Walt Stoeppelwerth

Walt Stoeppelwerth's Posts

• Walt Stoeppelwerth

  Financing has benefits

  by Walt Stoeppelwerth

  Home improvement financing in the remodeling market is starting to gain momentum, but it's still a small part of the overall picture. Some of the most recent numbers I've seen show that two-thirds of full-scale remodeling projects are paid for in cash or with credit cards, while less than 30% are financed through home equity loans and second mortgages.

• The importance of technological know-how

  by Walt Stoeppelwerth

  New technology affects companies of all sizes, although in different ways. For example, a small practitioner can probably get away with a Web site that is little more than an electronic business card, displaying a logo and providing basic contact information.

• Walt Stoeppelwerth

  Use of subcontractors on the rise

  by Walt Stoeppelwerth

  In the past decade or so, almost all of the largest new home builders, and many mid-sized and small companies, have turned to subcontractors to assemble every part of the homes they build.

• Clarify process for change orders

  by Walt Stoeppelwerth

  There was a time when change orders represented a large part of a company's profit on a project. This was particularly prevalent in commercial construction, where every proposal was bid by at least four companies. Most lowered their markups to win the bid, counting on change orders to make up the loss once they had the contract. Many residential remodelers have followed the same approach.

• Managing markups

  by Walt Stoeppelwerth

  When it comes down to it, the real point of being in business is to charge enough money for every job so that the company is making a profit on every project. That means contractors need to know what their overhead is on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis, as well as knowing ó almost down to the penny ó what the costs are for each project.