Notes from the President

03 September 2020 khilton Notes from the President
Check all available information. One of the first things I learned when I started taking flying lessons was to “check all available information” pertaining to the flight you are about to take. This is obviously a good idea since once you leave the ground, it’s not easy to pull over and fix something you forgot to check before you left, like how much gas you have, or the conditions at your destination airport (Is the runway closed?).

Ken Hilton - President Red Wing Software
Whenever you make any large decision that could affect your business success or other life-changing events, it is always good to check all available information. As an example, with the recently issued presidential memorandum about the payroll tax holiday, make sure you, and all employees, understand the real implications of deferring the withholding of the payroll tax. At the time of this writing, there are many unanswered questions regarding this memorandum, so while we all may have opinions on the topic, we need to make sure we have all available information before deciding whether to implement this deferral.
There are numerous examples of decisions that we regularly make that warrant checking all available information before making a final choice: What is the best brand of equipment to do the job? Is this new applicant the best person for the job? Who is the best choice to cast my vote for in the upcoming elections? Checking all available information before making those important decisions will help ensure the best outcome.

Notes from the President

11 August 2020 khilton Notes from the President

Ken Hilton - President Red Wing Software

Cautious, but not fearful. I was having a conversation recently with our Red Wing Software CEO, Jim, and as often happens during these times, the subject of the pandemic came up. We discussed how we felt about the risk of contracting the virus and what steps we were taking to protect ourselves and others.
His response was he was “cautious but not fearful.” I thought that was a great attitude toward the pandemic, and many other things in life and business. When thinking about personal purchasing decisions and or major life-changing decisions, after doing the appropriate research, and making your decision, be cautious, but not fearful of your choice.
When making business decisions, such as taking on a new venture, investing in new modern equipment, or deciding when it’s time to hire additional employees, again, after doing the appropriate budgeting for the new project, evaluations of the new equipment, and interviewing and selecting the right people, move forward, and be cautious but not fearful.

Notes from the President

06 July 2020 khilton Notes from the President

Ken Hilton - President Red Wing Software

As I write this, we are approaching a significant date in the history of the United States. This may sound a little strange at first, but I choose not to celebrate the 4th of July. However, I will be celebrating Independence Day; it happens to be on July 4th.
I feel we tend to recognize, observe, and celebrate dates rather than the events that made the dates important to us. Remember the special events that happened on a date and recognize why that date is significant.
These thoughts can carry into your business management, as well. Every day, week, month, and year we run a variety of financial reports to track how our business is operating. We look at a Balance Sheet and get a snapshot of the financial health of our business, but do we dig into it and determine what caused the changes on this report? We run an Income Statement, P&L, Statement of Farming Activities, or Statement of Revenue and Expenditures (depending on your type of organization), but do we take the time to drill down and determine why the business is heading in the direction it is?
Every country and business have events and reports that they recognize and review at certain times of the year. Let us make it a point to remember why we are running these reports and the reason we are celebrating these dates.
Independence Day is also a great time to remember all the people that keep us free and safe, especially in challenging times.

Notes from the President

08 June 2020 khilton Notes from the President

Ken Hilton - President Red Wing Software

As you probably know, the entire staff of Red Wing Software has been working from home since the end of March. As we often do when we have problems to solve or questions to answer, we assembled a small team to help determine what returning to the office would look like. We received many good suggestions from the group and will be implementing some criteria for people to follow while in the office, and changes to the facility itself.
While every company’s work environment will be different, it is essential to make sure people feel safe in their workspace. With our group, keeping things clean and sanitized was a unanimous goal. Most of the group also felt wearing a mask, when social distancing was hard or not possible, might be important. They also did not feel they would need to wear a mask while working at their desk. One of the overwhelming observations, but not surprising knowing our staff, was that people were very concerned about the safety of others, even more so than their own.
One of the things we will make clear to our team is that if they feel unsafe or uncomfortable working in the office, they can continue to work from home until such time that the threat subsides. That is certainly an advantage that Red Wing Software has that other businesses may not.
Whatever your business has done or will be doing as the country returns to work, it is vital to have a plan and maintain communication with everyone involved.

 

Notes from the President

06 May 2020 khilton Notes from the President

Ken Hilton - President Red Wing Software

First, I want to thank our entire amazing staff at Red Wing Software for their dedication to taking care of our customers’ needs during this difficult time. In addition, I want to sincerely thank you, our awesome customers, for supporting us, and I want to assure you that we are here to support you in any way we are able.
The current situation is affecting each business in unique ways. Some were forced to close (hopefully temporarily), some have remained open with some changes in logistics, and some have had to ramp up their operations and add employees.
Whatever the situation is, it is time to look at your annual projections that you budgeted before the beginning of the year. I can imagine that very few of us predicted this kind of change in our operations. What do we need to do as the economy reopens to make sure we are ready? Are there places that we need to adjust expenses? Are there processes that we need to change to keep our employees safe as they return to work? And, are there business opportunities that we should be looking at to help our customers as their business changes? It is always a good idea to think about the future and stay ahead of the game.
Finally, I want to welcome our newest member of the Red Wing Software team. Allison joined our support staff on April 20th and brings great customer service skills to our talented group. She will soon be shadowing her teammates on calls as she gets up to speed on the software.