Other stories by Cheryl Weber

  • Growing Your Company by Acquisition

    Tom Kelly is no novice when it comes to buying other businesses. Two decades ago, the Portland, Ore.–based Neil Kelly Co. acquired a kitchen and bath dealership in nearby Beaverton.

  • Greater Dallas Green Built Parade of Homes Showcases Sustainable Building

    When builder Mike Scarlett signed on to participate in the HBA of Greater Dallas Green Built Parade of Homes, which debuted in September, he had never so much as built an Energy Star house. But he rose to the challenge, hiring a consultant to help him decode such eco-measures as spray-foam...

  • 5-Star Built Green Seattle House Combines Sound Fundamentals, Cutting-Edge Eco-Friendly Features

    A narrow lot, a bay view, and a full range of green features shape this Martha Rose construction home.

  • Ilex Construction spreads its roots

    They say the smartest companies are founded on the strength of an idea. That appears to hold true at Ilex Construction & Woodworking, which has grown from a scrambling startup in 1986 to a well-heeled business with 200 employees and more than $30 million in revenue.

  • Getting to the Next Level of Growth in Your Small Business

    For 12 years, Ann Arbor, Mich., remodeler Gary Rochman expertly steered his company along on an even keel. Trained in both architecture and carpentry, he loved the flexibility and control of being able to execute every aspect of a job. A self-described anti-growth advocate, he was selling $400,000...

  • Accurate ballpark estimates on design/build remodeling jobs

    Kelvin Pierce of Commonwealth Home Remodelers in Vienna, Va., can give accurate ballpark estimates on design/build remodeling jobs in about 20 minutes. How accurate? “Although we tell clients [that we can estimate to within] 10% or 15% of the final selling price, we're usually within 5%,” he says.

  • Calculating labor costs as a percentage of a job's direct costs

    Most remodelers use historical job costs as part of their estimating process. Maryland-based Brenneman & Pagenstecher goes a step further, calculating labor costs as a percentage of a job's direct costs.

  • On-the-job consistency: control, analyze and improve, problem solving

    Both successes and problems are usually the result of what lots of people do, not just one person.

  • Marketing Check-Up

    Like other business owners in the wake of September 11, Skeeter Coleman watched his business revenues drop off this year, from $2.6 million in 2001 to less than $2 million. Coleman hired a marketing consultant to help him create a strong brand identity by tweaking the company logo and rethinking...

  • Gym Night

    Rosemont Remodeling owner Ed Sutherland went to the gym to bulk up his business. "I couldn't have done any better as far as dollars spent and the people I want to talk to."