The millionaire plumber next door
While the recession has been hard on many small business owners, plumbers should fare better than most. No consumer can live with a broken pipe and most can’t fix it themselves. While service and repair work might suffer in a downturn, it never disappears. Thus, plumbers, by and large, should sleep better than the average investor....
Your customer is your No. 1 priority
Running a service business is challenging. If only the customer understood just how much work and how many people are involved in a single service call. As a plumbing/HVAC company, we incur many costs just getting our technician and truck out there, ready and able to complete a job....
Are you ready to get out of the truck?
While there are some plumbing companies that start up from “business models” where the principals are not journeymen, it is far more common that a company begins life as a one-man show. ...
Mechanical mayhem: defects hidden in plain sight
I wasn’t there to admire the tricked-out kitchen or the massive flat-screens with surround sound that the builder tossed in as an incentive during his last-ditch effort to survive the weak economy. You know why I was there: problems with the mechanical systems....
Google Places is changing the game
It can be hard to keep up with all the Internet has to offer, especially when using the Internet as a business and marketing tool, which is why I decided to make this month's marketing column about Google Places...
Not all bonds are created equal
The only work in many communities these days seems to be public work. Well, at least you have the consolation that you will be paid because, aside from everything else, the contractor will have to have a payment bond to protect you, right? Bonds prove that there will be a big, solid company standing behind the obligations of contractors. Don't they?...
Building performance, HVAC go hand-in-hand
When asked what is the best way to increase the efficiency of any HVAC installation, including hydronics, Dan DePontbriand, contractor at Mountain Air said, "Insulation and building sealing ... the challenge of heating efficiency is keeping the heat inside the building envelope once you’ve delivered it." ...
Two programs to help your bottom line
Here are two software solutions, one for creating customized flat rate pricing books and the other focusing on expediting scheduling, billing, job costing and other tasks performed by field service contractors. ...
Saving hot water in commercial buildings
My friend Gary Klein, Affiliated International Management, has been crusading about saving hot water for a long time, starting with home use. There are a lot of dumb home plumbing systems out there, the kind where the homeowner turns on the shower and then leaves to make a pot of coffee in the hopes that there will be hot water in the shower by the time he returns. ...
A time for renewal at the RPA — Part 4
This is Part 4 of a four part interview conducted by Mark Eatherton with the new executive director of the RPA, Ted Lowe....
Jobsite chaos: understanding its causes
In project management in particular, I like to say there are similarly two kinds of people: those who seek control by stopping chaos and those who seek control by creating it. Neither behavior is better or worse than the other since they are both equal and opposite sides of the coin of chaos, viz. motivation and control. ...
Use tax laws to help economy, not make it worse
Here's a question that as of today does not have a clear answer: Will Congress extend the Bush tax cuts that became law in 2001 and 2003 and are scheduled to expire after 2010? ...
HP water heaters: where the rubber meets the road
The good news, no make that great news, for my friend and competitor who said that: he doesn't need the license to sell and install HP water heaters. The refrigerant circuit is self-contained. The potentially bad news is that failure to follow a few basic guidelines will increase operating costs for his customers and potential for service issues he'll be forced to correct. ...
Rolling stock: "Yes, we've got that"
Whether your business is service, repair and remodel, residential or commercial construction work, not having the right material at hand can be frustrating and costly. As an employer or business owner, not having enough of, or the right material, on site or in the service truck means the loss of both time and profit....
Stop calling employees salespeople
What do most people do when they hear the word salesman? Run is probably the initial jerk reaction and that's probably followed with hide. The word "salesman" has earned the ill-fated reputation of being someone who can't, or shouldn't, be trusted. Never trust the fast-talking salesman....
Finding your niche in the market
The strongest companies — in a good economy or bad — know who they are, and they communicate that clearly to their customers. To find your company's niche in the market, you need to focus on what you do better than other companies. ...
What strings come with stimulus projects?
I haven't talked to many contractors who are seeing a big resurgence in private development yet, but I do know some who have survived because of an American Recovery and Rehabilitation Act (Stimulus) funded project. Small towns that needed but couldn't afford a sewer upgrade or road extension took advantage of federal funds to quickly get a project going. But along with the Stimulus funds are Stimulus rules, and more of them than you might expect. So, you have to decide: is it worth it?...
Calculators, apps, software extend functionality
For tallying numbers quickly and accurately in the field, first came a handheld calculator. Then came dedicated programs that turned a generic calculator into a construction calculator. Now if you carry the right kind of Smartphone, you don't even need the calculator to perform fast project-relevant calculations at jobsites, at client meetings, or any place else on the go....
A time for renewal at the RPA — Part 3
Editor's Note: This is Part 3 of a four part interview conducted by Mark Eatherton with the new executive director of the RPA, Ted Lowe....
The importance of a biographical job list
I have to admit to you — my loyal readers — and everyone else that I’ve been unemployed for some months now, and if anything, things are getting tougher and grimmer by the week. The most horrific of business cycles is still a cycle. And yes, things will eventually turn around. ...
To expand or not to expand, that's the question
Your business is doing OK, you've saved up a little cash, and a few competitors have dropped out because of the recession. There’s an opportunity to expand your business and get positioned for the recovery, but it'll mean a serious investment. Should you do it?...
Estate planning for second, third marriages, etc.
From a tax-planning viewpoint, once the first (could be second, third, etc.) marriage ends, the ex-husband falls into one of three distinct categories. Each category requires different economic and tax strategies. Let’s take them one at a time. ...
Residential fire sprinklers are also green
On our front page this month Associate Editor Candace Roulo reports on the slow yet inexorable march toward universal adoption of residential fire sprinklers. Beginning Jan. 1, 2011, the International Code Council’s International Residential Code requires fire sprinklers in new one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses. ...
Heat Pump Water Heaters — Part 2
What’s in a name?
In many articles that I've read lately in trade magazines, "plumbers" are referred to as "techs" or "technicians." Now, I am completely aware of the tendency toward political correctness in our society at large and the trend toward "specialization" in all sorts of jobs, but techs or technicians? Really?...
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