While a good percentage of our lives are spent working (probably too high a percentage), we all have things that we enjoy doing when we’re not at work. Hobbies, pastimes, interests, or diversions; whatever we call them, we all enjoy a little downtime every now and then. Whether they involve time with people we love or time alone to ourselves, …
Marketing Like a Kid
We were all young once (and if you ask my wife, I still haven’t grown up yet.) We can all remember the times when we were small and purposefully did things to test our boundaries, to see exactly how much we could get away with before we got into trouble. And if you were anything like my brother and me, …
Just Give Me a Second
Marketing. It’s one of the most stressful words in a small business owner’s vocabulary. Marketing can be overwhelming. It can be expensive. It can be frustrating. It can push you to the edge of a nervous breakdown. Most importantly, marketing can mean the difference between running a successful business and running yourself into the ground. No pressure here. No pressure …
Three Stress Points for Home Inspectors
Everyone wants be be faster at their job. Even professional home inspectors, who are typically very detail oriented and spend time looking in every crack and crevice of a home, would like to work more efficiently. We’re under a lot of stress during the on-site inspection process, with everyone involved wondering when we’re going to be done looking around (and …
It Was an Accident – Part 4
Note: This article is part 4 of a series. Click here to read part 1. There are no mistakes, only happy accidents. Bob Ross Our lives are filled with things that happen when we’re not expecting it; accidents we call them. So, why should our jobs be any different? We’re all going to have accidents when we’re inspecting houses. It’s …
It Was an Accident – Part 3
Note: This article is part 3 of a series. Click here to read part 1. It can be tough being a professional home inspector. We’re constantly bombarded with stress, every day of our professional lives. There’s always someone looking for answers. Whether it’s a client trying to figure out our next available appointment, an agent looking for someone to make …
It Was an Accident – Part 2
Note: This article is part 2 of a series. Click here to read part 1. So, it’s finally happened. We tried to be as careful as we could be, but it still happened. After all this time, we’ve finally joined all those other careless home inspectors in the “I broke something” club. Accidents happen, and they happen to all of …
It Was an Accident
It was bound to happen, eventually. Not that we meant to do it, mind you; it was an accident. I’m really sorry about that. Do this job long enough, and those words are going to pass over your lips. No matter how experienced we are, no matter how good we claim to be, no matter how careful, thorough, or meticulous …
Everything I Learned
There’s nothing like a relaxing vacation to get you back in the mood for returning to the daily grind. Unfortunately, my recent vacation was anything but relaxing, as my family talked me into traveling to the theme parks in Orlando Florida. After spending a “relaxing” week waiting in lines and paying exorbitant prices for mediocre food, I was more than …
Processing Feedback
Running a small business can be hard. Most of us were not very good at it when we started, but (hopefully) we kept going anyway. We tried to do our best with the skills we had. We worked hard, made mistakes, and (hopefully) learned from those mistakes. Lather, rinse, repeat. It’s really amazing that we made it this far, isn’t …