Is your scrap plastic trading operation like the Three Stooges?
Hollywood is out of ideas. They just made a Three Stooges movie – a remake of a 70-year-old franchise that seems out of place in today’s modern world. The movie has been a modest success, grossing over $37 million at the box office (compared to a $30 million production budget), but the fact that this movie even exists is an example of how the movie industry has become increasingly afraid to take risks.
It’s impossible to get a movie studio to make a movie unless it’s based on some pre-existing intellectual property, like a bestselling book (“The Hunger Games”), comic book (“Avengers,” “Iron Man,” etc.) or even an amusement park ride (“Pirates of the Caribbean”). Not to mention all the sequels, like the Mission Impossible series, and “reboots” of former film series, like “Star Trek.”
It might seem that the scrap plastic recycling industry is as far away as possible from the world of Hollywood filmmaking. After all, Hollywood deals with movie stars and celebrities and glamour, while we deal with bales of scrap plastic.
But there are several lessons from the Three Stooges movie that can apply to the scrap plastic industry:
- Don’t get complacent: Is your scrap plastic trading business getting too stale, too risk-averse, or too comfortable? Are you afraid to take chances or are you settling into a rut? Are you doing the same deals with the same trading partners for the same (or reduced) profit margins? Are you starting to feel pressured by new competition or cut-rate competitors? Here’s how to get out of it…innovate.
- Create something new: There are big opportunities in the scrap plastic trade for those who are willing to try to do things differently. We’ve seen this in our own business and we believe that a spirit of innovation can help other scrap plastic traders as well. We are using proprietary tools to keep better track of details, manage logistics and track shipments, and find ways to deliver faster, more efficiently, and more cost-effectively. We’re using proprietary technologies to help “bridge the gap” in the scrap plastic recycling business. There are no boring Hollywood remakes for BlackBridge.
- Minimize your risks: In fairness to Hollywood movie studios, it’s no surprise that they’re so eager to make movie sequels and remakes. Movies cost a lot of money to make, and movie audiences can be fickle. Studio executives want to make movies that are proven commodities with a built-in audience of people who will be excited to see the film in theaters. In the same way, “innovation” doesn’t have to be overly risky for your scrap plastic trading operation. Engage with new trading partners, but do your due diligence. Find new innovations, but don’t over-promise and under-deliver. The core of the scrap plastic trading business is still about trusted personal business relationships with trading partners that we can count on. Trust is the most important commodity of all.
