Professional Watershaping
Last month, I began a discussion of things that those of us in the watershaping trades can do to improve our collective profile with the public - not to mention enhance our collective self-image. Education, of course, is a huge factor. And so is the level of professional courtesy with which we treat both clients and prospects. But those two points, discussed in detail last time, have less to do with the way we approach the practicalities of our businesses than is the case with another point that bears discussion: that is, project management and how we
During a presentation to a recent conference for the swimming pool and spa industry, I tossed this nugget to the audience: "By a show of hands, how many of you in this room believe that most people think highly of our industry? Please be honest." It was a mixed group of more than 160 people representing manufacturers, distributors, manufacturer's representatives, retailers, service/maintenance firms and, in the majority, pool and spa builders. Even with all of these different segments of the industry in the room, not a single hand went up. As one who often
Why is it that, on the pool/spa side of the watershaping business, it's so difficult to find much by way of truly workable plans and specifications? In residential work, of course, the tone is set by local building inspectors and plan checkers, whose needs seem to vary tremendously from place to place. But that's no excuse for the fact that the plans used in a great many residential projects are grossly inadequate - especially when compared to the far more detailed and precise plans and specifications required by
"Without goals, you become what you were. With goals, you become what you wish." -- James Fadiman As I've grown in my personal life and as a businessperson, I've come to recognize a powerful relationship between basic axioms (such as the one just above from James Fadiman) and the setting of my own goals. To paraphrase Mr. Webster, an axiom is a self-evident truth or proposition. Many are quite familiar, so much so that phrases including "Honesty is the best policy" or "Nothing
Most people who know me will tell you just how independent I am. Some, in fact, will say that I'm too independent for my own good. When it comes to business, however, I know that being a soloist carries me only so far: Rather, it's the relationships I've established and maintained within the business community that have taken me beyond the independent realm and helped me achieve the success I was looking for when I started my business. As a designer, I work
I don't know if it's because I work in the pool and spa industry or if this is common to other fields, but I know a great many people who run businesses who are ill-prepared to do so. Architects and landscape architects might have taken some classes that introduced them to basic business principles, but their counterparts in the pool and spa trades are far less likely to have taken such classes and tend to run things by the seat of their pants. In my case, I've learned what I know about business through seminars and business-oriented reading. I've made
All through my career, I've never really been big on advertising. In fact, the only place I've ever advertised is in Naples, Fla., where I've never been successful drumming up any business even though it's only a short distance from my home. I gave it a good shot - a nice ad with a picture of a vanishing-edge pool, placed in a local newspaper's special section on backyard swimming pools. I was confident I'd get some response, but all that came back was
To my way of thinking, even a so-called average swimming pool is a wonderful thing. It's a product we place in a backyard for the long haul, a product that provides an ongoing recreational experience, operates reliably, enhances lifestyles and adds to property values while offering quality family benefits. With that in mind, I firmly believe that we as an industry must collectively make the decision that there's no place for second-rate construction. "Bargain construction" doesn't work in our industry simply because of the
Working outside your home region is exciting stuff. It opens you to a broader and often more dynamic arena for doing business and lets you work with new sets of clients and their architects, landscape architects and designers. The projects are typically interesting and often unusual, and you can make a good dollar while reaping the personal benefits that come with travel to faraway places. On the one hand, being in demand for long-distance projects represents a measure of success in your business and shows the high degree of confidence others are willing to place in your skills. The simple fact that clients are willing to
As a contractor, do you ever wish that you could avoid fussing with clients about design and could instead just get down to the business of building watershapes and getting all the details right? Do you ever think you're wasting the time you spend on design, because you know your prospects might go with another contractor despite the time you've spent drawing pretty pictures? Not every watershape contractor will answer "yes" to the first question, but I'm sure most of you have at least thought "yes" about the second one. That's because most contractors I know don't charge for design, at least not directly. As necessary, you'll hire
