Leadership

Estate Planning 101 with Thomas Croessman – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

September 7, 2023 Legal 0:24:58

Today on PowerTips Unscripted, Thomas Croessman joins the show to discuss the need for small business owners to plan for their company’s transition in their estate plan.  While your business might be humming along now, how will it perform if you’re not around? Unfortunately, most small businesses only survive the first generation because of estate planning and communication failures. Thomas explains Wills, Powers of Attorney, and Trusts, when those documents become effective. He also gives some practical tips to help the transition go smoothly.

Thomas Croessmann is the Managing Partner of Croessmann & Westberg, P.C., a construction law firm in the DC area. The firm is a full-service law firm for construction contractors.

Thomas, Victoria, and Mark talk more about:

  • What is an Estate Plan?
  • What is Power of Attorney, and when is it used?
  • And more…

Solving the Challenges of Leadership Development in Remodeling Companies with Wayne Ottum – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

August 31, 2023 Business Management, Company Culture, Personal Development 0:25:25

As remodeling companies grow, owners face the challenges of deciding when leaders are needed, how to find them, and train them to be good leaders. In this episode of PowerTips Unscripted, Wayne Ottum discusses these challenges and provides tools and methodologies for facing these challenges head-on. In addition, he talks about how he helps owners create a business that works for them.

Wayne Ottum is a senior consultant at Remodelers Advantage. Wayne has over 30 years of experience, with 15 of those years specializing in the remodeling industry. He helps create clear and compelling paths for owners to meet their goals.

Wayne, Victoria, and Mark talk more about:

  • Checklist of leadership skills
  • How to know when to develop or hire leaders
  • Managers vs. Leaders
  • And more…

Using the Financial Review to Pivot to Profitability with Michael Hodgin – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

August 24, 2023 Business Management, Financial Management 0:38:49

Today on PowerTips Unscripted, Mark and Victoria are joined by Michael Hodgin to discuss using the financial review to pivot to profitability. A complete understanding and review of your company’s financials is a practice that requires a disciplined effort. However, with this practice in place, an owner will be able to use the information from these reviews to pivot when and where necessary to be more profitable year over year.

Using his expertise as a former business owner and a business coach, Michael talks about how he examines a company’s financial statements, including what KPIs to review and whom to review the financials with.

Michael was an owner of a successful remodeling company for over 22 years. He has since left and is the owner of Maestro’s Toolbox, where he works with owners of design-build companies across the country to help them build better companies and, therefore, better lives.

In addition, Michael has been part of the roundtables as an owner, a facilitator for roundtables meetings, and part of the Remodelers Advantage Business Coaching team.

Victoria, Mark, and Michael talk more about:

  • When is it best to review financials
  • What should be getting reviewed
  • What is the next step after reviewing
  • And more…

How Cybercrime WILL Impact Your Remodeling Business with Charles Hammett – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

August 10, 2023 Business Management, Legal 0:34:13

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… 

Will Your Personnel Files Survive a Legal Trial with Jody McLeod – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

August 3, 2023 Legal 0:39:04

On this episode of PowerTips Unscripted, Jody McLeod joins the show to answer legal questions, including whether companies are set up to withstand a legal challenge. Jody discusses the best way to ensure having a complete personnel file for each employee, including documentation of conversations and key facts,  so that you can support yourself and your company during a legal trial. Jody also advises business owners to help them avoid lawsuits through a complete onboarding process and proper training for all managers.

Jody, an attorney, and former Fortune 500 legal executive is the Founder and Principal of McLeod Legal Solutions (MLS). MLS partners with business owners to protect their business during HR and employee relations disputes with direct access to litigators, employment lawyers, and legal executives from Fortune 500 companies.  Jody specializes in employment law, litigation and litigation management, compliance, investigations, and training.

Jody, Mark, and Victoria talk  more about:

  • Complete personnel files 
  • Best practices to avoid legal trial 
  • Inappropriate or incomplete personnel files 
  • And more… 

Gauging Your Designers’ Workload Effectively With Jeff Talmadge – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

July 20, 2023 Design 0:21:24

In this episode, Jeff Talmadge discusses how he and his team created a point system for his design staff to spread their workload.  Each designer is assigned a predetermined number of points, weighted by criteria such as permitting, scope, and complexity of the job.  The team tracks points weekly and has found that designers are less stressed, customers are given more accurate timelines, and production can plan their workload better.

Jeff Talmadge is the president of Talmadge Construction, a large, premium design-build firm based in Aptos, CA.  Jeff and his team pride themselves on their commitment to customer service, quality workmanship, and a strong team culture.  

Jeff’s five words of wisdom – patience, persistence, never give up.

Listen as Jeff, Victoria, and Mark discuss:

  • Increasing job satisfaction across the company by managing designer workloads
  • Improving customer service by managing expectations with accurate timelines
  • 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

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…
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MASTER NAVIGATION

This website is part of the Remodelers Advantage Network.

Visit our other properties: