Company Culture

  • Hitting a Big Financial Mark

    Four years ago, Ocean Breeze Awnings and More in Surfside Beach, S.C., hit the $1 million gross revenue mark for the first time. CEO David Powers wanted to find out which neighborhoods were spending the most money with the company, so he studied his data.

     
  • Mission: Not Impossible

    Walt Disney Co.'s mission statement is “To make people happy.” Wal-Mart's is “To give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same thing as rich people.” Reaching this level of deceptively simple prose requires time and energy. But in the end, the words become both rudder and anchor.

     
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    Under normal circumstances, overtime costs about the same as straight time

    When employees work overtime, you are obliged to pay them time-and-a-half. That sounds expensive, but OT hours don't really cost 50% more than regular hours. In fact, under normal circumstances, overtime costs about the same as straight time.

     
  • Identifying leadership qualities in your staff

    How do you identify leadership qualities in your staff?

     
  • Practices for shoring up morale

    The market slowdown has made job security a real concern for many remodeling professionals. If you foresee slowdowns, I suggest these practices for shoring up morale:

     
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    The 412(i) plan is a retirement investment option for small-business owners

    The 412(i) plan is a retirement investment option for small-business owners with a high, stable income who need to catch up on adding funds to their retirement savings.

     
  • Finding the right people

    One of the most difficult aspects of building a business is finding the right people. So when a slow marketplace threatens the need for layoffs, most savvy businesspeople fight it tooth and nail.

     
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    After the Fall

    Familiarity breeds confidence, sometimes to a fault, and it was 40 years and tens of thousands of incident-free cuts, into his career that one of Tim Sweeney's most seasoned, carpenters ran his thumb through a table saw.

     
  • Distributing gifts to clients

    Distributing gifts to clients...

     
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    A simple bulletin-board system keeps all eyes on the ball

    Mission control at Mark IV Builders is the production board, a visual representation of all current projects, their supervisors, their schedules and status, and their current to-do items.