The Design Builder's Blog

Guest Blogger: Robert Ritsema is the owner/creator of The iPitch, providing iPad based solutions to the building materials industry.  Reach him at rob@theipitch.com or 719.314.5608  www.theipitch.com  (iPad® is a registered trademark of the Apple Corporation)

Is Your In-Home Presentation Boring and Costing You Sales?

“Death by PowerPoint” and “Powerpoint Hell” are common criticisms of slide-based presentations.  Largely due in part to their creating a state of boredom and fatigue induced by information overload.  Excessive use of text, bullet points and transitions are all leading factors.  Retired Marine Colonel Thomas X. Hammes calls this effect  “hypnotizing chickens”.

Today, flip-book & slide based presentations remain very popular, especially within the home improvement industry. Desire has always been to provide our sales reps with accurate information as well as a structured flow to the presentation; it’s been a key premise/belief for creating sales but it may be costing you sales in the end.

Homeowners today crave information.

Information that leads to confidence and trust with whom they’ve ultimately chosen to complete their project. Yet, they also expect that information to be informative, fun, motivating and maybe even a little addicting as well. 

Your sales team is no different.  They also desire and expect to interact with content that makes presenting fun and interactive.  Veteran reps (the good ones) make the necessary adjustments within their presentation to do just that.  Largely  in part because flipping through binders and PowerPoint slides may not be enough for many today; and by their very nature, create ineffective presenters, lost sales and revenue.

Revive

 Since it’s launch in 2009, the iPad has been seen as a highly innovative and “game changing” piece of technology for consumers, businesses and educators alike. Its revolutionary operating system allows for the creation of an unmatched user experience.

The “user experience”, however, doesn’t have to mean gimmicky.  Simply presenting information in a way that is “unique and surprising” can be as simple as capitalizing on the iPads native and intuitive gestures. 

Gestures like:

• Tapping to reveal content - Keep your prospect involved by creating “interactive portals”.  Revealing additional , hidden or more in-depth content.
• Pinching open for video/photos – Capitalize on your media collateral by embedding them into your presentation for a novel and engaging user experience.
• Swiping – Move seamlessly throughout your presentation via a navigate-able, customer driven sales rep controlled menu system, a more responsive and interactive way to present.

Thomas Malone, a young Xerox reacher concluded many years ago that “when people actively participate in the learning process, they retain more.”  So creating new ways for your sales reps to engage and interact with your prospects allows for a more unique consumer experience; further enhancing their ability to execute the presentation as well as your consumers ability to internalize and take ownership of your company and products.

A Well Executed Plan.

Capitalizing on the iPad requires more than just showing your presentation, pictures and video.  Take time to consider exactly how and what would change to your sales presentation, communication systems and training programs.

Consider these helpful tips:

1. Team Engagement -  Engage all of your department’s leaders. 

2. Create a “Pilot” Program -  For best results, do not consider piloting or testing more than 4 apps at a time.

3. Have a “Launch Event” - Create a fun and informative event; involving the entire organization goes along way to insuring your “changes” are accepted positively.

The iPad has an opportunity to revolutionize the way in which in-home presentations are delivered and business is won.  Your well constructed and executed plan will play a crucial role in its overall success.

Guest Blogger:  Jeff Fierstein is the General Manager at Byers LeafGuard Gutter Systems located in Grass Valley California.  Jeff had posted a comment to a discussion I started at the NARI LinkedIn group.  The discussion was about a blog I posted titled: “Why Some Contractors Can Raise Their Prices But Most Others Can’t”.  I decided to use his comment as a guest blog, thanks to Jeff for allowing me to share this with you.

Contractor Gets Sage Advice From A Competitor About Selling At Cheap Prices

When I was a young man a competitor of mine, several years my senior, named Tommy O’Connell pulled me aside. He pulled a $100.00 bill out of his wallet and told me he always kept that bill in his wallet, “Never sell from an empty wagon” he said. I was young and didn’t much care for Tommy so I thought he was full of crap, but he explained that if you’re broke and need a sale too much, you’ll have a tendency to sell too cheap. That was actually sage advice. In this economy, there are many contractors that are living hand to mouth. Without the skills they require to sell their services at the price they deserve, they resort to “selling” a cheap price. They either don’t understand that to stay in business they need to include a profit, or simply cut corners and provide a sub standard job. This may be a good indication why an overwhelming number of home improvement contractors fail within their first two years of business.

“Never sell from an empty wagon”

In our early days, we would bid like crazy, leave bids on the doorstep, and wait for the mailman to come. The only thing that saved us from ourselves was our bid package was detailed enough to outshine the competition who was also waiting for the mailman.

We’ve all heard it, what got us here, isn’t going to get us where we want to go.

Today, the only way we would leave a bid on the doorstep is under duress. Sure there are exceptions to the rule but unless we get a chance to explain our bid in detail and ask for the business, we might as well not bid. We spend a great deal of effort to train our sales force how to build value and ask for the order. We know that there is competition in our field but generally find them easy to outsell at the price we need to be around tomorrow.

For those concerned about selling against contractors that sell too cheaply...

There is an ancient roman proverb that comes to mind; AQVILA NON CAPIT MVSCAS
“An eagle doesn’t hunt flies”

Guest Blogger: Melanie Hodgdon is a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor who has been providing financial analysis and QuickBooks training for contractors since 1994. She’s the co-author of A Simple Guide to Turning a Profit as a Contractor.  Melanie and Shawn often coordinate their efforts when helping remodelers develop financial systems for their businesses so they serve the contractor, not just their accountant.

Five Ways To Think Like A Business For Business Owners

I work with many companies in transition. The steps from being a “guy and a truck” to having an office and a bookkeeper and field employees are frequently challenging, but the milestones are pretty easy to identify. Ray the Remodeler used to work out of his house, but now he’s got an office. Bill the Builder used to pound nails, but now he does sales and supervises a crew. A less easily-measured but potentially even more important milestone is when the owner is able to recognize and maintain separation between himself (his personality, his idiosyncrasies, his strengths and weaknesses, his preferences, and his habits) from the company for the sake of the business.

Adding the trappings of a business (office, staff) without shifting attitudes about the business has held many owners back and limited the potential growth of their companies. As long as they see themselves as remodelers, rather than owners of businesses that deliver the service of remodeling, they risk seeing their businesses as extensions of themselves, reflecting their own strengths and weaknesses. They also tend to see their companies as being so unique that they can’t be run using best business practices.

Have you ever said anything like this?

• “If I used that kind of markup in my area, I’d lose all  my customers”
• “Yeah, I’d love to job cost my labor but I could never get my guys to fill out timecards accurately.”
• “I’m just too busy to keep up with the paperwork, so I really can’t count on my financials.”
• “Sure I’d love to hang up my toolbelt, but there’s nobody else who can do what I do.”
• “My customers would never stand for me creating change orders for all the little extras we do; I just either eat it or try to make it up somewhere else.”

If you have, this is exactly the kind of self-defeating head talk that will keep your business not only dependent on you, but restricted in scope and sophistication to the limitations of your energy.

Here are some suggestions:

1. You are not your business. Don’t allow your personal limitations to hold it back. So you stink at paperwork. That shouldn’t doom your company to have paperwork that stinks. Hire somebody who just loves paperwork to take care of it for you, but only after you have determined what information you want and worked with him/her to make sure their method of data entry is going to get you what you want.
2. Chase profit, not dollars. When owners start talking about how much their sales have increased, I remain unimpressed. Sales are nothing. Profit is where it’s at. Let’s say your volume is $600,000 in year 1 and $900,000 in year 2. A 50% increase, right? Wonderful, right? Maybe yes, and maybe no. If in order to sell and produce 50% more you had to hire a production manager, an estimator, and a salesperson and that caused a significant increase in your overhead, you could wind up with a lower net margin at the end of year 2. You might even end up with fewer actual dollars of profit to say nothing of the added stress of running more or bigger jobs. Know what numbers to watch, how to interpret them, and what to do to improve them.
3. Plan for growth. Contractors who wouldn’t build a dog house without detailed plans all too often “build an addition” on their business without even a napkin scribbling. In other words, they add personnel, equipment, or practices but fail to integrate them into an overall plan. The result can be as disappointing as buying twenty 2x6-8’s when what you really needed was ten 2x6-16’s.
4. Avoid basing business decisions on your gut. Thinking like a company instead of an individual can protect you from making decisions that, deep down, you know are bad. Do an “at cost” project for a friend? Hard for you to turn it down, but a justifiable decision from the standpoint of the business. Hanging on to those dead weight employees because you dislike conflict? It may be hard for you to let them go if you’re thinking like a kind uncle, but much easier if you’re thinking like a business.
5. Stop trying to do everything yourself. If you haven’t already figured this stuff out on your own, hire somebody who has helped hundreds of contractors understand their numbers, replace habits with systems, and achieve a healthier relationship with their business. Comments from my clients reveal that many contractors struggle with the business side of things.  Would you like to move “…from being clueless & frustrated to confident and comfortable….”? Would you find it “…refreshing to speak with someone who actually knew what they were doing, understood what (you were) trying to accomplish, and just made it happen.”? Are you sick of being “…lost in a sea of numbers…”?

If your business had a voice, would it be offering you the very same advice?

Guest Blogger:  Paul Lesieur is a 203K consultant/contractor and writer within our industry.  If you are interested in learning more about the 203K opportunity you can go to his  websites www.203kloanmn.com and 203kcontractor.  There you can also find some links to the HUD website where you can learn more.

Success Guide For Contractors Seeking To Do 203K Loan Work

To do a successful quote for a 203K loan you must write a detailed line item bid, you should do this anyway but what works best is to break out your costs.

Here are some examples of how to write specs into your bid:

• 1000SF of 3 tab asphalt roofing @ $1.26SF for materials is $1260 and $1.86SF for labor is $1860 to total $3120.00.
• Or remove old washer and dryer and install owner’s new appliances for 2 @ $120ea labor to install for $240.00.
• Remove 80SF of sidewalk and replace with 80SF of new concrete sidewalk @ $20.00 a SF = $1600.00

The better you detail the better chance you get the job and make money. On the Streamline 203K your bid is checked by the lender who likes to see details.   The bank will not accept a bid that says simply "Paint house $5000" or "Reroof house $8000". When I am the 203K consultant and get this kind of bid from a contractor I disallow it.

Successfully Pricing and Getting Paid When Involved With A Full 203K Loan Project

A full 203K loan uses the services of a 203K consultant. The consultant writes up a scope of repairs which always includes the minimum health and safety requirements of the FHA. After the minimum standards are called out the homeowner can add anything they want as long as their loan is approved for that amount.  NEVER do your bid before the consultant does the work write up, you will probably end up doing it again when the appraiser gets done. The consultant does a scope with prices attached and then you bid using his mandatory items and the homeowners’ desired items.

You the contractor then bid the job.

Pricing is what the market will bear.  I have thrown out bids that were too low, and occasionally items that were too high.  So charge what you need to be profitable and assume everything is negotiable just like any other job.

Your first draw can be called whenever you feel you want some money.

The consultant then inspects and approves your completed work. If you are installing vinyl windows at $1000 each and I get there and five are installed I will allow payment for five windows or $5000.  The five windows you say you will do after lunch don't count and the fact they are sitting in the living room means nothing to the bank. These draws (up to 5 are allowed) cost the homeowner $150 to $250 each, so we try to use them to the best effect.  If you run out of money consultants will do more draws but the consultant will get a check from you the contractor when he visits.

You will get paid!

• No payments are disbursed unless you show proof of permits.
• On a streamline 203k which is under $35,000 you will get 30 to 50% down and the rest after the project is complete. The Streamline 203K allows for 2 payments.
• The Full 203K which can go up to $365,000 or higher allows no down payments. This means you need to be strong enough to operate until the first draw.
• All draws are subject to a 10% holdback which is released 30 or 35 days after the last draw.
• It takes on average 7 to 10 days to get a check which is mailed to the homeowner with your name and theirs on it.

Change orders

Change orders are allowed and are most often used for upgrades by the homeowner or hidden conditions.  If you mis-measured you’re out of luck, HUD does not pay for your mistakes. Get detailed or stay away from these jobs.

This type of work goes best when you are part of a team that knows what they are doing and as a 203K consultant I find you can't always count on that being the case. Educate your buyer by being the answer person for their 203K.

Problems?

Problems that come up most often are inexperienced 203K consultants and inexperienced lenders new to selling 203K loans.

Also, homeowners who are first time home buyers who don't understand the difference between a $40,000 quote and one for $19,000 for what they think is the same scope of repairs. Educate your subs and clients and you will have fewer issues.

Regardless of the issues I have not had any problem large enough to make me want to leave this program. There is billions of dollars of work out there to fall under the 203K loan program and for any contractor willing to adapt a good opportunity is waiting.

Guest Blogger:  Paul Lesieur is a 203K consultant/contractor and writer within our industry.  If you are interested in learning more about the 203K opportunity you can go to his  websites www.203kloanmn.com and 203kcontractor.  There you can also find some links to the HUD website where you can learn more.

203K Loans Mean Business Opportunities For The Right Contractors

A HUD/FHA 203k loan is an insured loan where one loan payment covers the purchase and remodel costs.  The 203K has been around for years and is by owner occupants to purchase, repair, and renovate a home.  Or, it can be used to refinance if you are looking to do a remodel on your existing home.

Learn about these loans and you can have another revenue stream for your business, and we’re talking major opportunity. I know one contractor who did 2 million in sales related to 203K last year and another who will do over a million in sales on just the203K work while still doing the high end kitchens he is well known for.

If you understand meat and potatoes contracting this is an opportunity, and the most successful 203K contractors are organized and detail oriented. The 203K requires patience and good communication skills and isn't for sloppy operations.

How to get 203K jobs

Best way to get going is to find a lender who does 203K loans, they are always looking for competent contractors.  Realtors can get you some leads also, and advertising like I do gets me very good results.  Just type 203K loans in your local search and see what comes up; those listings are your target.

There are two types of 203K loans

• The streamline 203K is a loan where you can do up to $35,000 in remodel or repair costs and it can include paint, carpet, furnace replacement, kitchen, bath and many other improvements. It is not allowed when structural improvements are needed.
• The full 203K loan allows structural work and just about everything homeowners want or need done. Luxury items are limited but not necessarily disallowed.

What contractors need to know about the 203K

This is a great loan with a lot of upside for contractors.  The money is escrowed and it’s insured so you don't have to worry about a homeowner gambling it away at the bingo hall Friday night.

For contractors to get 203K rehab work from home owners or buyers they must be approved by the lender offering the loan. This usually means a credit check naming a couple of suppliers, some subcontractor references, customer references , license and proof of insurance. Some banks also ask that you have cash reserves, but not all.

Watch for Paul's follow up to this blog titled " Here’s What’s Involved If You’re A Contractor Seeking To Do 203K Loan Work"

Guest Blogger: D.S. Berenson is the Washington, D.C. managing partner of  Berenson LLP (www.homeimprovementlaw.com), a national law firm specializing in the representation of contractors and the remodeling industry. He may be reached at info@berensonllp.com.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to Contractors:  Start Hiring Convicted Felons!

Our friends at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) have recently decided that “equal opportunity” should include convicted felons.  That is according to a bizarre and confusing “guidance report” recently issued by the EEOC directing employers to hire more felons and other ex-offenders .  And if you refuse?  Well, then you risk committing a federal crime.

The EEOC was originally established to enforce Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act – allowing workers to bring suits and claims against employers for illegal hiring practices against minorities.  But like a number of federal agencies, the EEOC seems to be reinterpreting and expanding their mandate to fall into a more “politically correct” frame of mind these days. 

Some History

In the late 1980’s the EEOC sued a Florida trucking company because the company refused to hire a Hispanic man applying for an open truck driver position.  The company, Carolina Freight Carrier Corp., showed the EEOC that the man had multiple arrests and had served 18 months in prison for larceny.  “So what?” said the EEOC, that has nothing to do with his qualifications to be a truck driver.  The EEOC stated that company’s hiring practices created a disparate or unequal impact on minorities - and as a result was illegal.

The case went to court and was heard by U.S. District Judge Jose Alejandro Gonzalez Jr. (and, yes, he was Hispanic).  The judge, in ruling against the EEOC, summed the situation up nicely: "EEOC's position that minorities should be held to lower standards is an insult to millions of honest Hispanics. Obviously a rule refusing honest employment to convicted applicants is going to have a disparate impact upon thieves."

Not surprisingly, the EEOC ignored the ruling and moved ahead anyway. In 2012, the agency formally declared that that "criminal record exclusions have a disparate impact based on race and national origin."  (In plain English, that means that refusing to hire convicted criminals results in discrimination against minorities).

Catch 22?

With the most recent guidelines, the EEOC is now warning employers that refusal to hire job applicants due to a criminal past will be seen as a violation of the Civil Rights Act.  Sadly, the EEOC doesn’t tell us what to do when we hire a convicted felon, but then get sued when the convicted felon commits crimes against our customers and office workers.

For those who believe in the domino effect, stay tuned:  President Obama has just nominated Tom Perez to head up the Department of Labor. Mr. Perez currently sues banks for discriminatory lending practices in his role as head of the Department of Justice’s civil rights division.  His legal theory in these suits?   That employers are liable if their lending practices result in a “disparate impact” to minorities – the same theory now pushed by the EEOC in regard to employers refusing to hire convicted felons!

Guest Blogger: Justin Jones is a licensed General Contractor, Roofing Contractor, and Plumbing Contractor based out of Palm Harbor, FL. Justin is also a writer and speaker on topics including Contractor Sales, Marketing, and Leadership. At 32 years old, he is a member of Generation Y.

Mentor Me, Please - Gen Y Business Owner Offers Peers Advise on How to Learn From Craftsmen

Dealing with older tradesman can be tricky at times. In my own business, I've been dealing with this interesting arrangement for the past seven years. Through the ups and downs, I have managed to form some great relationships with older tradesman.

At first, I expected them to complete tasks with incredible haste, but ultimately, I realized that there was no harm in taking things a bit slower. I set out to establish a mentor-mentee relationship with these older, more experienced tradesmen.

Start With Respect

Respect. From those first meetings with prospective employees, I've always been careful to offer the utmost respect, particularly when it came to older craftsmen. I respected them based on their many years of experience.  I took the time to listen to stories about the good ole' days and how things were done differently.  I'd smile and nod my head as I listened. Many of the stories were well-told and well-crafted, providing me with wonderful insights and lessons. I never questioned the knowledge of my senior tradesmen.  And if questions ever did arise, I was always careful to ask in a tactful manner.

Communication.  As I'm in the process of hiring a new individual, I always inquire about their communication preferences. For years, most individuals would indicate their preference for phone calls. But more recently, individuals have expressed a preference for emails and texts. Quick and concise “yes” and “no” communications amongst my team members have served to maintain an open dialogue platform. These open lines of communications have made my employees feel comfortable to call at any time if they need direction or they're second-guessing a decision. I feel this is an extremely important part of our business.

Questions. From job to job, I take the time to lend a helping hand, whether it's loading materials or inspecting trade tools. These interactions provide a perfect opportunity for asking questions. Many tools had the appearance of museum artifacts, but every once in a while, I got a chance to see these relic tools in action; my skepticism was squashed after viewing their quick time-saving functions. I got to return the favor as the building codes have changed several times over the past four years. I'd receive calls from tradesmen, who were wondering if there had been a code change. Sharing back my knowledge has proved to be a great opportunity to build rapport and return the favor.

Building Rapport. Last week, I approached my team – consisting of several individuals in their late 40s and 50s. I had the opportunity to get their feedback on what they enjoyed most about working on my team.  Their answers were all based around rapport. They liked the fact I support their decisions and they were grateful for my willingness to step in and help without being asked. As the leader, I've always been quick to step in and get the project back on track if issues arise. In addition, I've learned that communication with these team members must be clear, concise and written. Accommodating them in this way has led to much better productivity and the strong rapport makes for a healthier work environment.

Learn to be humble

I turn 32 this year and I'm willing to admit to my team that I don’t know everything and on occasion, I need help. Many individuals in my generation believe they know everything, but Google won’t teach you how to work as team, nor will it teach you how to maintain your focus on accomplishing a goal.

We work as a team as we complete tasks and gather referrals.  This team approach has created a wonderful synergy between me and my team members. We have built a relationship based upon trust and open communication.

My advice, what do you think?

Approach older tradesman and offer them the respect they deserve. Be willing to learn from these more experienced individuals. Adopt a mentor-mentee relationship and you may be surprised by how much you can learn from these older tradesmen.  Anything you would like to add?

New Business Owner Offers Perspective Regarding Reputation Of Construction Industry

Guest Blogger: Randy Strauss is a new handyman business owner trying to find his way in the age of social media and 30 minute pizza delivery.  When he is not repairing other people’s homes, he tries to find time to repair his own.

As a consumer, I preferred to do everything myself rather than hire someone to do it. There are times when I’ve hired people to do work when I didn’t have the necessary skills and sometimes it was just cost effective to have a crew do it in a day or two when I knew it would take me a week doing it by myself.

Most of my experience with contractors has been from a consumer perspective. Those experiences have run the gamut of “outstanding” when jobs were completed in the blink of any eye and a minimum of dust to “outrage” when an HVAC contractor told me to go “F” myself when I asked him to honor his one year warranty.

In November of 2012 I was unemployed and carpet bombing every job ad in sight was exhausting. So, I decided to start a handyman business. My experiences using contractors motivated me to do so because I saw an opportunity needing to be filled.

Using What I Learned as a Consumer

Now that I’m working in other people’s homes, I can use that perspective to manage my clients’ expectations, perform work that meets my standards, and finish the day satisfied that I do good work. When I’m not working, I do research to better myself as a business owner and contractor.

During this research, I read a few blog entries on this site regarding Chris Dietz’s lawsuit filed against a customer who allegedly posted libelous comments about his work on review websites.  The posts from fellow contractors were generally positive, but I noticed that supportive comments were conditional.  For instance, “…providing he’s telling the truth…” and “…as long as he’s honest…”

Regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit, which I understand may be ultimately fruitless; we are still faced with cynicism about our profession.

That is a black cloud of distrust hovering over our industry.  That sense of distrust has led us to lead generation review websites such as Angie’s List and Yelp.  When fellow contractors feel the need to put conditions on support for one of our own, it reeks of skepticism. 

I believe those doubts are founded in two fallacies:

1. The customer is always right.  No, they’re not.  They may have the right to decide the paint color or the tile selection, but when they ask us to remove a load-bearing wall because they want to “open the space” they are quite simply wrong. It’s our responsibility to educate them why.
2. Customers have a right to freedom of speech. They do.  But, that right is worthless without the responsibility of truth.  No one has the right to slander or libel another person.

To be honest, I’m terrified of working for that client that has nothing better to do than bad mouth my new found profession.  I hope I never meet them.

What can, should we do?

If you go to someone’s house to repair something that another contractor ruined, tell them to follow up with a complaint to the BBB. Follow up with that yourself.  By getting rid of the bad actors, we can ensure respect and trust in the future.  Perhaps a self-regulating entity might not be such a bad idea in light of the above.  So, my questions to you are these:  What can we do to improve the perception of our profession?  What would make the average consumer, and us at times, less likely to believe that a contractor ripped off a client? Doesn’t it make your blood boil that you are less likely to be trusted in someone’s home because profit happy thugs with hammers and a screwdrivers have ruined the reputation of our professionalism?

Guest Blogger: Mark Brown is a student at BYU-Idaho where he studies Construction Management. He currently lives in Spokane, WA, working as a carpenter and studying online while his wife finishes her Bachelor’s degree in nursing. In this article Mark offers advice to his Generation Y peers based on what he learned from the commenters who shared their thoughts about Mark's first guest blog where he shared advice for contractor trying to work with Generation Y employees.

Gen Y Member Offers Advice to His Peers: How To Develop A Good Work Ethic That Will Make You Stand Out

Recently Shawn published some of my ideas and suggestions for contractors working with Gen Y employees in an article titled: “Contractors: How to work with Generation Y from one of them.” It became obvious shortly after the article went live that this subject is something many people have strong opinions about. I’ve sifted through over 8,000 words of commentary (over 15 pages!) left by readers of that article to try and find some common threads that I can tie into a follow up article for Gen Y’ers that shows them firsthand what industry professionals are looking for today and how they can stand out.

One of the biggest grievances about Gen Y is that they just don’t care. They have no respect. They’re too absorbed in themselves and the here and now of social media to be interested in learning a skill or craft. If you are guilty of this sin, it is time to change. Find something you enjoy doing, be it construction related or not, and STUDY it. Find books, magazines, museums, websites, blogs, Facebook pages, Pinterest boards, even actual human beings who enjoy the same thing. If you find yourself awake in the wee morning hours, let’s say reading blacksmithing books or something, you’re probably headed in the right direction. Learn to love and have passion for something real. Bring this enthusiasm to the job and apply it to learning a new skill. You will work harder, learn faster, and grow to truly love what you are doing. I think as Gen Y’ers we should all take a page out of this guy’s book…

Put your technology away and work.

If your girlfriend can’t wait, she might cost you more than dinner and a movie. Stay focused if you work on a computer all day. Get up and walk or get a drink to take a break rather than check your Facebook. We all know long winded personal calls and texts on the jobsite are unwanted. Learn to go without your phone in your hand for 8 hours a day and you will see better work, more focus, and I swear the day goes by twice as fast when you’re not constantly thinking about what “she” is doing (or “he” for that matter).

Put technology to work at work

At the same time, be the guy who remembers what your technology can do for your work. Bring up how to articles, diagrams, photos, and references from all that studying you’ve been doing. When questions or confusions arise on the job, be the one who remembers you can access plans, scopes of work, calculators, and change orders from a phone. Just remember to avert your eyes from tempting texts.

Finally, learn to work.

And I mean, like, the bury the guy who’s been doing this for as long as you’ve been alive kind of work. Show up on time. Be “present” mentally and physically. If you’re in the field, watch and learn the old guy’s tricks. Your fresh knees and elbows are worth their weight in gold. Don’t be afraid to stay late and show up early to organize, plan, and prepare. If you’re in the office, stay on top of technologies that relate to your industry or can be used to better it. Make suggestions, study the costs, and take initiative to show off things that can make the business better and more profitable.  

In summary

These are three simple suggestions that come not really from me at all, but from people across the nation who have spent decades learning what they do. By adopting these ideas to both your professional and personal life, you will be happier, fulfilled, and far more valuable than most. I encourage you to share them with your friends and family in hopes that Gen Y can learn how to contribute more effectively to the industry and the world.

Guest Blogger: Diane Menke, VP/Operations Manager of Myers Constructs, Inc.  Diane Menke (left) and Tamara Myers (right) are the co-owners and principals of Myers Constructs, Inc., an award-winning design to build firm serving the greater Philadelphia region. A certified Women Business Enterprise, Myers Constructs is also a member of the U.S. Green Building Council, NARI, and NKBA.

Advice For Contractors When Working With Home Buyers Considering Renovations

The Construction Pro: A Key Player in the Home-Buying Process

Most people who are in the market for buying a home that is in need of renovation are not home-construction experts — and they don't know what the various necessary upgrades will cost them. That's why it makes sense for them to reach out to a reputable local construction expert for information before they make a property purchase. We get calls from people in this position often.

This is the advice we give them:

• Their real estate agent should provide them with comparable values for the property they are considering. The agent should also tell them where that prospective property may be lacking, in terms of value and sale-ability. For example, does it have enough bathrooms? Does it have updated systems, finishes, and appliances? What other features should it have to compete with the highest priced comps in the area?
• Once they find a property they want to put a serious offer on, they should reach out to a building professional for some assistance in developing their renovation budget. That budget should be weighed against what the comps and the offer will be. If they do not yet have a relationship with that construction pro, they should expect to compensate them for their time. A good carpenter might bill them $70/hour; a design-build pro might run $120/hour or more. Small structural repairs and a bathroom refit with no design might be perfect for the carpenter, while a complicated project like a kitchen or addition require a design/build professional who has experience in those types of projects.
• Most property buyers do not need to have full plans and exact budgets to formulate their offer. If they come away from the discussions with a ballpark range of expected costs — with a 10-15% cushion added for contingencies that might be found once walls are opened up — they should be in good shape to make an offer.
• Once they close on a property purchase, we encourage them to reach out to those same construction pros and offer them the work on their new home. In this way, they will develop mutual trust with a valuable ally on their wealth-building team.