Funny thing about being a home inspector: you can never be 100% certain what’s going to happen on an inspection. Just when you think it’s shaping up to be a perfectly normal day, and you’re looking forward to a relaxing weekend; BAM! You get blindsided by a hay-maker. And you’re down for the count. That’s exactly what happened to me …
Setting Yourself Up for Success. What Does that Mean?
Setting yourself up for success. It’s a well-worn phrase that you’ve probably heard hundreds of times. In fact, you’ve probably heard it so many times that it hardly even registers anymore. And it can mean so many different things at the same time, what are we even to make of this saying? It can mean different things to different people, …
Learning Lessons in the Most Improbable Places
I always find it amusing when I discover something in my personal life that correlates to my professional life. It’s almost as if the experiences in one part of my life are attempting to prepare me for the trials and tribulations that lie ahead in other areas. Now, if I would only start paying more attention… I’m currently …
Setting yourself up for success, and Avoiding Client Zero
I am going to start today’s post talking about the one subject that you don’t want to hear about: problem clients. Yes, I know: you already deal with problem clients enough in your business; you don’t want to read about them too! Let’s just pretend they don’t exist, and maybe they’ll magically go away… The reality is that we all deal …
Cheat (Sheet) Your Way to Success. Simple Steps to Make Your Job Easier
Every entrepreneur knows that the startup phase of a new business can be the most difficult one to survive. A lot of different things must come together simultaneously for your business to prosper. Often, this proves to be too much for the burgeoning new business, and it ends up going under. One of the more difficult things to deal with …
Becoming a Master. Can Other People Help Get You There?
One of the benefits of living in the digital age is relatively easy access to any audience in the world. We can contact almost anyone, any place in the developed world, easily accessing them through our smartphones. This can be beneficial in our business, as it allows up to easily acquire knowledge through the mistakes and successes of other people. …
Alone Again. Why Personal Interaction Fuels Personal Growth
As home inspectors, we are often left (alone) to our own devices. A good portion of our job is done in isolation: we walk the roof alone, we check out the attic alone, we crawl under the house alone, we spend a good portion of our inspection alone, and we typically edit and produce our reports alone. I have often …
How Old Am I? Learning After You Know It All
One of my relatives had a milestone birthday this weekend, which got me thinking about getting older and its effect on our businesses. We all get older, there is really nothing that can be done about it. But that doesn’t mean that we have to fall into the trap of letting our mind get old before its time. Henry Ford, …
Gut Instincts: Following Where It Leads You
I have recently been consumed with the world of podcasting. For the uninitiated, podcasts are digital recordings, often in a series, typically available for free on the internet. They can be listened to on your computer or on your smart phone. There are many different topics available to listen to, and many of them provide excellent quality content, all for …
Learning From the Pain
Everyone that has been in business for a while can tell you, sometimes customers are the worst part of your job! We recently had one of these clients, and it really tested me emotionally. Fortunately, I was able to do what we should all do when we have a difficult client: grit our teeth going through the ordeal, but keep …