Remodelers with Resolve
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What do remodelers want for their companies, themselves, and their industry in 2009? Last night, inspired by a Wall Street Journal survey asking similar questions of celebrities ranging from Martha Stewart to Mitt Romney, I asked a bunch of my favorite remodelers to share their own resolutions for 2009.
Specifically, I asked them to list resolutions in the following order:
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Professional: what do you want your company to accomplish in 2009?
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Personal: what are your personal goals for 2009?
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Industry: what are your hopes for the remodeling profession in 2009 and beyond?
And here’s how some of them responded. Stay tuned for more (I’ll post them as they come in), and feel free to share your own resolutions by using the “comment” function at the bottom of this screen.
Diane Menke
Myers Constructs
Philadelphia
Professional: We have worked hard to strengthen this company, so we come out of this downturn ready to kick butt. So far we have sold into 2nd Q '09 already. But besides sales, we are marketing well -- very targeted -- and we are working well as a team. We would like to create some synergies with investors and other building professionals so we might get into spec work or other opportunities for our company.
Personal: We just had a warm day here -- in the high 60's. This little break from the bitter cold reminded me how much I like to do things outside. I like to garden, fly fish, motorcycle ... I will do more of this fun stuff in '09 by scheduling it in. So more fun, and more rowing so I look good while I am having fun.
Industry: It would be really wonderful to see remodeling grow from being a local craft-based, relationship-based service industry to be more regionally or nationally focused. I keep comparing little remodeling companies (like our own) to celebrity chefs with big operations all over the country. There's no reason the remodeling industry couldn't do this too. It’s a mindset we have that holds us back.
Robin Burrill
Curb Appeal Renovations
Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas
Professional: Make 2009 a profitable, back to basics SIMPLE year for our business. Finally finish the re-design of our website that I started working on a year ago.
Personal: Let the basics follow through into my personal life…getting back to basics by doing the things I love…spending quality time with my family that doesn’t center around our business, working in the yard, entertaining friends/family at home, having BBQ’s, dinner parties, growing a big vegetable garden again, and getting involved in city politics.
Industry: Whew! My hope for the remodeling industry is to see big strides in the overall professionalism of what we do and offer – that the public starts to understand and respect remodelers as professionals and not a Bubba with a hammer and a dog in the back of his pickup truck. However, someone else will have to tackle this; it is time that I focus on me, my husband, my family and our business!
Mike and Karen Vowels
Stewardship Remodeling
Seattle
Professional: 2009 is the year to stake our claim as being the Seattle-area remodeling contractor forerunner of remodeling strategies that serve to support both green building practices and universal design: a recipe for economic, environmental and social sustainable success. "The Baby Boomers are Coming!"
Personal: Having just returned home to Seattle from Vietnam with our new 4-year-old adopted son Tag, we will be giving our personal best to "set the bar" high and help our 3 adopted children realize their fullest potential, to be all that they can be.
Industry: We are hopeful and expectant that good remodeling contractors will come through 2009 stronger than ever and better qualified for future opportunities. We will not be saddened to see the poor-performance (questionable) remodeling contractors culled and thinned-out, at least for the time being, as they will forever be amongst us.
Leif Jackson
Jackson Remodeling
Seattle
Professional: Survive 2009. No, scratch that. Take advantage of this opportunity to build on our strengths, and use those strengths to set ourselves apart. Specifically, be smarter, more diligent, and more intentional at sales and marketing. Create a realistic budget and stick to it, even if it is a break-even budget. Make sure that our clients and prospects experience exceptional service, so that they refer us and come back for repeat work. Take care of our key team members so that they have a sense of security and opportunity, and look for opportunities to upgrade the team (it is a great environment for hiring). I don’t know how long this recession will last, but I believe that Jackson Remodeling can be in an excellent competitive position when things improve, as long as we play our cards right.
Personal: 1. Take better care of myself… Drink more water and less beer. Get my money’s worth out of my gym membership. 2. Finish our home remodeling projects so we can sell our house and move (there, honey, it’s on the internet so I have to do it now). 3. Create a budget and stick to it. 4. Be generous with my time, particularly with my wife and daughters.
Industry: Maintain your prices! Believe in yourselves! Don’t forget what we have learned in the past decade! It has taken this industry a long time to gain respect and recognition as a legitimate profession. With this has come reasonable markups that allow us to truly serve our clients. We are already facing stiff competition from spec builders and others getting into remodeling. Let’s not make things tougher on our fellow “real” remodelers by playing the price game. There are still a lot of homeowners who appreciate the value that comes with hiring a professional company. If we cut our prices to get a job, we end up with all the risk of a larger job and not enough contribution to overhead and the bottom line. And when jobs feel “tight”, we won’t take the time to provide customer service or stand behind our work the way we know we should. We end up with expensive callbacks, unhappy clients, and no referral base. As an industry, we can choose not to go down that road.
Greg Rittler
Kanon Group
Towson, Maryland
Professional: I am quickly moving from my day-to-day responsibilities at Kanon Group to new responsibilities with two start up ventures: Kanon Clarity (www.kanonclarity.com) and Wordswell (www.wordswell.com). My staff has pushed me out the door, which I am grateful for ... but the struggles of starting something new are back on my plate! My professional goal is to have both business up and running, stable, and producing results for our clients – just as Kanon Group provides great additions and remodeling services for our clients.
Personal: Two personal goals: 1. Spend as much time as possible outside of work with my wife and children (at 15, 12, 9, and 6 they are growing up really fast!). 2. A few years ago I helped to found a non-profit that raises money to provide clean water wells in Africa. The first year we raised $20,000. The next year we raised $70,000. This year we would like to break $100,000. That means we have provided clean water to nearly 150,000 Africans who otherwise would be drinking unclean water. For more information check it out: www.bloodwaterbaltimore.com.
Industry: I am working with a number of other builders and remodelers in my area to put together a monthly open forum meeting to share ideas, strategies, share problems and solutions, wrestle with people issues, etc. I think there is plenty of room for good companies to share ideas without having to worry about losing to the competition.
(Editor's note: After posting this entry, I heard from some other remodelers as well. Click here and here for more ambitious and inspiring remodeling resolutions.)
Readers: what about you? Share your resolutions by commenting here.
Happy new year, everyone, and best wishes for 2009.
Leah Thayer, senior editor, lthayer@hanleywood.com
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