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...
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.)...
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...
Time for you to take green building seriously
On the day the latest UN report on global warming was released, my car refused to start when the wind chill dipped into double digits below zero in Chicago....
Service solution uses tablet PC and camera
Collier's Mobile Tech( Collier Consulting Group, www.collierflatrate.com, 800/739-9025) is a complete tablet PC application designed for field service...
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...
Avoiding construction defect lawsuits
I know how much easier your lives would be if, once you completed your work, you didn't have to look back to it again. That is not the way we operate,...
The best way to attract and keep great people
Our Typical Consulting assignment is to put together a wealth transfer plan for a successful business owner. Invariably, the client brings up two critical...
Thirty years in the game at 50
I sit here at the computer writing this column on the 50th anniversary of my birth, which, coincidentally, is approximately the 30th anniversary of my...
What's your most important marketing tool?
With some customers, perhaps your answer is, "A hammer." For the uninitiated-tech, it might be, "Showing up." From me you're expecting, "One of the marketing...
What's your most important marketing tool?
With some customers, perhaps your answer is, "A hammer." For the uninitiated-tech, it might be, "Showing up." From me you're expecting, "One of the marketing...
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...
Software handles service management tasks
SUITABLE FOR SMALL and medium-sized service businesses, ServiceCEO (Insight Direct, www.insightdirect.com, 800/471-4200) is a turnkey management solution...
Did your lawyer (inadvertently) rip you off?
JOE, A 63-YEAR-OLD reader of this column from Iowa, almost cried when talking to me on the phone. "I still want to kick myself for thinking my estate...
Brief history of condensing boilers and potable water
IN APRIL 2002, Lois and I had an opportunity to travel to France for a visit with Geminox Chaudieres, the manufacturer of Monitor MZ boilers. Upon arrival...
Is it safe, or not, to let an employee work?
YOUR ELECTED officials and federal agencies in Washington have created a monster with the Americans with Disabilities Act. While well intentioned, it...
Atlas sighed, then died
STRANGE HOW THE best advice you've always followed all your life and for good solid practical reasons, such as never playing poker with a man named "Doc"...
Simple steps for cold-weather marketing
OK, FOLKS, GET OUT your scissors. I want you to cut out this column, tape it to your desk, on your marketing manager or in a place you're likely to stare...
Bienvenu Brothers welcomes service challenge
WHEN STANLEY BERGER accepted the presidency of the Mechanical Contractors Association of America a couple years back, he noted that he was the first service...
A Unique Christmas Story
A Unique Christmas Story By Mark Matteson My name is Mikey. I am 11 years old. I was a year old when we got Anna. Dad surprised us Christmas morning....
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