Love What You Do
Many remodeling leaders want to exit the business because they don’t love what they’re doing.
Often those remodelers are also driven by ideas about success that aren’t always correct. Many believe that bigger projects are better (generally untrue). Many believe that growing the top line or profit is where you’ll find success (not necessarily true). And many believe that delegating certain tasks to others is the key to success in the leadership seat (Not always the happy place).
There’s a famous Mark Twain quote that reads, “Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.” That saying invites you to consider the activities in running a remodeling business and think about the things you love to do vs. the things you don’t. If you can do more of what you love and less of what you don’t, then it certainly makes your day more enjoyable.
Below are some examples.
What Do You Love?
If you love building stuff, then find a way to keep that in your schedule. Get out there with the crew occasionally and get dirty.
If you love selling, then don’t feel forced to hire a salesperson and give up that activity. Instead, continue to experience the joy of helping prospects or communicating the value in working with your company.
If you love numbers and financials inspire you, then hang on to that area as long as you can or work more directly with elements of the bookkeeping and reporting.
I had a friend who grew a business and then passed the baton to his son so he could spend more time on his backhoe digging foundations. He then loved his days again.
Begin the process by taking inventory of the activities you love the most. Chances are these are your superpowers and provide real value to the business and your team. Don’t be controlled by conventional wisdom or traditional org charts.
Here are a few ideas:
- Think about mentoring a more junior team member in a sales or production management role. Not only does it increase the likelihood of retention, but mentoring others may also inspire and fulfill you.
- Hire an assistant to remove certain tasks from your day. This will allow you to continue to do what you are good at and enjoy.
- If you love teaching and training, then try to find ways to do more of that with your team and your alliances.
- If you are client centric and feed off those interactions, then make sure to give yourself more face-to-face time with homeowners. You can use your vehicle as a mobile office for other meetings.
- Be empathetic to team members and allow them to spend time doing what they love the most. Make this part of your one-on-one discussions with them so they know this is something to celebrate and not run from.
If you get to do what you love and pass that ability to your team, then the likelihood is greater that you will want to continue, and they will want to stay on as part of your business.
