The most important time in your business is the time you take away from your business. Call it what you want — vacation, holiday, retreat, getaway — but the longer you stay away, the better you and (probably) your business will be. There is a certain serenity in being away from your business: It clears…
You’ve been putting off replacing — or expanding — your service-vehicle fleet because of the economy. You’ve been diligent with maintenance and are pretty sure you can get by another season. You’ve had other things to spend money on. But maybe it’s just time: The old rig is on its last legs, theodometer has more…
For the last five years, I have struggled to sell vacuums to my customers due to Internet prices. This is no secret in our industry. But finally, the big manufacturers are coming to our aid. They are offering considerable rebates to the homeowners and not allowing Internet sales on some of their products. So now…
Two major factors cause companies to go out of business: The first is improper labor pricing. Let’s assume you know your costs of doing business and what to do as costs change. Proper labor pricing is critical, and you must change your labor rate as costs change. Understanding what to charge per hour is only…
In May of 1971, Canadian rock group the Five Man Electrical Band hit the Top 40 with the song “Signs.” While the song lamented the use of signs to dictate societal behavior — remember, this was the flower-power days the early ’70s — signs help us stop our cars at intersections; locate the street we…
Pool builders and service professionals on the western and southern coasts of the country have it good: because of moderate year-round temperatures, every season is busy season. Come November in the Midwest or Northeast, however, business starts to wane and, by the following march, pool pros are anxious for grass to start poking through the…
There was a time when fun in a swimming pool centered on small, inflatable devices like inner tubes, diving boards or standard-issue slides. These are pretty basic and pretty mundane by today’s standards, however. For commercial pools owned or operated by apartment complexes, home owners’ associations, cities, and hotels or YMCAs, the fun quotient has…
When Zodiac looked at the variable-speed pumps offered by its Jandy brand, it knew there was a hole to fill when it came to replacement pumps. “We have a big variable-speed pump, which is the ePump,” says Mike Giddens, product manager at Zodiac. “But from a replacement pump standpoint, it’s not ideal because it’s bigger…
Robert Blanda, owner of Mill Bergen Pools, knows he is in good company. As the Association of Pool & Spa Professionals’ Certified Pool Builder of the Year for 2014, Blanda joins an elite group of eight previous winners.
If you’re responsible for pool maintenance and management for a municipal or commercial aquatic facility, particularly in freeze-thaw locales across the United States and Canada, you’re probably uncomfortably aware of the annual ritual of repairing peeling plaster, cracks and leaks, all in anticipation of another summer of heavy use. And after the winter of discontent…
For my first three years at Horner Equipment, now HornerXpress, I was a partner. But in 1975, I bought out the other partner and became the 100 percent business owner. When I first started here, we had three employees; right now, we have 430. It’s been 43 years. I’ve always believed in continuous improvement. If…