Keeping Social

Work may look a little different, you may still have several projects to do, but do you feel isolated?

 

As a country, we have been asked to social distance – that does not mean social isolation.

 

As a team, we are reaching out and touching base not only with each other, but with our clients as well. Although we are an essential business and still performing some work in the field under California and CDC guidelines, our main goal is to keep in touch with our business partners and friends. 

 

How are you doing? We want to know how YOU are doing during these times. You may have a great idea or a schedule you are sticking to. Possibly you are trying new recipes at lunch or you have discovered how to meet your residents’ needs. We would love to hear it! 

 

A few of our business partners have teamed up with us on Thursdays at 1 p.m. to virtually visit about life and how their business has been impacted. 

 

Whether you want to join a Zoom call, send us a text, or give a team member a call – we are here for you. We are in the trenches with you and we get it. 

 

Email us here if you would like to schedule a meeting to visit, vent, cry, laugh or catch up! WE are looking forward to it!

 

Your Money Matters

Have you started planning your next project?

After being in the industry for 20 years, we have had the opportunity to answer several questions. However, when it comes to budgets, these two questions come up often during the budget planning season.

“When is the right time to start planning my project budget?”

Depending on your company’s reserve processes, keep up to date with possible or impending costs of work is key to a streamlined and successful year. So, when is the right time? Now, there’s no harm in being prepared.

“How do I go about planning a budget if I don’t know what to expect? Who can I work with to help plan my budget?”

Planning your budget starts with knowing your business partners; a good business partner provides clear and complete information to you regardless of the type or size of any given project. The SERVICE that the business partner offers is key to knowing what to expect. A trades professional will be able to honestly tell you what they think is imminent and what can wait, will provide a clear scope of work and a fair cost for the project.

Some things to keep in mind when planning your budgets:

  • Timing is key! Leave ample time to thoroughly assess your budgets.
  • Determine your scope of work, or have a general idea. We will help with the rest.
  • Site maps are much appreciated, but not necessary.
  • How soon do you think this work will happen? We’ll need to make reasonable assumptions regarding labor and material costs if its several years out.
  • Don’t hesitate to ask for help. We love helping clients build bids for projects.

Our team offers budgeting assistance, which mainly happens from April – June. If we can help you, please let our team know here!

Core Values: Fun

FUN – It’s our #2 team value.

Fun is an important core value for us to have on a daily basis because most of our work can be relatively boring and difficult. If we make decisions based on whether it’s going to be fun or not fun, at least we know what we’re in for. We recognize not all decisions in business are going to be fun, however, it’s worth the extra effort to smile, find light-hearted moments, and create joy whenever possible. 

Growing a successful business and having satisfied, happy clients can be challenging. That fact alone may be the reason why so many businesses are emotionally bankrupt. 

We’ve asked our leaders over the years to complete intense projects, lead large teams and make critical decisions without checking on their EQ, which can cause a life of turmoil. It’s important to us to check in on both our team members and clients with each project and afterward.

Are you having challenges you find too difficult to bear alone? Do you feel like everyone you turn to professionally is just passing the buck? Are you starting your day most days thinking “this isn’t going to be any fun?” 

This is the exact reason we have fun in our value system. 

When we experience numerous hard and boring days at work, We ask ourselves what needs to change? The first aspect we reflect on is our value system and determine what change needs to take place to create more fun in our professional life. 

It’s that simple. As a team, we have decided having fun is important to us. 

 

Questions for you: 

What important value do you have in your company that your team members can make decisions based off of? 

Are the business partners you’re working with or clients you have properly matched to the values you live and work off of daily? 

If your answer is “no” to the questions above, we urge YOU to review your list of professionals you interact with on a daily basis and determine if you are going to keep them in your circle for 2020. The importance of doing this is making sure you are intentional with the workload and the people you are asking your team members to serve throughout the year. When you properly match everybody up and do not leave any area of confusion the rest will take care of itself. 

 

Tips for Hustling on the Homefront

Are you working at home due to COVID-19 or to avoid illness? We have a few team members who work remotely and/or work as much as possible from their home office. Be sure to check out their tips below when it comes to being efficient, hustling at home, and keeping in contact with business partners and clients. 

Google Programs are Your Friend  

Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides can be used to work on projects with other team members or easily share work that needs a second set of eyes to be completed. We utilize Google Docs to easily share information, plans, schedules, and reports with our team.

Utilize Video Chat

Zoom, Facebook, Google Chat, and YouTube all have access to video chatting. Rather than having a phone call, utilize one of these platforms to meet, share ideas, and have a “personal feel” to your meeting. 

Schedule Your Time

Make efficient use of your time by setting timers and organizing your time before you begin projects. Some of our team uses a paper planner with block scheduling. Others prefer their phone calendar or a simple sticky note with a to-do list. Whatever suits you, use it. 

Meal Prep and Stay Healthy

Take advantage of the time you have at home to eat a healthier lunch, wash your hands often and drink more water. If you need to take a walk to destress or clear your mind, do it anytime throughout the day. A brisk walk once or twice a day will do wonders for you. You may find these actions will give you added creativity and more energy to hustle through your tasks and stay in touch with your team. 

“I’m a painter.”

“I’m a painter,” said Brian Taylor, President of B. Taylor Painting.

Brian grew up in Northern California and always had a love for the trades.

“Growing up, I just was not a student,” Brian said. “I wasn’t very good at school. I never really engaged in school or in the process. I didn’t really take to education. I knew from the beginning I was going to have to do something with my hands.”

Twenty years ago, Brian quit his job, started a company, and married his wife Faye – in the span of three months. He is celebrating 20 years of business in the painting industry, March 2020.

 “I can’t believe it’s been 20 years. It feels like we just barely figured out how to graduate high school.”

 

 

Core Values: Family First

Family First  – It’s #1 to our company value system. 

Family First is important to us because it’s the primary reason why we do what we do. 

We all work tireless hours in the office, running projects, building team members and solving problems for our clients. These are all important; however, the most important things in life are those we get the opportunity to come home to. In a roundabout way, everything we do at work for our team members and our clients allows them to go home safely, mentally relaxed and capable of thoroughly enjoying family time. 

Family First is not just a value written in our value system which hangs on the office wall, it is a high-level priority both team members and their families take great pride in. Everything we do revolves around the family-first value. From the big decisions that we make on a daily basis, all the way down to the small ones minute by minute. We are always thinking, “In what way will this decision affect my family?” 

When we keep our decisions as a business, based on the values that matter to us most, we feel it builds a sustainable and structurally-sound professional relationship that will stand the test of time.

Family first. Values matter. Integrity lasts. 

 

Questions for you:

Do you relate to this value system? 

How do you make decisions every day that match your values?

What value from our system matters the most to you? 

 

Core Values: Forgiving

Forgiving: It’s a top priority for our business and value system. 

“We own up to our mistakes and we learn from them. We forgive others for their mistakes and help them correct them.”

Forgiveness can be a difficult task not only for a company but for everyday life. Yet, our team decided it was important enough they drafted it into our core values several years ago. 

As humans, we like to hold grudges. We like to make people pay for things that negatively hurt us. Forgiveness takes communication and communication hard, especially proper communication. 

Can you think of a time where a business partner or client did wrong to you and what you immediately thought? Maybe even your significant other did wrong to you and you held it against them for years? 

This is why forgiveness is in our value system. In business, we make decisions and sometimes the decisions are not the right ones. It is important for us to own up to our mistakes and then forgive ourselves for them. We all make mistakes. We are human.

Without forgiveness individually, we cannot make progress. Without progress … you know the rest of that story. Forgiveness can be very difficult at times; however, by having the value of forgiveness in our value system, it gives us a sounding board when decisions get tough. 

A question for you: 

Do you have something or someone you need to forgive? 

Work on it today. Forgiveness will remove the negative weights you carry personally and professionally. It will allow you to make decisions quicker and at the very least, will give you an opportunity to be happy. 

 

Hiring the Right Construction Manager 

After 18 years of project management and more than 20 years of helping owners build their companies in the HOA industry, one revolving question continues to get asked. 

When is the right time to hire a construction manager? 

“I have read countless articles, spoken to hundreds of clients, and played a large part in thousands of projects where construction managers were hired to start projects,” said Keven Hempel, B. Taylor Painting Director of Client Relations. “I have played a large part in projects where there was no construction manager hired as well.” 

Here are three key reasons answering the question is difficult, Hempel said. 

  1. People
  2. Desires
  3. Needs 

We have found there are numerous reasons why hiring a construction manager is the wrong decision for some projects. On the flip side, there are contradicting reasons why hiring a construction manager is the right decision for your project. 

“My opinion is that every project when originally thought about should have some form of discussion on whether the project itself needs a construction manager,” Hempel said. 

Here are a few questions you can ask your clients when deciding whether or not a construction manager is needed: 

  • How large do you desire the project to be, regarding the financial side? 
  • How much time do you intend to invest in the project itself? 
  • Have you ever been involved in a project of this size? 
  • What is the potential of having a large amount of “unknowns” which can cause a scheduling nightmare and a financial increase to the project itself? 

These are just a short list of some of the questions you can be asked when deciding if your project needs a construction manager or not. Once these questions are answered and if there is an apparent need for a construction manager, then you decide what type is needed. 

“Professionally, I have worked with several different kinds and we should all be well aware there are different types of construction managers,” Hempel said. “Take the time to do the research and interview the construction managers before proceeding forward. This interview process will be a great benefit to the board and your clients. Pay attention to how they communicate. With all the information you can find online today you will have a good opportunity to find the right one if your project needs it.” 

As with any aspect of life, there are excellent construction managers and poor ones. However, we encourage you to take your time and do your research. The industry has changed over the years and time should be one of the most valuable resources in the world. 

Allow your research and conversations to find a construction manager and business partner whom you can trust, as integrity is worth its weight in gold. 

Hempel said, “Simply think of it this way. When you hire a construction manager or any other part of your project team you are hiring into a relationship. Just like our personal relationships, they can be a disaster if the professionals you are hiring are poor communicators and simply do not know what they are doing.” 

We encourage you to take your time with this process: do your research and make a timely decision. The longer you wait to start your project and choose your project team, the harder the decision becomes. 

If you would like to find out more about how to hire the right project team contact us here. 

 

Core Values: Forthright

“We are honest and never take advantage of a situation.” 

This was one of the most difficult values to add to our value system. It has the potential to be taken in many different ways. It may be, in fact, one of the most important values on this list. During the past couple of years, we have found endless amounts of opportunities to use forthright in our decision-making process. 

The following forthright-related questions have often been asked by our team: 

Is the submittal of this inspection report honest? 

Is our team member being forthright?

Is our leadership making decisions that are not just right for the bottom line of the company but right for its people?

There are numerous opportunities on a daily basis to get this value wrong. It is the reason why we also have forgiveness on our list. Forgiveness and forthright go hand-in-hand. Often we get stuck in trying to understand the real definition of forthright. In simple terms, it’s living by the Golden Rule: Do unto others as we want to be done to ourselves. 

The Golden Rule is not easy in business; however, we make every effort to never compromise our forthright. 

Questions for you: 

Is forthright important to you? 

Why is it important? How do you use forthright on a daily basis? 

What is the time that you wished your business partner or client used the forthright value system with you? 

 

Share your experiences with us here. 

 

Core Values: Friendly

“We keep a friendly atmosphere, we love what we do, and we want to show it on through!” 

Friendly is an attribute that can play its part in every moment of a day. From how you answer the phone, to how you react to a team member, to the email you send to a disgruntled homeowner. 

As a team, we emphasize friendly communication. Communicating our friendliness throughout the day can be difficult with a variety of different distractions. However, if you make it a point to stay curious and keep friendly at the forefront of your mind, relaying a friendly message is quite simple. 

Friendly has to be at the core of your being. Often it is something we have to work on. Yet, just like every value in our value system, we have to constantly work toward it and never think we are “finished”. We fully understand there is not every moment in the day that we show friendliness; however, because it is part of our value it is something we can base our day on. 

Questions for you: 

Do you relate to this value? 

Have you caught one of our employees being friendly? 

What does friendly look like in your place of business? 

Would you like to find out ways to build your business and your client list using a friendly moment?