Benefits

  • Face Off

    Do you allow your field staff to accept gifts from clients?

     
  • VEBA is an IRS-tax-exempt trust

    Although similar to a retirement plan, a VEBA is really an IRS-tax-exempt trust, to which a business owner can make discretionary contributions of pre-tax dollars, which in turn reduces the company owner's tax burden. A VEBA differs from a retirement plan in that withdrawals for certain benefits...

     
  • Delegating work and responsibility

    Delegating work and responsibility to others is one of the most difficult things about growing and managing a business. Most business owners don't like to cede control to others. After all, being in control of your own destiny was one of the reasons you went into business for yourself.

     
  • The importance of saving

    Although Social Security and pension issues have been in the headlines for some time, many people still don't take advantage of employer-supported savings like 401(k) plans. Some of the reasons cited in a study done by Hewitt Associates, a global human resources services firm, include...

     
  • In-house training builds firm's margins

    A Tampa, Fla., painting contractor is reaping the benefits of a new in-house training program. Instruction at Specialized Painting Services includes proper painting techniques, Spanish or English classes, computer training, and customer service skills.

     
  • IRS offers info about IRAs

    The Internal Revenue Service now offers a free CD-ROM to help small-business owners learn about setting up and maintaining IRA-based retirement plans for their employees.

     
  • Keeps employee rewards simple

    In December 2003, REMODELING published “Field Cruise,” a guest column by Susan Meynell, co-owner with her husband, Paul Meynell, of Acadia Post & Beam. In her commentary, Susan wrote about giving Acadia's employees and their spouses a Caribbean cruise as a Christmastime perk in 2002. But less than...

     
  • Why Remodelers Chose to Organize Their Companies the Way They Did

    Most Big50 we talked with understand how their companies are organized, although few could specify all the pros and cons of every alternative. For those details, they all bow to the advice of their accountants and attorneys.

     
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    Design/Build Basics

    It's interesting to note that even in companies that consider themselves design/build, 41% of the owners say they do their own design work.

     
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    Structural Insulated Panels (SIP) Gaining Popularity

    The race toward the energy-efficient home is on, and it looks like SIPs are gaining ground. Structural insulated panels consist of an expanded polystyrene core sandwiched between two OSB panels. According to a survey conducted by the Structural Insulated Panel Association (SIPA), 12,000 mostly...