Kelly Vogan used to hand out a $20 bill whenever an employee volunteered a good idea or solved a vexing problem. More
When purchasing this sprawling yet compartmentalized older home, both husband and wife knew that they were in for a challenge. The home, built in the 1880s near Pittsburgh, had seen multiple wings added over the years but no upgrades in decades. The living space was 9,000 square feet, but the house had small rooms and narrow hallways once used by servants. More
Whether you call it a career track or a framework, whether you spell it out in a handbook or tell people during job interviews, you must have a path for field personnel to follow if you want them to grow and take on more responsibility. Remodelers who have carved out this path have shaped it to their companies' needs, bringing newbies along and nurturing homegrown lead carpenters, project managers, and even vice presidents. More
With half the 120 million homes nationwide having been built before the bicentennial, new-home prices spiking, and built-up equity burning holes in homeowners' pockets, most remodelers have more work than they can handle. Some sit on 18-month-plus backlogs and mentally salivate as they watch their slice of the remodeling market's $199 billion pie fatten. More
Say you own a home worth $400,000. Your home needs a new roof. You find a contractor and he does the job. Cost? $12,000. A year later, you, the homeowner, decide to move. How much did spending that $12,000 on your roof add to the price you can ask for your home? More
Many company owners are becoming increasingly aware that creating an atmosphere in which women thrive helps everyone in the company. More
Carpenters take a beating in their work, and 30 years of pounding nails, climbing on roofs, and working in foul weather was starting to make retirement look pretty good to Tom Stine, a 55-year-old lead carpenter at Vogan Associates, Silver Spring, Md. More
Despite the risk, it's worth the effort to help key employees grow and take on new responsibilities. Here's why. More
When remodelers flourish, their subcontractors and suppliers also flourish. Neil Kelly Co., Portland, Ore., harnesses this truth and runs with it, creating a lucrative source of business by way of cooperative advertising: sharing the cost of advertising with subcontractors, suppliers, and other professional partners. More
In this traditionally male business, there are a small group of women who are owners or designers doing sales, or even doing straight sales. But in many cases they're outselling their male counterparts. More
