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What Does It Take to Be A Builder?

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There’s So Much More to This Building Thing Than Just Construction

I regularly go back through my life plans, especially at this time of the year, reviewing and revising them as needed to build the best life. Just like a construction project needs reviewed and revised in different phases of the project. Whether a building or a life, this process shouldn’t stop once the initial construction is complete. It is an on-going process until the end.

It is amazing to me the correlations between building a business, a life or doing construction. Building terminology is used everywhere. As a part of my life plan review, I was going back through some Michael Hyatt’s Platform University training. One of the things that caught my attention were the words that were used. In the first two sentences of the instructions I found this; “…building your website…”, “…lay an important foundation….” and “…platform-building…”.

The use of this construction terminology is a great analogy with life building as is evident in the more than eighty times it’s used in Scripture. You can find some examples here. In Luke 6:48 (NCV) it says, “…everyone who comes to me and hears my words and obeys. That person is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on rock. When the floods came, the water tried to wash the house away, but it could not shake it, because the house was built well.” This sounds like a pretty good plan for building a life to me.

If you have read more than a few “Weekly Solutions” posts, you will have noticed the connections with building in many of them. Here are just a few – Building the Life of Your Dreams, Building the Best Life, Means It’s Always Under Construction, The Importance of Intentionality for Building Your Dream Life and Building Your Business Is Critical to The Survival of the Business. This really is the underlying theme for Solution Building. The central purpose is to “help people find solutions for building their dream business and life through improved communication, better business systems, quality construction projects and life lessons.

Most importantly any kind of building, whether it’s a construction project, a life or a business, needs to start with a solid foundation. My foundation is my CORE VALUES built on the SOLID ROCK of Jesus. 1 Cor. 3:11

As we move forward into this new year, we will be sharing more specific examples and systems to help you build your dream business and life. If there are areas in your business or life where you need a solution, let me know in the comment section below.

5 Ways Builders Should Treat Customers

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It’s Not Just a Job…It’s Someone’s Dream 

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Over the years as I have discussed building projects with people, a lot of people. There are those who have had the experience of building a new home, doing a remodel or even a small repair project. The number of times that I have heard them say, ‘it was the worst experience of my life’, breaks my heart. The experience of repairing, remodeling or building new should be counted among their best experiences, not their worst. In many cases they only get the opportunity to experience a project, especially a large one, once. This makes it even more critical that we do what we can to make this as enjoyable and painless as possible.

A building project is like having a child. For me the designing, developing and building something is an amazing experience. It is more than just the mechanical act of pouring some concrete, nailing two boards together, putting a window in a hole or slapping on some paint. The collaboration between the parties involved should be fun and exciting. A part of me is poured into each and every project. Once it is done, I step back and look at it. Something that wasn’t before and is now…it is a part of me and I am a part of it. I’m continually moved when I see projects that I was involved in over the years. Approaching construction in this perspective is key to the conception, gestation and birth of each new project.

The builder carries the majority of the responsibility. Those of us in the building industry go through the process over and over again. We can get used to the daily routine of construction. We forget that the customer doesn’t do this daily like we do. This is something that can be scary and overwhelming to the person wanting to have some repairs done, add on a room or build a new home. As builders we need to remember to approach each new customer with an open mind and a desire to help them build their dream.

Things that the builder should do:

  • Communicate – Let the customer know what to expect. Remember that they don’t do this day in and day out like you do.
  • Listen – This is the most important part of communicating. You need to hear what the customer is saying. This is more than just their words.
  • Be on time – Show up when you say you will. Respect their time.
  • Be responsive – Return communications in a reasonable amount of time. They just want to know that you hear them and care.
  • Be accountable – If you or someone on your team make a mistake, own up to it. Don’t blame someone else.

Remember the Golden Rule and treat your customer the way you would like to be treated, not the way you have been treated.