Guys,
So what are your short or long term business goals? Obviously, we all want to make money…I want to make enough to not have to worry about the future…but what are the other things you look forward to?
Hiring people? A fleet of vehicles? Your own building? Public recognition?
Some of you may already have these things. But what are your goals?
Mike
Replies
I can always work for money but I want what I think I am worth and will not compete with the lowest common denominator.
I want just enough to keep me reasonably busy.
I want reasonable customers that I can work with reasonably.
I want another guy I can work with who has the same humour as me but has some different skills so we can learn from each other , wants to work and is willing to work hard for short periods of time.
I want to be known as doing good work for the average blue collar worker.
My goals are not to make lots of money or hire lots of people.
My goals since high school is not to be bored by work. Always try to do interesting things by taking the path less trod and I guess the biggest of the big is to have fun. Preferably with a buddy at work.( a guy buddy).
So I guess my business goals are really my personal goals (my life?)and are inseparatable. Dammit, I should get a hobby or something :-)
roger
goal is... to have fun...
fun to me...
is to see progress
jobs that make me think
not doing the exact same thing day in day out
and to benifit from my labor & risks
I want to fly below the radar... do my own thing.. and go on....
never had or set a goal... do the best & most i can do on any given day and be comfortable that..... thats what i did...
at some point i'd like my passive income to let me do or not do anything i want without the aid of banks & loans.... which i'm sure is the exact same time as banks would be coming to me asking me to let them lend me money...
p
Mike,
Here are my business goals for the short term:
1. Stay in business
Here are my business goals for the long term:
2. Stay in business.
Thanks
Mike
Enjoy your work
Enjoy your family
Enjoy food.
All else is vanity
from Ecclesiastes
Forrest - Bible-reading atheist
Build a building well enough so that my great, great grandchildren can go see it and say my great great granddad built that .
Make enough to pay the bills.
Fly below the radar .. but above the law.
Retirement .
I want to wake up some day with the biggest problem is where Im gonna fish.
Tim
short term goal- continue doing this as long as I'm enjoying it.
long term- pretty much the same.
I've done the employee bit, and didn't like it. Now I work ( mostly) on my own, and have about a 3-4 month backlog, which is about right for my comfort level.
I get a lot of repeat business and good referrals from my customers, and can't remember when I had to bid competitively against another contractor.
Get my marketing literature finished and mailed out to my target audience right up the hill.
Get back to a customer I already did an estimate for last week.
Get the numbers I deserve and give the people the best job possible and then some.
Only take jobs I like doing for people I can deal with.
Stay happy.
You know, not to generalize, but the 29% of people who still support President Bush are the ones who love to pronounce themselves more patriotic than the rest of us. But just saying you're patriotic is like saying you have a big one. If you have to say it, chances are it's not true.
http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
In the short term it's going to be a balancing act to keep clients happy and overhead down as we're coming to a crossroads of starting and finishing a number of projects relatively close together.
With existing clients mainly it's a challenge encouraging them to complete some aspects of their projects that we've reluctantly agreed to let them take care of, hopefully with a level of quality that matches our work. I know, I know...it's usually not the greatest idea to put quality in the hands of others, but it has let them build more house than they'd otherwise be able to.
Historically, as many of you can attest, letting clients be in charge of some aspects of finish work is bad for business overall because the results often can't be shown to new clients because of low quality that's out of our hands.
By the middle of the year I'd like to be handy enough with sketchup to render various interior builtins and such so that it saves some carpentry time with mock ups and whatnot, as well as makes for much better presentations. The finish carps at JLC are turning out such good renderings of potential projects that it's hard to not want to get on the bandwagon.
Along the same lines I've been resistant to use a laptop, but it goes hand-in-hand with the above, as well as client presentations/slideshows. The main reason I've been resistant is all the flash doesn't result in a better physical project, just a slicker presentation.
The rest of my one year goals are to continue construction as usual while increasing hours from 50 to 55 with the same level of stress and energy. I've started jogging to get more cardio and hopefully enough extra gas for those 5 hrs. We're also building the potential client base for projects in the second half of 2008 by staying in touch socially with the right people and finding interesting ways to be more active in the community.
In the next 5-10 years wear and tear is going to force me from 90% hands on/10% managment, to mostly managment. Unfortunately this means using more subs, quicker build times, more clients, more problems more often, more stress and less sleep. On the plus side it will be more profitable and client satisfaction is higher with quicker build times (even with an end product that's no different).
The most intimidating challenge of making the transition is stress. Currently I get so involved with projects that things have to be done right or I get stressed out. Working well with an increasing number of carps, subs and clients means a new paradigm of how these interactions are viewed and a step back emotionally from the various projects. The main 5 year goals are related to reducing this gap so the transition to strictly project managment won't be so difficult.
Giving up another level of control would be working for a larger builder of custom homes as a project manager. When the time comes maybe this will be the right path, maybe not. For the most part my personal satisfaction comes from quality construction first, client satisfaction second, and profitability third. I'd have to start building with with those three switched.
Good goal setting!
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
looking long term,more time to do what i want to do and enjoy. money is one of the lowest motivators for me,always has been and now i'm in my 50's is getting lower priority all the time. still have lots of bills and could spend lots ,but i want MORE TIME!
this i know,when i die i will have some money,but i won't have anymore time!
larry
hand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.
Started out wanting to work on my own and make a living. Did that.
Next if I could hire a guy or two I could do bigger jobs and maybe 2 at a time sometimes. If I got sick I would still make some money. A building would be nice too. Did that.
Next, wonder how big this can get and if I can have something to sell/leave to my son. Doing that.
I like working for me because it is ever evolving. Some guys get into the craftsmanship of it all. I like the business end of it. So, in answer to your question, I already surpassed 2 sets of goals. No telling where this round will wind up. DanT
Surviving until I can either raid my 401K or move to Carolina.
George Patterson, Patterson Handyman Service
For the really long term, when I was 19 I wrote my goal of "self-employed financial independence." Still working on that one!
short term is developement of more business skills, and people skills. Both while keeping my eye on the money side of things.
An aspect that I enjoy about residential remodeling is getting to know some of my clients pretty well. I never would have expected that when I started, but is one of the reasons I chose to stay in it when I had other possibilities pop up. I've learned things from clients that I would not have the opportunity to if I punched a factory clock, or worked in a cubicle.
Bowz
Bowz,
Interesting as I have found the exact same thing. The folks you meet and work for, by and large are very nice people.
Now if I (we) can just get a handle on the money part!
Funny how some of you guys have said the money is not the most important goal to you. I don't want to sound money-hungry but it is for me as I don't know how folks get by on little to even moderate incomes in areas of relative high cost of living like Florida. Between property taxes and insurance, I need to make an extra $20k a year just to pay those!
Mike
i'm one of those that said money is not that important. but your right,if you don't have enough to live and pay the bills it gets pretty important. my income is strictly from rentals and it has it's up's and downs, but the bottom line is i haven't missed a meal yet so i'm fine with it.
money and how much is enough is all prospective,got a friend that easily kicks out 750-1mil a year net,if he has a 50k month he freaks out ,acts like he might not be able to eat that night. giveme a break, i don't know about you but tommorrow if i make 2 grand and the next day........ i wouldn't know where to spend it all. i could live 5 years on his income tax bill. larryhand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.
Larry,
Yes, I agree as I have friends who are the same way. One told me he needs at least $250k a year just to "get by". Huh?
I have just always wanted to NOT have to fear about the future and if something should happen like I break a leg or something, missing work for a few months would not financially hurt us.
Mike
"I have just always wanted to NOT have to fear about the future and if something should happen like I break a leg or something, missing work for a few months would not financially hurt us."
Thats been my mind set as well as retirement .
As the farmer said , " you need to figgure out a way to make money while you are asleep".
Can I make a living while IM flat on my back ?
I think its all about money anyway its dressed up to look like its not .
It takes money and its resource .
I never knew a happy marriage that couldnt pay their electric bill.
Ill quit.
Tim
Mike,
I wouldn't say money is not important. More correctly I would say what money does and is able to do can have importance. But it is also a conscious effort not to draw self-esteem from money and "things".
Clearly finances tie into business and personal goals. I don't see how they can be veiwed as seperate.
Bowz
Mike,
My short term (this year) goals are:
Improve my sales/marketing technique. For me this means doing a better job prequalifying and then engaging the customer to make them want to hire me.
Improving follow up w/ past clients. Good referrals come from satisfied customers. . . when they are thinking of you.
Improving my book keeping and expanding my accounting knowledge. This last year I got a better handle on what it costs me to be in business and knowing my numbers has made a world of difference in pricing a job as well as the confidence in selling that price.
Last but not least, completing my taxes in Jan. instead of April ;).
Still thinking about long term objectives.