Figure out what’s working for your competition and then do that… It’s good advice that we’re often told when we start out in business. But we’ve got to remember that if we simply copy everything that our competitors are doing, then there’s no reason for someone to choose us instead of them. Yes, we can certainly copy what’s working. That’s …

We often find ourselves lost in the weeds, so fixated on the minor details of our day to day lives that we can loose sight of the bigger picture. We’re striving to be a better person. We’re struggling to become a better leader We’re working hard to have a successful business. We can’t argue that the minor details don’t matter, because …

An unbiased opinion. As professionals, that should be our priority. But it’s hard to remain neutral in a world where there are so many different, often competing interests, vying for our attention. Attempting to influence us. Working overtime to color our opinion. Trying to change our way of thinking. Endeavoring to modify our beliefs. And the more they stand to …

What are we trying to do? What is it that we’re looking to accomplish? Do we even know why we’re doing this? Before we can worry about what to charge for our services, we’ve got to figure our what it is we’re doing. What is it that we’re looking to get out of our business? If we’re trying to raise …

While owning your own home inspection business can be difficult, we do have one significant advantage over most other small business owners: we get to choose our customers! Now, you may be thinking “What the hell are you talking about? At this point, I’ll take any warm body that walks in the door holding out their credit card!” Granted, when …

The price we charge for our services is always a sticky subject; one fraught with tension, anguish, and stress. We worry that if our prices are too high, we won’t get any customers, and if we’re too low, we’re leaving money on the table (and undervaluing our product). What we charge for our services, our price, is a story. A …

There are lots of decisions we need to make when we’re operating a business. The most important of these decisions is choosing the right customer. Our ideal customer will have values that align with ours, appreciate our effort, desire the type of product that we’re delivering, be excited for the opportunity to work with us, and happily pay for our …

Jim Rohn, author and speaker, famously said that “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” We should take his advice to heart, and not be afraid to develop relationships with people who are more successful than we are. We’re lifted up by those who’ve gone to where we’re trying to get, and dragged …

In business, as in life, we all have to make choices about how far we plan on going to satisfy our clients (and ourselves). There will be times when meeting spec is sufficient. Deliver exactly what’s needed and move on to something more important. There will also be times, often important occasions and potential turning points in our careers/lives, when …

Our goal, as home inspectors, is to deliver important information. Unfortunately for us, an in-person discussion is often the worst way to do it. Presenting important information digitally (written in a report, recorded on a video, or archived on a website) is a much more effective way to get our point across. If we’re going to interact with someone in …