More in Schwartz

Over the past few years I’ve written columns about the state of labor in the trades and the increasing lack of qualified and quality trainees coming into the field. At a recent breakfast meeting with a manufacturer’s representative, (a friend of some 30 years) who is in a position to see and hear what is happening in our market, the subject was drawn into sharp focus. The topic was labor and news wasn’t good....More

How do you make your money these days? Are you a service shop? Are you a commercial, residential or industrial contractor? How about a retrofitter or a remodeler? While it is difficult to pigeonhole what we all do into one of these groups, it is also true that many companies categorize themselves in this way....More

Gaining and keeping control of the little things that siphon your profits and working capital is not hard to do. Sometimes making the decision to do it is the hard part. If you are an organized person, you probably already have some system in place to catch some of the waste, so turning that system up a notch should not be all that difficult....More

Looking at our trade from a strictly historic viewpoint, and disregarding the political and economic conditions of today, we see a steady if not always constant progression of improvements in the way it has grown and evolved....More

If you look at your suppliers as adversaries, or have the opinion that they are all trying to take advantage of you, you are missing the big picture. Everyone is trying to stay in business and make a profit....More

For plumbers and HVAC contractors, diving into the green pool is a good way to add an income stream to your shop, as well as moving the cutting edge of our trade into the 21st century. The challenge now is to change our normally skeptical mind set and embrace the new technology, insofar as it is profitable to do so....More

It is becoming more difficult to find topics for this column that point to an upbeat outlook for our current economic malaise. I’m not telling you anything that you don’t already know when I say work and job prospects, across the board, are in the tank....More

It really isn't all that surprising that many contractors are not computer literate, or as computer literate as they need to be in this era. After all, they are out trying to make a buck in a crummy economy with no real light at the end of this particularly dark tunnel. If they are not up to speed on computers now, the thought of spending the time to learn how to use them effectively is not a high priority....More

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that if you are in business and reading this publication, you are in it to make a profit. I've never met anyone in this industry (or in most others industries, truth be told) who was working at it for fun or some noble purpose other than the profit motive. After all we are capitalists. We take our money and invest it in a venture that, we sincerely hope, will provide profits and a "return" on our investment....More

The title of this column refers to two adages that pretty well sum up our national economic situation. The first is "It is an ill wind that blows no good." The second is "When life gives lemons, make lemonade." The two sayings both have optimism at their cores; the ability to find some good or to try to make the best of a bad situation....More

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....More