Remodeling Mastery By Mark Richardson

In the past episode, Mark focused on how you can pick the right client. Stating, that 1 in every 5 remodeling clients will not allow you to make a profit. Today, Mark gives his take on how to pick the right projects in order to grow your business the right way. Listen as he raises the following questions that will help you decide if a project is worth your time & valuable to your business. 1. Is the project within your knowledge comfort zone? 2. Is the project within your team's core abilities? 3. Is the project predictable? 4. Is the project well defined? 5. Is the project the right context? 6. Is the project the right size?

How do you determine who the right client is for you? Not every potential customer is truly a potential customer. The secret to success is knowing how to pick and choose the right clients to position your business on a path to success. 1 out of every 5 remodeling clients will not allow you to make a profit. Mark Richardson has created a checklist to help you make sure that you push that 1 in 5 to perhaps 1 in 20. Listen to Mark as he walks you through each question on his checklist to helping you achieve success by knowing who the right client is for you.

How can you control your day? Don't let your day control you! This is a classic problem with how quick the pace is in business today. Clients expect near instant results and your team is working at a far faster rate than in the past. Ask yourself this – why is being in control of your day important to you? If you can find the reasons why, then you will then find the conviction and confidence to improve. As you listen to Mark talk during this episode, he'll present to you a number of reasons why being it's important to be in control. Register for Mark's webinar: New Year Business Planning: How to Set Goals & Dominate 2016 at: http://www.surefiresocial.com/2016-planning-business-trends-marketing-sales-and-lead-management-with-mark-richardson-and-tim-musch/ Enjoy!

If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. Plan your day every day. Do it consistently. Then you work your plan. Without a blueprint, otherwise it becomes chaos. People oftentimes just dive in with a short checklist and don't take the time to truly plan. Challenge: make it a point to plan each and every day.

How can remodelers become a master of time mastery? You can’t feel it, can’t touch it, but everyone understands it…the subject of time. Time is such an important element in today’s business in terms of sales, client expectations, and production processes. In this episode of Remodeling Mastery, Mark gives you 3 touch points: 1) Thinking about time differently, 2) Learning about time and the implications in the remodeling realm, and 3) How to master time and how to take your time mastery techniques to the next level.

What does success look like to you? Among the most successful businesses in the remodeling industry, I've found that they all share these three common principles: 1) They have the right mindset, 2) They are fundamentally fit, and 3) They are able to and willing to change. Join me in this episode of Remodeling Mastery as I delve into these three principles and how they can be applied to your remodeling business.

The theme Mark talks about in his book, "Fit to Grow" is one of people being your greatest asset. It's an important principle to live and breathe. An asset is an investment and you treat your greatest asset with great care and attention. In the remodeling industry, people are more important than the actual stuff. The employee carrying the table saw is more important than the table saw itself. The driver is more important than the van itself. If you can believe in this theme, you can potentially set the right foundation for retaining and growing the right kind of organization.

A big theme that I have coined and speak on is your organization needs to become a magnet, not a net. There's a tendency in the remodeling industry to just throw out and use old ways to attract people but this metaphor of being a magnet where the talent is drawn to you as compared to being a net where you toss out into the ocean and you don't know exactly what's going to swim in it.

The culture of your business is something that you need to figure out, now. If someone were to walk up to you and ask you, “How’s your business like?” or “How is it working for XYZ Company?” – would you know how to answer that question? The culture of your company should be something that ultimately drives those who work for you, into a mindset where they WANT to succeed. It should define who you are and the mission of everyone associated with it. The culture doesn’t manifest overnight; you’ve got to train it, and you’ve got to be patient with what’s going on around you. Embrace the opportunity and live by who you are and what you want your company to become. More podcasts at: http://www.surefiresocial.com/podcast Register for the FREE Google Webinar on August 27th at 4PM: http://www.surefiresocial.com/googlewebinar Subscribe to the Surefire Social Blog: http://www.surefiresocial.com/blogsubscribe

Let's face it, most people didn't go to Remodeling University. They weren't trained on how to do the business or how to formulate it in the best way possible. The first two parts of this series covered the motivations to having a dashboard followed by the three key metrics that you must track in the dashboard. But in this segment, Mark Richardson covers between 5-7 other elements to your dashboard that you should think about having that will take it to the next level: things such as the demographics of your client, your client's reviews, financing rates, your team, cancellation rates, time spent, and the health of your business. All of these factors will help you monitor and maintain the effectiveness of your company. For more podcasts: http://www.surefiresocial.com/podcast Learn about the tools that Google provides to help your home improvement business succeed in maximizing your online presence: http://www.surefiresocial.com/googlewebinar

Once you get past the motivations of developing a dashboard for success, now you must actually HAVE the dashboard. Mark Richardson touches on key points in managing your overhead expenses, sales, and gross profits of your business. Maintaining these three elements to your dashboard is what will determine effectiveness in your operations. Deeper metrics that he suggests monitoring are your leads, cost per lead, and lead source, while also being aware of your close rates and average ticket price. Sign Up for the webinar: "How Google’s tools Help Home Improvement Businesses Succeed In Digital Marketing" - www.surefiresocial.com/googlewebinar For more podcasts visit: www.surefiresocial.com/podcast

With Mark Richardson being the remodeling business for over 30 years, he knows what it takes when offering breakthrough advice for home remodelers in the industry. In this episode, Mark covers a three-part series, first touching on the seven motivations of owners in the remodeling business. He answers the question, "What is success?" and offers ways to stay on top. Secondly, he goes into fundamental dashboards, and how they are used to measure success in the home remodeling business. He wraps up the episode by taking the dashboard you create, to the next level. Listen in on professional insight from a well-known leader in the industry, and learn how you, too, can create a dashboard for success. For more podcasts, visit http://www.surefiresocial.com/podcast Register for the Google webinar, "Tools To Help Home Improvement Businesses Increase Their Online Presence" - http://www.surefiresocial.com/resources/how-to-use-google-tools-for-success-webinar/

Many people think their greatest competitor is another contractor, or remodeler. Many think that it's a potential discretionary spending in their lives such as a boat or vacation, but quite frankly your greatest competitor out there today is in fact, your client. Mark Richardson introduces the number of home remodelers in the United States and how many of those are considered professionals. These professionals need to know who the competitor is and Mark unpacks 7 elements of why homeowners react the way that they do to the home remodeling industry and what you can do to beat the system. For more podcasts, visit http://www.surefiresocial.com/podcast

Remodeling Mastery is about sharpening your acts. If you think about the levels of mastery that we go through in sports, and in life, your business has the same evolution. Mark Richardson has been in this business now for over 30 years; started, certainly in design, architecture, and was active in growing a very large remodeling business in design build, and handyman services, and kitchen & bath. And as a result of that, Mark really has learned a lot. Mark has learned a lot of techniques, ideas, philosophies, themes, and that’s led to writing some books and certainly some articles for the magazines. So today, Mark Richardson wants to talk about a subject that he thinks that is very very important, and that is the remodeling environment. Mark Richardson unpacks the 5 indicators of the remodeling environment that businesses should be monitoring to thrive in their industry: home appreciation, interest rates, unemployment, "homes under water", and the stock market. For more podcasts, visit http://www.surefireso