Alice Bumgarner

Alice Bumgarner's Posts

• Recycling opportunities are growing

  by Alice Bumgarner

  After a recent demolition, though, the remodeler found himself with huge steel girders and other scrap metal that he knew he had no use for. He called 20 different people to offer it for free, before he found someone willing to salvage it.

• Getting green into the field

  by Alice Bumgarner

  Change is never easy, especially when employees feel they're suddenly being asked to turn away from familiar practices.

• Spread the green word

  by Alice Bumgarner

  Once you've challenged yourself to be the greenest remodeler you can be, the next challenge is: How do you sell efficient, sustainable projects to customers? To remodelers making a foray into this niche, we advise leaving the green-wash mentality at the door.

• Ready for Prime Time

  by Alice Bumgarner

  As This Old House producer Deborah Hood says, people no longer need view green as experimental or expensive. "We're learning that green is basically just good planning and smart building." And green remodelers echo that sentiment. They're as likely to use words such as "high-performance" when talking about their green work, so interwoven are the concepts.

• Training a salesperson to take your place

  by Alice Bumgarner

  One of the most difficult parts of moving a remodeling business forward is stepping back from being its primary salesperson. From a desire to grow the business to the wish to put a succession plan in motion, any number of reasons can compel remodeling business owners to train others to step into their long-held sales positions. But recognizing the need to step back is only part of the challenge. More difficult still is how to go about it.