Around the House Pro Insider

We have a people shortage in the design and construction world. That means your competitors are trying to get your people to come work for them. Do you have a defensive plan for that? Are you developing new talent to bring up to your A team? Lets talk about what you can do to keep those great people on your team and how you develop a plan to train new ones. Thanks for listening to Around the house...

We have all been pushing ourselves really hard. A busy 2019 trying to street fight through a pandemic... and now we are headed into Memorial Day weekend 2021. Is it time you put down the phone, close up the laptop, set that out of office assistant and do something you enjoy? We talk about that in today's Pro Insider Podcast. Thanks for listening to Around the house if you want to hear more please...

In construction today there is a massive vacuum of new talent coming into the trades, design and management. That toxic employee, manager, or CEO can trash an organization in just a few months. Even worse.... is it you? We take 10 minutes and discuss what can be done to make changes to fix this and what can be done to quickly turn around company culture. Thanks for listening to Around the house if...

This year is going to be a challenge to the residential building and remodeling industry. Are you ready for these challenges? Here are my tips for exceeding those goals in 2021 and 2022. We are in for a rough ride... are you ready? Thanks for listening to Around the house if you want to hear more please subscribe so you get notified of the latest episode as it posts at https://around-the-house-wit...

Having a business partner is like having another marriage but without that loving feeling. There are some very successful partnerships and there are ones that ended really badly. Here are the steps I would take before you even seriously consider taking on one. If you navigate this incorrectly it can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars and even your business itself. Here is my story and what...

The National Association of Home Builders came out today with lumber prices adding $36,000 to the price of a new house. If it was a multifamily home, this costs a new renter $119 a month. We dive into a short discussion on where we are at with remodeling and building and here are my predictions for the year ahead. Thanks for listening to Around the house if you want to hear more please subscribe s...

Homeowners deserve to understand how much a project is going to cost before construction begins. Many Designers and Contractors spend dozens of hours on each project working for free putting together extremely detailed free estimates. We dive into this subject of how you can get that information to the homeowner without spending hundreds of hours each year working for free. We talk about how...

Home Depot a few years ago started fighting to gain more return business with the Pro Consumer. That segment is worth about 400 billion dollars today. Now Lowe’s is tossing its hat in the ring with new services and features trying to pull those consumers back from the Orange store and local lumberyards. Let’s discuss how they are planning to take those customers and turn them into Lowes consumers....

The Contractor vs Designer relationship can be a difficult one. The contractor has their hang ups with the designer and the designer has their hang ups with the contractor. How do both sides navigate this and make a workable relationship? Let’s talk about my secrets to make this work seamlessly between both parties. There is a lot of planning that should be done when you first work together before...

In today's Pro Insider Podcast we tackle the myth of is "The Customer Always Right"? This can be a massive issue in your project and your liability as a designer or contractor. Take a listen as this episode was inspired by a contractors social media post of the night before that exposed them to a huge liability. Thanks for listening to Around the house if you want to hear more please subscribe so...

How do you grow your design or construction business from a small one to a medium sized firm? It might seem easy but when you are in the trenches it is as scary as a business failing. Here are some of my safe steps to managing growth and how to delegate without having to hire employees. Lets talk about that in under 12 minutes.  Thanks for listening to Around the house if you want to hear mor...

Are you a kitchen and bath designer and want to gain more education and advance your career? Maybe stay on top of new products and design trends? We talk with Janice Costa, founder of the KB Designers Network about her program to assist the kitchen and bath design industry. This whole program is based on creativity and connections. This is an episode you won’t want to miss. To find out more head t...

Do you have a system that stops potential clients from falling through the cracks? If you were on the outside of your organization and were calling in as a new customer how easy is it to talk to someone? Do they get a return call? These are issues that have really plagued our industry and appear to be getting worse and not better. Today we talk about my secrets to building a system so that this ra...

Running your design, retail, or construction company is a hard job. Being a part of the management team is a tough one as well. However, as part of management you are the leaders of company culture. It comes down from the top. Today we will talk about how you can affect culture and keep those employees with simple changes to your day to day workings. When it comes down to company culture and happi...

Tracking your incoming leads is an important task. Are they shrinking? Are they growing? Are you closing them? This is an important data point, so you know if you are bringing in enough clients to keep your business growing at your pace. That way you catch the problems before they get to be a massive issue. Over the last two years business has changed so lets talk about how you make sure things ar...

This has been a wild week across the country with weather. However, with our push for electric vehicles it has exposed an Achilles Heel to recharging that vehicle. In my area and in many others this week there have been massive power outages. At my house we were down for about 5 days. I am one of the lucky ones as I know of plenty of people that might have another week before they get service. If...

Failure is never fun. What can we learn from it? A lot! Here are my quick tips in preventing and dealing with things when they go sideways. Our industry saw things go sideways this week for many people. Lets see how we can learn from it. Thanks for listening to Around the house if you want to hear more please subscribe so you get notified of the latest episode as it posts at https://around-the-hou...

Just like in football you can’t just have one big player and the rest follow along to success. In Construction, Design, and Remodeling it takes a solid team for you to win. No matter what you define winning as. Let’s talk about the key mindsets to have around you and the ones you need to remove. Plus, Eric has a solid warning for something to be watched right now that could have you bleeding money...

For many continuing education can be a drag. Its not fun to sit in a classroom and learn in an industry you have worked in for decades. However, your best opportunity in the next year is right now for learning a little about this ever-changing world of construction. Take a listen to this week’s Pro Insider Special  Thanks for listening to Around the house if you want to hear more please subsc...

For our Pro Insider today I predict some changes that will effect how Kitchen and Bath Designers do business in 2021. If you work in a lumberyard, design studio, Kitchen and bath remodeling company, or are an independent designer. This special is for you. Check it out! We would also like to thank our sponsor NaturalSof and Solo Sales Company. To find out more you can find them here! Tell them Eric...

 We are in some divisive times right now. We have half the country thinking one way and the other headed in another direction. How is your company going to handle that? Do you have policies in place to keep your employees from making your company the focus of tomorrows headlines? How are your online meetings? Are you having political discussions before your client shows up? Let’s talk about h...

Seven days in and we are already wondering what is going on in 2021? Did it just tell 2020 to hold its beer? Here are my predictions for our construction and design industry for 2021 and where I see things headed. All that and MORE in today’s Pro Insider podcast. We would also like to thank our sponsor NaturalSof and Solo Sales Company. To find out more you can find them here! Tell them Eric G sen...

I think we can all agree 2020 was a strange year for any business. Even with it being a wild time we still need to review what was profitable and what did we do that wasn’t. This review can make a HUGE difference in your next year so that you can focus on your business plan and the health of your company. We will dive into that and more in todays Pro Insider! We would also like to thank our new sp...

If you look Carrie Akre up on Wikipedia it talks about her being an American musician best known for her work with Seattle underground bands  Hammerbox  and  Goodness . Often referred to as, "The Queen of Seattle Music" she has taken on a new project with her Carrie Akre Creative https://www.carrieakrecreative.com/ and has been spreading her wisdom and helping people make those big...

This pandemic has created a ton of new buying habits. Your customers and clients are changing. To be fair I have been using this business model successfully for nearly 15 years. It is nothing new in my world but 2021 is going to finally be the death of the large and expensive kitchen and bath showroom. We will talk in today’s show about why this is the case and what designers can do to be lean and...