Ron and I both present keynote speeches, seminars and workshops for industry conventions and company specific organizations . If you are interested in a list of our seminar topics or workshops feel free to drop us an email. In case you are in Las Vegas this week I will be speaking at the National Pavement Exposition West located at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

• On Friday November 21st, at 8:00 am I will present the popular 90 minute seminar tilted “Secrets of Successful Job Costing and Creating Measurable Goals”.
• On Saturday November 22nd, at 8:00 am I will present the renowned 90 minute seminar tilted “Gotcha! Attitude Is Everything In Sales”

Hope to see you at one of our future presentations or we would be delighted to customize one just for your organization.

Guy and Ron

I just reviewed the list of 85 newsletters that Ron has written over the last 2 years. They have given you readers an awesome amount of helpful information and inspiration. Oh and did I mention that Ron provided these free of charge!

I figure that at an average of 1500 words per newsletter multiplied by 85 issues, Ron has provided you with facts and information equivalent to two business books. Again Ron has done this selflessly without pay and much praise.

So I ask all of you who have benefited to send Ron a thank you email. Send it to: ron@filtyrichcontractor.com

For those of you who haven’t subscribed yet… What are you waiting for? It is some of the best info. and advice out there for contractors.

Ron thanks for your newsletter, partnership and friendship!

Guy

I thought about posting this blog before the election took place but I just was unable to find the time to accomplish it. Let me reiterate that we do not promote or discuss any political viewpoints on our website. The purpose of this post is very direct. Don’t allow national or state election results or the state of the economy to provide an excuse as to why you or your company is not doing as well as it should.

Unless you are part of a global or national company which probably excludes most of our readers you can develop a strategic plan that will minimize the impact of what the economy and government have on your business. Don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t mean that you necessarily can continue doing things the same way you always have. Change has been and will continue to be in the making for most facets of the construction industry. The reality is you have control on what changes your company will make. We also have a choice on how we react to market conditions.

Now is the time to analyze your business according to our six critical success factors which you can navigate to by clicking on this topic from our home page. One of the points I would like to make is for you to spend less time worrying and allocate more time to planning your future successes.

Guy and Ron

Had lunch today with a couple of pipe fitters.

Good food. Good conversation.

I find that field guys often have really insightful perspectives about business and life. Anyway…

During the conversation each threw out a saying that they had heard recently. One from his minister and the other during a visitation. I thought you might reading enjoy them.

From Danny:

“Following the path of least resistance makes rivers and men run crooked.”

From Ray:

“Uphold your name. Every morning, your goal should be to better your name. Everything you do throughout the day should better your name. In the end, people remember your name.”

Thank you Danny and Ray for the sage advice.

Best of luck with your business.

Ron & Guy

You know when you’re listening to someone or reading something how a word will really grab your attention in a new way? A word that is very familiar to you but suddenly hits you with a new meaning or insight?

That happened to me the other day.

In this case, the word that made me go “hmmmm” was TALENT.

I hear the words ABILITY and SKILL used frequently.  When I heard a talk radio guy mention that a well known public figure had a TALENT, I thought eureka! That’s a great way to phrase a person’s natural gifts. They are TALENTS.

When you hear that someone does or does not have a certain talent, you know what that means, right? It means the related task will be really easy or really hard for the individual to perform.

It made me think about the difficulties of running a business by yourself. The wide range of talents required to run a business effectively is almost mind boggling.

That wide range really points out the difficulties of being the one and only rock of your business. It explains why all great businesses, no matter how large or small, are built on a high performance team. Sure, they are inspired, lead, and driven by the top dog. But, it takes a team to pull it off because rare is the person who was born with all the talents necessary to run smoothly something as complex as a business.

If you’ve been thinking that maybe you need to find some additional players to help you with your business, you’re probably right. It’s highly unlikely that you possess all the talents necessary to achieve your business goals all by yourself.

Wishing you the best of luck with your business.

Ron & Guy,
The Contractor’s Business Coach

Your bank probably hasn’t brought something to your attention that you need to be aware of. So, I’m going to. That’s what we’re here for, right?

A couple of weeks back, I deposited a check from a very large, very credible company. A company that has offices throughout the world. A day later, I happened to be looking at my account online and noticed my bank hadn’t cleared the deposit yet.  In other words the money wasn’t available.  It took three days for the money to become available.

Banks are allowed to take up to 3 days to clear deposits. When times are good, meaning when they can trust each other, deposits typically clear in less than a day. When times are not so good, meaning when they can’t trust each other - like right now, they take the full amount of time they are allowed by regulation.

Fortunately, I didn’t need my deposit to be accessible. Many contractors are not so lucky.

Many wait desperately for large checks on long past due accounts to arrive. They shout for joy the moment the check arrives and race off to the bank to deposit it. Often, due to payroll, payroll taxes, and overdue material bills, they need the money to be available almost the second it hits the bank.

That’s not going to happen right now or in the near future. Plan ahead. Keep a close eye on your bank accounts. Don’t try to withdraw the money before it is available.

Wishing you all the best.

Ron & Guy

You may think we’re kidding, but we’re not.

Guy and I are constantly instructing our clients to “Just ask.”

Wondering whether your clients have more work on the horizon?

Just ask.

Wondering whether the prospect is married to your competitor?

Just ask.

Wondering why your employee isn’t getting more done?

Just ask.

Can’t figure out how to close the sale?

Just ask (for it).

Guy and I advise it so frequently that it has become almost a running joke between us.  You’ll be amazed how often people will tell you what you want to know if you “Just ask.”

Give it try.

Best of luck with your business.

Ron & Guy

HELP!

Our blog header isn’t loading right and we can’t find a solution.

If you happen to know how to get an image to load in a non-standard size in a WordPress theme, please either call me (Ron: 913-961-1790) or leave a comment to this post.

The theme we use is Paalam-11.

The WordPress forum contends we are out of luck.

Ah, but they must be wrong.

My former webmaster had the old header working perfectly…until I undid all of his magic. There is a solution our there, we need help finding it.

Any and all assistance is GREATLY appreciated.

Ron and Guy

In case you haven’t heard contractors have a new political spokesperson.

“Joe the Plumber” was tossing a football in the front yard with his son while presidential candidate Barack Obama was canvassing the area where he lives. Obama approached Joe and solicited his questions. Joe is a plumber in Ohio who desires to purchase the company he has worked for for many years.

The rest is history with Joe making appearances on all the prominent talk shows and becoming a focal point of the third debate. If you’d like to see some of his interviews they are easily accessible by doing a “Joe the Plumber” search on the Internet.

First I’d like to start by saying that I think this guy “Joe the Plumber” is pretty bright and intuitive. Some pundits say that he has articulated some of the issues better than any of the candidates.

Joe asked Obama a fair question about how his policies would affect him if he purchased the plumbing business he was working for. Since that debut Joe “the Plumber” Wurzelbacher has been launched in the national political spotlight for both the Democratic and Republican campaigns.

But let’s not forget the real issue! Taxes!

Yes, I believe that taxes for small businesses are too high. However, I would never advise a contractor to stop growing their business to avoid paying more taxes.

Go out and grow your business by hiring the right people, getting the right customers, acquiring the proper tools and equipment to complete the work efficiently and profitably; and retain a good certified public accountant to help you with your tax planning.

With proper advice from a sharp accountant you should be able to retain at least sixty cents for every one dollar you earn. So go out and get more sales to make more money! By the way a side benefit is that you will stay in business longer.

The government needs to be accountable to all taxpayers for how they spend our money.

I’m not sure that “Joe the Plumber” represents the majority of contractors since he doesn’t even own a business today. But if and when Joe does by that plumbing business I’d rather that he decides who gets raises based on their contribution to the company and the merits and he puts into place rather than the government spreading his company profits equally to individuals taxes payers because they fall into a certain tax bracket.

Best of luck with your business,

Guy

Hello my name is Guy Gruenberg and I am now Ron’s new business partner. After many meetings in Kansas City and Chicago along with almost daily phone conversations for the last six months we have decided to merge our skills to help service contractors in need.

One of the neatest things for me was how aligned Ron and I are an analyzing and providing the best solutions for business problems. We have been jointly serving several contractors to success and are looking forward to working with many new clients in the upcoming months.

It was pretty interesting having to apply all the techniques that we preach to our clients for ourselves. You can expect more exciting things to come as we add services and resources to help you grow.

Oh, and by the way after many evenings making crucial decisions and imitating Denny Crane and Alan Shore by smoking cigars and sipping fine spirits we want your opinion.

Should we stay “The Contractors Business Coach” or change it to the proper grammar and make “Coach” plural? Let us know…

Guy