success

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

April 18, 2024 Business Management, Financial Management 0:25:27

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…

Digital Marketing Tactics for Hiring with Danielle Russell – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

April 4, 2024 Marketing 0:29:20

There is one challenge most remodelers have been facing, and that is the labor shortage. 

So, what are you doing to find and attract the best talent? Marketing isn’t only used as a tactic for finding sales leads but also for attracting the best talent, and guest Danielle Russell is here to share how you can use digital marketing to find that talent.

Danielle is the President of Builder Funnel, a digital marketing agency that has been serving remodelers like you for over a decade. She’s here to share some of her top tips that worked for Builder Funnel as it grew alongside its clients and the industry over the past year and a half.

Victoria, Mark, and Danielle talk more about:

  • Increasing brand awareness
  • Building a culture and reputation
  • The “always hiring” mentality
  • And more…

Digital Marketing Hacks to Grow Your Business with Jesse Stein – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

April 4, 2024 Marketing 0:29:41

Do you know you can increase the effectiveness of your digital marketing with handwritten notes?  Jesse Stein joins the show to take us on a deep dive into the world of digital marketing. He discusses how using handwritten notes can help remodelers grow their business, and provides us help with improving our digital marketing.

Jesse has an impressive background as a serial entrepreneur. He’s founded, grown, and sold multiple ventures throughout his career, including SportsMemorabilia.com, a skincare brand, and DietSpotlight.com. Jesse also holds an MBA from The Wharton School and a BA from UC Santa Barbra. He is currently the CEO and Founder of Audience.co.

Victoria, Mark, and Jesse talk more about:

  • Robotic handwritten notes
  • Digital marketing strategies for remodelers
  • And more… 

Bridging the Skills Gap from an Economist’s Perspective with Mischa Fisher – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

March 28, 2024 Business Management 0:31:54

An aging skilled workforce is retiring, and there’s a shortage of younger people taking their place. It’s a hot topic among remodeling companies, who are still searching for the right answers to solving their labor shortage.

In  this episode, Mischa Fisher, Victoria, and Mark discuss what you can do to bridge the skills gap, and how to change deep-seated perceptions around joining the home-services industry. 

Mischa Fisher is the chief economist at ANGI Homeservices, representing the HomeAdvisor and Angie’s List brands. Prior to this role, Mischa was chief economist for Illinois, where he served as the economic policy advisor to the governor; he is also a former legislative director for the United States Congress in Washington, DC, and is currently an instructor in applied quantitative analysis at Northwestern University. 

Mischa says the labor shortage starts with s a simple fact of demographics, where an aging workforce is getting ready to retire, and the Millennials and younger Generation Z aren’t in the pipeline to replace them. Compounding that, there’s already a shortage of skilled labor. An internal HomeAdvisor poll showed 65 percent of their members could not fill a position, says Mischa, and it’s getting worse. Mischa shares his insights into what’s causing the labor shortage, and how we can all go about fixing it, plus bonus advice from his dad, including:

  • Why talking about it is a great start
  • Raising awareness inside and outside the industry
  • Best practices to fill your open positions
  • How to appeal to Millennials and Gen Z with a rewarding workplace
  • The importance of building a real team
  • Recognizing generational differences and how to work with them
  • How to create a clear pathway to learning
  • Recruiting older, experienced people
  • Using the student loan crisis to your advantage in recruiting
  • Appealing to the entrepreneurial spirit
  • Working with industry, government, and educational leaders
  • Educating parents about the advantages of learning a skilled trade
  • And more …

Partnership — Creating a Unified Vision for Your Company’s Future with Matt Carlson – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

March 14, 2024 Business Management 0:23:17

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.

Improving Your Bottom Line with Green Upgrades with Doug Selby – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

February 29, 2024 Business Management, Financial Management 0:29:49

Many of your customers will pay more for items that improve the health, comfort, and efficiency of their homes. As one of the few things that pay for themselves over time, green upgrades can also boost your average project revenue and make you stand out in your market.

In this episode, Doug Selby talks to Victoria and Mark about how green upgrades can improve your remodeling company’s bottom line.

Doug is a co-founder of Meadowlark Design+Build in Ann Arbor, MI, and recently graduated from the CEO role to to focus on long-term strategy and act as the company’s sustainability director. Doug is a building science expert and helped Meadowlark build a reputation in its community for quality of construction and leadership in ecological housing issues. 

Meadowlark was started with an ecological focus from its very beginning. Doug and his business partner, Kirk Brandon, studied primitive living and how to survive off the grid. While they may cost a little bit more upfront, green upgrades pay for themselves over time, he says, and focusing on ecologically conscious remodeling and construction can be a great business decision. He talks about what it means to Meadowlark’s business and clients, including:

  • How it helped the company grow during the recession
  • Getting media attention naturally
  • Losing less, using less, and then producing
  • Insulation and systems
  • Why solar’s literally the last thing he looks at
  • Air-quality issues
  • Talking to homeowners about green tactics and methods
  • Presenting it the right way
  • And more …

Empower Your Team to Help You Build a Great Business with Jason Blenker – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

February 22, 2024 Business Management, Company Culture, Human Resources 0:27:04

If you’re going to build something — a building, a company, a team — you owe it to the world to build something great. Identify what makes you exceptional and empower your team to help you build a great business.

In this episode, Jason Blenker tells Victoria and Mark about how and why he put his organization on the path to greatness, how he defines the term, and inspiring your team to carry out that mission.

Jason is the president of Blenker Companies Inc., a Midwest provider of housing solutions designed to make the building process easier, faster, and better with one mission — to Build Something Great® — great buildings, great communities, great companies, great leaders, and great team members.

About five years ago, he set out to grow his business and build a leadership team around him to make it happen. Jason looked at what world-class companies do, reached out to mentors and coaches, and got to work. A great organization is one that people want to work with and for, and is active in the communities it serves, he says. Getting everyone on the same page is the first step, and he talks about how he did that, including:

  • Creating your roadmap
  • Planning for success
  • Communicating to get employee buy-in
  • Breaking down what it means to individuals
  • Evaluating who does what best and letting them
  • Overcoming the fear of change
  • The changes coming to the industry
  • Why profit isn’t the only driver for success
  • The time you need to take to work on the organization
  • How to let go and  trust others to make great decisions
  • Getting past analysis paralysis
  • And more …

Taking the time to invest in yourself may mean taking time away from working in your business, Jason says, but it’s the only way to propel your organization forward.

Tiered Growth: Understanding Metrics and Recognizing Signs to Set Profitable Sales Goals with Michael Hodgin – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

February 15, 2024 Business Management 0:25:24

Most people would consider a company jumping from $1.5 million to $3 million in revenue a growing organization. However, when we look beyond gross sales, those numbers don’t necessarily mean it grew. It could even mean the company is less profitable — and ultimately less successful — than it was before. 

Michael Hodgin says planning for, and implementing, tiered advances are a better strategy for deliberate, healthy growth.

In this episode, Michael discusses his tiered increase growth strategy with Victoria and Mark. For healthy growth, he says you have to set and meet certain goals for sales, job costs, systems and performance before taking the next step.

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.

Micheal says that your company’s gross sales should bump up to the next milestone only once your teams have mastered sales, pre-construction, and production systems at their current revenue level. That puts a company in a stronger position to handle the inevitable increase in workload. He talks about how to accomplish healthy, tiered growth for you remodeling company, including:

  • The infrastructure milestones to hit
  • Taking deliberate steps
  • The importance of setting goals 
  • Focusing on hitting those goals
  • Proving your success 
  • Nailing down all your job costs
  • Managing slippage
  • Building the foundation for growth
  • The metrics that tell you that you’re ready for the next step
  • Stepping away and delegating
  • And more …

The Seven Deadly Sins of Negotiating with Jeff Borovitz – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

February 1, 2024 Sales 0:38:00

A remodeler who fears negotiation, is like a roofer who is afraid of heights.

Negotiation skills are necessary for success in the field of remodeling.  However, a lot of remodelers are unaware of how to even approach the subject. 

Guest Jeff Borovitz joins Victoria and Mark in this episode to talk about how to be an efficient negotiator and how to avoid the seven deadly sins of negotiation that stand in the way of success.

Jeff is a franchise owner of Sandler Training and the Remodelers Advantage Sandler Sales Trainer. He has advised, trained and coached small and medium-sized companies as well as large enterprise companies on developing stronger sales teams, closing more sales and leading organizational change.

Victoria, Mark and Jeff talk more about:

  • What the Seven Deadly Sins are
  • The sin that costs remodelers the most
  • The sin that is the most misunderstood
  • How conviction and belief relate to negotiation
  • And more…

Design Services as a Profit Center For Your Business with Dan Baumann – [Best of PowerTips Unscripted]

January 11, 2024 Business Management, workload 0:32:39

More and more remodeling and home building contractors realize the value their design services bring to their clients, and it is becoming a profit center for many companies.  Guest Dan Baumann is here to share the many reasons why you should be charging a fair price for your design services.

Dan is the founder of Chief Experts Academy, a resource-packed treasure trove of information that provides ongoing training, support, and content for contractors and designers involved in the sales and development of plans for residential and light commercial buildings.

Victoria, Mark and Dan talk more about:

  • Compensation for design services
  • Why some contractors may not charge for these services
  • How design services can save clients money on their projects
  • And more…
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MASTER NAVIGATION

This website is part of the Remodelers Advantage Network.

Visit our other properties: