Carlton's Corner: Decorative Dangers, Part 1:
Surviving the Slowdown. Keeping your decorative concrete business profitable during periods of economic slowdown.
by Doug Carlton
and we must react to it to keep business moving forward. I'm pretty sure by now everyone has realized the housing market has corrected itself and the winds of change are blowing through most every community. The good news is that the strong housing boom of the past has given the decorative industry a strong foothold. But, we must commit to the direction of the new market. I will outline three options to help shift your company into a market that will continue to stay strong regardless of how well the housing sector performs.
First, I want to share a story that happened early in my career. A friend of mine was working as a receptionist for a custom home builder and mentioned to me in passing that their subcontractors were unable to keep up with the workload.
"This may be the break I'm looking for," I said to myself as I entered my prearranged meeting. I left with a full set of plans and a smile from ear to ear. My small company started the foundation work on a new custom home and we were well on our way to the next level when a strange thing happened. The vice president and superintendent appeared on the job site with another set of plans and asked if we could start another project when we completed the first.
"Absolutely," I said before he finished his last sentence. That was more than 18 years ago.
Last week my decorative concrete company stamped more than $30,000 on projects for this same gentleman, and next month we will do close to the same. He has long since moved on and is now working with one of our city's leading remodel firms. Before that, he worked for a family firm and handled all real estate development and construction. Each move this gentleman made up the career ladder led my company to new clients. I'll be willing to bet this one man has led me to well over $1.5 million of work.
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