Contests that showcase handsome decorative concrete projects are helpful twofold — they promote quality craftspeople and they provide bona fide examples for companies that make or distribute the products. Either way, they’re good for business.
Business & Technology
From self-cleaning and self-repairing to bendable and glowing, concrete is constantly evolving, regularly bringing technologically improved products to market.
A Decorative Concrete Supply Store That Helps Its Customers Make Money
How Canadian construction supply retailer, Hard Rock Developments promotes decorative concrete and helps its customers make money, too.
Good Customer Service Goes Far Beyond the Initial Sale
If you are truly committed to service, not just the initial sale, then you’re not through when you’re done.
The Four Fundamentals of Any Business Strategy
Business strategy is the conscience you need for effective decision-making as you wade through the ambiguous waters of entrepreneurship. You face a lot of uncertainty as a decorative concrete business owner, and having a coherent business strategy is fundamental to minimizing that uncertainty.
Developing Effective Polishing Specifications for a School
Recently an architect who was writing the polished concrete specification for a school district contacted me when he recognized that he did not know enough. The good news is that he asked for help in crafting an informative and realistic specification that allows educated bids with room for profit.
Using the Four P’s of Marketing to Sell Concrete
Marketing activities exist in multiple forms. In 1960, marketer E. Jerome McCarthy identified four distinctive types of marketing, often referred to as the “four P’s”: product, price, place and promotion. This marketing mix provides a standard framework for a decorative concrete professional to communicate and deliver lasting value to customers.
Trends and Problems in a Weak Decorative Concrete Economy
Today’s trend has less to do with any certain product and more to do with a weak economy and saving money. Just like people are finding ways to make their cars go another year to save money, so too are they are looking for ways to make their existing concrete work another year.
New Ways to Sell Decorative Concrete
As adults we learn to communicate using our words when we want and need something. The use of certain words can change the entire intention of what someone is trying to say. For those who sell and install decorative concrete, when was the last time you thought about how words influence your client’s thought process regarding their decision to buy your products or services?
Case Studies Anchor a New Approach to Product Training
Almost all manufacturers of decorative concrete systems and equipment offer some sort of training on their products. Whether it is a one-hour watch-and-learn or a three-day hands-on class that people pay to attend, these programs have become mainstream in our industry.
What’s New in Decorative Concrete
If you missed this year’s World of Concrete in Las Vegas, let me bring you up to date on what is happening in the decorative concrete industry. The decorative all-stars were out in full force and they certainly delivered and the decorative concrete information highway ran straight through Las Vegas this year.
Recent
CIM Program Celebrates 30 Years of Developing Future Leaders
SESCO Cement Announces Rick Van Eyk as the CEO
PROSOCO breaks new ground with ICC‑ES listing for Blok‑Guard and anti‑graffiti products
American Concrete Institute Spring 2026 ACI Concrete Convention breaks attendance record in Rosemont, Ill.
Expanding Product Capabilities Following Strategic Acquisitions of Artcrete and Haivala
