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Next Level Blogs

My learning life

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My initial interests out of high school were accounting, finance and business. At the same time, I had an admiration for the work of tradesmen. I appreciated the importance of a healthy, well paid workforce of men and women that were willing to get their hands dirty, work hard and build something lasting and beautiful. If there was some life-learning to do, I thought, it was found more in the life of a tradesman than in school.

I left business school and began my trades life in boat carpentry, then moved to house carpentry when a friend and I opened a renovation business in the 1980’s. He was the carpentry expert, and I took care of the business side while I learned carpentry from him.

When the partnership ended I opened a framing company at the time Lotus123 and 5 1/4” floppy disks were all the rage and laptops weighed 15 pounds. I used that early spreadsheet program to understand everything I could about productivity and business decision-making. As a result of my analysis I learned that the framing business was not a growth opportunity so I opened my own full-service renovation company, which I ran from the early 80’s to 1997. I rode the highs and lows of the recession of the early 80’s and 90’s, and learned the incredible challenges of running a complex business just like yours.

1995 brought the first big box store to Canada and along with it came the DIY craze. Homeowners suddenly wanted to “do it themselves” and I became involved with home improvement media while still running the company. I guest hosted a DIY program on TVO (the public broadcaster for the province of Ontario), did seminars at home shows for Canadian Living magazine and wrote a column for Chatelaine, all focused on homeowners interest in DIY learning. Catching the writing bug led me to down tools and start freelance writing for the residential renovation industry. By 2000, I was the editor of Canadian Contractor magazine and eventually its publisher.

With my experience in the field as a tradesman and business owner and the opportunity to watch the internal workings of many renovation businesses while editor and publisher, I learned what made good home improvement companies tic. I’ve spoken to hundreds of renovators and homebuilding business owners about their successes and failures. I studied their businesses. I suffered many of the highs and lows myself. That library of knowledge built over 45 years now forms the basis for the coaching you will receive from me.

There are very few experiences you can have as the owner of a renovation business that I don’t know. Yet no two contractors are the same and the way each experiences those challenges are very different. That’s why my work one-on-one and in peer groups is proving to be the best way for contractors to get ahead and see success. If you are keen to succeed and recognize you can’t do it alone, email me ([email protected]) or call (647 407 0754) and let’s talk about how we can build your successful future together.

Do you want to take your business to the Next Level?