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Exterior Remodeling Projects – How to Easily Add Value with a Few Simple Tweaks Across the country, droves of Americans choose to remodel their houses every year.  Whether they are looking to sell the house on the market or just want to improve the look and feel, homeowners are turning to contractors for expert advice when it comes to updates …
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Organizing and Planning Succession Within Your Construction Business   Planning for future is often overlooked in the construction industry – many construction professionals have small teams that are swamped with local projects and bids, barely getting their proverbial heads above water.  It’s never too early to get started on creating order, organization, and structure that provides both security and continuity …
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Construction Theft: A Problem Plaguing Jobsites In the construction world, jobsites are home to large amounts of heavy equipment, expensive raw materials, and ancillary resources that are essential to the project’s completion.  Despite large amounts of money invested, construction security is typically overlooked, meaning both thieves and employees can abscond with materials and you’ll be none the wiser at the …
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  The Dangers of a Challenging Job Environment: Construction Professionals Take a Physical & Emotional Beating   The construction industry is no walk in the park.  On the job, you are subject to managing and performing in a high-pressure environment filled with regimented schedules, tight budgets, and excruciating manual labor – all while delivering high quality work day in and …
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Customer Reviews Online – Take the Good with the Bad in the Construction Industry When people research companies today, they often use the internet as both a search tool and a fact-checker to qualify their product or service options.  Review sites like Yelp, Google Business Listings, and Amy’s List can be powerful listing tools that put your best foot forward; …
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Technology on the Jobsite  In today’s digital world, the tiny smartphone in your pocket has twice the computing power that desktop computers had just 10 short years ago. Smartphones and tablets are so integrated into our daily life that it is shocking when you hear about someone “going off the grid,” or being completely isolated from connected tech devices. These …
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Marketing Yourself…as a Contractor There’s plenty of skilled contractors out there in the world that are incredibly gifted and innovative in their trade.  However the problem in this industry isn’t skill level – it’s competition.  There are just so many options under the sun that it is difficult to separate reputable individuals from the clutter.  In our current digital world, …
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Handling Rejections in a Tough Industry Everybody knows the story…you put a lot of time and detail into a proposal, assessing all the angles, hand-picking materials and methods, doing your homework on labor and cost, and the customer comes back with a resounding NO.  Of course it is frustrating to put in effort and lose the bid – but how …
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This Isn’t Your Dad’s Job – The Construction Business is Changing When the housing market started to dry up in the early 2000’s, thousands of construction workers were left jobless, looking for work in other sectors.  The National Association of Homebuilders estimates that nearly 30% of the national labor force in the construction industry changed careers when new developments and …
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  If you’re working in the construction and skilled labor industry in the current year and you don’t have your general contractor’s license or trade certification, then you’re walking on thin ice. The Department of Consumer Affairs Contractor’s State License Board (CSLB) has been getting aggressive with sting operations within the state, targeting unlicensed and fraudulent contractors that bid for …
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It’s November which means that you are probably looking towards 2017 wondering if this is the year that you become a licensed contractor. Without a doubt, this is a big step in your future. With most high schools retaining vocational classes as part of their curriculum, the labor pool is being rapidly depleted of quasi-skilled labor. This means that the …
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Over the last 8 years, the construction industry has seen a steady decline in national unemployment rates. Starting with the disruption caused by the housing crisis and exacerbated by natural disasters in the Southern Atlantic States, the need for construction employees has taken several hits over the last few years, but many states have started to come back from the …
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So you want to become a contractor.  Maybe you went through a trade school or spent your youth on construction sites working through apprenticeships and now you think it’s time to become your own boss. First off: Congratulations on your ambition! Taking the step to business ownership can be highly rewarding and, eventually, pay off in great dividends. However, there …
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So today is the big test day. Your guts are in a knot, your palms are sweaty, and you’re remembering back to Mrs. Smith who always seemed to be eyeballing you during exams in high school. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Like hundreds of people before you, you have been struck by test anxiety; a ruthless affliction that has hampered …
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