Business Owner Archives - Page 9 of 13

Ep.93: [Unscripted Back-Up] How LEAN Principles Have Improved My Business with Paul Kowalski

December 18, 2019 00:29:32

As 2019 draws to a close, we’re taking a look back at some of our more popular episodes, and this episode explains how LEAN principles really work in a remodeling company. Perfect for any company looking to improve their business in 2020.

In this episode, Paul Kowalski shares his experiences in applying LEAN in his business with Victoria and Mark. His company recently implemented the process, and he says the results have already been eye-opening.

Paul owns PK Builders in Charlotte, NC, and is a member of our Remodelers Advantage Roundtables group. PK Builders has a team of eight, including Paul, with four project Managers, an estimator, and a draftsman.

When PK Builders was experiencing growing pains in 2018 — bottlenecks in the design-build process, some cash-flow issues, higher overhead — Paul called in Doug Howard for help. Paul says it was intimidating at first, but soon becomes second nature to look for ways to speed up processes. It started with 16 feet of paper festooned with sticky notes detailing steps in the design process. Hear how they implemented LEAN, including:

Explaining it to your staff
Sharing in chunks
Finding the hiccups
Why the people closest to the work have the best feedback
Getting over the intimidation factor
Timelines and swim lanes
Not including time for revisions
Building in collaboration up front
Unintended consequences
And more …

Paul and his team are deep in the LEAN process, and excited to see what their future brings, including how it affects their positive cash flow. See the video Paul talks about outlining LEAN principles from the Food Bank For New York City on YouTube.

And here’s that 16-ft. chart Paul talks about:

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Ep.90: Inside the Design-Build Movement with David Supple

November 27, 2019 00:27:26

You may have thought that the design-build business model is a recent phenomenon. But years ago, all builders practiced design-build, but something happened along the way to create separate industries.

In this episode, David Supple takes Victoria and Mark on a deep dive into the history of the design-build model, the truths about it, and why it’s been around as long as buildings have.

David is the founder and CEO of New England Design & Construction in Boston. He’s grown NEDC to be a leader in design-build excellence, winning more than 30 awards and being written about in more than 30 publications over the past 14 years. In addition to expanding the company, David has started the DesignBuild Movement, a forum with the purpose of educating the public on this topic with the end goal of creating better buildings.

David has had a fascination with creating buildings since his art history teacher in high school showed the class slides of landmarks in Europe like Notre Dame Cathedral and the Sistine Chapel. He decided he wanted to build those types of spaces, and was steered into architecture. He graduated from college with an architecture degree, and started practicing. Then, he says, he realized he didn’t know what he was doing. So he went to work as a carpenter to get a foundation in actual building before he opened NEDC. David talks about the history of architects and builders, and how the industry got to where we are now, including:

What an architect used to be
The historical apprenticeship process
How the industry separated into architects and builders
What social status had to do with it
Why design-build almost went away
The efficiencies of design-build as a process
How to position design-build with consumers
Design-build vs. design-bid-build
And more …

It’s a fascinating look at the history of building, architecture, and remodeling, and will make you better prepared to discuss what design build really means. To learn more about the DesignBuild Movement, check out the pages on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Ep.88: All Help Is the Same, Isn’t it? with Allison Iantosca

November 13, 2019 00:23:00

As a seasoned business professional, you’ve probably been on both sides of the equation when it comes to giving and getting help. Get advice, give consultation. Gain a mentor, bestow some wisdom. While in these essential moments, we want to help and be helped, that doesn’t always happen.

It helps to know there are differences in the types of support we can give and get — and what they are.

In this episode, Allison Iantosca will discuss those distinctions with Victoria and Mark, and how stopping and thinking about how you ask for or give help will make the results more useful and valuable.

Allison is the president and owner of F.H. Perry Builder, a Boston-area custom remodeling firm focused on building homes and relationships of lasting value.

Though there are nuanced distinctions, coaching, consulting, and mentoring are not the same thing, says Allison. Knowing the differences will make the help given or gotten more relevant and valuable. Figuring it out includes knowing what you want to offer or receive in that moment, including:

Who needs what, and when
Concentrating on process in coaching
Consulting and advising on outcomes
Using experience in mentoring for a shared outcome
Coaching your staff
How to know what help to ask for
The time periods needed for each
Asking the right questions to spur the right answers
And more …

One of the best ways to differentiate between the three main types of help you can give or get is to determine the goal, and what choices need to be made to get there.

And Speaking of Consulting & Coaching …

As we head into 2020, there is no better time than RIGHT NOW to be planning for how your company will hit the profit goals that you have committed to… What? You have no Goals? No Plan? Well, we will help you with that too!

Join us on Tuesday, November 19th as our CFO & Director of Consulting, Doug Howard, hosts a FREE Webinar and walks you through the key steps to Creating Your Wining Strategy for 2020.

Click Here for More Information and to grab your spot.

Ep.87: Partnership — Creating a Unified Vision for your Company’s Future with Matt Carlson

November 6, 2019 00:23:17

Having a business partner can be an enormous advantage if you approach it correctly. Most people underestimate the commitment and work that goes into a partnership. Ensuring that you’re on the same page and share the same vision goes far beyond having a plan on paper.

In this episode, Matt Carlson shares his story with Victoria and Mark, and what he’s learned as the minority partner in his business in making the relationship work.

Matt is the general manager and co-owner of Fox Home Innovations in Manhattan, KS. After 10 years in the business, and nine as an owner he has a unique perspective on the lessons he has learned from growing FHI alongside his business partner Chris Fox.

Matt and Chris met in college, and worked on several projects together there while both where studying entrepreneurship. Matt then joined Chris in his new remodeling company. He started out working in the field, and Chris proposed the partnership idea quickly. It started as a trial run for a year, while he was still considered an employee. They made it official after the trial period. Matt talks about what you need to do to create and maintain a successful partnership, including:

Making the commitment
Being open and honest
Putting egos aside
How to maintain an equal partnership regardless of ownership stake
The importance of having open books
Delegating duties and responsibilities
Keeping egos out of it
Resolving conflicts
Speaking with one voice
Taking a thoughtful approach to long-term company health
And more …

If you’re in a partnership, or are considering one, Matt says the biggest thing to remember is to put the business first — above any personal relationship you share.

Never Stop Learning…

In today’s episode, Mark mentions our Masterclass sessions that are now available. These two-day courses are intimate, interactive sessions with plenty of hands-on instruction. Small class sizes mean you have plenty of time to interact with your trainer and classmates. All of our instructors are industry experts and among the best in their fields of expertise. To see our slate of available courses, go to https://www.remodelersadvantage.com/events-training/masterclass

Ep.79: Helping Veterans Remodel with SAH Grants with Jay Latona

September 4, 2019 00:23:43

Caring for our veterans should be a national priority when they come back home. The Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) program offers grants to service members and veterans who have certain severe service-connected disabilities. The grants assist with building, remodeling, or purchasing an adapted home, but the program needs remodelers and builders to make it work.

Most people in the remodeling industry don’t know these grant programs and projects exist.

In this episode, Jay Latona tells Victoria and Mark about this incredible program, and how it can enable remodelers and builders to provide a great service to our nation’s veterans, while also making a profit.

Jay is the chief, specially adapted housing at the Veterans Benefits Administration, and has worked as a remodeler and builder. He also served in the U.S. Marine Corps. Jay will be at the Remodelers Summit 2019 in Orlando, Sept. 24-25, to talk more about the program.

The SAH program began in 1948 as part of the G.I. Bill of Rights. It provides funding to veterans to enter a contractual relationship with builders or remodelers to make homes more accessible to assist with independent living. The SAH program is funding more than 2,000 projects a year with more than $100 million paid out. Jay talks about how the program works, how you can get involved, and what it can do for your business, including:

What you need to do to register
Help with marketing it
The separate compliance inspections and who does them
How funds are dispersed
Connecting with veterans
Opportunities for new remodelers
The minimum adaptations you need to do
Other grant opportunities veterans can get
And more …

Jay says the registration process is simple, and can be life-changing for veterans. To get more information, and to download the handbook he mentions, go to: https://www.benefits.va.gov/homeloans/adaptedhousing.asp. And if you want more assistance, send an email to sahinfo.vbaco@va.gov.

Jay Will be a Guest Presenter at Summit… Don’t Miss it!

Jay Latona will be joining us at Summit and will give a brief presentation on how his organization is supporting veterans. If you haven’t registered for Summit, there’s still plenty of time to register and arrange your travel for the biggest and best Summit we’ve ever had!
Click Here for More information >>

Ep.75: Cash Flow: The Silent Killer

August 7, 2019 00:09:41

It’s incredibly busy in the remodeling world at the moment — leads are pouring in, proposals are flying out, and jobs are being scheduled like crazy. We’re seeing businesses with 30 percent growth, year over year.

Yet there’s a silent killer lurking beneath all the fevered growth: insufficient cash flow.

In this episode, Mark’s flying solo and he tackles the phenomenon of “growing broke” — being busier than ever, but running out of cash.

It can happen to the best, most experienced remodelers — times are almost too good, and it’s easy to lose track of your cash flow. Mark shares why you need to control it, and what to do if cash is starting to run out, including:

How to assess your cash flow situation
Why cash flow is king
Long-term planning strategies
What to do when you start feeling the pinch
How to address a problem if you’ve got one
Keeping your customer experience safe
And more …

If you’re concerned about where your cash situation is, set a calendar alert for the all-new RA University, launching Monday, Aug. 12 (the link is still to the older site). You’ll find five new lessons — and one of them is The Importance of Cash Flow. You’ll also find the The 5 Things to Never Do & The 5 Things to Always Do, Running a Paperless Office, Marketing that Works, and Setting Goals and Hitting Them. If you want to go even deeper and you can always reach out to us to help you find the solutions to your cash flow issues.

Ep.71: Strategy Isn’t Enough with Brian Gottlieb

July 10, 2019 00:30:01

A successful remodeling business isn’t only dependent on tactics or the larger strategy behind them. A company’s culture plays a crucial role in executing any business strategy.

In this episode, Brian Gottlieb discusses the key steps needed for a business to implement their desired strategy with Victoria and Mark.

Brian Gottlieb is the founder and CEO of Tundraland Home Improvements, which serves all of Wisconsin. He started his business on a plastic folding table, with just $3,000 in cash. Today, Tundraland employs more than 220 people, and revenues are in excess of $42 million. We’re excited that Brian will also be a speaker at the Remodelers Summit in Orlando this September.

He defines strategy as an integrated set of choices an organization makes to position against the competition, add value to their customers, and add value to the company. Brian’s “a-ha” moment came last summer, when he understood that when a community is at its full potential, we’re all in a better place; and when an organization is at its full potential, we’re all in a better place. He calls Tundraland a training organization — developing an employee to his or her full potential is a key point of the company’s strategy. Brian describes the four ways to define your culture, and how to make it stronger, including:

How building a strong culture is like building a ship
How realizing potential depends on others
Why Brian doesn’t have drawers in his office
Examples of the wrong strategies
Knowing how to add value for you customers
Why you shouldn’t hire people like you
Finding the root causes of your weaknesses
Why throwing dollars at a problem doesn’t work
The differences between vision and a road map
Why firing someone should never be a surprise
And more …

Including how Brian sees his role in his organization, what he does, and what it means to the culture of his organization.

See Brian Speak at the Annual Remodeler’s Summit

We’re thrilled that Brian will be joining us for two sessions at the 2019 Remodeler’s Summit, Sept. 24-25, in Orlando:

To learn more the Summit event and our line-up of other great speakers, go to Remodelerssummit.com!

Ep.68: Managing Your Sales while Wearing Many Hats with Chip Doyle

June 19, 2019 00:32:43

Most remodelers wear many hats, and sales management is only one of them. So you have to handle sales functions on a part-time basis. As you grow and add salespeople, overseeing that department becomes yet another job duty.

In this episode, Chip Doyle discusses how to successfully manage the sales department on a part-time basis with Victoria and Mark.

Chip wrote the book Selling to Homeowners — The Sandler Way. He trains many R/A members, including owners, salespeople, designers and project managers how to sell — without sounding like salespeople.

Being a good sales manager takes a different skill set than being a salesperson does. You need to be patient, predictable in your coaching, and temper your expectations for their own lead generation. Chip says he’s seeing a higher success rate with developing salespeople from within remodeling companies, rather than hiring from outside — people who are good at selling are already busy and making great money. But wherever your find your new sales staff, Chip talks about ways to set them — and your company — up for success, including:

When to hire a new salesperson
Performing a sales assessment
What they should sell first
Why prospecting is crucial
Why they should under-qualify leads
How many meetings to have and when
The questions to ask your sales staff
How to help your salespeople
Why truthfulness is mandatory
How much time to spend on sales management
And more …

Including why just selling the next step — not the whole project at once — is the key to good sales.

Get The Edge You Need

If you’d like to help brushing up your — or your staff’s — sales techniques, Chip runs a weekly training session called Sales Edge. It brings together a group of non-competing R/A members to sharpen their approach to this vitally important business function. Find out more today.

Ep.67: Kicking Off Slippage Awareness Month with Tim Faller

June 12, 2019 00:26:49

Here at Remodelers Advantage we set aside the month of June to focus on an issue that plagues most service-based businesses, but can be a critical metric in looking at the success of a remodeling firm. This is our third annyal “Slippage Awareness Month” and this year you’ll see content submissions from our consulting, sales, and production experts here at R/A. Enjoy!

Every remodeling business owner wants to add more money to the bottom line. Reducing slippage is the lowest-hanging fruit to pick in your quest.

In this episode, Tim Faller talks to Victoria and Mark about reducing slippage in your remodeling company. Slippage occurs when your estimate is lower than the real costs of the job. Reducing it takes a change in mindset throughout the organization.

For 17 years, Tim has worked with hundreds of remodeling companies to improve profits by creating smooth, efficient production systems. As a Senior Consultant and Master of Production for Remodelers Advantage, Tim’s field and business ownership experience is vital to his additional role as facilitator for Owner and Production Manager Roundtables Groups. He’s also a published author and popular industry speaker, Tim is co-host of The Tim Faller Show, a weekly podcast focused on “Improving The Bottom Line Through Production Training.”

The biggest challenge in reducing slippage is getting your whole team involved in the effort. Tim says slippage is too often brushed off with “It is what it is.” That’s where the change in mindset comes in — the attitude should be “It is what we make it.” Slippage is controllable, but it takes a company-wide awareness and work to corral it through realistic and accurate estimating, job scheduling, and building in time to de-bug a job before it starts. He talks about the ways to reduce slippage in your processes, including:

Finding the slippage
The perfect planning process
Building in time, and how much
Developing a critical eye, not a critical attitude
Why realistic estimating geared to your team is key
Why you need long-term, short-range, and daily planning
Killing schedule creep for better net profit
Building extra time into the schedule
Figuring out days-per-job overhead
Controlling the client
Doing change orders properly
And more …

Cutting slippage is possible — and will make a big difference in the health of your business.

Ep.66: How to Get Employees to Think and Act Like Owners with Steve Wheeler

June 5, 2019 00:27:15

If everyone in your remodeling business feels like they’re invested in your company — so invested that they think and act like owners — they’ll make better decisions, solve more problems, and make it more profitable.

But how do you get there?

In this episode, our own Steve Wheeler talks to Victoria and Mark about how to get your employees to think and act like owners. It’s a process he started when he had his own remodeling business for 12 years, and then he dove deeper into the subject through his work with R/A.

As director of business development for Remodelers Advantage, Steve is responsible for new membership sales and helping business owners find the program or product that will help them reach their financial and personal goals. In addition to leading business development for R/A, Steve is co-host of The Tim Faller Show, a weekly podcast focused on improving the bottom line through production training.

Getting employees to think and act like owners is one of the biggest challenges for our Roundtables members, and for every remodeler we talk to. Steve developed his approach by trying to get his team to care about his company as much as he did, based on the cycle of accountability and the TOADS steps developed by Linda Galindo in The Accountability Experience. There are actions that can cause real change. He talks about the keys to the process, how to get there, and the benefits, including:

The power of delegation
Reducing owner stress
Transforming through transparency
Getting beyond the to-do list to higher thinking
Talking about the big picture
Enabling decision-making power
Thinking of employees as renters or owners
Allowing employees to fail
And more …

Including the Clear Agreement Form we promised. And the story of how one of Steve’s projects turned a duplex into a single family home (it was supposed to stay a duplex).

Business Owner