Even in a slow market, small business owners are faced with the challenge of having too much to do and not enough time to do it all. The Harvard Business School refers to this phenomenon as “resource poverty”. Simply speaking, the small business owner wears dozens of hats and as a result, has limited time and resources.

I was in a construction office last week the day after the office manager had come back to work after being out sick for 2 days. A number of employees at the office welcomed her back in the following way: “Thank God your back! Do you know how much we missed you? You cannot get sick again, do you understand? We need you!” Needless to say, the office manager had been missed.

If your sales leads are decreasing, it’s more important than ever to develop an effective marketing pipeline. A good marketing pipeline allows you to generate sales in an effective, consistent fashion. When working with potential clients, there is one thing we don’t control. We don’t control when potential customers make the decision to purchase our products or services. Because we can’t control when our prospects buy, it is imperative that we follow-up with potential customers in a predictable and consistent way. We need to stay in their awareness on an ongoing basis so that when they are ready to move forward with their project, our name is there so that they remember to give us a call.

Competitive bidding is not good for business. Besides the time spent doing an estimate for a job you may not get, there is an additional element that most homeowners are not aware of. The following quote helps explain this:

Creating Expectations

Homeowners all have expectations when their job begins. The problems in remodeling begin when we don’t meet those expectations. We all get into trouble when we don’t meet these expectations. That said, here is a simple fact for every professional remodeler: we are in the business of managing homeowner expectations. Understanding this very simple fact is the basis for being successful in your remodeling business.

Are You an Overworked Business Owner?

Running a successful remodeling company is an ongoing challenge. It starts when you walk into your office on Monday morning. You receive a call from one of your carpenters at 7 am letting you know he won’t be showing up to work that day. Soon after that, the client starts calling! So you pull a carpenter off of another project and send him to the jobsite where you need help. You then discover that the lead carpenter didn’t order the materials due on the jobsite that day! Now, you’re in your office, scrambling to put out a fresh set of fires. Is this just another day at the office???

’m hosting another Home Asset Plan coaching program. What’s this – this is the proactive business model that shows you how to offer an annual home evaluation to your homeowner clients. The result? The results allow you to generate new work in 30 days or less, and added to that, you begin to identify future projects 12 to 24 months into the future. It’s a proactive marketing plan that allows you to generate new work by calling homeowners you have already done work for. Why’s this important – because some slow holiday months are coming, so I want to review a business concept that will help you through the slow times.

I just finished a conversation with a successful remodeler in Boulder, Colo. He is living in remodeling heaven: there are no more building sites in the city of Boulder. Boulder has very strict open space requirements that limit future development.

Setting Boundaries

I regularly talk with remodelers who are working too hard. That’s no surprise. Most of us feel these long hours have created a good foundation for our business to grow on, and now, most remodelers are looking for ways to cut back on these long hours. Along this line, I want to share a formula for a way to eliminate most evening and weekend phone calls and meetings with homeowners you’re working with on their project.

The New Remodeling Handyman

The remodeling industry is a sleeping giant. With over 10 trillion dollars worth of housing in the US, the home remodeling industry now does over 180 billion dollars of work each year, servicing over 80 million homes. Projects range from $25 repairs to $2,000,000 additions.