Michael Nova – Michael Nova, nova custom label printing – Helping people to understand and overcome adversity

2021 and 2022 has been a tough year for business around the globe. In your experience can you share how businesses prosper in 2023?

I believe that businesses will prosper through the golden rule. From the beginning of our business, our thought process is to treat others as you would like to be treated yourself, and this has led to the success of our business going on 28 years now. We’ve survived in New York through 9/11 and Covid, only because of the loyalty of our clients. They are legal because we treat them as human beings, not numbers. I think that as long as you treat people in such a manner, they will remain loyal. On the other hand, if you lose the personal touch, you don’t stand out in any way. Unfortunately, most companies have lost the art of developing business relationships, rather going for the quick buck. That’s something that we never wanted to do, and never will. We will always focus on our clients success rather than our success, because what goes around comes around.

The economy has been turned on it’s head in the wake of the pandemic. What should businesses focus on in 2023?

Along the same lines, I say focus in on building business relationships with your clients. Speak to them on the phone rather than sending impersonal emails or relying on forms for clients to fill out on your website. Speak to them about their needs and what they are having problems with and help them solve their problems. This makes you invaluable as a go to resource for repeat business. If you care about them, they will care about you.

What are the pro’s & con’s of working from home and have you any first hand experience?

Sure, working at home can be a relaxing and freeing experience, where you can manage yourself, but on the other hand, you need to have the discipline to put the work in, and not goof off. Discipline is very important when working from home. You need to make sure that you keep the same hours every day, and not deviate from that. Of course, it’s okay to take as many breaks as you need so that you don’t get stressed or overwhelmed. We encourage our people to take a break when things get too crazy, because there is nothing worse than feeling overwhelmed. When you take a break, it strengthens you to come back to your work with new vigor and become more focused.

How can business owners combat the rise of inflation and what have you done that you can share?

Unfortunately, there really isn’t anything we can do to control inflation, because we and all others in our industry of printing are dependent upon our suppliers. If their prices go up, our prices go up. It’s a chain reaction. All we can do is try to be fair with our clients and keep the prices down as much as we can, taking a hit if we have to ensure that our clients still get a fair deal. We realize that taking a short-term hit to the bottom line is worth it to retain our clients. Once again it is all about caring about your clients and doing the best for them, as you would like to be treated yourself.

In the last 5 years we have seen the rise to Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, NFT’s, Digital Marketing and many more! What do you think will impact the world most in regards to online selling?

While I personally believe in crypto currency, I don’t see anything changing in the marketplace within the next five years in that regard. Perhaps in a decade, cryptocurrency might take hold in a more substantial way as a form of payment, but because of the recent decline, I think it is actually going to set cryptocurrency back several years. People will be wary of the situation, and it will take longer for mass adoption to take place. I do think that in the future, it will become more common as a means of currency. To what degree I can’t predict, but I think it will be a form of currency that will be accepted widely at some point in the future.

On a more subtle note. If you could have dinner with three people, dead or alive who would it be and why?

1. Abraham Lincoln, because he went through tremendous adversity in his life and I would love to interview him on how he overcame those challenges.

2. Theodore Roosevelt, because of his speech, “the man in the arena”, which are words that I live by. “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither knows victory nor defeat.”

3. My father passed on many years ago. I have so much to share with him and so much to learn from him that I didn’t get the chance to while he was still alive. He often said to me that life is not a straight road. There are many twists and turns on this road that you will experience. It’s only now that I understand what he meant. There are so many unanswered questions I have for him. I would love to get the chance to learn from him again.

Reading is still one of the most popular ways to learn anything. What is your most recommended book(s) by who and what did you learn from them?

The road less traveled by M. Scott Peck is perhaps my favorite book. What I learned from this book is that you must blaze your own trail, and not blindly follow the road that others have traveled before you or the road that others expect you to follow. By creating, and taking your own road, you become more of the person that you are meant to be. Similarly, I always say, “Don’t think of adversity as the enemy, think of it as your ally.” I say this because adversity builds character and strength within you.” He never ends. It just changes, and by overcoming adversity, you are able to “level up”, just like in a videogame. Get to the next level, and then you are faced with the next level after that. But each level allows you to gain more powers to conquer the next level!

What is your purpose for getting out of bed each day and what do you aim to achieve in the future?

My purpose for getting out of bed each day is to make a difference in the world. With RiseUpEight.org, we are inspiring people worldwide to overcome challenges in life.