Tegrey

Matt, Honestly we don't have a weakest attribute. If I could list anything, I'd say my own personal organization. We have pretty much everything in place. Keeping it there is my responsibility. That is where I am weak! Kinda like giving the keys to your 16 year old and telling them to drive safely! LOL Make sense. Thank you.

I can't HEAR you!

Serve Right Makes sense. We should all practice a little. What do you think? Thank you.

!!! What? I certainly don't like the way some others do business. So What? We all have to pay for our own sins. However, we can all still be Brothers and Sisters? PEACE

Mel, Very nice write up. Having fun and growing your business is awsome! Please send us all a bowl we'd like to share your fun!

Unfortunately, the word Contractor is used as needed. Also if we look into the word Professional, it doesn't mean anything about quality or work, only if we get paid. Too many mis uses of wording?

Scott, Every town has someone like this. They are usually mentally ill, collect a pension from the government and believe in what they are doing. I delt with many folks like this over the years. As a paramedic, I gave them a ride to the hospital on occasion. They are not to be feared, but be aware they could be pushed to violence if provoked enough. I usually just response with a positive attitude towards them, but let them know I don't want to be bothered. They will go away? LOL If not, they will be your friend? LOl

Dan, We are experts at what we do. No Handyman can offer what we do. They are strickly for price shoppers. We don't want their (price shoppers), business any way. Being the best and offering the service and quality of work we do sets us apart. We don't do capentry, relplace doors and drywall or put down floors. We do the very best painting and pressure washing in our area. People know this and hire us for our service. Hope this helps. Thank you.

from: www.tegreypainting.com Happy New Years! We wish you a safe and joyous Holidays. May GOD Bless you and yours a wonderful New Year.

Everyone B Safe!

What ?

Any show that benefits us, we would go if possible. I like just to talk to the vendors and get their opinions on things. It lets them know about us and us about them. All good.

jlc, If you have the opportunity to weather wood before installation & staining it will certainly last longer. I'd check with the supplier of the IPE before you do anything to it. It is an exotic wood and needs to be treated differently.

We attended last year. It is a great site to see large equipment and concrete equipment. As far as anything for residential, it hardly exists. Even small business doesn't have a lot to offer. For concrete, it has to be #1. We went primarily for a vacation. I'd recommend it if you stain or refinish concrete. For PWing, very little to offer. Great for gambleing! LOL

Beth & Rod, Great post & info on all the conventions. This is a great lifeline to the rest of the world. I hope many posters will list their experience at the different convention sites. This may save time and money on picking which to attend this year. Money being slow, we will all benefit from the info. Thank you.

A Special Gift from Santa Claus

Beth, One thing I loved about the DC area when I lived there. Always excitement somehweres!

Note: This will affect the PW industry. Viability= Capable of living or developing under normal or favorable conditions. From President BUSH'S office. This is what GM & Chrysler agreed to. They have till March 31st 09 to complete this. Will they? What if they do, how will it affect your business? If not, How will it affect your business?

Jon, Sorry for you problem. I hope it all worked out for you. If there is anything we can do, please let us know. Have a Happy Holidays.

It took three times, but I finally got on? Thank you.

Great post Rod. I also believe that the fat of many companys will soon disapear. The hard working labor or those who want to sit around and collect pay from an business will go by by? We may have hired a person yesterday to do deliveries or clean our equipment. Today we do it ourselves. Many people who bought homes or started business without the proper funding will disapear also. A good business owner has a business plan. They were ready for this downturn. They knew that the money will not always be easy to get. Well, here we are. Now we must face the music. We will all have to cut back. We need to evaluate what we do and how we do it. I believe the times are not easy, but will benefit the smart business owner? I only wish I were 30 with a million to invest! LOL That is a good dream. Facing the music and looking at laid off employees hurts my feelings. I want our employees to be profitable all the time. I want them to share the good times. Now they must also face some bad times. Again, it will make them stronger. They will learn the basics of survival. When we start the turn and get to better times, they will be back enjoying the benefits again. I also read the article about credit terms. We have been sucked dry by the vultures too often. The blood sucking vermits must now be delt with. I support the auto businesses, but believe they need to take a smaller bite also. Dan, Hope fully we will grow out of this situation quickly. If so many will survive. If it takes too long, many more will not exist later. I believe the lowballers will always exist. There will be fewer and they will be smarter for it. They will live day to day, do what they must and charge enough to get by. This is where we as strong contractors take our knowledge and skills and show the people why they buy from us and why we charge more. Again, making us better for it. One very important item we believe is we will not lower our standards or prices. We will continue to work on our business as needed and grow our business as possible. Making us the Cream of the crop? I hope many other contractors share their ideas here. The importance of a good idea may save a company? Thank you.

Reading a good business book helps! How about a cat nap! LOL

I guess this shows us where our lives are going? We used to control our teenagers and they listened. They were actually part of the family. Check out who is playing all the games at Best Buy, etc. They are 15-40 yr olds. Sad as our lives have become, I guess it is for the best? A National report yesterday said, 50% of people own some form of electronic game. Of that 27% play games for over an hr a day. Nice. No wonder we do some of the things we do. Also taking out the personal contact we used to have. I would never text a customer unless asked to. There is no personal contact and they are only a number by texting? Am I way off? Thank you.

Michael, I have a son in law that would argue with you! He lives in Lexington NC. ! LOL I agree the meat is awsome no matter where you buy it. providing it is cooked right. It looks awsome! How much do you put away per yr.! Thank you.

Trouble is there are folks out there that believe in perfection. The problem is an easy solve. On any new construction, we always state on our contract, the dry wallers must provide a level 5 finish. We stste the customer must sign and approve, the walls and trim. If not accepted, they must go back to work. We also provide so many hrs. for touch ups. If the customer has a bug, someone else has to fix it. After all, our work is to paint a level 5 finish. It doesn't get any better. We also use the National standards of the PDCA. This is accepted by the AIA, and many other organizations. This lets the HO know what to expect from us and what they will get. Again solving a problem. If after all this paper work and our perfect painting job, there is usually not a problem. If there is we work out the problems or stop work and go to court. Nothing is a given though. We all have to just be firm and do our home work. Hopefully one day, the ***** will offer such standards, etc. One bit of suggestion, Never burn bridges. If you insult the HO, they will smear your name. If they have any pull in your community, you may go out of business? Hope this helps. Thank you.