David Zuckerman

David Zuckerman's Posts

• Management

  Baby boomers represent a huge market opportunity

  by David Zuckerman

  In January 2006, the first wave of baby boomers turned 60. Over the next several years, some 75 million of that generation will reach or approach retirement age. For remodelers, this represents a huge market opportunity. Scott McCollum of McCollum Associates, in Dallas, and Bob Bell of Bell's Remodeling, in Duluth, Minn., are two remodelers who saw potential in the growing retiree and aging-in-place market.

• Windows

  This Old Thing?

  by David Zuckerman

  Recreating the craftsmanship of the past is always a challenge for remodelers with clients who want to preserve the traditional feel of an older home. Windows are an especially tricky area. The look of historic windows can be critical to the character of an older home, but preserving or replicating that look isn't easy.

• Keeping the bid process flowing smoothly

  by David Zuckerman

  Current remodeling orthodoxy says bids are a thing of the past. But for some, including Atlanta remodeler Wright Marshall, architect-based bid work is still an essential part of the business.

• Making sure your best people stick around

  by David Zuckerman

  By putting a dollar figure to the costs you incur when an employee leaves, you can determine what you're willing to spend to make sure your best people stick around.

• Everyone benefits by working harmoniously

  by David Zuckerman

  When Ty Melton first envisioned the smoothly operating, successful business he runs today, he imagined an aquarium. Fish, plants, crustaceans, all harmoniously living together. “I wanted to build a little ecosystem,” Melton says. He had, when he started his Boulder, Colo., company, recently left a job at a cabinetmaker, where he worked 70-hour weeks for low pay. “It was a great company, and I learned a lot,” Melton says, but he didn't want to keep working there. “The idea was that [my company] would be a more fun place to work if the people working for me thought I was a good guy and liked working for me.”