Hello folks,
It's been a while, and that last post is getting REALLY old.

I listened to a webinar on the economy today. And it reinforced my optimism. Here is what they said.
The future will be bright for those of us that survive. The renovation and remodel market will bear out the phrase "If they don't move they improve." People will be staying put and there will be pent up demand. There will be slow growth over a long period of time in our industry and the country as a whole. Us legit contractors, will get more and more of the market as the economy improves. And it will improve.
Right now business is terrible. I am a lot more optimistic than I was a year ago, but business isn't any better than it was last Dec. We made it through the year with a modest profit and I have kept the nucleus together, but it hasn't been easy. Winter is tough, and it is particularly tough now.
The stock market has produced opportunity for those that invested in it when it was down. It has pretty much topped out for now. (They said) don't expect the DOW to hit 14,000 any time soon.

There is more opportunity now than in the lat 7- 10 years.
Any physical asset bought two years ago is under water. Any asset bought today is a bargain. Inflation will kick in and we look back and say "There were so many bargains." Anything from equipment to land is at bargain prices.
I just purchased an amazing 7 acre property that I never could have afforded two years ago. I am excited to develop it. So what the economy took away, the economy gave back.
Keep your eyes open, the opportunities are everywhere.

Where slow right now in Philly, but the year hasn't been terrible, just very hard.
What's happening in your neck of the wood?
Let get some posts going.
All the best,
Kevin

Hey Kevin,
Things in Md are OK but not great. We only have 5 paint crews going but it has been alot better than i thought for the remodeling side. We added another remodeling truck in aug and have a ad on craigs list to find another remodeler for jan. We have made a lot of changes and are running lean but have not down sized. Our focus has been changing our customers, setting up booths at any home shows in our area, Co fairs, long & foster home connections, networking groups, and meet as many people as possible!!!! We have lived through the worst and see the light at the end of the tunnel. Doing more jobs, job size is smaller,and doing more estimates to get them for painting side. People are doing kitchens,basements and bathrooms because they have to stay and feel the need to improve. The homes for sale have to fix them to sell unlike before, insurance work is on a all time high and the increase in rental homes has got us more repairs. Painting is down, remodeling and handyman services are up. Diversity has been our savior!!!!!!!!
Cherrie and I also took advantage of the bad economy too and got a new 5900 sq ft home on 11.6 acres. Never could have bought it in good times. I wish everyone health, happiness, and success.
Joe

Hello Kev and Harry

California is not a good place to be if your in the construction business these days. We made it thru but we scaled back to the bare bones. Office staff is all on part time. We have cut out all expendatures, lunches, dinners, seminars, conventions with the exception of those where we may have an opportunity to meet potential new clients or mingle with existing clients. I got rid of all the so/so painters and kept all the top performers. The problem we have here is the prices are at an all time low. I used alot of the prices that many are giving out or bidding with back in 1977. Lots of panic bidding going on right now. I just got thru running a night job for the past 2 weeks. It was the first profitable job we've had in some time. I am making my project manager an estimator, he will now be doing take offs and job walks, I will be running the jobs for a while along with my other dutirs. We have to do what we have to do. We have huddles each week, encouraging everyone to give it their all if we are going to be successful with our bids. We just need to be cheaper, faster and better then the rest if we are to make money. We want everyone to work and provide for thier family.

This year was crushing for my wife and I financially as we've had 3 builders go broke and a couple others closing their doors leaving us with high and dry. Sure we put a lien on the property etc., but with leagal costs and settlement money, it was devistating. We went thru alot of savings in order to hang on. On the brighter side, we have been having success with direct business with property managers and building owners. They seem to want to pay their bills where as the generals, want to drag you out to deep water, seems they like the chase game too. Direct money is where it is at. We will be dropping some of our general contractors as more and more direct business presents it self. We have been doing alot of internet optimasation and it is working. It was well worth the investment and worth the wait for this to all start coming around.

On a bright side, we are still standing, with some promises and talk of budget approvals for work to be done in the first quater of 2010 from clients that love us. We are bidding everything that moves, with hopes something sticks. I have my health, I have my wife, life is good that way. Thank god for her!

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and lets make it a good new year.

Hob

Last year business was dead(residential repaints).
No calls for 2 months. 26 yrs here locally, and I couldn't buy a job!
This year/ 3 times(300%) over what we did last year.
I am comfy!...."Yes there is a "Santa Claus, Virginia!"

GOOD STUFF HERE IN FLORIDA!

Thank God!
Ken, Great to hear. Florida lead us into this thing and great to hear you guys are coming back!
Merry Christmas,
Kevin

Last year was good for us if for no other reason than it causes introspection and change, for those who dare. Sometimes I tend to want to do things the way I have laways done them, when in reality I might need to change myself (or the business structure) to meet people where they are.

We are doing what we can. With the auto industry slow, we are slow. My wife Peggy is our best employee. She has taken our business and turned it around for profit. Peggy took every aspect of our business searched for flaws and leaks with our monies. She has cut 25% of our cost these last few months. Saying that, we put our cost of products up for BID. This is something we have never done, but need to look at everything. We also joined Dave Ramsey FPU program. Basing the possibilities, we could be totally debt free with in 5 years or less. We will not cut our charges only progress to educate our customers more. We are looking at marketing, products, proceedures, employees and even what the President and COO makes! It will be nice to get busy again soon. We wish you all well.

Hey Kevin. We do medium to high end residential repaint in south central Ontario. Last year was great until the end of the fall. Seem to be getting undercut by every firefighter and layed off auto worker. My company is just me and one to two other guys and thats it, so for the quality of work we do, we are very well priced due to our low overhead, and i have never been shot down on my prices like in the last 5 months. Luckily business is picking up in commercial and high end new construction... Besides, i have a feeling we will be back to fix the work the low ballers are gettig their hands on as usual anyways... I am just young in my business, but i have a friend who became a millionaire during the recession in the eighties. His viewpoint is that in tough times, the cream rises to the top. We have kept our commitment to service and quality despite sometimes short changing ourselves and thanks God its' provided us with some good work. It wasn't looking that great for a while... Best wishes...

Jeremy

Ki Kevin,

I first want to give credit where credit is due. A few years back I posted on Home Depot starting a painting service and was a bit concerned about it. You had the insight to know that they would fail, and sure enough they are no longer operating the painting part of their home services(at least not in the Seattle area). Thank you for all your advice on this board over the years.
Business has started to pick up in the Seattle area but certainly no where near 2005 levels. The DIY market seems to get bigger every year. I have kept my prices from falling too low to stay in business and I am focusing on closing the jobs I know will yield the most profit.

All the best,

Jeremy Baker

Visit My Website

Nice site Jeremy, glad things are going ok. So Cal here and prices are at an all time low. Really considering if it's worth it. Of course it is, just one of those days. Site looks good, work looks awesome.
All the best
Hob