Improving image starts at top of company
BY BOB MIODONSKI OF CONTRACTOR'S STAFF SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. While many people talk about raising the image of the plumbing-and-heating industry, any action...
Industrial Strength Succession Planning'
RAISE YOUR HAND if you are the owner (or part owner) of a successful family business and someday you want your kids to step into your shoes. Let's be...
Produce design/build budget estimates
HERE'S A SMART software solution that uses a company's accumulated knowledge to help quickly produce design/build budgeting estimates for clients. Suitable...
Know your market, know your laws
I KNOW THAT this column is entitled "McGreevy on Law" and not "McGreevy on Marketing," but bear me out. Many times I have encountered contractors who,...
A matter of grave concern, part 2
WE BEGAN LOOKING into the issues associated with combination, open-loop, hydronic space-heating systems last month (pg. 38). While these systems have...
Drive your driving policy, or walk to poorhouse
A LOOMING INSURANCE crisis has probably already driven one or more of your friendly local competitors out of business. You just haven't heard the details...
No train, no gain
p>IMAGINE THIS One day John rolls out of bed, steps out onto his front porch to fetch the paper and, while staring into the clear blue sky, thinks to...
Recruiting works on always getting one more
AK ANY EXPERIENCED contractor about how he recruited his good crews and great supervisors and he will tell you the secret in one word: "Years." No mystery....
The best retirement plan I have ever seen
MENTION RETIREMENT to any group no matter how young or old and the knee-jerk reaction is almost always the same: Stuff as much as you can into a qualified...
I Married UP
November 1979 was a turning point in my life. The Pittsburgh Pirates had won the World Series, We are Family was a huge hit. Disco was dying a quiet death....
Saving widow from an estate planning misstep
TRY THIS REAL-LIFE story of a tax disaster. Joe died, survived by his wife Mary, four grown kids (one Sam managed Joe's family business, Success Co.)...
Have a clue how much workers don't work?
WHILE THE HEADLINE sounds a little harsh, I suppose, it is designed to grab your attention (which apparently it did or you wouldn't be reading this opening...
Customer retention fantasy land
FASTER THAN A speeding Moped, more powerful than a 60W bulb, able to leap small children in a single bound it's me, Market Man! OK, maybe it takes me...
Builder's letters send wrong message
THE COMPLAINT that builders cut back on mechanical systems in favor of more visible features of a home a statuesque fountain or an ornate chandelier was...
Better Than Black-and-White TV
It was the Summer of Love. 1967. I was about 10 years old. We had a black-and-white 19-inch television with four channels to watch. (Five if your had...
Hector the Inspector
AFTER COMPLETING the permit application, I waited for the lady in charge to finish her phone call so we could complete my paperwork. In my neck of the...
A matter of grave concern
OVER THE YEARS as a licensed master plumber, I have always honored the credo under which plumbers operate, that being, "Plumbers protect the health of...
Quiet, please!
THE CALL: A contractor was asking for my help with a high-profile client. He needed to present a variety of options on how to approach the remodeling...
Three solutions to enhance productivity
SMARTDRAW 2007 (release 8.1) (www.smartdraw.com) business graphics software enables contractors to create professional quality business graphics without...
Why insurers aren't paying, and you are
I HAVE WRITTEN many columns about indemnity and insurance issues, but I have to write another one because courts, legislatures, insurers and attorneys...
A matter of thermal efficiency
BY MARK EATHERTON HYDRONIC HEATING CONTRACTOR AS OF THIS SPRING, I have been working on hydronic heating systems for a third of a century; 33 years is...
You can be guided by scoreboard, dashboard
Most large companies and nonprofit organizations have boards of directors or trustees that govern and oversee their operations. Other types of boards...
Parisian sewage and potable water, part two
Touring Paris was a fantastic journey filled with museums and major points of interest. I'd read about the sewers of Paris and felt obligated to visit...
How to prepare your company for growth
Growth in P-H-C companies can be very challenging. If you accept the growth challenge and perform the right steps, you will succeed in expanding your...
Prepare, partner and prove
I'M a heating guy. I know how it's all supposed to work. I shouldn't have to know how the contractor is supposed to go to market, right? Well, I'm also...
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