Dashboard: Robots Aren’t Just for Big Boys Anymore

[Music] welcome to another 21 hats dashboard every Monday Gan marks and I talk about the issues we think business owners should be following welcome Jean hey Lauren great to speak with you this morning as always great to speak with you uh first Jean I want to start you've written about how companies are moving to replace workers with robots uh you've kind of done it as a little bit of a warning for uh dur during the labor shortage where uh people job candidates have been a special choosy uh about taking jobs uh this week we got a report of record-breaking robot sales companies ordered nearly $1.5 billion worth of Robotics in the first three quarters what's this telling you I you know I've been obsessed with this issue uh Lauren and I'm still obsessed with it I've been I've written about it twice and um what I do is I collect bookmarks you know I bookmark websites of stories about Robotics and business is my particular interest is um small businesses you know like you and I'm going to write again by the way cuz already I'm I'm creating a new list of more they just come every day there's new stories the the the the narrative has been in the past correctly so that Robotics are for big companies you know like you saw those robots at like the Toyota factories you know or Amazon's distribution centers but now you're seeing the numbers come out and you're right like there was like a billion and a half of robotic sales already surpassing uh you know prior years um it is this is not this is not a big business thing anymore and I'm seeing it man like I I go to clients and I seeing clients buy robotic arms that are doing like packaging and and quality control and I'm I've just been reporting on companies all around the country that are investing in um autonomous vehicles to transport stuff around a warehouse instead of a forklift and I I know some companies are using drones to like move packages or to help with inventory counts you know and it's it's just these companies that are making this stuff they're they're going to be a lot more coming up they are replacing people and that's it that's they are that they're they're all telling us no no no it's to enhance productivity of your people and to make you you know more efficient and automated and um yeah but it they're people are business owners are buying this stuff because it it replaces workers and I'm and it's not big business anymore it's small companies so keep watching it because I'm going to keep writing about this man because I think it's an enormous Trend that's happening um slowly but surely throughout the entire economy have you spoken to any owners who've uh who've done this uh about the uh return on investment uh are they happy with what they're getting out of it yeah they are I have um a few clients and I've also spoken to a few and you know it's interesting that you asked that question because um I've been I've been quoting other you sources you know how like you know you know when when we were walking together the New York Times you know we did like a Roundup you know of like other articles so I've been doing that but I'm going to I'm going to write my own article for somewhere and I'm going to interview um a handful of business owners that are because I know a few to answer your question that are like yes we have invested $10,000 in this you know in this robotic arm and it is it is returning to me way more of a value than having the employee there the company that I want to interview or the customers of the company is Boston Dynamics um cuz those guys are coming out like they introduced this robot called stretch this year um it's 75 grand but the thing it it moves pallets it Stacks pallets it unstack pallets it opens boxes it closes boxes it does all these things it's a it's a big robotic Warehouse thing and like a manager can can like supervise five of them at a time and for 75 grand it doesn't ask for any paid time off doesn't ask for any health insurance doesn't laain if about being bullied um all of those things and plus it shows up to work every day so um what's the primary use is it in warehouses for Pick and Pack that kind of thing yep yep Pick and Pack um like on a grand scale um and I I you know and I I think it's just it's and it's just affordable 75,000 is is is a very affordable number I mean let's not forget people get tax deductions for buying Capital Equipment um you can buy this get it into service and write it off in the first year uh so there there's a lot a lot of that going on and I'm I'm interested in talking to Boston Dynamic soon about how that product is doing because it seems like it's just uh part of a major trend of Robotics that's robotics by the way I know the article wasn't about other automation like Ai and uh you know an internet of things and all of that all that stuff is replacing people as well but that's another conversation for another day all right next story uh we got a report last week that inflation spiked by 6% uh year-over-year for the month of October highest in 30 years um I guess first question how concerned are you about that for your business and uh small businesses in general uh everybody's reporting um significant rise in prices way more than what the government is reporting so um I was in just this past week um I I was in Charleston I was in Vegas and I was in Miami speaking to business groups in um real estate industry construction industry and distrib industry and when I say like yeah the government just reported an 8.6% increase in producer prices to to a person they're all like 8.6 we're seeing way more than that you know so the numbers are much much higher for core materials that are being used for manufacturing and um we're going to be seeing those price increases um for the foreseeable future um plus we've got issues with you know just liquidity in the market um the FED is you know they're going to they're they're starting to you know tailor off their Buy back their buying program but they they're going to be raising interest rates sometime soon because they're going to be forced to inflation is definitely going to be around you know um Lauren for the next year um it there's it's just a fact of life but you know what we we'll navigate our way around that I mean you know people freak out about inflation and and I understand that it's it's just another challenge of running a business but you know countries since the beginning of time have dealt with inflationary periods and businesses we navigate around that we invest in Tech and you know cut our overhead and raise prices there is a tradeoff there I mean we went through this after the Great Recession and in retrospect a lot of people believe that there wasn't enough stimulus at that time and that's why the recovery took so long this is the opposite problem um I think a lot of people feel this problem's better than the problem that we dealt with you know waiting for that recovery to come last time yeah I agree with you and the other thing with people first of all another thing I want to write about is that there are like some pretty crazy things that businesses are dealing with right now we're dealing with inflation we're dealing with finding people we're dealing with making Tech decisions supply chain government mandates you know the whole Mass thing the you know the mandates of getting vaccinated there's a lot of stuff business owners are dealing with that if you and I were having we were talking two years ago none of the stuff is even on our radar screen do you know what I mean um having said that though and your point um you know you know think about a year ago Lauren you know I mean things are really pretty shitty a year ago you know I mean heading into Thanksgiving uh with cases spiking businesses a lot of uncertainty everybody eating outside at restaurants I mean demand is still very strong right that's the thing we we wouldn't have inflation we wouldn't have supply chain problems if there were no demand I I think we're happy to have the demand yeah that's exactly right I mean like these are these are problems but they're they're they're not bad problems to have and they are you know we've got the demand there small business optimism came out this week and it it fell to like a seven-month low okay but it's still levels that I saw back in 2015 2016 nothing's bottoming out and all those industries that I spoke to they're they're they're all grumbling about the prices but they've all been having good years you know all right so here's a story that caught my eye this week that kind of runs in the opposite direction that I found really intriguing because I haven't seen anybody else write about it it ran in the week and it's a story about gas prices which are a big component of that increase inflation and you know lots of people freaking out about gas prices right now and for a of people it's it's obviously a very very serious problem um this story pointed out that that's kind of been an un uh unappreciated part of the switch to electrical Vehicles something that we haven't focused on very much if that continues and there doesn't seem any be any reason to think it won't uh that's going to take a lot of the pressure off of gas prices they'll kind of become irrelevant don't you think yeah you know when I when you sent me that story um guys if you're listening to this Lauren sends me these stories in advance okay so this is not like nobody's taking me by surprise here but I was thinking like there's Lauren going off about like you know his green you know leftwing liberal it isn't even about that it's not it's aside from the green stuff yeah but yeah I'm thinking like all right so I'm like you know what I'm going to put this right in Lauren's face I'm going to do a little bit of research and I'm going to be like you're out of your mind dude I mean fossil fuels are here to stay and cars then I started doing some research do you know like electric vehicles last year accounted for only 2% of car sales okay that's very very low however according to climate wire which is a you know like it's a it's a news site that covers the environmental industry um it's gone up and like this this number this year it's it's approaching 20% of all passenger vehicles they are reporting are EV Vehicles electric 20% and I think to myself okay I guess that makes sense when I think about it because there are so many hybrids and Tesla and all the other you know makers that are out there they're really gaining and and then when I talk to anybody my friends rightwing or left wi they're all like yeah I would get an electric vehicle like you it's fine by me and you know if you live in a in the suburbs you you know and you can plug it into your house there's some adjustments you can make to your own house electric system according to Elon Musk um that you can plug in your car which you can and then you've got like um I don't know it's I I I see those electrical Vehicles taking hold and you're right I think that will have an impact on fossil fuels it's also part of the infrastructure Bill you're going to have a lot more the charging stations built and you're going to have the government buying a lot more electrical vehicles and you're going to take a lot of the demand for gasoline away as you know obviously if you own an electric vehicle it's not going to be a concern but even if you still have a a combustion engine you're going to probably pay less to fill it because there's going to be less demand for gasoline it's so true and you know I even just wrote a story in the guardian the other week about how like California was saying you can't you know after like another few years you're not allowed to buy any gas- powerered small engines which is driving the whole Landscaping industry you know crazy I mean states are putting in these kinds of mandates you know in the end the thing is Lauren is that it's not this is not answering our questions now somebody just showed me like a gallon of gas in Coronado California outside of San Diego was $5.39 for a gallon you know so all of this rise in EV and the infrastructure Bill and all that um I I think it is great stuff for the future but it's not going to solve you know our gas prices problem particularly for small businesses anytime in the in the near future we're going to have to be dealing with higher energy costs that's just that's just it um and and unfortunately being in the gas industry is tough nowadays you've got a lot of regulations holding back on production um and and that's causing a slow down in Supply which is pumping up prices um so these are these are issues that we're going to be dealing with we're going to be dealing with higher gas prices and oil you know there's so many oilbased products as well I think that's going to be part of our future as well well you're right I didn't mean to suggest and that story didn't suggest that this was a short-term solution to the gas price problem but it is something to think about going forward yeah what do you think I just have to like on the uh you know you hear about mandates that governments make um to like California requiring you know Small Engines you know you can't buy gas powerered engines you know what I mean after a certain period of time not for cars you're talking about for for like lawnmowers and weed whackers and you know those kinds of things you know um do you think that's a good thing I think there's probably a right way to do it and I haven't studied what's going on in California well enough to know whether they're doing it the right way I think my understanding is that they have taken some steps to make it uh you know more digestible for the businesses that are affected by it um I tell you what I I'm no big fan of leaf gas powered leaf leaf blowers I don't like smelling them I don't like hearing them um and apparently they do more damage than you know a fleet of cars so um I I think the the idea of mandating this is probably a good one but uh steps need to be taken to protect people who are affected by it yeah that's a good answer I mean listen I'm a you know Mr smaller company and Le less you governments and less regulations or whatever but you know you know the environment is important and we we have to be proactive about it and I don't think a lot of the stuff can get G with get done without the government putting in either mandates or significant incentives direction and you know business will adapt like these businesses in California they'll they'll ultimately adapt to the new situation you got to watch people can get you know fall through the cracks and um that's you know that's not a happy outcome and I'm hoping that they're going to take care of that next story uh you've written quite a bit about ransomware and cyber security and what businesses can do to protect themselves uh this week there was a story in wired uh or last week actually a story in wired about the government actually taking some meaningful action which is something I think a lot of us have been looking for for a long time they caught a perpetrator uh and They seized $6 million in ransomware payments uh which is I think for the first time an indication that somebody doing this could actually pay a price for doing it do you think that'll make a difference no I mean first of all the guy they caught this guy he's from Ukraine big shocker there because basically all they need to do I think the Americans you know how they caught Bin Laden they need to like just fly in I think there's one neighborhood in Ukraine which has all the hackers in it so just I thought some of them were in Russia yeah just just no it's Russia but I I think it's all I think Ukraine you know I you just attack them and you know basically you know cordon off that neighborhood and then arrest all the people people there it's it's a 22-year-old kid do you really think that that these people are going to be you know you scared or put off from that I mean this kid made a mistake he got apprehended um ransomware and all these attacks are going to continue when you say he made a mistake was the mistake doing the hack or was the mistake he did something stupid that allowed himself to be caught he allowed himself to be caught you know the mistake wasn't doing the hack and and his you know there's it's a multi-billion dollar industry it's not going to stop people and um I've been talking about this again you know only because and I know we've talked about it in the past but you guys if you're listening again particularly it's this work from home thing is being like this is like the biggest fantastic thing for hackers ever so please please please if you just make sure that your workers from home are running the most recent versions of their operating system I promise you it will significantly reduce your exposure to getting hacked it doesn't eliminate it but you know guys like this guy in Ukraine he doesn't want to deal with updated operating system he's looking for you know you can compromise so that's what you want to do it's not going to go away it's not going to go away when I bring up this topic with business owners they leave the room they fall asleep they they do everything except take it seriously do you still get that reaction or do you think people are paying attention now I'm not sure if they're paying attention or not um uh you know it is it's still an issue you know what I mean so it is I don't think it's just I just I don't think they're paying attention all right well maybe we made it difference today uh Last Story uh it's been kind of an Open Secret that unlimited PTO plans don't really work because employees aren't really sure what the expectations are um and they can even result in people taking fewer days off because it's unlimited um protocol which covers uh tech companies reported last week that some companies are moving toward mandatory PTO uh as a way counter that telling people they have to take the days off uh is this just a tech industry thing or do you see this as being something that could affect uh businesses in general so I you know what I'm seeing Lauren is is um I'm actually seeing like a significant rise in unlimited PTO Plans by a lot of businesses I mean this is not it's not a uh a fly by night thing and it's not just a tech industry thing um so I just want to make sure that that's clear I mean as a recruiting tool unlimited PTO is like a really it's it's a really strong thing it's highly in demand um and and actually you know it can benefit a lot of businesses by providing that kind of benefit now there's ways are you do businesses provide it because they know the employees aren't going to use it is that it's a really good point because some people are saying they're reading the numbers and the numbers are coming out that employees at companies that offer these unlimited PTO plans tend to take less pay time off like significantly less so a lot of employer and by the way if you have an unlimited PTO plan you don't have to pay for any unused vacation when somebody leaves your company like there's so there's Financial incentives to provide this and by the way you can control your PTO plans I mean you can make it like nobody takes time off unless they get approved by the supervisor so it's when people are figuring this out they're like okay we can offer this but people taking less time off is an issue and you know it's a it's a mental health issue especially now especially given what we've been through it really is so now you've got employers that are saying like Hey listen we're going to offer this but we're going to require you to take some time off I mean at least some some minimum amount of time off I I I completely support that and I think that that should be what's done I think it shows a lot of respect for the workers but I'm also going to I'm going to take an accounting view as well you know Lauren I mean you know you a lot of people that are in positions of authority particularly people that are on the finance side you know you have to require people to take time off you realize because if you don't require people to take time off often times fraud and and and money issues happen because nobody's looking after their shoulder or doing their jobs so when I hear that there's a there's you know you know employers now with unlimited PTO plans are enforcing it and making people take time off there's a mental health benefit for doing it but there's also a financial reason to do it internally which is you want people to go away have people replace them for a week or two learn you know other people's jobs and just make sure also that people are doing what they have to do the right way so I you know I I think it's a good thing I think we're going to see a lot more of it and it won't just be in the tech industry anybody offering PTO PLS but getting back I just also want to say you know when I talk to people that are in non-te like in manufacturing and distribution and they talk about I mentioned unlimited PTO they're always like rolling their eyes you gotta be kidding me you know um hasn't really taken hold in the manufacturing industry has it I think it will though I really do I think yep I really do I think as as these business owners start realizing that they can keep these plans under control um it is a huge huge benefit to offer to prospective employees and we're looking for benefits to offer to attract people to our businesses you know that makes sense and as you said it also helps to move people around and get them trained doing different things that flexibility can be really valuable Gan marks is a CPA and writes weekly on small business for the guardian the hill the Philadelphia inquire the Washington Times Forbes and entrepreneur I don't know how he does all that you can also hear him on AB radio's eye on the world with John Bachelor Jean hosts two popular small business podcasts with paychecks Corporation and the Hartford and he claims to run his own business too I don't know how he does that either do we've been having a good year thank you Jean thanks Lauren see you next week always great speaking with you have a great week everyone