How fit is your remodeling business?

There's an excellent business book on the shelves right now that I'd recommend to any remodeling business owner.

“How Fit Is Your Business? A Complete Checkup and Prescription for Better Business Health,” by Mark Richardson, is one of those rare books that can totally change your mindset and, in turn, totally change the course of your business future.

Rarely does a first-time author — even one as astute at running his own business as Mark has been at Case Design/Remodeling and Case Handyman and Remodeling Services franchises — provide both great advice and do it in a way that will relate to an audience as diverse as exists in the remodeling industry. Richardson's maiden voyage as a book author is intended to be relevant to business owners in any industry and it succeeds.

If you've ever attended one of Mark's seminars over the years, you already know that he is as eloquent, intelligent and motivational a speaker on business topics as our industry has to offer. It's one thing to be able to connect with an audience in person. It's quite another to succeed at putting that same great information into written form and have it connect with your audience effectively.

Richardson, who was inducted into the NAHB Remodelers Hall of Fame and also honored as one of our Market Leaders at a reception and dinner at this year's Remodeling Show, more than delivers with his unique perception that there's a strong connection between diagnosing and solving personal health issues and doing the same thing in a business management environment.

Here's a particularly insightful excerpt from Mark's book, given the current conditions that exist in our economy and the remodeling marketplace.

When all of your business comes from personal referrals, you are not really in control of your future. If the economy slows down or a specific market changes, you need to be able to generate new clients. Over-reliance on referrals can make your marketing “muscles” weak; when you need some “heavy lifting,” your strength will not be able to handle it. Most businesses with a very high percentage of revenue from personal referrals ride a rollercoaster from good times to bad.

Are you riding that rollercoaster? Is your business in need of a checkup? Then I suggest you read this book and start on the road to business health.

Contact me at michael.morris@reedbusiness.com or 630/288-8057.

Read my blog at www.ProRemodeler.com/blogs.