Networking is a term that’s often thrown around in today’s interconnected business world. According to investopedia.com, networking is the exchange of information and ideas among people with a common profession or special interest, usually in an informal social setting, and often begins with a single point of common ground. We can easily reason that networking is something that we participate in, …
Nine Ways to Sunday
One of the most exciting things about being a home inspector is the range of personalities that we come across in our business. While most people we meet are fairly even keeled and down-to-earth, we occasionally cross paths with someone who really makes us appreciate all those “normal” people we encounter in our business. I recently had a client who …
That’s Just How It Works
Humans are wired for comfort. Almost everyone enjoys it when things in their life are predictable, when what’s going on around us follows a well-worn path. That’s not to say that we don’t enjoy the occasional surprise, but we’re quite content when our lives play out exactly like we expect. There’s comfort in familiarity. We know what’s going to happen …
The 7 Pitfalls of Small Business (conclusion)
This article is the second part of a two-part series. Click here to read part one. Running a small business can be a wonderful experience, bringing with it a sense of excitement and fulfillment when things go right. At the same time, things don’t always go the way we’ve planned. When things do go wrong, those feelings of happiness can …
The 7 Pitfalls of Small Business
I’m going to assume that if you’re reading this article, the odds are pretty good that you’re running your own business, quite likely as a professional home inspector. It’s also likely that you’ve held down at least one “real” job before becoming a small business owner, spending your valuable time working for someone else. You’ve probably felt the frustration of …
Working on Your People Skills
Think about the last time you spent an evening at a restaurant with some good friends. Was it an enjoyable experience? Can you remember all the details? How nicely was the food presented? How professional was the service? How clean and comfortable was the restaurant? Was the noise level acceptable, enhancing the meal? Overall, did you have a pleasant experience, and will you …
Give a Little Bit. 5 Things I’ve Learned About the Home Inspection Industry
As home inspection professionals, we are expected to provide our paying clients with enough information so they can make a more informed decision about whether or not to purchase a particular property. It’s an enormous responsibility, and one that every person that considers themselves a professional home inspector must take seriously. Long ago, this was a difficult task to achieve, …
Your Permanent Record
If you’re of a certain age (i.e.: old like me), you probably remember being a kid and getting “corrected” for doing something wrong. Back in those days, correction probably involved some hard object finding its way onto your backside, often in a swift and repeated manner! But regardless of whether or not your correction involved borderline child abuse, you were …
Lessons Learned
We all know that exercise is good for us. It helps to keep our bodies (and our minds) healthy as we age. Unfortunately, for many of us, making a conscious decision to exercise is difficult. It’s easy to reason that, instead of exercising, we could be working and making money, or relaxing from all the work we’ve already done (and …
Some (of the) People. Dealing with Unhappy Clients
There’s an old saying that applies to customer satisfaction in your business. Is says that if you make an honest effort, you can please about 90% of your customers. Of the remaining 10% of your customers, it will take twice as much effort to please half of them. Of the remaining 5% of your customers, it will take twice as much effort …