The Design Builder's Blog

 

Guest Blogger: Thomas Messier, CIC.  Tom is Vice President of Construction Industry Services at Mason and Mason Insurance Agency, Inc. in Whitman MA.  He speaks frequently to construction industry groups about insurance related topics. Tom is a Certified Insurance Counselor, and is a graduate of St. Michael’s College.

 

Does Your Construction Liability Insurance Policy Have the Right ‘Coverage Trigger’?

 

What Is An Insurance "Coverage Trigger"?

A “coverage trigger” is an event that causes your Liability policy to pay a claim. There are two basic types of “triggers”: occurrence and claims made.

 

 

What is an Occurrence Trigger?

An “occurrence” trigger means that the policy will cover any injury or damage during the policy period. For example, if a roof that you installed four years ago collapsed last week, injuring five people, the occurrence trigger will apply and the policy will pay. It doesn’t matter when the roof was built or when the claim was filed – only when the actual injury took place.

What is a Claims Made Trigger?

A “claims-made” trigger, as the name suggests, focuses on the date the actual claim is made. Underwriting and rating provisions might limit how far into your past the policy provides coverage. However, the key question is: “did the claim come in during the policy period?” If so, a “claims-made” Liability policy will pay. Using the example of the collapsing roof, it doesn’t matter when the roof was built or when the event took place, the trigger won’t apply until the claim is filed.

If this claim is made during the current policy period, your insurance company will pay it. However, suppose the claim isn’t made for several weeks, and by the time it arrives, your current coverage has expired and you’re into a new policy period? In this case, the “claims-made” policy will pay the claim, since it was made during the new period.

Maintaining Coverage Is Key

One type of trigger isn’t necessarily better than the other. However, it’s almost always wise to keep the current type in order to provide relatively seamless coverage.

 

Make Sure Your Insurance Agent Is Able To Offer The Right Advice

Questions to ask your insurance provider if your a contractor:

• What is Claims Made Liability Insurance Coverage?
• What is Occurrence Liability Insurance Coverage?
• Which one is right for my business and why?
  

If you’re offered a Liability policy that offers broader coverage or more attractive pricing – but has a different trigger than your current insurance – consult with a construction insurance specialist before you make a decision. The only way to be sure you get the protection you need at a fair price is to consider all possible underwriting considerations and how the change in coverage trigger might affect your liability needs.

Watch for Tom's next guest blog where he'll discuss what a "Triple Trigger" is and why you should care about what it is.

You Need a Target Before You Can Target Your Marketing

 

Recently three of my consulting/coaching clients have started the process of updating their web sites.   All three of them had sites that were created several years back and have since sat on the web with few if any changes, updates or the addition on any new content. Only one had a blog. All three of them also came to realize that prospects were not finding their sites via search engines.   However those prospects were going to their sites to find out more about the remodelers after they already had a first meeting and became aware there was a web site to look at. As a result of my questions and little follow-up discussion with their prospects these remodelers came to realize they essentially had static on-line brochures that offered little to differentiate their businesses from other remodeling businesses. And, they also learned that their sites did not attract prospects or help them move them along to a decision during the sales process.

I’m sure this story is true for many remodelers. If you’re one of them and you’re tired of never ending sales cycles, having to sell on price, working for people you’d rather say no to and you can’t seem to generate enough volume and or gross profit to have a healthy business; it’s time to decide who you want to target for prospects and start strategically marketing so they can find you and so you can convert them into customers.

 

Think of it like this 

The target below offers a shooter points no matter where the bullets land, as long as they land on the paper.  However, if the bullets land in the center the shooter will get far more points than if they hit somewhere around the perimeter.  The goal for the shooter should be to calibrate his or her weapon and then properly aim so the bullets hit the center each time.   The same holds true for remodelers.  If your margins are low because you’re not hitting the paper, or if you are and you’re only getting low scores, it’s not the targets fault and it’s not the weapon’s fault, it’s the shooter who needs to make the adjustments.

 

Need help?

One resource remodelers can take advantage of for help with better targeting is their vendors.  Vendors who carry well known product brands know which demographic of customers buy different products based on their quality, benefits and related cost.   They also typically get support in this area from the product manufacturers and distributors they do business with.   If you establish a relationship with a good vendor who offers marketing help and support, it can be like having a whole team of marketing experts working on helping you find more and better customers.   The great part about it is that helping the remodeler helps the vendor, the distributor and the manufacturer all at the same time.  When something gets sold everyone one wins!

Recently I had a discussion about this topic with Marshall Baser, Business Development Manager for AW Hastings in Enfield CT.   Hastings is a distributer that specializes in the Marvin Window and Door brands.  Marshall and his team work with the vendors they supply to help remodelers and replacement contractors improve their businesses and therefore sell more.   One way they do so is to help contractors better target their marketing to the right prospects for the different price points of windows Marvin offers.  In addition to help with strategy, Hastings also helps vendors and remodelers attract quality leads through joint advertising that highlights the remodeler, the dealer and the products. If that has you excited you’ll love the fact that Hastings and their vendor partners typically share the cost of the advertising with the remodelers they work with. 

Ready for the new normal?

Being successful and profitable as a remodeler is and will be different as we eventually enter into an improved economy with new and changing customer demographics.  Smaller remodeling businesses with fewer resources need to find ways to gain an edge in the marketplace.  I think Marshall summed it up really well for these businesses when he shared this advice:  "Contractors should consider aligning themselves with retail suppliers who truly understand them and their business.  They should get to know each other well, and create a strong business partnership with one another.  A quality retailer can be a tremendous resource helping the contractor improve their overall business volume and profitability through the products that they sell, as well as through the value added services that they offer, including targeting the right prospects for those products."

 

Contractors: Try This Self Quiz To See If A Properly Setup Financial System Can Help You:

 

 

Unfortunately, the facts show that about 85% of residential construction business have no idea what it costs to be in business and cannot properly and accurately track where they are making and or losing money.  If only these contractors had and would use a properly setup financial system they would reduce a lot of the stress related to owning and running a construction or remodeling business.

 

Here are my simple questions for those of you who don’t have an adequate Financial System:

Not sleeping well due to money issues and is it affecting your ability to do your job and have a life?

Would you rather go to bed at night wondering if you’re screwed, or knowing that you’re screwed?

Take this self quiz to see if a properly set up financial system would benefit you and your business:

• Do you know if you will make a profit this year? 
• Do you know how much money will pass through your company at any given time?  
• Do you always have enough money to pay monthly bills on time or meet payroll (cash flow)?  
• Do you know whether you are buying rather than selling projects? 
• Do you know how and when to predict increasing costs of doing business?
• Do you know what your options are for smart business growth?
• Are you confident about making it through the current recession?
• Will you and your business be ready to thrive when the economy turns around and the volume of work picks up?

How did you do?

If you answered no to one or more of these questions, you are definitely not alone.  For many Construction Business Owners financial management skills are not necessarily part of their educational background.  Plus, have you ever tried to get an accountant to explain this stuff to you? 

A properly designed and setup finacial system would give you the ability to answer yes to all of the above.

 

 

What are you waiting for?

If you do not have the financial system you and your business needs, ask yourself why.   If you need help setting one up, get the help you need.   If you want to work with someone who can explain things to you in a simple way, help you understand your options and get your system set up; contact me today to discuss your needs.

 

Five Great Books for Remodeling Business Owners

 I have always loved reading to learn about new subjects.  When I was first in business as a remodeler I read a lot of articles in trade magazines.  They offered great ideas, best practices and sample paperwork or forms I could put to use right away.   However, right about the time I sold my business I also started reading books on business related topics.   After reading a handful of titles I came to the realization that the articles in the magazines were helpful and offered individual solutions for a variety of typical business challenges, but the books I was reading offered much broader and more comprehensive views about big picture business strategies and opportunities. 

In many ways the books I read helped me understand how I had grown my business, what made me and my business more successful than many other remodelers and their businesses, and they helped me better understand why my business had salable value beyond just the value of the hard assets.  I quickly came to the realization that, had I read those books much earlier in my career, perhaps I could have increased the level of success I enjoyed.   I also came to realize that I would have dramatically reduced the time it took to build my business had I read those same books when I first started my business.  

The books in the list I offer below fall into the top five books I think remodelers should read if they want to grow a successful business and reduce the total time it takes to do so.   More importantly, these books can help remodelers avoid the frustrations, wasted time and wasted money that come with the trial and error approach of going it alone as a business owner.   Even if you still can’t build the business you want on your own after reading these books, you will definitely know what help you will need to get there

 

“The E-Myth Contractor” by Michael Gerber

 

 

This is one of several E-Myth books by Gerber.  They are all worth reading, but if you’re a contractor this one gets right to the point about what you need to do to build a contracting business that runs without you needing to do everything yourself and be there every minute of the day so things get done.   If you ever want to sell your remodeling business, or at least be able to take an extended vacation, make sure you grab this book.

 

“Good to Great” by Jim Collins

 

 

Many business owners are happy having good businesses.  Others decide that their businesses, when compared to other businesses, fall into the good category; a term sometimes referred to as relative success.   If you want more than just a good business Collins and his team has done the research to figure out how it’s done.  He offers some great strategies to consider as well as some great examples of companies and their leaders who made the jump from good to great.  He also shares the importance of and the type of leadership required to achieve greatness.

 

“The Great Game of Business” by Jack Stack

 

 If you would like to have an open books business that involves all employees in the creation of and sharing of company profits you should definitely read this book before you do so and well before you start creating your plan.  Not only does Stack share strategies for doing so, he lets you know the challenges to expect, how to get ready for them and how to identify employees who will never go along with the changes.  He also shares a process to use to help educate employees about business financials relative to their job positions, how profits are earned and how they can measure their individual contributions in ways that are real for them.  As I mention in my blog about profit sharing, businesses that share profits often earn more profit as a result!

 

“Selling the Invisible” by Harry Beckwith

 

Back before the September 11^th attacks my remodeling business was humming and qualified leads came in faster than we needed them.  Then, after the attacks and up through February, we had only sold about $15,000 worth of new work.   I had to do something to get the business back on track.   That’s when I found “Selling the Invisible” and it changed forever they way I looked at and did marketing.   In his book Beckwick discusses the difference between the “outside perception” people gain of your business from traditional marketing and the difference a business can enjoy if its marketing projects the “inside reality” customers who do business with you come to know.  Customers spend way more money to get something they consider different.  If your business has an inside reality that really differentiates your business from the competition you will not regret reading this book.

 

“Managing for Excellence” by David L. Bradford and Allan R. Cohen

 

There are all kinds of books available on the subject of business leadership and I’ve read at least a handful of them during my career.   In my opinion this is the best book on leadership that I know of.  If you looking to not only be a great leader yourself, but also create a whole team of leaders at your remodeling business this is the book that best describes how.  As a word of caution; if you’re afraid that one of your employees might become a better leader than you, don’t bother getting this book.  As you will learn in the book, the only way you can become a great business leader and create a great business is to create other leaders who can replace you.  If you want to sell your business someday you need to read this book.

 

Remodelers, Make Sure To Pay All The Taxes You Can This Year.  Really?

 

The holiday season is now upon us.  For small business owners, in addition to celebrating the holidays with family and friends, it’s also the time of year to start making plans and doing budgeting for next year.  To increase your after taxes net profits next year you might want to consider paying more taxes this year.  Here is why.

 

At the end of September I posted a blog about the impending Fiscal Cliff.  In that blog I pointed out several ways the Fiscal Cliff decisions might affect remodeling businesses.  I also pointed out that how our country’s leadership ultimately decides to deal with the pending changes would depend quite a bit on who won the presidential election.  The election is over and President Obama will be our leader for the next four years.   With that in mind I suggest small business owners re-read that blog post and look into the list of possible tax changes that are now more likely to occur with President Obama remaining in office.

(Click here for a pretty good Fiscal Cliff summary by NPR)

 

A Few Ways You Might Be Affected:

The House Committee on Small Business has offered a chart on its web site to show the potential changes and affects on small businesses if the current Bush Era Tax Cuts are not extended.   Remodelers could be hit really hard because many of them are organized as “pass-through” entities, where their business gains or losses are reflected on their individual tax returns. Several that could really affect the after tax profitability for remodelers includes:

• An increase in capital gains from 15% to 20% (33% increase!)

• An increase in tax rates on business dividends received by individuals will be treated as ordinary income (higher rates) rather than as capital gains, currently 15%.

• Tax rates in the top four brackets will be increased to (from current rate): 39.6% (35%), 36% (33%), 31% (28%), 28% (25%)

• Small businesses with undistributed taxable income will no longer be taxed at the current rate on dividends (currently 15%), but rather will be taxed at the highest individual tax rate (up to 39.6%).

What To Do:

So, to limit your tax liability I suggest remodelers speak with their accountant ASAP to fully understand how the potential changes and ultimately any actual changes will affect you and your business.   Remember, profits can be used to reinvest back into your business, but you must pay tax on those profits first, leaving only the remaining profit available to invest.   The same holds true if you were planning to use business profits for other personal purposes such as paying for your children’s’ college education or buying a new home or RV.  Back when I owned my remodeling business my accountant helped me strategize how to claim certain revenues and profits in one year versus the other depending on my effective tax rate for each respective year.  By doing so in one year I saved over $20,000.00 the next year!

 

Make Sure You Have The Right Accountant:

There nothing worse than the feeling of working really hard to earn a profit only to find out that you could have reduced your total tax burden (and the amount of profit you get to keep) by taking advantage of simple and completely legal tax strategies.   A big lesson for me when I owned my remodeling business was making sure I had the right accountant and financial advice.   Saving money on an accountant’s fees might just cost you far more in taxes than the money you might save if you have chosen your accountant based on price rather than value, strategic advice and timely services. 

My second accountant cost me twice as much as my first.  It was well worth paying the difference because of the money I saved in taxes.  It still is!

 

 

How Will The Fiscal Cliff and the Elections Affect Remodelers?

 

The threat of a year-end perfect storm of expiring tax cuts and massive defense and domestic budget cuts could push the economy back into a recession.  A recent article on the Fiscal Times website offers some insight into this possible reality and points out that many voters are clueless about the cliff and are in for a shock.  Another article posted on Reuters warns the cuts could cause the loss of nearly 1 million jobs across the country.   Remodelers trying to work on business planning, marketing and budgeting for the New Year may also be in for a shock if they make decisions without first considering the cliff and the outcome of the elections. 

Making any business decisions in a down economy can be difficult and risky.  

Unfortunately in addition to a bad economy we also have a lot of uncertainty about what the government will or will not do.  I think the problem, at least for those who keep an eye on the economy and the political arena, is having any confidence in making long term investments and decisions.   The fiscal cliff could really challenge the economy if across the board cuts are made as planned. And because the current administration has not clarified or committed to what will be cut, we don’t know how or in what market areas the economy will be affected most.  Unfortunately, true discussion about all this by our elected leaders won’t even get started until after the elections.

The economy and remodeling could take quite a hit if our politicians can’t come to an agreement.  And, even if they do come to an agreement, what will it be and how will it affect the economy?  If it gets pushed off into the future again, it will leave all businesses including remodelers in this unconfident position for a long time.  If consumers remain unconfident, and or get laid off as a result of the cliff, they probably won’t be spending money on remodeling.

Remodelers need to be very cautious about investing in capital assets.   

If the current tax deductions for capital asset purchases go away, the cost of those assets will in effect increase.   Waiting to make such purchases is a gamble.  If remodelers invest in capital assets now before the deduction possibly goes away, the question to ask is whether they will be able to meet the payments on those assets and or actually be able to make use of them if the economy does not improve or gets worse?  If they wait to see what happens they may miss out on the tax savings if the deductions are eliminated.  Making the right decision is hard without knowing who will be elected or which party will be in control after the election.

Should remodelers consider hiring more staff if they are seeing a work backlog building up?  

In my opinion, as long as they are selling work at a price that meets their overhead costs, remodelers must decide if they will use the gross profit to hire office and management staff and reduce their workload, hours and or stress; or work all those hours and keep the gross profit as their own compensation.   On the other hand if they are not selling at prices high enough to support the overhead, hiring more staff or buying more assets are not sound financial options.  I suggest waiting to see what happens with the elections and the cliff before making any long term business investments.   If you have money you are willing to invest, I suggest using it to improve your marketing and sales skills.   Those are investments that can help a business regardless of the economy and can even give you an advantage over your competition when it comes to capturing the limited amount of work available during a down economy.

 

 

 

 

 

Guest Blogger: Judith Miller has worked with remodelers nearly 30 years; she writes for Remodeling Magazine, facilitates for Remodelers Advantage and consults with remodelers around the country with particular focus on the importance of good financials!  Visit her website at www.remodelservices.com

 

Two Ways To Predict and Measure Good Cash Flow

In his excellent blog post on cash flow, Shawn mentioned direct costs, overhead and net profit as all potentially contributing to good cash flow.  And, as he so rightly pointed out, the potential for good cash flow begins with accurate pricing for the job.  Shawn also mentioned the importance of working on ‘accrual’ accounting rather than cash.  When you’ve got these important elements of good construction accounting in place, you can lay out a couple metrics which will be useful in understanding cash flow.

First, get all your costs in the right place on the Profit/Loss:

Income = revenue from construction projects

Direct Costs = expenses, including ALL labor (even that production manager who doesn’t keep a time card) AND associated labor burden, related to jobs for which you receive the income.  Don’t include work on your own house or you Mom’s in this category because you’ll skew (and screw) the numbers.

Overhead = all costs it takes to run an office, including a construction office, but not related to jobs – those costs go into Direct.  This includes marketing expenses, rent, office supplies, professional fees, owner and admin salaries and related burden, general insurance – not liability or workers comp which go into Direct.

(List of Typical Accounting Terms and Definitions)

 

Second, establish a good system for job cost analysis

 A good system for job cost analysis lays out the true estimated cost of the job – no SWAGs or ‘guesstimates’ – and allows you to post costs against the estimate as they are incurred.  Remember that a cost is incurred WHEN THE WORK IS DONE not when the bill is received.

 

Third, reliable reports are accurate, complete and timely

Prior to calculating these metrics, be sure to review all reports for reliability. 

 

Now you’re ready to develop these two useful metrics:

1: Slippage/Grippage:  this metric calculates the difference between your estimated gross profit and the produced gross profit.  Slippage is negative, grippage is positive.    This is of critical importance because if you’ve got slippage either your estimating is wrong or your production is not working up to expected efficiency.  And if you’ve got grippage, you might be leaving money on the table from estimating too high.  Control of production allows for profits which can then be managed to ensure good cash flow.

• The calculation is: Estimated gross profit margin MINUS Produced gross profit margin
• The goal should be no more than 2 percentage points slippage – or grippage.

2: AR/AP Turnover Net: this metric calculates the difference between the number of days it takes to RECEIVE your cash from customer’s invoices (AR Turnover) and to PAY your customer’s expenses (AP Turnover).  If you receive money from your customers in 10 days and pay your expenses in 15, you’d have 5 days “float” – a good thing!  However, if the reverse is true, you might have to borrow to pay the bills.

The calculation is three part:

 

Once your accounting system is set up correctly, information is entered accurately, timely and consistently, you’ll be able to see where the money comes from, where it goes and how to control the all important cash flow!  This is a set of gears which all work together to produce profits and protects cash!

 

Three Considerations for Controlling the Destiny of Your Remodeling Business

Many remodelers start their business with little real planning or consideration for the future other than to grow the business and make money.   For many this tends to work out alright, particularly during a good economy.  But the current recession has definitely exposed to remodeling business owners some of the natural consequences that come along with a lack of a long term vision for their businesses. A couple of obvious examples might include the current cost of excessive overhead accumulated when work was strong, and the overwhelming workload and responsibilities the business owner had to absorb due to staff layoffs.   However, an anticipated improvement in our economy offers an ideal time for businesses owners to rethink how they will move their businesses forward as the economy eventually improves.  Planning for the future now can definitely put you on a much better path and using what you have learned in business so far makes that planning much easier and more likely to protect your business when the next recession shows up.

This summer I will be participating in several Remodeler Summits sponsored by Marvin Windows and Doors to be held at their training center in Warroad MN.  As part of the Summits I will be presenting seminars to attendees to help them strategically grow their businesses.  Here are three things I will be asking the attendees consider about themselves and their businesses before new opportunities for business growth appear as the economy and the remodeling market improves.

 

(1) Are you an Entrepreneur or a Craftsperson?

This should be your first consideration.  Be honest with yourself.  Do you really want to be a business owner running and growing a business where your role is to develop your business so it creates the opportunity for employees and subs to perform the work, or is your love for the tools and craftsmanship what motivates you to go to work each day?  Either one can be a good choice, but the business you build will be dramatically different depending on your choice.  If you choose the craftsman route be sure to consider your age and health; now and in the future.   Will your body be able to handle the work type your business sells as you get closer to retirement age?   Also, as you age, will you be able to maintain the productivity required to earn the money you need to live and eventually retire?

 

(2) Will you hire to complement your skills or to maintain your authority?

Regardless of your choice to the consideration above, few business owners can know and or do everything needed to run a profitable business and still have a life outside work.   When seeking to add new employees, consider how you chose your previous employees.   Did you hire people who required constant supervision and instruction, or did you hire people who added skills and knowledge to your business that you didn’t have yourself?   Who you hire going forward will make a big difference in regards to what you will have to do yourself and how much of your time will be spent where.

 

 

(3) Will yours be a Practice or a  Growing Business?

A business that is a practice depends on the participation and the skills of the owner every day.  If the owner is on vacation or can’t come to work for any reason the business stops operating very quickly.  If you plan to run your business as a practice keep this reality in mind.   Your ability, as well as your employees’ abilities, to pay the mortgage and feed the kids can quickly become compromised.   Be sure to consider options like disability insurance and a reserve fund to protect yourself.  If you plan on growing your business be sure to take the two considerations above very seriously.  Also, make sure you choose employees with the cognitive abilities and desire to grow with your business.

 

 

There are two schools of thought regarding destiny

Destiny is often seen as either a fixed sequence of events that is inevitable and unchangeable, or that individuals choose their own destiny by choosing different paths throughout their life.  Marvin Windows and Doors is helping contractors shape the destiny of their businesses.   How about you:

Will you let destiny happen for you and your business?

Are you shaping your destiny on your own?

Are you getting help shaping your destiny, and if so, who's helping you?

Please share your comments and thoughts.   Other contractors looking for options could benefit from what you have to offer!

 

Harsh Realities About Retirement for Remodelers and Their Employees

The harsh reality I am pointing out in this blog post is the fact that for most remodelers and their employees a comfortable retirement is really just a fantasy. 

For these individuals, ignoring this fact so far during their careers is the reason they are lacking adequate funds to retire and my prediction is that they will continue to ignore this fact.   However, remodelers are not alone.  Most Americans are in this same predicament.   When they reach retirement what will their lives be like and who is going to pay for their living and medical expenses?   One answer; the next generation of working tax payers, assuming they have jobs.  With such a financial burden on the next generation, they too may be destine for the same harsh reality.

Business owners are obviously too busy running jobs to even think retirement.   Employees are often living and thinking day-to-day, often working for cash.  This is a huge mistake.  While you may love what you do, your body may not allow you to do it forever.   Consider the day when you will no longer be physically able to work in the field and or your declining physical abilities will result in lower productivity and therefore reduced compensation. 

 

Just the facts  

Here are some harsh facts that I hope will wake up those who are currently sleeping when it comes to retirement planning.  These facts and others can be were found in an article on the Fiscal Times web site titled “5 Shocking Predictions about Retirement in America”

• In the U.S. seventy-seven million baby boomers are slated to retire in the next 20 years, with approximately 10,000 reaching retirement age every day.  At the same time 401(k) accounts have been drained by the recession, pension systems are strained, and Social Security coffers are near a breaking point.
• According to a study by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies 54 percent of workers in their 60s said they haven’t saved enough to sustain themselves for the rest of their life.
• The Employee Benefit Research Institute recently found that just 14 percent of those surveyed were very confident they will have enough money to live comfortably in retirement.  Even more shocking, sixty percent of workers reported that the total value of their household’s savings and investments (not including the value of their home and any official retirement benefit plans) was less than $25,000.
• Another report from the financial industry think tank LIMRA, found that 49 percent of Americans aren’t saving for retirement at all. 
• The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) reports that for those who are 10 years away from their planned retirement age, more than a third have saved less than $25,000.  That’s $875K away from the EBRI’s suggested $900,000 that a typical person would need to live out his or her years.

 

Will your children be able to support you?

Oh, and if you are assuming that the government will be footing the bill for your retirement, that doesn’t look very good either.  The latest annual trustees’ report for Social Security predicts that the program’s trust fund will be depleted by 2033, three years earlier than they estimated last year. When the fund runs dry, the government will only be able to pay 75 percent of the promised benefits to retirees.  This of course assumes our children will have jobs and earn enough to generate the taxes the government will need to meet the 75%.

 

• Are you confident in your abilities to earn enough for your own retirement?
• Are you confident that the government will be able to finance the lifestyle you want to live when you can’t work any longer?
• Are you motivated to do something before its too late?

 

Don’t fall into the trap of running your business to the point that it runs you and your employees into the ground!

 

Characteristics That Separate Successful Design/Builders From Other Business Models Include:

• An experienced Management Team that has created and follows a strategic and sustainable business plan, implements industry best practices and continuously identifies and mentors strong leadership within the team in each department.

• A strong Financial System that that predicts, tracks and analyzes the cost of doing business and producing projects, and includes an estimating system that facilitates timely and accurate "What-if" project pricing abilities during the entire design process.

• A Marketing System and Strategy that identifies and attracts targeted prospects qualified to do business with the Design/Builder and helps them discover the unique values and advantages of the Design/Build project delivery method.

• An established and tested Sales System used and or supported by all employees which prequalifies that a prospect's purpose, budget and decision making process is a match with the Design/Builder's Business model and provides a consistent approach and results for those prospects who become clients.

• A Design System that properly identifies and documents the information needed by the client as well as the Design/Builder's project team and serves as a communication tool to make sure the design and final project serve the client's purposes within the agreed budget and timeline

• A Communication System and Process that uses technology to create, capture, manage, and distribute timely and accurate business and project information between team members, trade partners, design professionals and the client in a way that manages and meets established expectations.

• A Production System that produces a quality project and experience for all of the parties involved within the established budget and puts management of the project at the jobsite and in the hands of a qualified Lead Carpenter and or Project Manager.

• A Personnel System that identifies, attracts, advances, recognizes and rewards those employees who best support a true Design/Build Business model and project delivery system.

 

If you are looking for help or training to create or switch over to a Design/Build Business Model contact Shawn today.  Will you be ready when the economy improves and there is money to be made?

 

"The topics you touched on yesterday really hit home and the light bulb has gone off!
We will take this information and start to apply to our business immediately."

David Haney, Dave Haney - Custom Woodworking