The great (inadvertent) 401(k) rip-off
Raise your hand if your company has a qualified retirement plan (QRP). Your QRP can be a 401(k), profit-sharing plan, SEP-IRA, pension plan or any one of the many other QRPs. If so, listen up. Chances are this column is going to make you and your employees money — lots of money....
Online solutions save time and then some
Adobe Acrobat Professional (www.adobe.com) provides an effective way to create, manage and share PDF documents over the Internet. This latest edition, Version 8, has a host of new features and enhancements, many of which would be helpful to contractors and subcontractors who want to communicate and collaborate with all team members during design and review cycles. ...
How to Win the Life Insurance Tax Game
Enriching the IRS with your life insurance dollars — death benefits — at your family's expense makes my blood boil. Turning the insurance tax table on the IRS makes me one happy camper. You too can join the tax-saving fun. Become a happy camper....
The Long Journey to Conservation
High efficiency furnaces and boilers that can hit 96% or better, inverter heat pumps and A/C units with 11-HSPF and 21- SEER, ground source heat pumps peaking at 31-EER and gas-fired water heaters achieving 99% efficiency! All of which exceed the requirements for an Energy Star rating. The industry and we have done very well in promoting responsible conservation of our finite resources – or have we?...
Columnists
Avoiding the Top Five Local Marketing Mistakes
The goal of small business owner is to drive new business. So how can plumbing contractors avoid the common local marketing pitfalls that claim so many...
What? Everybody doesnt agree with us?
Just about everybody in the industry thinks of himself as one of the good guys and the industry in general as being on the right side of the issues. After...
When leads, sales dont come, whos to blame?
The majority of plumbing contractors hit a rough patch from time to time. The key to overcoming it is knowing what went wrong and what to do about it....
Are you the bottleneck in your business?
Smart owners are always on the lookout for factors that limit their business growth and productivity. Sometimes, however, a significant bottleneck can...
Purchase orders are contracts too
For reasons that I do not understand, most contractors do not think of purchase orders as Often, they purchase equipment and materials for jobs using...
Mark's Meditation Process
There is an old expression, "Its not the son that will run the business into the ground, rather the grandson." Statistics demonstrate less than 10% of...
PMs still need essential estimating skills
Even with the continued industry trend (perhaps because of it?) of separating the career paths, job descriptions and responsibilities of senior- level...
Retrofit variable speed pump considerations, Part 2
BY MARK EATHERTON Hydronic heating contractor At the end of last months column, I promised that we would venture into the world of...
Salt air and plumbing at the sea shore
Lois and I recently visited friends who own a condo in Ocean City, Md. The days melted away in relaxed banter. Following a great dinner at Dr. Unks Bar...
Solution makes time tracking easy
The JobClock System (www.jobclock.com, 888-788-8463) i s a method of attendance and time tracking for any number of jobsites and workers. The system is...
Turn your home into an investment profit center
The key to successful tax planning is learning how to select the best tax-saving strategies to accomplish your specific goals. My job is easy pick the...
It boils down to people, resources, decisions
When I first started writing this column back in 1998, project management didnt have the hype and sexy cach that it has today. There werent any groupies...
Watching a killer at work, Part 1
We have all had this phone call. Even if its not one of our own installations, we still have a moral obligation to address the situation to the best of...
Solutions can be used in or out of the office
Here are two solutions that can benefit end-users outside the office and jobsite, as well. Hearing management Contractors have long had to cope with a...
A Translucent Troubadours Soul
On a recent flight from Cincinnati to Seattle, I was sitting in first class enjoying the legroom after an extended speaking trip that included Mesa, Ariz.,...
Contractors should match personalities, jobs
BY ROBERT P. MADER Of CONTRACTORs staff WASHINGTON Contractors should try to find out who their employees really are, consultant Bill Kimmel, Grandy &...
Do you make the #1 marketing mistake?
I have teenagers, just barely. My 13-year-old daughter who used to think I was the smartest man alive now ranks my intelligence just below French toast....
Employee screening raises host of issues
I have been asked by clients about what exposure they have if they hire a person who will go into customers homes without checking to find out that he...
How you can enrich your family and charity too
Patrick Henry once said, I have but one lamp by which my feet are lighted, and that is the lamp of experience. After years of working in the area of wealth...
So much lies ahead, no reason to look back
By Bob Miodonski Publisher and Editorial Director In my time at CONTRACTOR, I've addressed you on an industry issue in this space every month since March...
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