2012 Top 500 Remodelers Respond
4. Last November I let go of 2 of my best friends. They were loyal, experienced and trustworthy. I had to decide that I was going to make the best decision for my company and our customers and re-organize without regard to my relationships… it was heartbreaking but necessary.
5. I opened a kitchen and bath showroom (a subsidiary) to better compete with the kitchen and bath segment.. I am a CMKBD and it was always a dream and passion- the synergy has been tremendous for business as well as my spiritual well being?
6. Several years ago my business grew and prospered with elementary business practices, even though they were proper and typical of a well-run company… today my business prospers because everyone on the team understands we are in business- where the customer matters more than anything and none of us will settle for working with anyone not giving 100%.
#301
Andy Todtz
Hawkeye Construction LLC
Baltimore
2. To have a successful business you not only have to do high quality work, but you also have to make sure potential customers know that you do high quality work. It is hard to get new clients if you hide in the shadows.
4. I have learned to give up control of minor day to day activities to focus more on business development and customer relations.
5. Energy efficiency has become a rapidly growing market segment and we have been able to enter this field with the aid of utility program rebates and other incentive programs to help consumers afford these home improvements. These home improvements not only increase the comfort level of the home, but also save the homeowner money for years to come.
6. We now focus on smaller job sizes, service contracts and repeat business from existing customers more than constantly chasing after larger new jobs where there is much more competition.
#430
Joey Gates, Owner & Operations Manager
The Shower Shop
Rowlett, Texas
1. I've been in the remodeling industry for over 20 years and have worked for 5 different QR-Top 500 companies before getting my own business on the list in 2011 & now again in 2012. One trend that has always been consistent, election years are historically a little tougher on us...especially the last quarter when everyone is "waiting to see who gets elected". So, we may not have seen the worst that 2012 has to offer yet but with careful planning, we will have greener pastures next year...no matter who gets elected.
2. As challenging as these economic times are, I think our current situation still plays into the hands of remodelers since many homeowners are staying put and investing in their property rather than buying new homes.
3. We have had to compartmentalize and insure that each department is striving to be profitable on it's own rather than just waiting for the big remodeling projects to feed them work. Our shower glass division now sells more "glass only" jobs and the same is true of our granite shop....they can't just sit around and wait for an order today, they have to create orders for themselves too.
4. I have let outside sales people go and starting running majority of the "prospect leads" myself again. I've stopped dreaming of expanding to new markets this year and instead tightened my grip on details to insure the proper margins are in every project we build this year.
#460
Rick Musto
RFMC Construction Inc.
Fresno, Calif.
The remodeling business has changed in the last 3 years it gotten a little better not a lot but a little. I think because realist ate has bottom out and people who have bought these bottomed out housing are starting to put a little money in them. I think the reason some remodelers are doing better is that this guys have been in business along time and their clients are spending a little money. The biggest change is contractor are more mean and lean, this helps. My business is different because we are mean and lean, this is the time to get rid of all the dead wood and prune the branches . I am doing just that.
#237
John Friswell
President
CCI Renovations
North Vancouver, B.C.
1. For us the industry has been steadily increasing year after year – no matter what the economy is doing. This last year, however, we found that customers were hanging on to their money and not making the decision to get into bigger projects – so we experienced our first down year since we started 20 years ago.
