The time is now. As Victoria Downing, CEO of Remodelers Advantage is fond of saying, now that business is especially strong in the remodeling sector, “You’ve got to make hay while the sun shines.” It’s an apt expression for this particular business moment for it urges action, but it also implies that the sun isn’t always going to shine.
Indeed, as Vincent Salandro reports in “Remodeling Outlook 2019,” a number of economic indicators show what most of you reading this already know because your phone is ringing and there’s plenty of work out there with clients who are increasingly willing to spend large: The remodeling market is roaring. But what you may not know is the catch: The rate of growth in remodeling is slowing down and is expected to tighten further in 2020. These gathering clouds mean that now is an especially important moment to act.
How? Given the slowing pace of growth, now is not the time to put all your might into one wild punch. That’s a haymaker of a different sort. As Judith Miller guides us, deciding to grow your company needs to be a deliberate and planned move. It begins with knowing where on the ladder of growth your company sits, and making strategic moves, usually in the form of careful hires who fit your company culture and can take responsibility off you, the business owner. Done right, these hires allow you to focus on developing systems that, as Judith says, “not only solve problems but prevent them.”
There are a couple of other key dimensions to prospering as a remodeler that are integrally bound to the business systems you employ to solve problems. One example is craftsmanship, which is inseparable from production as a business function. Doing work the right way, and managing it effectively, is essential to every remodeler’s ability not only to generate referrals and repeat clients, but also to avoid liability and not drain precious profits away in callbacks and legal settlements. In this issue, we look at one high-return project—adding manufactured stone to a home’s facade—from our Cost vs. Value report. Popular as this project is, it has a high probability of turning rotten (literally) in a very short time if not executed correctly.
Finally, we address the all-important dimension of good design, which is as important as production in creating a stellar end product. In this issue, we look at the design of outdoor kitchens just in time for the weather to turn warm and attention to shift to sunnier spaces.
