5 Areas to Reassess for Business Success
Most remodeling businesses are a product of evolution, not design.
It goes like this: The company owner was interested in construction and completed some projects that grew to more projects, which then required business systems. The owner realized they needed to hire a team. One day, they looked in the mirror and saw a remodeler looking back at them.
Over time, the owner realizes their strengths and weaknesses. If a weakness is a soft skill, like communicating, they can often just improve in that area. If it’s in technology, sales, or marketing, they must bring in additional talent or risk losing out.
Recently I had coffee with the CEO of a large home improvement company that had just been purchased by an investment group. He said something that is good advice for any growing remodeling business: one of the biggest benefits from the investment group was “intellectual horsepower.”
They brought leadership experience. They brought technologies. They understood the altitudes of growth. They filled voids to take the business to the next level. Most importantly, they brought the horsepower and energy to propel the business forward.
Bringing it Home
As you reflect on this in your business, what are the spots where more intellectual horsepower would be beneficial? The following is a list of areas to consider.
1. Marketing
This not only requires expertise, but now more than ever, some real calories devoted to it. Depending solely on past clients and referrals will make you a slave to the current environment and you’ll see dramatic changes in lead flow. It’s not enough to be active with social media or SEO, you need someone who understands the latest practices.
RELATED: Do You Have a Healthy Marketing Mindset?
2. Sales
Are you doing sales training (for yourself or your team)? Is this in your core competency? How much time and energy do you devote to your sales team? You can bring a dedicated person into this role or hire a sales consultant, but doing nothing puts your team at risk.
3. Leadership
As you grow, developing future leaders should be a top priority. As with salespeople, you can do the training yourself or bring in a leadership coach, but your staff needs to be developed. With the right horsepower, you will see their stock rise and they will begin to push you forward rather than you pulling them along.
Now is the time to position yourself for the future. This will take investment, but not addressing these areas could put you at risk.
4. Technology
Technology has revolutionized business. This can be a great asset or a liability. It is rare for a company owner to be at the level the business requires. Since the younger generation has made this part of their DNA, you don’t need a seasoned veteran, but it needs to be an area of focus. The businesses that are leveraging technology in their client-facing experiences will trump those living in the past.
5. People
If people are a business’s greatest asset, then who wakes up every day thinking about the people, the culture, and team development? Who is focused on this disease called “quiet quitting”? Who has their ear to the ground, listening to any voices of dissent?
Now is the time to position yourself for the future. This will take investment, but not addressing these areas could put you at risk. While these are tough decisions, your team will rally behind your commitment to the future.
