With a tougher economy, rising financial
pressure and less overtime, field employees doing “side work” and competing
with employers is a growing issue. Throw in an environment with more and more
subcontract installers and things are even worse. Side work is not a new
phenomenon; it has been going on forever.
Now more than ever, it’s important to dot the
i’s and cross the t’s when it comes to reporting your employees’ workplace
injuries and illnesses. Recently, the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) began sending inspectors to company offices and worksites
to assess the accuracy of their injury and illness records.
Your vehicles are the backbone that keeps your
business up and running. So when it comes to insurance for those vehicles, make
sure that you’re covered by an insurance company that fits your business needs
- because the last thing you want when you have a claim is to find out you have
insufficient coverage.
I wrote this article to help roofing contractors
understand and use some basic marketing activities and some unique customer insights
to successfully grow their businesses.
Certain people make it a point to arrive “fashionably late” for social events. It stems from a psychological quirk to make them feel important, as if the party doesn’t begin until they arrive and everyone is awaiting their grand entrance.
Whenever I think of things gone wrong on a
retrofit roofing project I remember that day in Miami when David and I visited
Art and his boys (and girl … she ran the kettle). I was there doing my job as
the roofing equipment pro, and David ran the branch of my distributor.
Standing seam metal roof systems have been on
the U.S.
market in some form for centuries. Early colonists installed copper roofs and
these materials still adorn many government buildings - particularly state
capitol buildings. Today standing seam metal roofs are installed on a variety
of structures in both residential and commercial construction.
Last year was one of the bleakest in history for
most of us economically. Yet Cincinnati’s
Thompson Plumbing, Heating & Cooling grew more than 50 percent in 2009. The
company now has more than 50 service vehicles on the road and employs upwards
of 80 people, with a penchant for hiring military veterans.
There is no question we are in uncertain
economic times. One of our motivations for starting a small business was to
control our own destiny and to be our own boss. Currently, we are uncertain
which direction to take and it makes us uncomfortable. This is a natural
feeling; wandering in the dark makes everyone nervous. However, things are not
as hopeless as you might think.
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