Anyone who has ever paid attention to the growth of a child knows they go through growth spurts. The process can be uneven: They sometimes grow up before they fill out or vice versa; they're alternately awkward or sturdy. It's similar for a business. The idea of upward and outward growth is one way to frame a discussion about growth strategies for your company, says Mark Richardson, vice president of Case Remodeling and a REMODELING columnist, who considers a company's growth as vertical or horizontal. Read more
What compels carpenters to go into business for themselves? A wide range of motivations, from the fulfillment of a lifelong goal, to the seemingly obvious route to better money and greater control of their time and craftsmanship. What keeps most of them from achieving anything near their vision of success? Often, themselves. The same qualities that help residential remodeling carpenters excel at their craft often get in the way of their business goals. Anecdotally, carpenter-CEOs are less likely than their non-craftsperson peers to charge enough money, to focus sufficiently on their business systems, or to reach out for the help they'll inevitably need. Read more
In the second installment of our three-part series on benefits, REMODELING examines the challenges involved in managing benefits, as well as the pros and cons of the most common approaches. Read more
If houses were living things, this one would breathe a sigh of relief, with its new front porch extended as a thankful handshake. Downtrodden and neglected in its most recent history, its rooms cut up for office space and storage, the 1909 bungalow at the edge of a downtown Orlando historic district was targeted for demolition when a custom builder bought it and the two adjacent empty lots in early 2005. Prevented by the local historic preservation board from tearing down the 96-year-old home, the builder instead sold it to a remodeling company to move it two lots away, to the other end of the parcel, for its revival. Read more
In addition to members of the NACI/Supplier 100 that contributed products and services to the project, The Renewed American Home received other contributions and was made possible by a host of local and regional suppliers and trade contractors. Read more