President, Alair Homes
US & Canada
Growth
We’re projecting very similar to what we have seen over the last few years. We’re projected to continue growth probably north of 30% year over year.
What we’re seeing is in two very distinct segments of our business, one is more on the higher-end luxury space, both in remodeling and new builds because the vast majority of the clients that approach Alair are less dependent on interest rates.
Project Types
We’re seeing most of our offices writing a lot of planning agreements that are quite sophisticated and technical, meaning they’re higher-end projects. We’re seeing less of, ‘Hey, we need an extra bedroom,’ because we’re not working from home. We saw a lot of that in the past, I think we’ll see less of that.
Regional Trends
We’ve seen a lot of growth in the Canadian markets. Pre-pandemic, there was flattening and then post-pandemic, we’ve seen a lot of growth. And look at the trends of where people are moving to. I think that’s still hanging over from the Great Migration, as they call it. I think we’re seeing the results of that now.
I think [a downturn] is going to be very isolated. It will be little pockets where people or businesses are going to have different challenges. Des Moines, Iowa is going to look different over the next 12 to 24 months than Charleston, S.C. Our job is to figure out what are the differences. So I don’t think it’s full steam ahead, but focus on the people and everything else takes care of itself.
RELATED: 2023 Game Plans: Modest Growth Expected in Bathroom Remodeling Market
Challenges
I think that the number one challenge this industry is going to continue to have is talent acquisition. We absolutely have to, as an industry, continue to expose the opportunities, both personal and professional, that this industry delivers for people that may not have thought about it before.
Advice
Pay close attention to the human element of your team. Bring awareness to mental health, to physical health. It’s been a challenging couple of years for everybody. Don’t overlook the fact that more and more people need to know that they’re working where it’s safe to be able to have conversations that maybe in the past, just never were brought in. My advice to everybody right now is to double down and invest in your people.
Read all 2023 Thought Leader predictions and game plans here
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