Remodeling Mastery by Mark Richardson

Thank you for listening to Remodeling Mastery! Become one of our 50,000 listeners by subscribing today—just search for ‘Remodeling Mastery’ on your podcast app of choice. (0:27) In This Episode: Misconceptions Mark wraps his head around a few common misconceptions he sees out in the industry. If you are led by misconceptions and guided by these beliefs, then you might find yourself in some unique challenges...all of which are avoidable, if you just had a good pulse on the industry. Mark walks us through 10 common misconceptions and shares how you can think about these in your own business. (13:03) Thought Leader Interview with Bill Baldwin, CEO and Principal of Hartman Baldwin Business is business, but when you’ve got a $9M entrepreneurial company on one hand and a $21M professionally-managed company on the other, you’re dealing with entirely different beasts. Bill Baldwin has dealt with both, to great success. What did it take for HartmanBaldwin to bust through the entrepreneurial ceiling and become one of the top design/build firms, not just in SoCal, but nationwide? Tune in to find out!

Thank you for listening to Remodeling Mastery! Become one of our 50,000 listeners by subscribing today—just search for ‘Remodeling Mastery’ on your podcast app of choice. (1:27) In This Episode: How Are You Doing? It’s a question many of us resort to when breaking the ice, one that often just disappears into the background of day-to-day conversations. But when we’re talking shop, knowing how to look at the question, run it through objective filters, and answer it critically is a vital skill. Mark G. Richardson breaks it down in a way that will take you beyond your personal glass-half-full/glass-half-empty biases and help you come to terms with the true state of your business. So… how are you doing? (13:36) Thought Leader Interview with Kermit Baker, Project Director of the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University and Chief Economist for the American Institute of Architects If anybody has anything close to a crystal ball into the future of remodeling, it’s Kermit Baker. Tune in as he and Mark compare notes on what’s been going on so far in 2019, what the latter half of the year has in store for us, and what’s likely to come in 2020 and beyond. Are we seeing storm clouds up ahead? Headwinds? Tailwinds? How should these forecasts affect your game plan for your business? Find out all this and more in this Thought Leader segment.

Thank you for listening to Remodeling Mastery! Become one of our 50,000 listeners by subscribing today—just search for ‘Remodeling Mastery’ on your podcast app of choice. (1:06) In This Episode: Tailwinds How do you know if your remodeling business’s health is a product of your efforts or of current headwinds and tailwinds in the industry? Are you really going at it with all pistons firing, or are you just along for the ride? These are the questions Mark challenges you to answer in this episode of Remodeling Mastery. Don’t miss out! Your ability to identify and address the macro phenomena affecting your business can spell the difference between making it to your destination and sitting dead in the water. (13:37) Thought Leader Interview with Mark McClanahan, President of Mosby Building Arts Today’s Thought Leader segment is a case study on successful succession planning. Mark McClanahan gives us an inside look at Mosby Building Arts’ secrets to smooth leadership transitions. How do you avoid the all-too-common pitfalls of leadership vacuums, loss of momentum, and watered-down brand identity? How do you raise forward-looking leaders who can stay in alignment with your original vision without getting mired in “the way things are done around here”? Keep your Notes app on standby—there’s a lot to learn!

Thank you for listening to Remodeling Mastery! Become one of the 40,000 listeners by subscribing today at www.surefirelocal.com/remodeling-mas…ery-subscribe/ or by searching for Remodeling Mastery on your podcast app of choice. In this episode: (1:09) In This Episode: Disruptive Influences Nothing forces a remodeling business to change (for better or worse) quite like a disruptor. From the big box stores of the 80s and home and garden shows of the 90s, all the way to today’s Google Local Services ads, we’ve seen time and again how disruptors change the game irreversibly and in the most fundamental ways. But more important than knowing what’s behind these far-reaching changes is knowing how to react and adjust to them. In this episode of Remodeling Mastery, Mark talks about three disruptive influences displacing established systems in home improvement: time, technology and transparency. (11:24) Thought Leader Interview with Tony Mancini, Publisher and Group Director at SGC Horizon For today’s Thought Leader segment, Mark brings in Tony Mancini, whose long career in design and construction journalism and publishing has given him incredible insight into key areas of the home improvement industry. They talk about seismic shifts in the marketplace, the scale and pace of change, trends in tech innovation and adaptation, and much, much more. If you’re an overwhelmed, time-starved remodeler struggling to stay current, make sure you stick around to the very end of this episode. In 2019, Mark G. Richardson is taking his popular podcast series to the next level with a fresh new format in store for listeners. Mark will be integrating interviews with thought leaders who have experienced tremendous success in the industry and growing their own businesses to share snippets of wisdom to help you achieve the same. Additionally, Mark is bringing in some experts to share key indicators that they're seeing out there in the marketplace that could have a monumental impact on your business.

Thank you for listening to Remodeling Mastery! Become one of our 50,000 listeners by subscribing today—just search for ‘Remodeling Mastery’ on your podcast app of choice. (0:52) In This Episode: Are You Stressed Out? This episode of Remodeling Mastery gives us a much-needed look at something all business owners are intimately familiar with: stress. Contractors today experience stress at levels higher and in ways more complex than ever before. Not managed properly, it can suck the joy out of your business and make effective problem solving near impossible. So what’s a business owner to do when things are threatening to spiral out of control? That’s what Mark Richardson is here to talk about. (17:52) Thought Leader Interview with Rick Wuest, President and CEO of Thompson Creek Window Company Mark and Rick take a trip down memory lane to see how Thompson Creek and the larger home improvement industry have changed over the past couple of decades. They go deep into the importance of balancing forward momentum and stability at a time when the pace of change is accelerating everywhere in the home services space: do we stay ahead of the wave, behind it or just in it? Finally, Rick touches on the difference between worrying about things you can’t control and active problem solving. If you’ve ever been kept up at night by the thought of where your business is heading, make time to tune in to this segment. “Charles Darwin figured it out a long time ago: it’s not the strongest of the species nor the most intelligent that survives, it’s the one that’s most able to adapt.” —Rick Wuest

Thank you for listening to Remodeling Mastery! Become one of the 48,000 listeners by subscribing today at https://www.surefirelocal.com/remodeling-mastery-subscribe/ or by searching for Remodeling Mastery on your podcast app of choice. (1:28) In This Episode: Time is Not on Your Side Mark talks about the biggest disruptor for a business, discussing how time between the moment a prospect connects with you to the point they decide to actually do a project is growing, no thanks to time-starved busy clients to a proliferation of choices that can also overwhelm. In this episode, he also outlines what he believes businesses can do to offset the effects of time, helping spur growth by knowing your numbers, tweaking processes, categorizing prospects, and creating urgencies. (12:40) Thought Leader Interview With Eric Minkiewicz, President and CEO of Huff ‘N Puff Eric starts off with how Huff ‘N Puff got its name, giving listeners a quick rundown of the company’s history and talking about his career experience leading up to joining the home improvement industry professionally in 2001. He and Mark also got into the nitty-gritty of creating focused products and services, as well as the keys to Huff ‘N Puff’s success (Clue: A great deal of it involves 100% commitment) and the mistakes business owners should avoid, including what keeps Eric up at night. Don’t miss out on this episode! Subscribe to Remodeling Mastery using your favorite podcast app! In 2019, Mark G. Richardson is taking his popular podcast series to the next level with a fresh new format in store for listeners. Mark will be integrating interviews with thought leaders who have experienced tremendous success in the industry and growing their own businesses to share snippets of wisdom to help you achieve the same. Additionally, Mark is bringing in some experts to share key indicators that they’re seeing out there in the marketplace that could have a monumental impact on your business.

Thank you for listening to Remodeling Mastery! Become one of the 50,000 listeners by subscribing today by searching for Remodeling Mastery on your podcast app of choice. (1:21) In This Episode: The 10 Commandments of the Successful Business What does it take to be a successful business? Definitions of success will vary, but to Mark, it’s having as many of the puzzle pieces as possible. In this episode of Remodeling Mastery, he shares 10 of these “puzzle pieces” gleaned through his writing and observations of the marketplace to help you take your business to the next level. (12:02) Thought Leader Interview With Andy Wells, President and CEO of Normandy Remodeling Mark turns to Andy for insights that business owners can use to guide them in reaching the scale that Normandy Remodeling has achieved over the years working with more than 5,000 design-build projects in Chicago ranging in cost from $50,000 to $1,000,000. Andy also offers a look at his roots and the career path he took until he became a part of the company, reiterates the importance of knowing your numbers to succeed in business and gives his market outlook for 2019. He and Mark also got to talking a bit about mistakes made and lessons learned along the way, plus tips for growth business owners should take to heart. Don’t miss out on these nuggets of business wisdom!

Thank you for listening to Remodeling Mastery! Become one of the 50,000 listeners by subscribing today by searching for Remodeling Mastery on your podcast app of choice. (2:06) In This Episode: Why Should You Make Cash Flow a Priority? Few players in the remodeling space are strangers to the cash crunch. It’s practically built into the business: cash flow goes up and down due to seasonality, remodeling trends and changes in the greater economy, among other factors. But one thing that separates successful businesses from those that lose track of their goals is their commitment to making cash flow a priority. In this episode of Remodeling Mastery, Mark delves into the hows and whys of cash flow: why it matters so much, how much cash you should have on hand, ways to improve your cash flow, and more. (14:57) Thought Leader Interview with Tom Kelly, President and CEO of the Neil Kelly Corporation Mark picks Tom’s brain on some of the things that made Neil Kelly the nationally recognized, multi-award-winning company it is today—from company culture to the many “potholes” they’ve run into in their 70+ years in business. We also hear about what gets Tom out of bed in the morning, what it takes to be a certified B Corp, what he’s most looking forward to in the next few years, and his thoughts on luck versus diligence. “Businesses are one of the most important vehicles for good social change.” —Tom Kelly

Thank you for listening to Remodeling Mastery! Become one of the 48,000 listeners by subscribing today at https://www.surefirelocal.com/remodeling-mastery-subscribe/ or by searching for Remodeling Mastery on your podcast app of choice. (1:45) In This Episode: How Do You Look at Things When It Comes to Your Business? A recent Reuters poll of economists says there is a 25% chance of a recession later this year or early into 2020. What does this mean for the home services vertical? According to Mark, it is critical that businesses learn how to look at forecasts like this—more so, in fact, than simply seeking outright answers from an expert. Tune in to hear his seven tips on processing and responding to growing concerns over a future recession. “You don’t have to abandon [your] priorities and goals just because you have to change how you get there.” —Mark G. Richardson. (13:06) Thought Leader Interview with Josh Kelly, Former Marketing Director for Parker & Sons and Founding Member of RevuKangaroo Josh talks us through what it took for a family-owned company to scale up what was essentially a “grudge purchase” service to a $100M-a-year business. He goes deep into the importance of locking down customers, strategies for making the most out of every lead, and the secrets to working with, for and around family members. We also get to hear his and Mark’s thoughts on industry disruptors: do they think home services business should ride the wave of disruption or stay the course? Stick around to find out!

Thank you for listening to Remodeling Mastery! Become one of the 45,000 listeners by subscribing today at https://www.surefirelocal.com/remodeling-mastery-subscribe/ or by searching for Remodeling Mastery on your podcast app of choice. (0:30) In This Episode: Do You Scream Value? One of the biggest mistakes a business can make is to assume everyone sees the value in you and your product or service. You may offer value, but are you actually communicating it to your customer? Ultimately, it is the perception of value that opens doors to brand recognition, stronger sales and customer loyalty. That’s why it’s more important than ever that your business screams value. In this episode, Mark offers a seven-point checklist that will help you do just that. “People buy when the value is greater than the price.” —Sales Adage (14:34) What’s Happening? with Kermit Baker, Chief Economist for the American Institute of Architects and Project Director of the Remodeling Futures Program at Harvard University Kermit is back with an update on the pulse of the remodeling industry. Right now, his “crystal ball” is showing headwinds ahead in the form of labor shortages and rising interest rates, wages and material prices. Tune in to to hear his tips on maintaining forward momentum while navigating current market conditions. (21:42) Thought Leader Interview with Chris Marentis, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Surefire Local Mark puts the spotlight on our very own Chris Marentis, who shares his success story along with key insights into digital marketing for remodeling contractors. How can a very high-touch business adapt to an increasingly online world? What baby steps should remodelers be taking to keep up with all the disruptions to the search landscape? This is one segment you don’t want to miss!