This month's Reader Panel shows that remodelers are still on the on-ramp to the information superhighway. Only slightly more than half of respondents who took our e-mailed survey said their company has a Web site. More
Delegation ó or the lack of it ó is probably the biggest obstacle facing new remodelers. A young remodeling company requires a lot of attention, and 60-hour-plus work weeks certainly aren't uncommon. But if the company is going to move out of its infancy, then its owner must start to pass responsibilities on to others. More
Projects for which the homeowner supplies some or all of the materials ó buy-it-yourself, or BIY for short ó have traditionally caused headaches for remodelers. They pose all sorts of scheduling and quality control problems, and there are post-completion issues with warranty and repair, as well. More important, however, removing the price of certain materials from the overall cost of a project puts the job's profitability in jeopardy. More
