In 2018 we wrote an article about running a stress test on your business (January/February 2018 “How Low Can You Go”). That article posited that if sales stopped or slowed tremendously, there were certain actions you’d need to take to survive. The last couple of years have shown us that threats to small business are…
Anyone in the pool industry knows the importance of design in making an appealing product. If you can’t put your finger on why PoolPro feels a little different this issue, it’s all thanks to our art director, Brittany Alloway. We’re keeping the same overall structure, but Brittany cut the clutter and made the magazine more…
I’ve been to a lot of trade shows — and after a while, they all start to run together. Exhibiting is a ton of work, even for a small booth like ours. In the past, I’ve had a love/hate relationship with trade shows: I love to be there and see everyone, and I have some…
Remember when we were supposed to have a commercial issue last year, but instead there was a pandemic and everything we planned went out the window? Yeah….me too. So instead of 2020 being our inaugural commercial edition, we are launching it in 2021. For a few years, I’ve been tossing around the idea of becoming…
Thanks to all who took our survey on the state of the service industry. They can be a drag to fill out, but that information helps us better serve you, our advertisers and the industry as a whole as we try to make sense of the pandemic’s affect on business now and down the road….
When most of you read this, the 2021 pool season will be about to kick off in earnest. There are so many unknowns this year: Will this pandemic go away? Will you be able to get the products you need? Will your costs go up dramatically? Will a natural disaster hit your community? We cover…
If you’re like me, you never felt caught up in 2020. Every time I thought things were about to get back on track, something would happen. School was open. School was closed. The babysitter had to quarantine. There was an ice storm. And I had it easy compared to many. But when I look back…
For many, we’ve never looked forward to a new year as much as 2021. The problems of 2020 did not magically go away upon the Times Square ball drop, but a new year represents a clean slate. Even if it’s just symbolic, I’ll take it. That being said, I think most anticipate 2021 looking quite…
What a difference a year makes. This time last year, I had a weeks-old baby and never would have imagined sending my kindergartener to school wearing a mask. I’ll admit that I don’t love change. I like plans and stability. A year as unpredictable as 2020 was not easy for me to navigate. But what…
This was supposed to be our first commercial-focused issue of PoolPro, and while much of the content focuses on the commercial pool sector, it’s much more of a mishmash than I originally intended. In this strange year, the residential market is booming but the commercial side remains mixed. Many public pools have stayed closed this…
When I re-read my last column, I can’t help but laugh. If I’d only known what was ahead. We were gearing up for a crazy busy season, but never in my wildest dreams would I have envisioned this. The way COVID has affected business differs for each company, city and state, but fortunately for our…
