORE
TAXES
A car dealer explains how dealers avoid millions in taxes:
SOCIAL MEDIA
Youtube stars John and Hank Green are launching a coffee brand: “On the well-trod journey from YouTube creator to brand owner, the coffee business has become a common lane. The latest entrants into the space are YouTube pioneers and authors John and Hank Green, whose Awesome Coffee Club — a monthly subscription service benefiting charity — launched on Tuesday. Awesome Coffee, which vends bags of whole or ground beans for $22 per month — with all post-tax profits going to fight maternal and child mortality in Sierra Leone — arrives in a fully percolated landscape.”
“‘What is the uniquely coffee-ish thing about our audience? Not much,’ John Green told Insider — though he noted that the brothers have had success with a similarly structured charity sock subscription service, which counts 45,000 members.”
“‘What I hope will make this succeed is that our audience cares a lot about supply chain, being thoughtful consumers, and where the money that they're spending actually goes.’" READ MORE
PROFILE
Jaime Ibanez, founder of Vending Bites, wants to be the vending machine king of Texas: “The 21-year-old YouTuber and entrepreneur’s forte is selling snacks and sharing his business practices with his 481,000 YouTube subscribers and 20,000 Instagram followers. It all began at South Hill High School in Fort Worth, when he bought Lay’s chips in bulk and sold them to friends at a profit. After graduating in June 2018, he initially considered pursuing a real estate license until he ‘ran into the vending industry’ later that summer.”
“The Fort Worth resident bought his first machine three months after high school in August 2018 for $3,000. Only 18 at the time, he had to use nearly all of his savings to buy it.”
“Three short and hectic years later, Ibanez now owns 37 vending machines across North Texas. From vending alone, he said, his monthly sales run between $12,000 and $13,000, with a 45-percent profit margin after accounting for the cost of gas and snacks.”
“Ibanez first put the story of his vending business online in January 2019 in a day-in-the-life YouTube video. The video captured Ibanez restocking vending machines and retrieving money — an inauspicious beginning that Ibanez said hit a million views in less than a month.” READ MORE
THE GIG ECONOMY
In New York City, Uber is partnering with the taxis it disrupted: “The company has reached an agreement to list all New York City taxis on its app, an alliance that could ease the ride-hailing giant’s driver shortage and temper high fares while directing more business to cab drivers, whose livelihoods were affected by the emergence of car-sharing apps and the pandemic. While Uber has formed partnerships with some taxi operators overseas, and riders in several U.S. cities can use its app to book taxis if cab drivers choose to be listed there, the New York City alliance is its first citywide partnership in the U.S. New York, one of Uber’s most lucrative markets, has been a battlefield for the company and the city’s iconic yellow taxis for years.”
“‘It’s bigger and bolder than anything we’ve done,’ said Andrew Macdonald, Uber’s global mobility chief. The company expects to launch the offering to riders later this spring.” READ MORE
HUMAN RESOURCES
An Applebee’s franchise executive triggered a social media backlash: “A leaked email from a mid-level executive at an Applebee’s franchise group predicting that inflation and higher gasoline costs would help the restaurants attract employees for lower wages is creating a stir on social media. The email from the American Franchise Capital executive led managers of a Lawrence restaurant to resign in protest, according to one news report, and provoked outrage on Reddit, where it appeared under the headline, ‘Applebee’s Executie (sic) claims higher gas prices make people more desperate so we can pay them less.’ The email didn’t put it exactly that way, but it came close.”
“‘Most of our employee base and potential employee base live paycheck to paycheck,’ Pankratz wrote fellow executives on March 6. ‘Any increase in gas prices cuts into their disposable income. As inflation continues to climb and gas prices continue to go up, that means more hours employees will need to work to maintain their current level of living.’”
“A spokesman for AFC said the email sent from Wayne Pankratz to other company officials does not reflect the company’s position.” READ MORE
Google is removing its office bidets, and employees are upset. No, really: “Google is removing Toto-brand bidet seats from its California offices after discovering they were out of compliance with the state’s code for commercial buildings. (Yes, for those who have never visited a Google bathroom, some of the company’s office toilets are blessed with heated seats and bidets.) Google’s toilets have loomed large in the company’s imagination — and reputation — for over 15 years. Employees aren’t happy about the bidets going away: A widely upvoted meme that Protocol reviewed from Google’s internal meme page reads, ‘The removal of bidets in the office is my #2 issue with RTO.” (Google didn’t return several requests for comment.)’” READ MORE
If you see a story that business owners should know about, hit reply and send me the link. If you got something out of this email, you can click the heart symbol, you can click the comment icon below, and you can share it with a friend. Thanks for reading, everyone. — Loren