Business Management

Preparing a Successful Exit Strategy with Dave Leff – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

July 6, 2023 Business Management, Financial Management 0:35:49

Have you given any thought to your exit strategy? How are you going to leave your business when you’re ready to retire and enjoy your remaining years?

It is never too early to start, and you should really be planning for that day, no matter how many years you have left.

There are many options when it comes to planning a successful exit and our guest, Dave Leff, joins us to talk more about his process, one that he is closing on within the next few weeks.

Dave, President/CEO of Leff Construction – Design/Build, explored a number of different options over the past five years and ultimately determined that an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) was the direction that provided the best outcome.

Victoria, Mark and Dave talk more about:

  • When Dave first started thinking about exiting his company.
  • The main things Dave did to prepare his exit strategy.
  • The main options Dave considered for your exiting and the pros and cons of each option.
  • The decision to go with the ESOP option.
  • How an ESOP works and the benefits and challenges.
  • And more…
Dave Bryan

Why You Should Have a Personal Vision Statement with Dave Bryan – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

June 29, 2023 Business Management, Company Culture 0:28:17

A personal vision statement charts your course — in life and in business. If you don’t have one, you might as well be lost at sea when you’re making decisions.

For Dave Bryan, his personal vision statement serves as his North Star, allowing him to plot his course through his life. “There are a million ways in any given day to get knocked off course,” he says. “Everything you do should be in support of your life, and having a personal vision statement can help you stay on the path and keep on track.”

In this meaningful episode, Dave talks to Victoria and Mark about the genesis of the idea for him, how he did it, and gives tips for how you can write your own. Most importantly, he shares his reasons why you should.

Dave president of Blackdog Builders, with offices in Salem and Amherst, NH. After starting his business in 1989, he’s built Blackdog into a strong, consistently profitable business, with several diversifications under its umbrella. Dave is an entrepreneur who is known for the discipline and care with which he runs his company. Dave is also one of our popular Roundtables facilitators, where he shares his story with the groups.

Being an entrepreneur can be lonely, with no one to keep you accountable. Planning your life and using a personal vision statement can help define your goals. Dave’s path to writing his own statement began with the recession in 2008. “It was brutal,” he says. But defining the goals and intentions for his life going forward was a turning point.

You’ll hear Dave’s personal vision statement and learn why he won’t share it in written form. But you have to do the work yourself for your own, he says. Dave covers how to develop your personal vision statement, and what it can do for your life and business, including:

  • Creating a vision board as a first step
  • Why work is only a tool to build your life
  • How far out to plan
  • Working gratitude into your plan
  • What you learn when you look back

What Dealers Say Behind Your Back with Bradley Hartmann – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

June 8, 2023 Business Management, Financial Management 0:37:30

Learning the best way to work with purchasing managers can help create great outcomes for both sides of the remodeling business.  With over a decade of experience in operations and purchasing for a national homebuilder, Bradley Hartmann has researched and found the importance of having purchasing sales teams devote their time exclusively focused on the specific needs and opportunities for remodelers. 

Bradley, founder and CEO of The Behind Your Back Sales Co., goes in depth about what suppliers really say behind your back on this episode of PowerTips Unscripted.

Mark, Victoria and Bradley talk more about:

  • Why it may feel like Remodelers are second-class citizens in the eyes of lumber and building material dealers
  • What suppliers are saying behind remodelers backs
  • The sales fundamentals missing from most remodelers
  • How Remodelers can best position themselves to get the best pricing and service from dealers
  • Questions Remodelers should ask to determine if they are the best fit for a specific supplier

How NOT to Grow Your Remodeling Business with Judith Miller – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

June 1, 2023 Business Management 00:28:31

The Great Recession gobbled up a whole slew of remodeling companies, but more of them fail during an economic expansion than during a contraction. Growth is great, but it’s risky, and knowing how not to grow will put you ahead of the game.

In this hot market, there are so many opportunities, you can get ahead of yourself too quickly for the health of your company. And that’s where remodeling company owners get into trouble by growing the wrong way. There are potential downsides, and to avoid them, you have to keep you basic best practices — and customer satisfaction and net profits lie at the center, says Judith Miller.

In this episode, Judith joins Victoria and Mark to talk about the ways to grow your company the right way.

Judith recently retired but before that she been a facilitator for Remodelers Advantage Roundtables for more than 15 years. She’s a QuickBooks expert, the author of The Remodeler’s Ultimate Guide to QuickBooks, and has been a columnist for Remodeling magazine for more than 10 years. Judith isn’t just a financial guru, she’s a high-level strategist who understands that numbers prove your strategy. 

When trying to grow, the biggest stumbling block is a lack of control, preparation, and not focusing on the best practices. Judith tells you what those best practices are, and how to grow the right way, while explaining the details, including:

  • The critical need for leadership
  • Why your financials have to be in order
  • The Top 5 things you need to do to build a strong, profitable company
  • The predictable stages of growth — and which is best to grow in
  • How large you can get
  • Why hiring a sales force is the riskiest transition
  • How to build a company you can sell
  • Why growing over 20% may be crazy
  • And more…

Employee Reviews: It’s Time for a Change with Tim Faller – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

May 25, 2023 Business Management, Company Culture, Customer Service, Hiring, Production 00:25:51

Reviewing employees in the remodeling world is, at best, a struggle.

It is often an employee’s opportunity to ask for a raise and an employer’s opportunity for frustration.

Tim Faller joins Mark and Victoria to talk about the necessary fundamental shift in the employee review process. Tim makes the transition from podcast host to guest to talk about his efforts towards reworking the employee review process in this episode.

Tim is a senior consultant here at Remodelers Advantage and known throughout the industry as the “Guru of Production.”

Tim is a well-known author and works with remodelers and production teams across the US and Canada. In addition to being the lead facilitator for the R/A Production Manager Roundtables Groups, he is also the Co-host of the popular podcast, The Tim Faller Show.

Victoria, Mark and Tim talk more about:

  • The challenges of the “old system”
  • The inspiration behind the reworking of the employee review process
  • The parts that need reworking
  • Objectives and goals of the rework
  • Implementing the rework
  • And more…

How Technology is Impacting Your Mental Health, Relationships & Productivity at Work with Rob Krecak – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

May 18, 2023 Business Management 00:36:02

As a society, we spend nearly four hours daily on our smartphones, a 59% increase compared to just two years ago. The total amount of time each person spends in front of all media per day is 12 hours and 21 minutes, up 11% over two years, and the amount of time we spend socializing each day has dropped 18% compared to 2003. 

So, if we extrapolate these trends, where will humanity be in just ten short years?

Guest Rob Krecak is on a mission to positively impact the lives of one billion people with his company, Humans First, which aims to show people how technology impacts their mental health, relationships, and productivity at work.

Victoria, Mark, and Rob talk more about:

  • How technology impacts us in ways we are unaware of
  • Technology’s role in our relationships
  • Being more mindful of technology usage
  • And more…

Why It’s Critical to Invest in The Next Generation with Andrew Schmidt – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

May 4, 2023 Business Management, Financial Management 00:25:27

The labor shortage has been a frequent topic on this show, and this episode is going to join the ranks.  Guest Andrew Schmidt is here to talk about AMEK’s apprentice and internship program, and the importance of investing in future generations.

Andrew and his twin brother started their business as roofing installers in 1996, and have grown into a leading design-build firm in Minneapolis and St Paul. They have vacillated over the years, from employing and training carpenters to using all subcontractors. Currently, AMEK operates a hybrid model of carpenters and subcontractors when the job dictates it.

Victoria, Mark and Andrew talk more about:

  • Hiring the right people
  • The training and development process
  • Creating an engaged culture
  • And more…

How to Make Huge Profits Without Clients with Andrew Schroeder – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

April 27, 2023 Business Management, Financial Management, Sales 00:37:56

Welcome to another episode of PowerTips Unscripted. This week, we go into the vault for an informative episode. Victoria and Mark talk to guest Andrew Schroeder about using your remodeling experience to grow your business by profitably flipping houses, minimizing the risks and maximizing the benefits, and the challenges of acting as your own client.

Whether you’re a seasoned professional in the remodeling industry or just starting, this episode is for you! Victoria and Mark dig deep with Andrew to uncover all the tips and tricks for success in the lucrative world of house flipping.

 

Andrew joined the Schroeder Design/Build team in 1999 and became owner in 2011. In addition to running SDB, Andrew volunteers time with the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI).

Victoria, Mark, and Andrew talk more about:

  • Where to invest your time and money to get your best returns
  • How to fill your production pipeline without getting new clients
  • Determining your profit margins in real estate
  • And more…

How Cybercrime WILL Impact Your Remodeling Business with Charles Hammett – [PowerTips Unscripted] S4 E13

March 30, 2023 Business Management 00:34:13

Are you worried about your business being the next victim of a cyberattack? Today on PowerTips Unscripted, Charles Hammett joins the show to give some advice on how to protect your business from cyberattacks. Charles breaks down some of the types of cyberattacks and how remodelers could be affected. He also talks about some of the benefits of having cybersecurity and the protection it brings to your business.

For over 25 years, Charles Hammett has managed IT and cyber security initiatives for several businesses throughout the US. He has worked closely at the federal level, building secure data centers and at the public level protecting businesses of all types.

Victoria, Mark, and Charles talk more about:

  • Are small businesses at risk?  
  • How does this impact the remodeling industry?
  • How can you protect your business from cyberattacks?
  • And more… 

Using Kaizen to Improve Your Business with Michael Sauri – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

March 16, 2023 Business Management, Personal Development, Production 00:35:02

The Kaizen practice focuses on improving existing, standardized processes by eliminating waste and was first practiced in Japanese businesses after World War II.  Kaizen translates to “Change for Good,” and that can mean many great things for your growing remodeling company. The process of constant improvement, with every team member participating, allows your company to constantly raise the bar on its target metrics.  

In this episode, Victoria and Mark learn more about the Kaizen practice of process improvement by welcoming Michael Sauri, CEO of TriVista USA, to the show.

Michael and his wife Deborah started TriVistaUSA in 2005 with the goal of providing an outlet for creativity and a Ritz Carlton-level client experience. “Our Thoughtful Design Builds Fine Living,” is their mission statement and their mantra as they bring phenomenal, award-winning design to the Design/Build community in the Washington DC area.

Victoria, Mark and Michael talk more about:

  • The background of Kaizen and how TriVista got involved
  • Hiring and developing a team within the Kaizen structure
  • The differences between Kaizen and other process improvement practices
  • And More…
MASTER NAVIGATION

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MASTER NAVIGATION

This website is part of the Remodelers Advantage Network.

Visit our other properties: