Management
Management
How to Create a World-Class Remodeling Team
Great remodeling companies position themselves for the future with the right players
Management
Everyone Should Have a Number: KPIs for Your Design Build Team
Measuring key performance indicators guides your team to success while creating accountability and ownership
Management
How to Revamp Your Pre-Construction Process
Experiencing too much slippage and delays? See how Bridget Bacon of Red House Design Build solved these issues by improving the remodeler's pre-construction process
Women at WIRC
How This Remodeler Revamped Their Pre-Construction Process
Bridget Bacon of Red House Design Build outlines how she helped transform the pre-construction process for improved finances and morale
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Outer Space
Located in an exclusive golf course community in Jupiter, Fla., this 4,000-square-foot home had "a plain vanilla exterior with a lack of detail," says remodeler John Dennis McDonald. "The owners wanted something dramatic." Key to the project was taking advantage of the potential vista — a lake and a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course.
A Room with a View
The owners of this home in Cornelius, N.C., had a beautiful lake view, but their rotting wooden deck, in desperate need of replacement, marred it. "They wanted their new deck to be virtually maintenance-free," says Dave Young, a sales consultant with Archadeck of Charlotte. Young, who sells, designs and manages projects, drew some deck plans and elevations for the homeowners by hand.
Marketing
Target Practice To get the best results from your marketing efforts, begin by setting goals for your business's future. Your marketing plan can then be targeted at helping you meet those goals by reaching the right types of customers. During this process, ask yourself these two important questions: Who is my best current customer? Who else do I want to reach? Web Site 101 If your company still ...
Beautiful Durability
Warm. Inviting. Inspiring. These words are not what clients think of when envisioning concrete — but maybe they should be. "People have always thought of concrete as plain gray, but now there are so many design options available," says Bev Garnant, the executive director of the American Society of Concrete Contractors, based in Dallas.
Faxing without the machine
Imagine a life without your fax machine. You probably see a world absent the convenience and speed of communication to which you've become accustomed. Your business would slow down to a snail's pace as you lost the ability to send and receive bids, invoices and scope of work documents in minutes. That's not the life I'm talking about.
Planning Ahead
We recently began the process of planning our editorial coverage for 2006. As I was mapping out how we would decide what topics we should cover and thinking about the ways we could best meet the needs of remodelers, I tried to put myself in your shoes. I asked myself: "What are the things that remodelers keep telling me when we're on the phone, talking at trade shows or exchanging e-mails?" I q...
The Merits of Marketing
ROI: Return on investment. It's an important metric when gauging what to spend on advertising and marketing your business. It can be measured in sales and margin; it can also be measured — though not easily — in brand awareness. Some remodelers do primarily repeat and referral business and avoid advertising.
Kitchen and Bath Trends
Kitchens and baths remain atop the list of rooms that homeowners nationwide most want to have remodeled. In some markets, owners are hiring remodeling professionals to make upgrades in these rooms about every 10 years. And it's not just a change in wall color, flooring, countertops or cabinetry — they're re-doing the entire room again.
An Illuminating Idea
Several years ago, Jim and Ann McLaren watched a neighbor's house undergo an extensive renovation that included an addition. They liked what they saw, and when it came time to update their four-bedroom, three-bath, brick colonial home, the McLarens called Kirkwood, Mo.-based Riggs Design & Construction — the same company that had worked on the neighbor's project.
Selling the Difference
Why me? What did I do to deserve this? Sometimes, as with accident or illness, these questions have no answers. But they're still worth asking after each business success or failure: Although life delivers unavoidable situations, luck is not a viable business strategy. Creating a steady stream of qualified leads and closing profitable jobs requires two things: providing products and services wo...