Tat's why it is ftting to read the growth
advice of remodeler Gregory Harth of Harth
Builders in our NARI Recertifcation column
on page 52. If I were forced to pick one page
from this issue to cut out and keep, this would
be it. Harth, who joined his father's company
11 years ago, has helped steer the company on
a sustained path of growth — from $700,000
annually to $4.2 million in 2014. He says the key
is knowing your systems and processes; write
them down; and, then,
continually update them.
How you budget is
important, too. Basing
growth off previous
budgets instead of actu-
al revenue is the only way
to go, says Harth. If you
beat your revenue budget
by 50 percent, it would be
a mistake to put another
5, 10 or 15 percent on top
of that number for the
coming year. Instead, add
15 percent on top of the previous year's budget.
How to account for new hires is also critical-
ly important. Some employees should be tied
to general overhead, while others, like project
managers, should be assigned directly to the
costs of specifc projects, says Harth.
Guest columnist Andrew Shore of SeaPointe
Remodeling in Southern California ofers great
insights on page 14 about applying rigor to
ensure proper ft with your culture. Despite the
pressure to fnd people in a tight labor market,
hires who negatively impact the morale of an
organization can severely hamper your growth
plans, no matter how strong the market.
Te good news is that remodeling is back.
Growth plans can safely be put into place. But there
are pitfalls that come with growth and we must
all be cognizant of how best to avoid them.
|
e try to pack each issue of
Qualifed Remodeler with in-
formation you can use to grow
your businesses. Tis month,
among all the impressive design and product
solutions ofered, are several articles relating
to business growth. Tis is a timely topic now
that the economy is more stable and the out-
look for remodeling is positive.
Our annual forecast report, which begins on
page 32, draws on many
sources for an accurate
picture of remodeling
activity today, and that
picture looks good. New
data from Harvard's
Joint Center for Housing
Studies suggest that re-
modeling is nearly back
to being a $300 billion
annual business. You,
our readers, reported
that remodelers are bull-
ish on 2015, with about
80 percent expecting the year to be "good" or
"excellent." Tis positivity, however, is tempered
by a recent update of the Leading Indicator for
Remodeling Activity (LIRA). It predicts growth
will slow to 1.6 percent later this year, down from
6.2 percent during the current quarter.
Harvard research analyst Abbe Will, who
helped develop the LIR A, says the decline in
the rate of growth is attributable to one com-
ponent of LIR A, pending home sales, which
has dropped year over year. As long as the
remodeling market is still growing, I think
slower growth is good news.
As we have all seen, unchecked demand can
create unsustainable abnormalities, both in the
supply chain, where prices can rise quickly, and in
remodeling businesses, where systems and process -
es can break down from too much new business.
Growth is
treacherous
W
Our annual forecast
report draws on
many sources for an
accurate picture of
remodeling activity
today, and that
picture looks good.
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR'S NOTE
6 February 2015 QR QualifiedRemodeler.com | ForResidentialPros.com
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