Have you ever questioned whether symbolic awards such as trophies, plaques, and framed commemoratives must meet the requirements of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA)? This is a question many suppliers and distributors of symbolic awards are asking these days; for this and many other product categories associated with the CPSIA, there are no clear answers. That being said, understanding the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s interpretation of CPSIA rules can help provide a sound basis for making informed decisions when determining whether CPSIA regulations may or may not apply to a symbolic award based on a given situation.

If you’ve never sold to a team or league, doing so presents some unique challenges that can make you never want to see another team or league. Knowing about them in advance will help mitigate problems. Selling to teams and leagues can result in lower margins and unique headaches, but it can be worth the trouble to grow your business by putting your name in front of many families at a time.

Should awards and personalization retailers enter the stamp market? Certainly, says Mike Fruciano of LaserBits, but an even wiser question is, why not enter the market with so much ready potential? He contends that making and selling stamps is a natural fit for industry retailers, particularly if they have lasers standing idle that could be used to make stamps—and build a new revenue stream and customer base.

According to the Center for Women’s Business Research, in McLean, VA, there are more than 10,000 companies owned by women in the U.S. Fox Business.com reports that never before in history have women been so successful in launching and growing their own companies. The Guardian Small Business Research Institute says women-owned businesses employ more than 13 million people and will generate 5 million new jobs by 2018. Together, women-owned businesses are successfully generating trillions of dollars in sales each year.

My basic premise for today is that most managers don’t manage very well—because they manage from the top, rather than the front and the beginning. I think this stems from a commonly-accepted definition of management, which most managers seem to think is about being in charge. Personally, I think management is more about being an enabler than being a boss. It starts with a clear understanding of goals and objectives. And it works best when managers don’t manage people, but instead create teams.

A couple of months ago, the last Blockbuster store in Louisiana closed its doors. The local owner said that over the years his business had gone from lines of customers waiting to rent movies to just a few loyal customers. The store used to be one of the 9,000 Blockbuster stores that employed more than 60,000 people. It used to be a part of a $4.8 billion a year industry. And now, the brick-and-mortar movie rental store has become obsolete.