It’s a cloudy world out there if you live in the headlines. Jobs are down. Prices are all over the board. Businesses are closing up shop, and no one knows when it will end.
Today’s economic climate is bleak, to be frank. As our industry struggles with delayed or cancelled jobs, the subprime mortgage crisis and a myriad of banking failures, it is hard to be optimistic. Some days staying home and watching a movie in a dark room sounds like a great way to escape the dreariness of reality.
I’m sure many of you are familiar with the tongue-in-cheek Darwin Awards, since the selection of annual winners seems to be among the most forwarded e-mails on the Internet. These awards are named after the father of evolutionary theory to “honor” people who improve the human gene pool by accidentally removing themselves from it - doing things like sleeping with a gun and accidentally blowing off key body parts while tossing and turning.
Modified bitumen roof systems were introduced on the United States commercial roofing market in the late 1970s. The technology for modified bitumen systems was developed in Europe in the 1960s. There are two primary types of modified bitumen systems: 1. Atactic polypropylene (APP). 2. Styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS).
In 1985, a young man was sent to Columbus, Ohio, to negotiate a contract of $275,000. His supervisor had commanded that young salesman to come back with the order and allowed, if necessary, that the salesman had the latitude to adjust the price by as much as $25,000.
I just spent the last few hours researching statistics about the dangers of falls in roofing. This research took me not only through statistics but reams of rules and regulations on fall protection from state and federal agencies, as well as those of several other countries.
There is an old saying, “You can’t draw blood from a
stone.” The significance of the adage is that you must accept the limitations
of the world around you. Right now your business is suffering like every other
business in the world, and, like every businessperson, you are probably trying
to figure out ways in which you can outsmart your competition in the short
term.
Ben Franklin conducted the first reflectivity
test in the 1760s. He took different colored swatches of fabric - from dark
colored to light colored - and placed them in the Philadelphia snow. As the sun
beat down, Franklin
noted that the snow melted around the dark colored fabric prior to the snow
melting around lighter colors.
As human beings, we generally know what is good
or bad for us, but temptation may win out. I know that piece of holiday pie or
that extra helping of bread is not good for me, but what the heck. As the
market slows and job opportunities shrink, contractors tend to chase risky jobs
like a junkyard dog going after a bone.
Being the boss is a pretty good feeling for most
people. Those of you who own your business or have management authority draw a
certain comfort from calling the shots and being able to tell subordinates what
to do.
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