Hello All,
It’s newsletter time again and there is a lot going on. The sales activity has been very high in the last few weeks and this is very comforting. The sales staff feels that the project bookings will really break loose in the coming months. For the month of September, we booked some big projects and our bookings are equal to January 2020 at 6.4 million. This is excellent and is slightly above our monthly projection of 5.6 million. We would need several more good months to get back to our 2020 projection, so we will probably not make that by year end. However, we have fought our way back to a projected slight growth of 6% or so. That is amazing really with all the setbacks we have had in 2020. To be a slight increase in revenue over 2019 is quite the comeback. It’s a team effort that is making this happen; all offices have risen to the challenge. Add to that, we are seeing signs that 2021 will be an even bigger year.
Scaling-Up: Next week is the beginning of the 4th quarter and we will be having our two day Strategic Planning meeting. This will be the first time since January that we have met in person. We have a room reserved that will give us a lot of space to social distance yet interact and plan strategically. It’s not exactly normal with masks, hand sanitizer, and lunch from individual boxes, but at least we are together, and personally, I am looking forward to it. It is likely that we will have some future meetings via Zoom, GoToMeeting, or Teams occasionally, but this time, it is nice to meet in person.
29 Years! October 14, 2020 will be Lone Star Communications’ 29th birthday! Lone Star started business on October 14th at the 1414 Post & Paddock location and it has been a fun ride for 29 years. What should we do to celebrate our 30th anniversary in 2021? Let’s have some fun. Should we do something each month between now and then since we will actually be into our 30th year, or should we plan one big party? What should a party look like? Where should we have it? When should we have it? Let’s get a committee together and get a plan. Who’s in?
Book Challenge: We are in the final quarter of the book reading challenge. Who has set goals to read this year? You don’t have to tell us how many, just that you have set a goal and you are working toward achieving it. As you know, I set a goal of 30 books and started with a bang by reading 15 books in the first few months of the year. Then, I stalled out. I just didn’t take the time to read, but I finally got started again in July. Well, I’ve stalled again and need to get it going. I’m sitting at 73% of my goal which is slightly behind but I’m going to make a big 4th quarter push. This is why I set a goal to begin with, to know if I’m on track and to push myself.
Body Scans: We still have a few of the prepaid scans for anyone that would like to take one.
There is no requirement to take a scan, though there are some guidelines. The company will not have any knowledge of the results after you take it. It is totally between you and your doctor. The normal fee is between $750 and $900, but we bought in bulk and Lone Star will cover this scan for all employees over 40 and their spouse as well. The downside is the clinic is based in Las Colinas, Texas, so you may have to travel if you don’t live the DFW area.
For those that have taken one, it has been real peace of mind for them. As I mentioned, a couple of people have discovered a few things early and are dealing with them now. If you catch these medical issues early, you have a much better chance to get them cured usually. It’s when they are discovered after time has passed that they have grown to the point that they can become incurable. We extended the offer of the free scan to BOTH you and your spouse, so contact Erika Jones at erika.jones@lonestarcom.com and she will send you the information.
That’s all for now. October is going to be busy so let’s get ready for a big finish.
-Ray Bailey, President