Depends – on the opportunity as well as on the goals and aspirations of the person looking. Most of us are primarily driven by one of the following – lifestyle (more time off, community service, etc.), wealth (maximize short and mid term cash flow, returns, etc.) or equity (build ownership and value of the business for future generations or to sell). If you are meeting your goals and aspirations, I don’t think it makes sense to invest your valuable time or money in new opportunities.

If you are not meeting your business goals and aspirations, there are several types of opportunities that might fit:
1. Educational: Keep your business independent but join a community to share best practices, learn from industry leaders and to feel part of something bigger. Check out www.CaseInstituteofRemodeling.com

2. New Business Engine: Add a new arm to your business to improve short/mid term cash flow, effectively add new clients and to enhance the stability of your business. There are a number of options like gutter licenses, sunrooms, etc. Case’s new “Handyman Express” licensed product gives you the tools to add Handyman services under your current business name/brand at a low level of investment.

3. Franchising: Franchising is more akin to getting married than the options outlined above. This approach is good if you are ready, willing and able to make a larger investment of time and money to embrace the systems of the franchise. If you think you’re ready for franchising, plan on spending a good deal of time researching your options. I’d recommend giving franchisors a “test drive” first by experiencing their educational or licensing products.

Today’s world wants input in their output. A license plate isn’t good enough anymore – it needs to be a vanity plate with some insight into the driver’s soul. A cell phone needs to have that one-of-a-kind ringtone. Applesauce isn’t good enough anymore – it needs to be organic, made in America, and hold the corn syrup please. Said another way, a solitary focus on the “what” is not enough in today’s society. In today’s society, people have an equal passion for the “how.”

The good news is that’s exactly what our clients are doing when they remodel their homes. But have you translated this trend within your own team? We can come up with lists and lists of great ideas on “what” we should be doing, “what” the future might hold and “what” we did in the past. But the real test comes when someone starts asking “how.” How will we get input from our team, how will our team implement these ideas, how will our clients react to these ideas, how will we monitor the implementation?

Think back to wonderful ideas, systems and processes you have had over the years that were not implemented by your team. I’ll bet the lack of implementation was rooted more in the “how” than in the “what.” Employees want to have a say. Then they want to understand the path that was chosen and why (even if it doesn’t agree with their input). This puts some extra pressure on all of us to work through a process rather than demanding something from “on high.” But think about it – Employees that don’t want these two things, a say and feedback, shouldn’t be on your team.

So my daughter is 5 (5 and 1/2 as she would be proud to tell you)…A couple of weekends ago we were walking up the steps to our home when she stopped dead in her tracks, looked down at the partially dead catnip plant sitting on our step and proclaimed that it was a very “hearty” plant. It made me stop dead in my tracks too – partly because I don’t think I had ever stopped and actually paid any attention to the plant, but more because of her choice of words – “hearty” hit me as a good, solid word. Hearty makes me think of comfort food. Food that has depth, warmth and bits of steam tumbling off the top. Food eaten best with family in a cozy atmosphere.

The plant is hearty to live (at least partially) through the cold stretch…but it also has heart. Not that different than the balance we all strive for in the current environment. We need to be hearty to live through the “cold stretch” but we also need to have heart. We need to remember each and every second that we are dealing with people’s lives – the lives of our employees, the lives of our clients, the lives of our subcontractors. The good news is that we aren’t truly in the line of fire such as those in our armed forces, firemen, policemen and other heroic endeavors. But we need to find the right balance of being “hearty” while also having “heart.”

On second thought, maybe the two are one in the same?

And I’m not talking about the weather!

It is a tough time to be in the home remodeling business. Average job size is down, financing is harder to get, and the phone just isn’t ringing like it used to. I have been talking with other remodelers about the situation and they are really starting to worry. Everybody is looking for the magic bullet- the secret to creating more opportunities. The problem is that they are approaching the situation like it was still 2006. Unfortunately, the world has changed; the strategies and tactics that used to work just aren’t cutting it anymore. Direct mail, ads in local magazines and other general marketing efforts just don’t work. All the easy stuff is done.

So what do we do? I think there are two choices- stick with the old ideas and sit by the phone or change the strategy. If general marketing efforts are failing, it’s time to get personal. Host a Project Celebration party at a completed project. Where else are you going to get the opportunity to meet a large group of people who are marveling at the quality of your work? Mine your past clients, they have trusted you before and they can play an important role in your future- if you keep the relationship alive. Reward them with a gift of your services or product, especially if they refer someone. If you have done a great job for them they will be happy to promote your company. Find the right tools/ strategies to keep them as advocates long after the project is finished.

At first glance, these are pretty simple concepts. But dig a little deeper and it’s a huge cultural shift (at least for us!). The shift is to move away from general marketing efforts being responsible for creating opportunities and move toward salespeople creating their own leads. The salesperson cultivated the relationship with the client. Who better to maintain it and have it grow to include their coworkers, family and friends? If this more personal approach is going to get us through this storm, the salesperson needs to be at its center.

This transfers quite a large responsibility to the salesperson- are they up for the challenge or will they be left behind in this new world? There’s more to the story too- the days of ordering taking have ended. Salespeople need to sharpen their skills in this new environment. But that’s a topic for another day….

What are you doing to create business for your company?