We all go into business with certain expectations. We imagine that we’ll make a lot of money. We expect to work with the best people in our industry. We anticipate that we’ll have scores of frenzied clients, posting to social media, raving about how great we are. And we’re certain that the number of problems that we’ll encounter will be …
The Cost of (Not) Changing
If we stop to think about it, the home inspection business has both changed dramatically over the past 20 years, and it hasn’t really changed that much at all. Yes, I know that I’m saying two opposite things in the same sentence, and no, Hurricane Ida burnout hasn’t totally fried my brain (well, maybe a little), but hear me out. …
How Far Do I Go?
We’ve all got a decision to make. We’re the business owner; the top dog; king of the hill. The buck stops here. However, we want to describe it, ultimately, we decide how we’re going to run our business. And while there’s no denying that we’re influenced by outside forces, we’re still the ones that must decide how far we go. …
Afraid of Change
Change. It’s all around us. It forces its way into our lives. And, it seems, it’s happening more quickly now than at any time we can remember. Every day seems to bring some new gadget, device, app, technology, software, or way to do things. Often, it can seem overwhelming. But as the old saying goes, progress waits for no one. …
Is it Time For a Change?
No one likes to change. It’s difficult. It’s time-consuming. It makes us step outside our comfort zone, forces us to learn something new, to do something different, to take a chance that this might not turn out exactly like we want it to. But isn’t that the whole point of changing? In our state (Louisiana), we’ve been having a “lively” …
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 …
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 …
Step Out on That Ledge
All of us suffer from the same malady: we’re human. As humans, we’re extremely comfortable with our routines. We’re reassured by the fact that we know what happens next; that we have a good idea of how things are going to work. We like it when things go according to plan; we’re happy when our lives play out exactly like …
No One Can Do It for Us
I know, I know; it’s hard. When you run your own business, finding time to do all the things you’d like to do seems impossible. I was in the same place as everyone else, thinking “I’d love to find the time to upgrade my inspection report.” But, the simple task of running my own business was overwhelming. With scheduling, marketing, …
Can We Live With Constant Change?
Unless you’re brand new at this small business thing (and if you are, good luck to you), we’ve all made it through the dreaded start-up phase. We’ve soldiered on, taken our lumps, run the gauntlet, learned our lessons and come out of the other end. We mourn for those who weren’t as lucky as us; the 75% of start-ups that …
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