“A rising tide raises all ships.” The aphorism is strewn across the whiteboards throughout the showroom of CQCHome in Durham, N.C. It’s a tenet to which Ken Combs firmly subscribes, and it’s evident in every aspect of the way he operates his residential remodeling firm, whether it’s adding new technologies to the workflow or taking his entire staff on its first cruise.
“The better business I build, the more successful they will be and the more successful I will be,” observes Combs, who founded the company with his wife, Ericka, in 2013. Originally a two-person operation, the firm has expanded to 24 employees and has experienced exponential growth, nearly doubling its revenue year over year, going from $800,000 to nearly $5 million annually.
Credit this success, in part, to a burgeoning real estate market in his region, which he likens to the growth witnessed in other areas such as Austin, Texas. But Combs ties these achievements to the basic core principles of his company, which he bases on the life lessons he learned while growing up in the city he is now helping to rebuild.
As a child, Combs spent nine years in an orphanage in a historically poor and rough neighborhood of Durham, he explains. Of the 32 kids in the school, he says he can “count on one hand” how many have not ended up in jail or worse. His wife also grew up in the system and was adopted at age 6. Together, it became their mission to build a company that would provide a safe and solid foundation for its employees to grow as individuals and in their careers.
“We definitely beat the odds,” he says. “I know what it’s like to have absolutely nothing, so I want my employees to have the best possible jobs, careers, and lives.”
Safe and Sound
Three years ago, CQCHome would log a number of jobsite injuries annually. As the firm grew to eight-plus carpenters, so did the number of incidents. Combs recognized it was becoming a problem for his crew.
“I wanted them to look out for their health and they just weren’t doing that,” he recalls. “If someone hurt themselves they would brush it off and say it was ‘no big deal’ and go right back to work.”
In 2015, he took action and launched an Occupational Health and Safety Program, which details specific safety practices, required safety equipment, and formal safety training for all employees. He hired a safety officer to oversee these efforts and perform weekly safety meetings and jobsite inspections. All field employees receive 10 hours of safety training and all worksites are equipped with a full range of appropriate protective equipment, fire-fighting gear, First Aid supplies, and HEPA filters to extract contaminants like insulation and drywall dust. There also are quarterly and annual safety recognition awards presented to employees.
Since implementing this new strategy, the company has experienced a 75% reduction in injuries, with only one in 208 jobs in 2016 and one out of 127 jobs in 2017. Not only that, but Combs also has reduced his workers’ comp rates by $25,000 a year. Above all else, however, he’s noticed a change in his team’s self-worth and overall morale.
“Now the guys are feeling much more comfortable and safer and they are spending more time on a job. They are more thorough and more purposeful,” he says. “It makes for a better work environment, which attracts and retains employees.”
Technology at Their Fingertips
Home remodeling is no longer just about swinging a hammer. Much like everything else, technology is changing the way firms are operating.
To remain competitive in the marketplace, Combs traded in the paper and clipboards for iPads and efficient apps. From 2015 to 2016, he gradually rolled out a new system using a suite of seven apps, including CoConstruct, and trained his lead carpenters to use them on their handheld devices. Utilizing these tools now is a prerequisite to further promotion within the company.
As a result of this change, information is more organized, communication is more effective, and everything is streamlined, he explains. Even the clients are brought into the process with online access to the project, which makes the customers feel more connected and involved. This has enabled his team to manage more projects simultaneously, growing the firm’s bottom line and reducing overhead to 11.5% from 21%, resulting in higher margins per job and a competitive pricing edge.
“When you’re doing 100-plus jobs a year, it’s hard to make clients feel like they are getting top-level service and being paid attention to,” Combs says, “but this allows us to quickly communicate and manage multiple jobs at one time and offer one-on-one treatment.”
Much like the safety procedure he implemented, the initiative also is affecting the lives of the crew. The employees are shifting from what Combs describes as traditional blue collar to a mix of white and blue, with 20% to 30% of their time spent on an iPad in the field. This is giving them an opportunity to learn project management and other skills that historically carpenters would not have access to.
“This is making them more qualified in the marketplace and is providing more opportunities for growth, which ultimately makes them more valuable,” Combs says.
