Want to Keep Your Techs – Do Some Business Planning!
Let’s assume you are ABC Contracting Company and John the tech has worked for you for ten years. He does an above average job, seldom complains and shows up to work every day. Everything seemed fine until you walked into the office this past Monday to find a voice message on your machine from John saying he had taken another job across town for $.50/hour more than you are paying him.  View full article

Why Is Flat Rate Pricing Going to Become The Standard of the industry?
Flat rate pricing has been the buzz of the trades industry for a lot of years. Few contractors are without an opinion when it comes to flat rate pricing. View full article

Is your Office Harmful toward the Environment? Keep your Water Dispenser and Cooler without Wasting Energy at the Workplace.
What many people don’t know is that water coolers that are not specifically made with energy-saving qualifications can create an unnecessary waste of electrical power and costs.
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The Correct Shower Accessories will Complete your Shower and Purify your Water--This Guide can help you Decide Which is Right for you!
Chlorine is used to eliminate bacteria and is used to purify water nationwide, but what you might not know is that this chlorine is actually harmful to your health in the long term. View full article

Contractors Insurance Renewal Checklist.
Provided is an informative report regarding Contractors Insurance. Every contractor should read this report before purchasing or renewing their general liability policy.  View full article

Be Careful of that Big Job, It Can Put You Out of Business!
You submit the bid and wait. The day finally comes and the winners are announced. You got the job! There is joy in the kingdom. You order the equipment/materials from your supplier and in a few short weeks the job begins with nearly every tech working full time on project. Before you know it it’s payroll time.   View full article

Service Technician Skill Classification.
Classification of technician’s skill levels can save a service company big money, by sending the right technician out to the right service call.  As most service companies try to organize their service operation many fall short, more than 92% of them do not make the grade.  View full article

The Alternative to RFID’s Incomplete Success Optical technology picks up where RFID leaves off.
For years, the material handling and logistics communities have looked toward RFID for solutions to track movable assets indoors. Countless millions of dollars and years of development invested in RFID have sometimes ended in disappointment and frustration.  View full article

What's in a (heating and cooling) job?
Refrigeration, heating, and cooling jobs are some of the most stable career options in the U.S. market economy. This may seem surprising – every other day, a certain kind of doomsday economics article appears in the business section of a local newspaper. View full article

Venting Today Part One
The days of the old galvanized flue pipe vented into a masonry chimney lined or unlined are quickly fading away. It will not be long that even Type “B” double wall gas vent will be a thing of the past.  View full article

Venting Today Part Two
With this continuing discussion on venting of Modulating/Condensing equipment it is once again not the purpose of this article to define exact installation requirements. The attempt here is to address some typical types of requirements for venting this equipment.  View full article

Under-Billing is Killing Your Service Department’s Profit
I am going to begin with a statement you may not believe but here it is. The average service tech is under-billing the customer, for work that was actually performed, by anywhere from $10 to $30 per hour.   View full article

Too Small For Supply Chain Management?
For the past ten to fifteen years, you may have read about Fortune 500 companies undertaking Supply Chain Management (SCM) initiatives. Business publications are constantly reporting on the successes – the improved profitability, the reduction in operating expense and the better utilization of inventory.  View full article

How to get value from a Management Consultant.
Unlike many other outside services, management consulting is distinguished by qualities that appear less tangible -- and are therefore more difficult to assess up-front. Usually the fee must be set before the consultant's assignment begins. So how can a value-conscious manager make sure the company gets the consulting service, support and results that it's paying for?  View full article