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Suggest who benefitsDashboard: ‘We’re Not Giving Up’
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Suggest questionThis week, Ben Knepler returns to the podcast to explain why he and his co-founder at True Places (https://trueplaces.com/) concluded they had no choice but to suspend production of their portable, outdoor chairs and go into survival mode. Initially, they manufactured the chairs in China, where they’ve been paying tariffs since the first Trump administration. Last year, at considerable expense, they moved production to Cambodia, which at the time was subject to no tariffs. But since April 2nd, the company has been subjected to a tariff rate that has gyrated from zero to 49 percent to 10 percent to 36 percent to 19 percent as of last week. In our conversation, Ben explains why they stopped production and how they hope to survive.
About 21 Hats
The proponents of employee stock ownership plans can make them sound like the greatest thing ever. A business owner can take a big chunk of money off the table—or even all of it—while still getting to run the business. And there are some pretty great tax breaks. Oh, and it will also solve income inequality in America. On the other hand, if ESOPs are so smart, why are there so few of them?
Jim Kalb of Triad Components Group in San Diego and Jeff Taylor of Crafts Technology in Chicago have both implemented ESOPs. Jay Goltz of the Goltz Group in Chicago has reached his 60s without a succession plan, and he’s considering his options. In this 21 Hats Conversation, you get to listen in on a street-smart discussion of the pluses and minuses of ESOPs from the business owner’s point of view.