As unpleasant as it is, conflict is an ever-present and potentially costly danger. When people come together in a work environment, we should expect that at some point, conflict will rear its ugly head, rather than hope or assume it will not happen. Knowing that most conflict is initiated either from incongruence of values or [...]
The building business demands a lot! There is always too much to do and too little time to do it. Time evaporates in spite of our best efforts to get more done. To-do lists get longer instead of shorter. For many of us that leaves only one choice – work harder and longer. What is [...]
Today more than ever home buyers and remodeling customers are fixated on price. Our nation’s consumer mindset is an intangible force behind most sales negotiations, including those involving major purchases of new homes or remodeling projects. The impact on our industry is builders feeling beat up and exhausted trying to overcome this issue and ultimately [...]
When I ask builders to talk about their most important goals, none has ever said it was to be busy. While being ‘busy’ is commonly associated with having a lot of business on the books – a result of making a lot of sales, of being successful, ‘busyness’ is another story. Busyness is a behavior [...]
It goes without saying that every business owner wants great results. A few have the discipline to create and follow a plan to produce those desired results. However, many default to busyness and assume that they are reaching their goals, only to be met with frustration. That’s called the “status-quo”. We want great results, but unintentionally [...]
Managing a growing construction business can feel like driving a car without brakes. Some days the road is nice and level with safe places to stop and rest and others like flying downhill trying to avoid crashing. Daily demands grow, cash becomes scarce and unexpected expenses hit at the worst possible time. To make matters [...]
In his classic book “Think and Grow Rich” Napoleon Hill describes a Master Mind as: “Coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose”. The Master Mind, he claims, is the single richest resource for real power, and one that can never [...]
The world we live in and do business in is changing – fast. That means two things; first, our customers have changed, and second, we must change to keep up with them. While business fundamentals like systematizing, getting organized and measuring key indicators remain constant, just about everything else is in flux. What does this [...]
If there is one thing I hate about my daily habits, it’s being late. I hate to be late- for anything! But somehow, in the name of productivity I guess, I manage to cut almost every appointment so close that I end up either rushing to make it on time, or late. The only thing [...]
Profit is the name of the game. Without it there is no tomorrow – business stops. However, many business owners don’t behave in a way that would convince us that this timeless principle is true. When I ask audiences to respond to the question “How many know your net profit goal for the year in [...]
