Alan Cline started 1-800-PLUMBING® in 2002 in memory of his sister, Beth, who was a plumber herself and worked hard to be successful in her career. 1-800-PLUMBING® was created to provide an easy way to remember branding strategy usually not available to independent plumbers. “It is a way to provide small to medium sized independent plumbing contractors a competitive edge with an exclusive number in their territory,” Cline states. “Once plumbers sign up with 1-800-PLUMBING® they have the exclusive use of the phone number in their territory.”

In addition to access to the premiere vanity phone number, 1-800-PLUMBING® licensees also receive a comprehensive marketing guide, full color logo, promotional materials, vehicle magnets, radio jingle and additional branding materials to help the business get started.

Today…again…I was scratching my head over an accounting mess, for which the owner had paid a bookkeeper many dollars over many years. How did it happen? If you don’t know the basics, you are a sitting duck, my friend. You know, accountants do it on purpose. They use weird words to make you think that they are smarter than you are. To keep you in the dark. Or, the less nasty ones just don’t know better.

Do you know what it costs to operate your business on an hourly, daily, monthly, quarterly or semi-annual basis? I routinely ask this question of contractors in my seminars and consulting work. Unfortunately, less than 10% can look me straight in the eye and say “yes.”

How long has it been since you’ve taken a serious look at your balance sheet or profit and loss statement? (I’m tempted to ask how many even have them, but why ruin such a nice spring day!)

In 2009, the economy tanked, causing a ripple effect that swept the country like a devastating tsunami. Members of Nexstar felt the pinch, like everyone else. Since I’m responsible for communication within our organization, I called a few of our member companies to report how the recession has impacted their markets and what they’re doing to stay profitable.

Nexstar is a business-development and best practices organization delivering comprehensive business training, systems and support to independent home service plumbing, heating and air conditioning professionals across the continent. Our peer connections help guide us to success. We hope you’ll find our insight helpful as well.

It’s 8:15 am. Your experienced, professional, sales oriented, customer service focused, technically masterful sales team is still at the shop. Ready to go…with nowhere to go. Maybe that sales team consists of just lil’ ol’ you. All dressed up and no where to go.

Sigh. Now what?

It’s up to you. Put on your Marketing Hat, and CREATE some action.

I have ideas…most of these great ideas I got from YOU. Thanks…and thanks for sharing!

My first five articles focused on the subject of overhead. It’s time to turn our attention to another aspect of financial management, establishing a budget.
How many of you establish a systematic budget of expenditures, income, and profit? I bet less than one out of 10. This is another reason why, along with failure to understand simple mark-up procedures, our industry reports an average pretax net profit of 2.7 cents for every $1.00 taken in, and why the average PHC contractor “enjoys” an annual salary of less than $44,000 – topped by many journeymen who work far fewer hours with far fewer headaches.
It is virtually impossible to achieve big financial rewards without paying attention to the business of contracting, as this column is titled. Too many of you never see the forest because you are too busy examining the trees. That is, you concentrate on the day-to-day production phase of your business and don’t have enough time left over to plan for the future or engage in the numbers crunching that is the essence of being a businessman.

The National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) is proud to announce the first NARI video contest, open to any customer who has worked with you as a NARI remodeler.

Ready to get the phone ringing NOW?

Al and I have come up with 3 simple, low-cost marketing “drivers” that will get your phones ringing (more leads, more SALES)…now. You could even double or triple the business you have. Though times are tough, some savvy business owners are going to dramatically GROW their sales. It might as well be you.

This month, I’m opening up the files. Get ready for lots of great business tips gleaned from the smartest business people I know. I spend much of each day on the phone, talking business. On the seminar trail, I meet lots of folks who love to tell me what works for them…and what NOT to do. I’d love to share this wisdom with you. So here is a collection of Do’s and Don’t’s for every area of your business.

We continue on the subject begun two weeks ago, the operation of a deluxe showroom intended to spur merchandise sales and bath and kitchen remodeling work. We discussed factors to consider in setting up the showroom and staffing it, and offered a sample chart of accounts for keeping track of its financial performance.