The first thing to realize about finding good employees is that the best ones usually are working for someone else. Capable people don't stay unemployed for long. Once in awhile, you might bump into a top-notch person who just got laid off, moved into your area or for some other understandable reason, is in need of a job. Just don't hold your breath waiting for it to happen.
Everyone would agree "word of mouth is the best form of advertising." It's free, effective and substantive. A referral leaves you with a good feeling, because you know it's the result of a job well done for some satisfied customer.
This letter is aimed at residential heating contractors and might need some tweaking for your business clientele-especially if you cater to commercial customers more than homeowners.
I'm in a bad mood right now, which makes it a good time to address a pet peeve. The reason is a phone call I made-two phone calls, actually-trying to reschedule an annual appointment with my ophthalmologist.
This subject came up in a conversation with a friend of mine who runs a sizable plumbing service company. This article will share the issues we discussed.
The lowest of the lowbrows are people taken by the transparent Internet con games. By now everyone with an e-mail address has been contacted by an African of supposedly royal heritage willing to cut you in on millions of ill-gotten dollars if only you will assist in getting the moolah out of the country. A variation on the theme has an alleged lawyer searching for a living relative of someone with your last name who was tragically killed in a car accident leaving lots of money behind. Or you've been notified of winning a foreign lottery that you never knew existed.
In last month's article, I dealt with the white-collar segment of construction industry theft represented by embezzlement. Now, let's turn our attention to the more common problems associated with the theft of tools, equipment and materials, which can be thought of as construction's "blue collar" crime wave.
Rarely do you find anyone in the construction business who hasn't been victimized by "shrinkage" of tools, equipment and inventory. Most estimates peg construction theft to be a $1 billion "industry." Pilferage is estimated to add a percentage point or two to the cost of new homes and small commercial buildings.
Jeff Edson of Restoration Roofing, formerly Western Systems Inc., in Longmont, Colo., had a dilemma. There was another roofing company nearby with a similar name (Western Roofing) and customers tended to confuse the two, so Jeff decided to enact a name change.