Last Word: Benchmark

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    Judge new opportunities carefully

    Now and then, a great new opportunity appears on the horizon. Maybe it's a piece of property you've dreamed of developing as your office space; perhaps it's a great deal on a second home in the mountains; or maybe it's the presidency of the local industry association. Whatever it is, it almost...

     
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    Spending on Marketing

    During the past few years, when demand far exceeded supply, many companies didn't see the need to spend any money on marketing. Now that the economy is slowing in many areas, many of you will be scrambling to maintain sufficient sales to support your overhead and produce a satisfactory profit. It's...

     
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    Setting performance goals

    Predictable and recurring net profits result from good management of each of a company's three vital "departments"--marketing and sales, production, and administration. Make a New Year's resolution now to measure and grade performance in each of these departments.

     
  • Benchmark: Clean It Up

    Good management depends on the ability to quickly spot problem areas and make necessary corrections. That's true on the jobsite and in the office.

     
  • Endgame

    Are you preparing adequately to finance your future?

     
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    Practice or Business?

    Find out which business model is the best fit for your company.

     
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    What's It Worth?

    Preparing a remodeling company for sale is not a quick, straightforward process. It requires several years of focused attention.

     
  • Measuring your company against the competition

    To measure one company against others, you must compare apples to apples. One obstacle to that comparison is owner's compensation, because each remodeling company tends to account for it differently.

     
  • Predicting loss or gain

    Last month we looked at labor productivity through the lens of the project schedule. By looking at how much time we took to complete a project, we could predict loss or gain to margin.

     
  • Maximizing profit by completing projects on time

    Increasing field efficiency means improved margins, but some tactics are better than others. Purchasing inferior materials is shortsighted because you will have to spend warranty dollars down the line. Using less expensive subcontractors may also increase future warranty costs, but worse is the...