The Industrial Side

Brian Kabisa
  • 5.0 (12)
  • Entrepreneurship

The Industrial Side features conversations with operators across industrial, distribution, and field service businesses. Each episode focuses on how these businesses actually run, with practical lessons on execution, working capital, labor, and day-to-day operations.

  1. 6d ago

    How Kaufman Logistics Wins (and Keeps) Clients in a Trust-First Business Part 2

    Sammy and Elizabeth Kaufman are back for round two. In our first conversation, we broke down what freight forwarding and customs brokerage actually is. This time, we go deeper into how Kaufman Logistics actually runs the business day to day — how they price their services, how they win new clients in an industry where trust matters more than a pitch deck, and why logistics is fundamentally a relationship business dressed up as a technical one. We cover Incoterms (EXW, FOB, DDP) and why understanding who owns the risk at each stage of a shipment can save a buyer from getting stuck holding the bag. Sammy and Elizabeth explain where their margin actually comes from, why they see themselves as service providers rather than middlemen, and how they've built a reputation on being proactive — calling clients with bad news before the client even knows there's a problem. We also get into the slow, trust-based sales cycle in freight forwarding and customs brokerage, why new clients test a broker with a single shipment before handing over the full book of business, and why growth in this industry comes from a mix of new client acquisition and adding more "touches" to existing accounts. Sammy and Elizabeth also share why diversification — across verticals, regions, and product types — is critical to building a resilient logistics business, and why they're actively looking at acquisition opportunities as a growth lever. In this episode: Breaking down Incoterms: EXW, FOB, and DDP, and who's responsible at each stageWhere a freight forwarder and customs broker actually make their marginService provider vs. middleman — and why that distinction mattersWhy proactive communication is the biggest differentiator in logisticsHow new clients are earned and tested before winning full account trustThe "octopus strategy": diversifying across verticals, regions, and product typesWhy any dollar saved in shipping goes straight to a client's bottom lineKaufman Logistics' interest in acquiring custom brokerages and forwarding companies as owners retireConnect with Kaufman Logistics 🌐 Website: kaufmanlogistics.com 📧 Email: info@kaufmanlogistics.com Catch Part 1 Haven't listened to the first conversation with Sammy and Elizabeth yet? Start here: Cheap or Fast: Why You Can't Have Both in Global Shipping w/ Kaufman Logistics

  2. Aug 4

    Sales Knows the Pain Point. Marketing Knows How to Say It.

    Abigail Lind writes content for manufacturers and industrial companies. She started out as a high school English teacher and cheer coach, picked up a master's in English, spent time in outside sales, and now works with everyone from mid market shops to Fortune 500 manufacturers on messaging and content. We got into why marketing is still a hard sell inside industrial companies, how to prove value when the sales cycle runs three years, and where the handoff between sales and marketing actually breaks down. What we covered Why marketing is still treated as overhead in traditional industries and how that shows up as agency churnMarketing qualified leads versus sales qualified leads, and who really owns the pipelineWhat happens to your customer data when a salesperson walks out the door with the spreadsheetThe AMAROK campaign: security guards versus electric fencing, a 35 page research guide, and 20 leads handed to sales off the first emailWhy one big research piece should turn into five or six othersHow to get real information out of technical subject matter experts who do not want to be on your callWhether anyone reads blogs anymore, and why that is the wrong questionSEO as the foundation for AEO and GEO, and why your LinkedIn and Reddit presence now feed the same machineWhy search engines can spot AI written language and deprioritize itAbigail's definition of good writing: clear on the first read whether or not you are in the industryTimestamps 01:05 From high school English teacher to industrial content04:05 Why manufacturers do not value marketing06:50 Sales enablement and where alignment breaks08:06 MQL versus SQL and who owns the pipeline11:00 What it costs to have sales doing marketing's job14:55 The AMAROK electric fencing campaign17:51 Content is recyclable18:29 How they actually distributed it21:47 Getting time with subject matter experts25:05 Writing for humans versus writing for AI30:36 What separates good writing from badFind Abigail Website: abigailgracewriting.comLinkedIn: Abigail G Lind, or the Abigail Grace Writing company pageSpeaking at Content Marketing World in Denver this fall on how to interview subject matter experts about their content

  3. Jul 28

    Inside the IRS Network: How Independent Restoration Services Builds Owner-Operators

    This one's a little different — Dustin Walter is the founder of Independent Restoration Services, the network Brian is a partner in. In this episode, Brian gets to ask questions as an insider, and Dustin breaks down how IRS's ownership model works, why he built a centralized back office instead of a traditional franchise, and what he actually looks for in the people he partners with. What we cover: Dustin's path from a decade in the insurance industry (adjuster, supervisor, manager) to founding a restoration companyWhy IRS operates as a "network" or "cooperative" rather than a franchise, and how partners can own roughly a third of a location while capturing more value than 100% ownership elsewhereWhat the centralized back office actually does: call center, Xactimate estimate writers, insurance negotiators, accounting, and marketingHow a location can go from zero employees to a fully staffed team on day one, and why that changes the economics of the first two yearsWhat Dustin looks for in a partner: availability, grit, and a long-term mindset over industry experienceHow restoration companies function as both first responders and advocates, helping homeowners understand what's actually covered under a "sudden and accidental" water damage clauseWhy insurance claims are more gray area than black and white, and how that shapes the way IRS approaches each jobWhere Dustin sees the insurance and restoration industry heading over the next 10-20 years, including AI adoption, preventative tech like water shutoff switches, and shifting deductible structuresWhy Dustin sees a major opportunity in blue collar trades right now, and what he'd tell someone considering itConnect with Dustin: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dustin-walter-209686239/Company: https://irs-247.com/

  4. Jul 21

    Metal, Margins, and Mission-Critical Parts with Mick Montesi

    Mick Montesi runs an aerospace components manufacturer supplying structural metal parts to defense, commercial, and space OEMs like Boeing and Airbus. In this episode, Mick breaks down what it actually takes to become an approved aerospace supplier, why the onboarding process can take up to two years, and how his company competes on speed and in-house capability rather than price. What we cover: What an aerospace components manufacturer actually does and who the end customers areWhy defense and commercial customers have completely different priorities (speed vs. price)How Mick's company wins work through in-house heat treating, painting, and welding instead of outsourcingThe two-year supplier onboarding process and why most companies buy their way into aerospace instead of starting from scratchHow quality control works when a single defect can be a life-and-death issue, including in-process inspection, first article inspection, and third-party source inspectorsThe difference between AS9100 and NADCAP certifications, and why not having the right certifications in-house can cost you the jobHow staffing and capacity planning work when no two parts made in a day look the sameThe mix of sheet metal and CNC machining that makes Mick's company unusual among competitorsWhy CapEx requirements and long growth timelines make aerospace one of the hardest industries to break intoConnect with Mick: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mickmontesi/Company inquiries: Quotes@ValleyTL.com

  5. Jul 14

    Cheap or Fast: Why You Can't Have Both in Global Shipping w/ Kaufman Logistics

    Sammy and Elizabeth Kaufman run Kaufman Logistics, a freight forwarding, customs brokerage, and 3PL company handling the physical movement and compliance side of importing goods into the US. In this episode, Brian sits down with the husband and wife duo to break down an industry most business owners rely on constantly but rarely understand. What we cover: What freight forwarding actually is, and how it differs from customs brokerage and 3PL (most companies think these are the same thing)Why nearly every shipment starts with the importer, not the manufacturer, and why control over the shipping process matters more than people realizeThe real tradeoff in logistics: you can have it cheap or fast, but not both, and how to figure out which one your business actually needsWhy smaller and mid-sized buyers often get better treatment from a boutique freight forwarder than they would going direct to a large manufacturerThe two things Sammy wishes every customer knew before calling: understanding your shipping terms, and calling before your goods are already on the waterWhat a customs exam actually looks like, and why some shipments get flagged even when nothing is wrong (the granite from Italy story is a good one)Why cheap sourcing decisions early on (Alibaba, unclear suppliers) tend to get expensive fast once goods hit US customsThe difference between a freight forwarder who just makes deals happen and one who holds every license in house, air, ocean, customs, and truckingNotable line: "Cheap becomes expensive a lot of times." Sammy's grandfather's rule for supply chain decisions, and it shows up constantly in this conversation. Want to learn more? Reach out to the Kaufman team at info@kaufmanlogistics.com

  6. Jul 7

    A 1% Price Increase Equals 8% More Profit: Anderson Lemos on Pricing Strategy for Manufacturers

    Anderson Lemos spent 17 years in manufacturing, ten of them on the floor as a manufacturing and applications engineer, before moving into commercial roles. Today he helps manufacturers price their products and aftermarket parts the right way, so their plants produce healthy margins instead of guessing. We get into why pricing in manufacturing is inherited instead of designed, why a McKinsey study found a 1% price increase can drive an 8% increase in profit, and why so many manufacturers are sitting on parts that have been mispriced for years without anyone noticing. What we cover: Why pricing is one of the most underleveraged levers in manufacturingThe "smoke detector battery" problem: why nobody touches pricing until it's a crisisWhy aftermarket parts carry far higher margins than new equipment, and why that mattersHow to tell if you're overpriced versus underpriced on a given SKUCommercially available parts vs proprietary vs semi-proprietary, and how each should be priced differentlyWhy a bad price on one item can cost you sales on everything else a customer would have bought from youHow to arm your sales team with a defensible pricing strategy instead of "it costs this because it costs this"Real numbers: companies with a real pricing strategy seeing 5 to 8% improvement, sometimes millions of dollars a yearWhy cutting a SKU isn't always the right call, even when it barely sellsThe first step for any manufacturer who's been pricing the same way for 20 yearsNotable quote: "Pricing in manufacturing is kind of one of those things you hear it often in manufacturing. We've always done it this way. Pricing is inherited, it's not designed in manufacturing." Connect with Anderson: LinkedIn: Anderson Lemos (https://www.linkedin.com/in/andersondlemos/)

  7. Jun 30

    The Prison Had No WiFi: Lessons in Building Digital Tools for B2B Distribution

    Justin Samaniego runs product and digital strategy at Medline, one of the largest medical distribution companies in the world. Before that, he spent years in industrial B2B distribution, moving from sales rep to sales ops to building digital tools from scratch. This conversation is for any distributor or manufacturer wondering if "going digital" means replacing your sales team. It doesn't, and Justin explains why. What we cover: Why the smartest distributors don't try to automate everything, they automate the repeat, predictable orders and free up reps for the complex problemsThe MVP approach to digital tools: build with your employees first, since they represent your customers and know the pain pointsHow Justin found his first use case by going after customers who physically couldn't be visited, including correctional facilities that needed offline, self-service toolsWhy over-indexing on full-time employee support for small accounts can quietly bleed marginThe real cost of tribal knowledge: what happens when a 15-year sales rep leaves and takes the whole customer relationship with themWhy CRM data isn't valuable because it's "complete," it's valuable because it lets you spot what a customer should be buying but isn'tThe difference between treating reps like funnel operators versus treating them like analysts who actually think about the accountWhere to start if your whole sales process lives in one rep's head and phoneIf you're running a distribution or industrial business with no in-house product or digital team, this episode is a practical playbook: start small, find one segment with a real problem, build trust before you build automation. Connect with Justin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinsamaniego/

    The Prison Had No WiFi: Lessons in Building Digital Tools for B2B Distribution

  8. Jun 23

    What Buyers Actually See When They Look at Your Company

    Ryan Kirby, Partner at Alderman & Company, on What It Actually Takes to Sell an Aerospace & Defense Business Ryan Kirby is a Partner at Alderman & Company, an investment bank focused exclusively on aerospace and defense M&A. He's spent his career on the sell side, helping owner operators position their companies, find the right buyer, and walk away with the best outcome, not just the highest number. In this episode, Ryan and Brian get into the real mechanics of selling a business in A&D, and most of it applies well beyond that industry. What we cover: Why customer concentration scares buyers, and how to reframe it (program-level diversification within one large customer can change the story)The succession planning problem: why "retiring before you sell" is the cleanest path, and why rolling equity changes the calculus entirelyThe buyer landscape, broken down plainly: independent sponsors, private equity, strategic buyers, and public strategics, and who tends to pay the most (and why)Why private equity gets a bad rap from some owners, and the real pros and cons of selling to a buyer who plans to sell againThe uncomfortable truth about creating "fear" in a buyer to drive up priceWhy some bankers will tell you what you want to hear, and what that actually costs you over a 1-2 year engagementWhy aerospace and defense M&A is having its busiest stretch on record, and what's driving it across space, defense, commercial, and business aviationThe folder of inbound buyer emails most owners have sitting in a drawer, and why you should never delete themNotable stat: One recently public A&D-focused platform reported a pipeline of 1,500 potential deals on their earnings call. Connect with Ryan: Email: RK@aldermanco.com Phone: 386-866-4864 Website: aldermanco.com Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-kirby-880875174/

    What Buyers Actually See When They Look at Your Company
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About

The Industrial Side features conversations with operators across industrial, distribution, and field service businesses. Each episode focuses on how these businesses actually run, with practical lessons on execution, working capital, labor, and day-to-day operations.

Information

  • Creator
    Brian Kabisa
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    21
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Brian Kabisa 2026
  • Show Website
    The Industrial Side