We are the nation of the busy. Americans work more hours than residents of any other industrialized nations. More than 85% of men and 66% of women in the U.S. work more than 40 hours per week. We take fewer vacation days than anyone else and retire later too.

Is this good or bad? It depends on who you ask; there are plenty of experts who believe we as a nation are overworked. It means you’re not lying when you say you’re busy – especially if you own your own business. And because there is so much to do day-to-day, small business owners rarely have the time to reflect. Even tougher, they know what they want to fix yet can’t carve out the time to address the problem.

Wearables is here to help. Our new series “Shop Shakeup” provides assistance to screen-printing shops that are either just getting by or ready to take the next step. We pair the owners with experienced screen-printing consultants who will provide customized advice to solve the most pressing problems these companies face.

Our first installment is a good one. Linda and Steve Wachal have been running Creative Impact Co. (asi/170792) for over 20 years. That longevity should be the envy of many shops in this industry, yet the shop operated at a slight loss last year, and struggles with everything from organization to pricing.

We matched the Wachals up with Marshall Atkinson, the COO of top contract shop Visual Impressions and an experienced consultant and industry educator. His advice is something that all shops should take to heart, which is why I encourage you to check out our feature on page 52. And if your shop is in similar dire straits, we can help you. Email me at cmittica@asicentral.com and give some information about you and your business and the areas you need help in.

“Our new series 'shop shakeup' provides assistance to screen-printing shop that are just getting by.”

This is our “New Issue,” and we have all sorts of things for you to look forward to. Our cover story highlights new initiatives that take your decoration shop to greater success – everything from expanding to a bigger location to adding promotional products.

In addition, our New Product Guide returns with a look at the best products suppliers have released for 2015. We’ve gone even further and grouped them into outfits to target specific users and markets. (You’ll also want to order an extra sample of some of these to keep for yourself.)

Last, we spotlight the innovations we saw at this years SGIA Show. There were plenty of show stoppers, including Kornit’s breakthrough of consistently printing polyester with direct-to-garment equipment. The samples they had on hand looked sharp and just may be the push DTG needs to achieve greater acceptance.

I hope you’re optimistic about all that you can achieve in 2015. With all issues of Wearables, and this one in particular, we want to help you succeed. Good luck.

Thanks for reading,