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Connections Can Help You BUILD Your Business

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And You Never Know Where Those Connections Will Come From

The first couple of years as a self-employed construction contractor were a lot different than Gene expected. He’s beginning to wonder if owning his own business is worth it. It certainly isn’t what he expected.

All the headaches and problems that he’s encountered are causing him to have second thoughts about his construction job and going into business.

Working long days doing construction and late nights doing paperwork feels like being stuck in a rut. With help not showing up and Gene having to do more work, the rut just gets deeper.

Add to this the truck transmission going out. Having to borrow money to fix it. The disagreement with the customer that cost Gene $1,000 and the bottom of the rut has now turned to mud.

Then, the bottom of the rut falls out when Gene finds out he owes more than $17,000 in income tax and he doesn’t have the money to pay it.

At the end of the day, Gene could make more and work less flipping burgers.

It’s been a rough couple of years for Gene, but this isn’t to say that everything has been bad.

At the end of the day, it’s rewarding to look at what he’s built. There are customers whose lives have been improved by the construction projects he’s done for them. The freedom of having control is nice. Not to mention that Gene did have a profitable year…otherwise he wouldn’t have owed the income tax.

As another week winds down, Gene decided to do something that is nearly unheard of…he’s going to take a day off work.

Some of Gene’s friends have been pestering him to come hang out with them like he used to.

One of these friends, Dave, has a lifted 4×4 truck project that he’s been working on. Some of these guys have been hanging out on Saturdays and helping.

This past week, Gene ran into Dave at the lumber yard. They got started talking about the project and how it was going. Once again, Dave threw out the invitation to join them.

“I know how much you love working on truck projects,” Dave says, “We’re going to be dropping the motor in Saturday and could use some extra hands. You know you’d have fun…not mention how cool it is to hear a new motor fire up that first time with open headers.”

So, after Gene gets done on Friday, he calls Dave, “Hey, are you still planning to put that motor in your truck tomorrow?”

“That’s the plan,” Dave responds.

“Would it still be okay if I came over and helped?” asks Gene.

“Sure, we plan to start at 9:00. Bring the coffee and donuts,” he says with a laugh.

The next morning Gene shows up at Dave’s shop with a dozen fresh donuts and a thermos of hot coffee.

A couple of guys are already there. When Gene comes in with the donuts and coffee, they all act like they’re fainting.

After some jousting and poking fun at Gene for not coming around for so long, they dig into the donuts. As they catch up, a couple of others show up and join in on the ribbing of Gene.

After the tormenting slows down a little, Dave asked Gene, “So, why have you been avoiding us?”

His question catches Gene off guard, and he replies, “I haven’t been avoiding you.

I’ve just been trying to run my business. It’s a lot more work than I expected.”

As they began working on the truck and getting ready to drop the motor in, there was a lot of discussion about the construction industry and what it takes to run a business.

While they were talking, Dave brought up his boss who is the owner and operator of a large, successful construction company. Then Dave stopped what he was doing and looked at Gene, “Maybe I could set up a meeting with you and John. I bet he could help you understand how to BUILD a better business.”

Maybe this is just what Gene needs.

This unexpected opportunity might just be the connection that Gene needs to turn things around in his business.

We never know where connections will come from or where they will lead.

I want to share some real-life examples of some of the connections I’ve experienced in my business.

The first example is my amazing virtual assistant (VA), Emily.

Back in 2010 or so, my wife and I were struggling financially. We were tired of things the way they were.

We found out about Dave Ramsey, and I began listening to his radio program. Dave shared various books and people that he followed. Among them were people like Michael Hyatt. Then, from Michael I learned about Andy Andrews and Donald Miller. Then, I found out about Ray Edwards and began to follow his blog posts and podcasts.

Then in 2020, I had the opportunity to join a mastermind that Ray Edwards was starting.

This led to my meeting Becky Warner. Then through a 90 Day Launch course, I met Vickie Adair who is now in the current mastermind that I’m in.

As I was looking for a virtual assistant, Vickie told me that her daughter Katie was looking for a job as a VA. It worked out that Katie became my VA.

Then Katie had another job opportunity that was more hours. She connected me with Dori. Dori became my next VA.

Then Dori became pregnant with her second child. She felt that two small children and working was going to be too much. She connected me with Emily…my current VA.

I could never have imagined that listening to Dave Ramsey’s radio program would have connected me with Emily…but here we are.

The second example is a construction related connection.

The electrician that I’ve been using for years made a career change, which means I need to find a new electrician for a couple of residential projects.

I reached out to a couple of electricians that I have used in the past or knew. One—Mitch—called me back. He told me he was no longer doing residential projects. He gave me the name of Integrity Electric.

We’re planning to look at these jobs tomorrow.

This connection goes a lot further than it first appears. Mitch used to work for Galen. I knew Galen from high school and later when we were both on the local Trades Board.

Before Galen had his own business, he worked for Finn’s Electric. I also knew the owners of Finn’s Electric because we went to the same church.

Had I not had these connections, I wouldn’t have the wonderful VA that I now have or the opportunity to keep these construction projects moving forward.

My point of all this is that we are connected, and these connections can help us BUILD a better business.

I wonder if Gene will be intentional and take advantage of the connection that Dave is offering him?

Construction Customers Can Be Hard Work

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As a Contractor What Did you Expect?

As someone who has been in construction for more than forty years, I’ve worked for my share of hard customers. This does not mean that they are bad customers. On the contrary, more often than not the opposite is true. They are the best customers because they have a high standard and expect high quality.

There are, however, those customers that are difficult. Ones that perceive the process of a construction project to be more of a battle that they need to win.

These aren’t the kind of customers that I’m referring to when I’m talking about customers being hard work.

Most of the time the problem is with the “professionals” doing the construction. For whatever reason, they expect construction projects to be simple, that everything will go just as planned.

This isn’t the way life is. Why would we expect construction projects to be any different?

As construction contractors, if we’re doing our job well…it should be hard work.

Hard work isn’t bad. Actually, I think the opposite is true. I think if we’re doing our job well as contractors…we will be working hard.

So, what is it that makes a customer hard work?

I think the number one reason is the contractor and customer approach construction projects from different perspectives. The customer sees their dream project in its completed and finished beauty. They have little or no idea of the processes and struggles that it takes to get the project there.

The contractor, on the other hand, knows that there will be bumps and detours along the way.

The problems arise when there is a breakdown in communication.

Often the contractor isn’t hearing what it is that the customer wants. Or he’s more interested in making money than fulfilling the customer’s dream.

As contractors, even when we have a clear idea of what the customer wants, sometimes isn’t obvious to the customer until they see it.

When faced with these situations we can say, “This is what they said they wanted. It’s what they agreed to in the scope of work that they signed.” This answer is the easy way out for the contractor.

Or we can put in the hard work and find a solution.

We’re currently working on a hundred-year-old tongue and groove wood floor that had never been finished. The customer liked the way the floor looked as it is. The plan was to sand it down and put a low sheen clear finish on it.

The problem arose when the clear finish brought out a red tint that was unexpected. Now what are we going to do?

Some contractors would tell the customer that it looks good, and they’ll get used to it. And wouldn’t that be the easy way to handle it?

The other option would be to listen to the customer. Make solving this issue as important to you as if it were your own project and you didn’t like the way it looked.

We’re going to sand it down again and work on different options. This might mean applying a stain to cover the red tint of the wood. Or maybe we’ll apply an oil finish to it. Or…maybe we’ll just leave it unfinished.

Ultimately…we’re going to work hard because this customer is worth it.

We’ll keep you up to date on how the project’s going and what we do with the floor in future posts.

What in the World is Contractor Etiquette?

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…And What Does Etiquette Even Mean?

It means treating others the way you want to be treated.

I had a conversation with a friend once about an experience they had with a plumber. While they were standing in the kitchen talking about the project…

The plumber spit tobacco juice in the kitchen sink.

Not once mind you, but 3-4 times! At least he had the courtesy to turn the water on and rinse out the sink.

I wonder if his wife let’s him spit tobacco juice in the sink at home.

While I was talking with this friend, I thought out loud, ‘What has happened to contractor etiquette?’ The more I’ve thought about it, more examples of this kind of ‘bad contractor behavior’ have come to mind.

Contractors may be reverting to barbarians.

The word etiquette often brings to mind high-society, pinky-out, knowing-which-fork-to-use, thoughts. Things that the ‘common man’ knows little about and may try to avoid.

However, etiquette is much more than a snooty, better than others attitude.

One definition of etiquette is – The code of ethical behavior regarding professional practice or action among the members of a profession in their dealings with each other and customers.

So, what exactly is etiquette in real life, everyday terms?

In an article by Robin Bickerstaff, “Etiquette includes having a strong moral code of conduct. The basics include allowing personal space, following the Golden Rule (treat others as you wish to be treated), obeying the 10 Commandments, and respect for elders.” This sounds simple enough.

We are aware of the Golden Rule. The principle of “Do to others what you would want them to do to you,” taught by Jesus. Most of us were taught this simple principle as kids…what happened?

I think much of the problem is a self-centered, socially disconnected, lack of human respect. Either we have never had or have forgotten any code of moral conduct.

We tend to put our own wants ahead of others.

Once during a children’s message at church, I was reminded of the Golden Rules for Living. These are things that I was taught as a kid.

When thinking through the list, I realized that these rules need to be implemented by construction companies.

If so, there would be less spitting of tobacco juice in customer’s sinks.

Golden Rules for Living

  1. If you open it, close it.
  2. If you turn it on, turn it off.
  3. If you unlock it, lock it up.
  4. If you break it, admit it.
  5. If you can’t fix it, call in someone who can.
  6. If you borrow it, return it.
  7. If you value it, take care of it.
  8. If you make a mess, clean it up.
  9. If you move it, put it back.
  10. If it belongs to someone else and you want to use it, get permission.
  11. If you don’t know how to operate it, leave it alone.
  12. If it’s none of your business, stay out of it.
  13. If it will brighten someone’s day, say it.
  14. If it will tarnish someone’s reputation, keep it to yourself.

Not everybody’s moral code is going to be identical. We are all different, which means our ethical behaviors will be different. The problem is most professionals (especially in the building industry), learned their trade, but not how to operate a business.

Operating a construction business includes proper contractor etiquette.

This is a revision of a previous post titled What in The World Does Etiquette Mean Anyway?

Now What Am I Going To Do?

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The Bottom of the Rut is Gone

It’s been a tough few weeks. With the truck transmission needing to be replaced and the customer shorting Gene $1000 dollars for the garage windows, Gene has felt like he’s stuck in the bottom of a muddy rut.

Even with all the problems, Gene has had a lot of work to do for his first year of self-employment.

Some of the projects have been very profitable.

Having a lot of construction projects is rewarding. It’s also one of the reasons he’s struggling to get proposals done and keep up with the paperwork.

To add to the busy, it’s time to get the tax paperwork gathered up. Gene needs to get it to the accountant so income taxes can be prepared. One more thing on the to do list that needs done. He’ll work on that next week after he gets this project that they’re working on finished.

After a couple weeks of late nights, Gene has the tax paperwork ready to take to the accountant. Another thing checked off the list.

On Monday, Gene starts the crew removing the kitchen countertops and cabinets for the current project. Once things are underway, Gene takes the paperwork to his accountant.

They look through the paperwork. As the accountant goes through the stack of papers he asks Gene a few questions.

There are a couple of things that he still needs.

Gene tells the accountant that he’ll get those to him later this week. The accountant says he will let Gene know if he needs anything else or has questions.

A few weeks later, Gene gets a call from his accountant that his income taxes are ready to be picked up. Gene looks at his calendar trying to find time to squeeze in a meeting. With all the construction going on, it’s hard to find time.

The thing is…April 15th is only a week away, so they schedule a meeting for next week.

—

Today’s the meeting with the accountant. After lunch, Gene drives to the accountant’s office to pick up the tax papers.

With this being Gene’s first year paying self-employment income tax, the accountant wants to go through the return with him. They sit down at the table in the conference room and the accountant begins explaining the different pages.

As they are going through the pages, Gene is beginning to feel a little nervous as he sees the numbers. Then the accountant gives Gene the return to sign and…

A voucher with $17,376 typed in the “Amount You Owe”.

Gene sits there quietly for a minute as he processes this number.

He looks up at the accountant with a distraught look on his face, “I don’t have that kind of money. I can’t afford this! How am I going to pay it?”

“You could borrow the money,” suggests the accountant.

“I already borrowed all I could to replace the truck transmission. Are there any other options?”

The accountant tells Gene that there is an option to set up payments with the IRS. Of course, there will be interest and penalties paying it off this way.

This would be better than pretending not to owe it.

Gene takes the paperwork and pays the accountant. It looks like Gene now has a new project to undertake.

After researching all the options, Gene contacts the IRS.

The process of setting up payments with the IRS was a nightmare and took weeks to get done. Now Gene has a monthly payment of $350 for the next 60 months. That’s five years and $21,000.

This is not how Gene pictured the first year of his dream business.

Now the bottom of the rut is not just deeper and muddy…it’s gone. Gene feels stuck. Like he’s got his hands and feet pressed against the sides of the rut without any way out.

Gene asks himself, “Why am I doing this? I could make more money and work less hours if I went back to work for someone else…”

If You Don’t Like How Things Are, Change is Required

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Or You Can Just Keep Doing What You’ve Been Doing 

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.  

This common quote is attributed to a lot of different people. It doesn’t matter who said it. What matters is what it says. 

I think this quote is so popular because of the truth that it represents. 

I recently shared how change is hard. This seems especially true for people in construction but isn’t limited to them. 

Without intentional action, nothing is going to change. Things will just continue as they are.  

I know a lot about the struggle with change because…I’m one of those people who doesn’t like change.  

This was evident when our church was considering changing the hierarchy of our committees.  

As long as I can remember we had an Administrative Council to oversee other committees in different areas. These included finance, trustees, staff/pastor parish, nurture, outreach, witness, communications, memorial, and a whole lot of others. 

I thought this system worked just fine. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. 

Some in the church thought this system resulted in too many meetings. Many felt overwhelmed by the meetings. There were a lot of meetings. 

The suggestion was to reorganize and consolidate most of the committees into one larger committee. This might mean longer meetings, but fewer of them. It was voted on and approved to try the new system.  

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I was not for the change. I went kicking and screaming…okay, this might be a little exaggerated. The point here is there were some things with the old system that needed to change. And… 

Doing things over and over again expecting different results is insane.  

We made the change, and it seems to be working. 

If we aren’t open to change and trying new things, nothing will ever improve. We’ll just stay stuck in our rut. Walking back and forth as it gets deeper and deeper. 

It’s been said that a rut is grave with both ends kicked out. Don’t spend your life in a grave. There’s so much more for us if we just get out of the rut.  

Change is scary. We’re used to our rut. The change we don’t know is scarier than the pain we do know. This resistance to change could be because of the unknown. It could be the time the change is going to take.  

Another scary thing about change is that it’s not a one and done thing. Change is a continual process. We want simple, but that’s not how life works. The question is: do you want control over the direction of your life…or do you want to leave it to the world around you? 

We have the power of choice. We can choose to change or not.  

We also shouldn’t change just for the sake of change. Change should be intentional and based on knowing who you are, knowing what you want, and being true to these. 

Too many people drift through life without any direction or purpose. If this mundane rut is where you want to stay…just keep doing what you’re doing. But if you want to build a dream life…do something about it! 

“Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.” Tony Robins 

There’s Too Much to Do and Not Enough Time to Do It

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This is Where Delegation Comes in 

Having too much to do and not enough time to do it is a common situation. This is especially true for people in construction. 

Chasing my tail and trying to keep up is a good description of how this past week was for me. There were four different construction projects being done at the same time. This involved organizing multiple subcontractors and materials. 

In addition to this, there are six construction projects that are either waiting to be started, need to be scheduled, or need change orders done. 

Oh, and don’t forget the proposals that need to be made, payment applications and invoices for the week, and record keeping. 

Sounds like a pretty normal week in construction, doesn’t it? 

This week wasn’t necessarily any busier than normal. It was the need for my involvement in the construction projects that was the big difference. This required a change of focus. I need help! 

One of the things that I struggle with is delegating. By nature, I try to do everything. It is my business after all. Serving my customers well is my responsibility. But me doing everything can only work if I limit what I’m going to do.  

Over the last several years, I have been working hard to figure out who exactly God has designed me to be. What my strengths and weaknesses are.  

As I worked through this process, I have reached a conclusion. God’s intended purpose for me is to help as many people as possible find solutions for building their dreams. Even if they may not know they’re looking for them.  

There is a limit to how many people I can help by myself.  

In Exodus 18:13-26, Moses was trying to solve all the issues of all the people. There were so many people that needed help and he couldn’t help them all. His father-in-law saw this and recommended that he share the load and put his energy and focus on what God had designed him to do…not everything.  

If I am going to help more people and help them well, I must share my load, just like Moses. 

One of the problems of delegation is that too often sharing of the load is done without much clarity or planning. Positions are just filled with the first warm body that comes along and says yes.  

Rather than helping to carry the load, this often just makes it heavier. If you have ever experienced this, it makes it harder to share the load the next time. 

It’s taken me a long time to figure out how to share the load, but I think I’m getting closer. My busy week would have been busier, or less would have gotten done, if it hadn’t been for my Virtual Assistant (VA), Emily.  

I couldn’t have done it without Emily! 

This help became evident as I was talking with one of the subs. He was working on one of the construction projects this week and asked me how I was able to get so much done.  

I told him it was my VA Emily. He said, “I need an Emily.” I told him to find his own, because he couldn’t have mine.   

In construction there are always towering mountains that need to be moved.  

The key to moving the mountains is to share the shovels.  

I am going to be careful and intentional about who gets what shovel. I need to make sure that the shovel and the person using it are a match. 

Now…who’s getting the next shovel? 

Even if delegating is not natural for me. It’s needed if I’m going to fulfill God’s purpose to help as many people as possible find solutions for building their dreams.  

This is a revision of a previous post titled Sharing the Shovels.

What are the Three Ways Heat Moves?

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It’s Important to Know This Because Your Money Can Move with It

It’s that time of the year again; temperatures on the thermometer are creeping near the 100-degree mark. This raises the issue of keeping the heat outside and the cool air inside.

This issue is even more relevant if you live in a home that is 40 years old or older.

A home built before the mid-seventies is more likely affected by outside temperatures. Not enough insulation, single-pane windows, and air infiltration are all issues that may need attention.

Understanding how heat moves in and out of your home can help you determine what projects to consider undertaking to minimize the heat. It can also help determine which projects are most important.

There is a difference between heat and hot air.

A basic misunderstanding is that heat flows upward. This is not the case. Although, hot air rises because it is less dense than cool air.

Heat is unaffected by gravity and flows in all directions.

For example, if you apply a heat source to the center of a metal block, the bottom will get just as hot as the top and sides. Heat spreads in all directions and at the same rate.

Hot air is different. When the air in an attic or fireplace gets hot, the air begins to rise. This creates a draft or natural up flow. This is why vented ridges on roofs work so well.

Heat moves through your home in three different ways. Each needs to be considered and will require different methods or products to control this heat transfer:

  • First, conduction is like the metal block example above or the handle of a cast iron skillet on your stove. This is how heat moves through the walls, ceilings, and floors in your home. The temperature difference on either side of a wall determines how fast and which direction the heat will flow through it. The higher the R-value of insulation in that wall, the slower the heat transfer.
  • Second, convection transfer is like conduction, but occurs in fluids and gases. When a cold wind is blowing outside, this increases the loss of heat through the wall more than if the air was still. This is the “wind chill” factor. Convection ovens use this form of heat transfer to cook by moving hot air. This is why they cook faster than conventional ovens.
  • The last type of heat transfer is radiation, which is probably the most difficult of the three to understand. Radiation does not need a transfer material to move heat. This is how the sun warms the earth over millions of miles of empty space or how the top of a steak gets seared in the broiler. Radiant heat transfer is generally more of an issue in the summer but shouldn’t be ignored during the winter. Radiant heat is not blocked by standard insulation, but rather by reflectivity. An example of this would be the way dark colors of roofing, siding, etc. absorb heat and light colors reflect it.

All three of these are to blame for heat entering your home in the summer and leaving it in the winter.

Adequate wall and ceiling insulation, high-quality windows and doors would be a good place to begin. These can be expensive but will give you the biggest return on your investment.

There are several small ways to make improvements, including new weather stripping, filling voids in foundations with spray foam, sealing around electrical and plumbing openings, etc.

Also wind breaks (i.e. evergreen trees or privacy fences) can help.

NOW would be a good time to give some consideration to these issues before it gets even hotter.

Investing in these kinds of home improvements can help keep you cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. They also provide an economic payback with lower utility bills.

Do what you can to keep the money in your home and minimize it being transferred with the heat.

How Deep Can a Rut Get?

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Pretty Deep When the Bottom is Mud

It’s been a few months since Tony pulled his stunt leaving Gene high and dry without any notice. Gene moved on…what else could he do?

Gene replaced Tony with Darin. Darin is less experienced, but at least he has shown up so far. Of course, this may be because Darin doesn’t have anything to drive, so Gene picks him up and takes him home every day.

Gene has been very busy. He’s had a lot of construction projects to do, not to mention trying to keep up with the paperwork. Things seem to be getting busier and busier. Maybe things are going to turn around for his business.

As Gene was on his way to pick Darin up this morning, the truck began to make a grinding noise and it was hard to shift the truck into second gear. It didn’t get any better after picking Darin up and going to the job site.

Then it happened…the transmission went out.

When Gene got to the job site, he couldn’t get the truck out of second gear.

This wasn’t part of Gene’s plan. After getting Darin started framing the walls for the garage addition, Gene went to check out the truck. After messing with it for a while it became clear that it was going to need to go to the shop.

Gene calls for a tow truck and has the truck taken to the mechanic.

Gene goes to work getting the walls of the garage stood. This needs to be done if the garage project is going to be ready for the trusses tomorrow as scheduled.

Midway through the afternoon, Gene gets a call from the mechanic. The transmission needs to be replaced. This is going to cost $3,800, and Gene doesn’t have enough for that.

Now Gene needs to figure out how to pay for the transmission. This means he’s not going to be able to set trusses tomorrow.

Gene calls his wife to see if he could get a ride home. So much for things turning around.

While Gene’s wife is taking him home, he explains the situation. He informs her that he needs to use her car so that he can go to the bank tomorrow. He needs to see if he can borrow the money to fix the truck.

The next day, after Gene drops his wife off at work, he goes to see the banker.

Gene’s credit score isn’t great. After a little pleading with the banker, he gets approved for a loan to get the truck fixed. Gene calls the mechanic from the bank and gives him the go ahead to get the transmission ordered.

The mechanic says it will take a couple of days to get the transmission and then a couple more to get it changed. This means Gene needs to find a vehicle, preferably a pickup, so he can continue working on the garage project.

Gene calls his dad to see if there would be a chance to use his pickup for a few days. His dad lets him borrow the pickup so he can go ahead and work on getting the garage project finished.

—

It’s been a couple of weeks. Gene got his truck back and the garage project is finished. He’s on his way to meet with the customer and collect the final payment…and he needs this payment. Maybe now things will turn around.

As Gene gives the final invoice to the customer, he can tell that something’s wrong.

“What’s the matter?” Gene asks.

The customer looks up and says, “This is more than I expected. Based on the bid you gave me and what I’ve already paid you. The balance should be $7,500. Why is this bill $9,100?”

“The bid didn’t include windows,” replies Gene. “But after we got started, you told me that you wanted a window on each side wall of the garage. The additional $1,600 is for installing those two new windows.”

“Yes, but I had no idea two windows would be that much,” says the customer. “The price I saw for windows at Lowes was $100. I was expecting to pay an extra $250 or maybe $300 for those two windows, not $1,600.”

“Those $100 windows are nowhere near the quality of the ones I installed,” Gene says. “It cost me more than $300 for each window.”

After discussing this situation at length…the customer agrees to pay $600 for the windows if Gene wants a check today. Otherwise, the customer would let his attorney handle it.

Gene feels like the customer knows that with the truck transmission situation, Gene would settle for what he offered. Gene could take the $8,100 today or get nothing today and fight for the full $9,100.

Gene takes the $1,000 hit and leaves.

When it rains it pours and now the bottom of the rut is muddy.

The Hits Just Keep on Coming

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And the Rut Just Keeps Getting Deeper

It’s Sunday afternoon and after getting home from church, Gene is back at his desk (the dining table) working on the third construction bid. He would rather be watching the NASCAR race, but there’s just not enough time for both.

Some people would say that getting three of the four bids done is pretty good. There are a lot of people in construction that wouldn’t sweat this, but it bothers Gene to not follow through on what he said he would do.

It’s getting late and the family has already gone to bed as he starts the next bid.

At 1:15 AM Monday morning, Gene decides to go to bed even though the bid isn’t done yet. He needs to get up in a few hours and do some actual construction work.

It’s Monday morning and Gene is on his way to one of the two projects that he has going. It’s 7:00 AM and he’s supposed to meet Tony at the first project at 7:30.

Tony works for Gene. He’s been working for him now for almost a year. He does good work and knows construction. This allows Gene the flexibility to split up and work on more projects.

Gene starts unloading the tools and getting the things ready that Tony’s going to need. This project is setting some new interior doors.

It’s 8:00 AM and Tony hasn’t shown up yet…Gene calls him, but there’s no answer. Where is he?

This job needs to be done this week.

Tony was supposed to pick up the new doors on his way to the job this morning. Gene calls the lumber yard, and they haven’t seen anything of Tony yet. Gene goes to work, removing the first door that’s going to be replaced, as he waits on Tony.

Still, no Tony, and Gene has three doors out. He calls the lumber yard and it’s going to be a couple of hours before they will be able to get them delivered. He doesn’t want to take out any more until the new ones are installed in these openings. It looks like Gene needs to go get some doors.

Gene heads to the lumber yard to go get the doors.

Gene’s hurrying down the highway in route to the lumber yard when he hears a siren. He looks in his mirror and right behind him are flashing red and blue lights. He looks down at the speedometer and wouldn’t you know it….70 in a 55.

He pulls over and starts getting his driver’s license and insurance information ready. The Highway Patrol Officer comes up and says, “Do you know why I pulled you over?”

“Yes officer, I was in a hurry to get to the lumber yard and get some doors for a job,” Gene replies.

The officer takes the license and insurance card back to his car and Gene waits. While he’s waiting, he tries to call Tony again…still no answer.

The officer comes back and gives Gene a speeding ticket for $150.00.

The day is not getting any better.

Gene makes his way to the lumber yard, gets the doors, goes back to the job site, and gets to work setting doors.

It’s lunch time, still no Tony and he’s still not answering his phone. He must be sick, Gene thinks. It looks like Gene is going to need to stay and work on this job today. He’s already called the customer of the second job to let them know that he’s not going to make it today.

It’s 6:00 PM and Gene got four of the seven doors changed. He’s loading up tools and picking up the job site. He never heard back from Tony, so he’s going to drive by his house on the way home.

As Gene pulls up, he sees Tony’s truck in his drive, so he must be home. He goes up and knocks on the door. As the door opens, Tony is standing there and he doesn’t look sick at all. He does look a little guilty though.

“So, what happened today?” Gene asks, “You were supposed to work on setting doors today.”

Tony looks down at the ground and says, “Ya, I know. I should have called you and let you know I wasn’t going to be there.”

“What happened? Why didn’t you show up or at least call me?” Gene asked.

“Well,” Tony said, “You know that big construction company that’s doing that big project out on the edge of town? I saw the production manager at the hardware store on Saturday and he offered me a job making two dollars an hour more than you’re paying me…and I started today.”

Gene looked him in the eye and said, “So, you took it and started today without even letting me know! I can’t believe you would do that. You knew I was depending on you.”

And the rut just keeps getting deeper and deeper.

A Blueprint for Building a Better Business

by

You Need a Plan if You’re Going to Build a Successful Business.

STUCK IN A RUT 

It was late on a Saturday night and Gene was sitting at his desk in his home office (otherwise known as a dining table). This was the office of his construction company.  

He was working to get at least one more construction proposal done before going to bed. He had promised four different customers proposals this week. If all goes well, he’ll have this second one finished before midnight. As Gene crunched numbers, he worried that he might have forgotten something. This had happened before.  

He asked himself, “Why am I doing this? I could make more money and work less hours working for someone else. Heck, I’d be better off flipping burgers. This sure isn’t how I pictured my construction business five years ago when I started.” 

“I had no idea that running my own business would be this hard!” 

Gene rubbed his eyes and stretched his back and thought, “I must be doing something wrong.”   

It’s Saturday, and Gene was working like crazy all week, trying to keep up. With production crews not showing up, materials not delivered on time, cost overruns… There’s not enough time to do everything. This means not enough time to get the proposals done. Even if he works tomorrow, he’s not going to get all these proposals done in time. This means he’s going to disappoint at least one of the customers waiting on a proposal. 

This is not a very good way to run a business! “How am I ever going to turn things around?” 

When Gene finishes the second proposal and looks at the clock, it’s 12:40. It’s already Sunday and he still needs to proofread it, print it, and sign it.  

Something has got to change!  

“I’ve been leaving home early and getting home late all week. I’ve hardly spoken with my wife or kids for days. I can’t keep going like this!”  

“I’m tired of trudging back and forth in this rut with no clear way out.”