The current recession has shaken some longstanding beliefs among many contractors, chief among them is, “The Price is the Price.” That is a mantra I have heard hundreds of times from our founder, Frank Blau. It is a founding principle of Nexstar. It is Frank’s way of saying, numbers don’t lie. If your costs equal X, your selling price has to equal X plus your desired profit percentage. Stick to your guns and charge the price you need.

There is a tired old cliché about “looking a gift horse in the mouth” – and it certainly applies to the notion that business owners routinely ignore ways to get free advertising for their businesses. That’s right – FREE. But many suspect that there are strings attached to anything that is free. Human nature dictates pessimism.

“Gut instinct” tells us that we must do something, and do it quickly, but in far too many cases we just don’t know how to go about it. All too often, procrastination results in finance trouble. Unfortunately, the first thought that enters the average contractor’s mind for generating more sales and profits, is to go after more business by adding more men, buying or leasing additional trucks, purchasing more tools, etc. Sometimes such expansion makes sense but more often it simply betrays lack of imagination and courage.