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The Remodelers Advantage Success System
It might be called the "Six Habits of Highly Successful Businesses." Yes, I know Stephen Covey has stolen and adapted my title before I ever thought of it (His long time bestseller is The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People). Not to worry, it's the wisdom within the concepts that count.
For years, my partner Victoria Downing and I have worked to distill the key business habits that make for success among our remodeler clients. It is still a work in progress, but see what you think. We've visualized our Success System as a pyramid. The habits are prioritized from bottom to top. In other words the lowest item has the highest priority.
Habit One is Sound Financial Management. Money is the bedrock a company is built on. Without money none of the rest matters. It fuels your ability to stay in business, satisfy clients and keep contented staff. And you only know where your money is and whether you have any through accurate reporting that directs the way to sound management decisions.
Right now, I am trying to work with a company owner who is drowning in debt. That would be bad enough but his books are virtually non-existent and with no money to pay someone to get them right, we are flying blind. Is he charging the right price? Probably not but we really don't know. Is he selling the right number of jobs, the right kind of jobs? Tracking money in a $500,000 or $5,000,000 remodeling company involves lots of time and cost but without that information, nothing else matters.
Habit Two is Efficient Organizational Structure. The majority of remodeling companies start with an owner who does everything and then begins to hire field staff and perhaps an office person. Its' a pretty simple organization and doesn't require much thought on how work is distributed and who's responsible for what. But grow to having 20 or 40 or 60 people on staff and to have your company running smoothly, you need to have thought out how you want to organize your "departments" - admin, sales, production, design, estimating, marketing, etc. How does the responsibility and accountability for making the company successful distribute in your company? In most companies unfortunately, it all falls on the owner. We need to change that.
Habit Three is Effective Team Building. This is a really big area and trips up many a remodeler. While staffing a company with "A" players is harder than ever before, most of us simply do not give it the time and effort it demands. We hire the best of the available and then they sink or swim without a job description or a policy manual or training or coaching. I could go on and on here and will in a future column! But you know what I mean.
This area includes retaining key employees, motivating them to do their best and to take responsibility for seeing that the right things happen in their area of influence. But business is a team sport that demands harnessing individuals into a team that acts for the common good. From that comes your team all doing their part to produce delighted clients while obtaining the right gross profit for the business.
Habit Four is Strong Leadership. This area works hand-in-hand with Effective Team Building. Great teams need - demand - great leaders. Most of us have a mental picture of what an outstanding leader should "look" like. And inevitably we underestimate our ability to lead. But I've seen great leadership from all types of personalities -from quiet to charismatic. Great leaders create a magnetic vision that draws and invites staff to participate with passion.
Habit Five is Enhanced Company Culture. All remodeling companies have an underlying culture that in smaller companies results from the owner's philosophy of how people (clients, staff) should be treated and the environment they should work in. As a remodeler grows, that culture will be taken over by strong (but not necessarily good) natural leaders in the company. A smart owner knows that to have the unique company that only they can create, they must define, control, grow, and monitor their magnetic culture. An outstanding company culture transforms a successful company into a significant company.
And running concurrently with all five of the above habits is Habit Six or Developing Systems. All successful companies make success predictable through providing proven systems that help individual team members to avoid errors and enhance client satisfaction. In all your operational areas like estimating or design or sales, your company way of doing business should be defined, taught and preserved until change is due. How can a company deliver predictable excellence if each employee is doing it their way?
These six key habits are prioritized like a ladder. If you haven't mastered habit one (financial), that is where your major focus should lie. The successful company is undoubtedly working in all areas all the time but to have a strong foundation your company and you must master each habit before making the next habit your major focus.
Our Six Habits Pyramid is a work in progress. I'd love your feedback.
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Official Charity of 2008
Remodelers Advantage Inc.
535 Main Street, Suite 211
Laurel, MD 20707
ofc: 301-490-5620
fax: 301-498-6869
Info@RemodelersAdvantage.com