An ALLPRO® Publication VOL. 21, ISSUE 5 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2011
by: Scott Morath
THE REST OF 2011 Would you believe that it’s September already? At the risk of sounding cliché this year continues to fly by. In no time at all the heat of summer will give way to changing leaves and the crisp air of autumn. We’ll be looking forward to the holidays and all the hustle and bustle that comes with them. There’s still much to do though and so little time to do it. The two big items on the to-do list are the relocation to the new office space and distribution center followed by the stockholder meeting in late October. In the last issue we gave you a brief overview of the new distribution center to include our projected timing and who would be served from that facility. Our goal is to relocate the ALLPRO office and begin serving members from the new distribution center by late September. Well, even after running into a few snags with plan approvals and red tape we’re still on track to relocate to the new building sometime during the last week of September. We will certainly do our best to make the transition as quickly as we can and with minimal interruption of service. Our phone and fax will remain the same so we will continue fielding calls and doing what we can to assist members and suppliers during the move. However, as computers and equipment are moved and technicians called in to disconnect and reconnect equipment there will likely be some interruption on September 27th & 28th, so please be patient with us. As we get closer to the move date and firm up more of the details we will keep you informed via the website and through e-mail notifications. That leaves us with the fall stockholder meeting, which will occur the last week of October. From a
planning and preparation standpoint, the stockholder meeting is all but in the can. Registrations have been received and menus, meetings and the program finalized, and ALLPRO brand suppliers are ready to go. All that’s left to do is show up and enjoy the events and functions we have planned. As a reminder to our stockholders, this meeting will offer a unique opportunity to interact with our architectural coatings suppliers during the Friday presentations. It will be the first time we’ve invited our coatings suppliers to speak with the group in direct response to questions and concerns members have submitted. Our hope is it will prove to be a very informative and beneficial session not only for our members but for our suppliers as well. We will also host our usual Friday night reception at this meeting, which will be open to all of our approved suppliers, including those who are not presenting or exhibiting at the meeting. However, for those suppliers not attending as presenters or exhibitors we encourage attendance to the Friday night reception only if business takes you in or around the Dana Point or Laguna Beach, California area. If you do plan to attend, please be sure to e-mail Angel Nemath at angel.nemath@allprocorp.com with your name and company so that we can prepare a name badge for you. Once the dust has settled from the move and we wrap up the fall meeting we will turn our attention to 2012 and update you on some of our plans for next year. Until then, we’re looking forward to a successful move and a successful meeting in October.
• Job length
Blue Collar Advice Taming the Demon Customer?
• What is included and not included • Warranty concerns on problem areas
Alas, the demons are within!
The best idea is to address common issues and concerns at the proposal stage and document everything. Ask the prospect what they expect or give them a quick run down on how you handle most of the common issues. Document what the prospect expects and what it will cost to perform at those expectations. Don’t worry about novelizing the details, make notes. Having notes of your conversations works. Painting for the most part is an easy trade. Yes, you heard me right. It’s easy. You go to the job, paint, and go home. There are very few emergencies, no daily life and death situations — meat and potatoes easy.
Create ever changing and improving systems: One irritation my painters had on every job was a customer pointing out little details at the beginning stages of a project. This regularly stopped the flow of production. As a solution (on a Pre-Installation Checklist form), we addressed the issue by mentioning the painter’s focus on the “big picture” first and then the “little details” at the end of the project. This all but eliminated the issue and gave my painters a catch phrase to use. “Thanks for pointing that area out ma’am, we’re focusing on the big picture right now. We’ll get to that soon.” This one trick turned a constant headache into empowerment. I learned that trick at a PDCA meeting.
So why is it that so many painters look worn and strained (and make so little money)? Why do I get phone calls everyday day from painting veterans who tell me sob stories like, “This customer is way too picky.” As a little boy, my grandfather used to tell me after a hard day, as a foreman in the Boston shipyard, “Steve, its not the work, it’s the aggravation.” So what makes contracting so aggravating and so hard? The hard part is managing customer expectations and properly executing the project. These same veterans who can coordinate a goodsized painting project, have trouble completing the proper paperwork necessary to run a business.
Many contractors who join and become active in PDCA soon realize the demons of your business go away when they organize and systematize. Successful contractors realize the demons are within. Many tired and unsuccessful contractors are joining PDCA, learning how to run a business and doubling and even quadrupling their income in less than 2 years!
Although you can paint, can you run a business that provides painting as a service? It is the systems of the business, which make your work life easy or difficult. No systems…always equal Pain. It is your mastery of the dreaded systems and paperwork that will make your days easier.
With a little training and determination you too can tame your own inner demons. At the PACE conference last year, countless painters said, “The work is easier, the money is better, and I’m having fun again. I learned how to move from being a painter to a business person who provides painting services.”
Sales are the root of all evil in contracting. Seriously! Most problems arise as the job progresses because the sales person didn’t manage and document the customer’s expectation.
Here are the top complaints from customers: • Surface preparation and smoothness expectations • Colors and sheens • Neatness or lack of neatness around the project • Toilet use, parking, radio use, garbage, shrub damage • Extra charges and change orders
Good Luck, Steve www.maddogprimer.com
Steve Ryan has 20 years of experience as a contractor. He now produces Mad Dog Paint Products. He can be reached at steve@maddogprimer.com
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Tips for Building an Effective Facebook Page
Stick with a business page – not a personal profile or group page and you’ll grow fans much faster.
By Scott Morath
• Be sure to obtain a username for your Facebook
Social media, specifically Facebook, continues to prove itself to be a valuable tool for businesses of any size but particularly small business. If done correctly, it allows small businesses a leg up on their larger competitors, as those companies cannot truly interact with or develop genuine relationships with their fan base because they lack the “local” connection. The independent small business owner is in a much better position to develop and nurture social relationships and more and more ALLPRO members are recognizing this simple fact.
page. The username is your permanent URL or Facebook address. If you already have a page but you aren’t sure if you have a username just look at the URL address of your page in the menu bar. If it shows a long string of characters instead of a simple URL, such as www.facebook.com/allprocorp then you likely haven’t assigned a user name. To create one for your page, go to www.facebook.com/username and follow the prompts. It’s this URL you’ll want to add to your website landing page and include on letterhead and business cards, in your e-mail signature block, billing statements, etc.
In the past year alone we have seen the number of members involved in social media more than double. At last count there were 65 ALLPRO members that we know of utilizing Facebook as a business tool. Unfortunately, that number doesn’t include personal profile pages or group pages being used for business purposes (more on that later), so there are likely another dozen or so out there.
Get noticed • In surveying member websites we found several that made no mention of a Facebook page only to find later through searching Facebook that there was in fact a page. As a company with a social media presence you should promote that not just on your web page but at every customer touch point with an icon or URL.
However, as most of those members will attest, developing an effective page is not as easy as it may sound. What’s worse, time is money and no one in business today can afford to waste time posting content that no one is reading. For that reason, it’s important to build an engaged fan base or more accurately, build genuine relationships with your customers. As everyone knows, with any relationship building process there are practical “do’s and don’ts” that many of us may not consider.
• Also, many of those companies that have a Facebook link have it buried at the bottom of their landing page where very few people will notice it. The best position for the link on your landing page is at the top left or right of the page – not buried at the bottom. It doesn’t have to be big – just easy to find.
• There is an important distinction between a URL
For that reason I’ve developed a list of practical tips for building an engaged fan base. My hope is that whether you’re a newbie to Facebook or you’re ahead of the curve there will likely be something here that you haven’t considered as of yet.
link to your Facebook page and what’s called a social plugin. A URL link will take the user directly to your Facebook page where they can “Like” it and become a fan. A social plugin is a “Like” button you install on one or more pages of your website. Typically, the like button of a social plugin will only register a like for the respective page of your website and NOT a like for your Facebook page. To grow fans of your Facebook page you need to have a URL link to your Facebook page or set up your social plugin so it “Likes” your Facebook page rather than the website landing page.
Getting started • When you setup your page make sure you set up a business page and not a personal page. Personal Facebook pages are for friends & family and business pages are for fans. What’s the difference? For personal pages a potential fan has to send you a “friend request” but for a business page they simply click the “Like” button on your page. It’s best to keep the two separate. Why? Partly due to terms of usage restrictions from Facebook but also, from a customer’s perspective, being a fan is less personal than asking a business to become a friend, which grants that business access to personal information.
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Share and share alike • Many of our suppliers offer Facebook pages
You probably have team photos, plaques or certificates of appreciation on your wall for the past 10 years. Don’t forget to tell that story via your Facebook page. Have a coach, parent, or someone who’ll be there e-mail you photos of games, team functions, fund raisers, etc. You can create a separate photo album and upload those images there. This shows your business is involved with and proud of the community and not there just to sell product. Showing such a connection to the community engenders loyalty.
and consistently post product information and news that might be valuable to your customers. Visit those pages and “Like” them so you can keep up to date on what they’re posting. When you see something you feel is appropriate to pass along, you can “Share” their posts on your page. This not only takes some of the pressure off you to come up with content but it shows that you’re in-the-know and helps set you apart as an information source.
• Many company Facebook pages out there show photos of a store with shots of product and clean aisles. Being proud of your business is a good thing, but as a local business people want to see other people - not shelving. It’s the human element that makes a post interesting and your business endearing, so whenever you can try to show people in your photos.
• In addition many members own stores that are collocated in or around shopping centers with other businesses. It’s perfectly acceptable to cross promote events and activities with these businesses because there’s a community tie in. The benefit is their fan base may be different than yours and vice versa so cross promoting with other businesses is a good way to expand your reach beyond your fan base.
Videos • Many suppliers offer their own YouTube channel complete with product demos and how-to videos. If you create your own YouTube channel (which is also free), you can “favorite” those supplier videos then link them directly to your Facebook page via a YouTube for pages app. Once you setup your YouTube page just toggle over to Facebook and search for YouTube app in the search box. A few options will appear in the search results, just select one and follow the prompts. Once complete the videos you favorite will appear in a separate tab on your Facebook page.
• When you do have occasion to “share” a Facebook post from a website or page, you should always include your own comment explaining why what you’re sharing may be important to your fans. This not only reinforces the idea that you are providing value but it prompts them to open the link and provides them something to respond to or comment on.
People looooove pictures • Post plenty of pictures and enable fans to tag and comment on photos in your settings. When a photo is tagged it will appear in the newsfeed of the person who was tagged as well as their friend’s newsfeeds. Again, this serves as an exposure multiplier because it’s showing up in many newsfeeds beyond your fan base. On a side note: Do yourself a favor and make sure the people in your photo album are smiling or that it at least looks like they’re enjoying themselves. Unless you want people to think of your store as a gulag, frowns and blank stares send the wrong message.
• You can also produce your own videos and upload them to your page. Too expensive? Not at all! You can purchase a full HD hand held camcorder with USB port (that doesn’t require proprietary software) at BestBuy for under $200 out the door. You can shoot video to demo a new product line, talk up the features of a new item you’re bringing into the store, record snippets from a customer appreciation picnic or a pro show, or even give a guided tour of your store and introduce some of the key personnel customers will typically interact with. The videos only need to be a few minutes each in length and don’t need to look like they’re fresh out of Hollywood studios. Note: It’s always a good idea to develop your talking points prior to shooting, so you know what you’re going to say and minimize any stumbling through topics.
• As you grow your photo albums and include pics of customers, employees, etc. always remember to add a caption to photos. What’s the back story? What’s going on in the image? Who’s that and why is he covered in paint? Every photo should tell a story – even if it’s just a short one.
• Most small businesses support youth sports
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teams and community or charitable events.
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ALLPRO® Supplier Profiles By Angel Nemath ALLPRO has had the good fortune to add the highest quality companies in the industry to the group. We continue to grow and are pleased to profile some of our newest supplier partners. ALLWAY TOOLS INC.
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ergonomically placed specifically for painter tools. Built in removable knee pads come with every pair. They are comfortable when you wear them the first time and every time! Our pants have a loose comfortable fit and allow ease of movement especially when kneeling or bending. These pants are 100% satisfaction guaranteed! • Josh Banks is a fourth generation painter and is the developer of Armed Work Wear. Josh recognized the need for a higher quality painter pant with built in knee pads and ergonomically placed pockets. The original concept came to Josh in mid 2005. It took another two years to bring his ideas to reality. • Company Slogan: It’s Not Work – It’s War4
Founded: 1935 Location: Bronx, NY 10462 Telephone: (866) 887-0788 Web site address: www.allwaytools.com Founder: Louis Gringer Current President: Howard Soled ALLPRO Contacts: Steve Sprehe, Judy Brandenstein and Maritza Torres # Full-Time Employees: 120 Allway Tools is a leading manufacturer of nearly 400 paint sundry tools for the D-I-Yer and professional. Allway boasts over 80 patents to its credit for innovative tool design. In addition to the Allway brand, the company also sells products to OEM’s and private label marketers. Allway was founded in 1935 as “Ultra Manufacturing”. Louis Gringer’s first product was a 4-way keyhole saw, called the All-Way Handy Saw. The name of the saw was so closely associated with the company that the company name, Ultra Manufacturing was changed to Allway Tools. Don Gringer, an engineer and son of the founder, joined the company in 1955 and expanded the line to nearly 400 skus today. Allway manufacturer’s products in Bronx, NY and in plants in China, co-owned by Allway and a Chinese manufacturer. The Allway Handy Saw remains in the line to this day. Company Slogan: Innovation Since 1935
GIANI INC • • • • • • • • •
ARMED WORK WEAR • • • • • • • • •
Founded: 2007 Location: Salt Lake City, UT 84115 Telephone: (503) 957-0078 Web site address: www.armedworkwear.com Founders: Josh and Casi Banks Current President: Josh Banks ALLPRO Contacts: Mike Brillman and Josh Banks # Full-Time Employees: 10 Armed Work Wear is a high quality line of painter apparel. We manufacture a great pair of work pants, that have a built in tool belt, and removable knee pads. The pants are a 12% mixture of cotton canvas. They are not 100% cotton. Cotton canvas wears and cotton tears. The pants are prewashed and will not shrink. The pockets are
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Founded: 1959 Location: St. Louis, MO 63102 Telephone: (800) 650-5699 Web site address: www.gianigranite.com Founders: Floyd Thomas and Jack Wisor Current President: Floyd Thomas ALLPRO Contacts: Tim Haas, Michelle Batty and Ashley Fleming # Full-Time Employees: 53 Giani’s goal is to be the best countertop paint company in the world. We strongly believe that we’re going to achieve this because granite is the most popular choice for countertops in the United States, but it’s out of reach for most people. So granite countertop paint fills a big void which means it’s considered ‘newsworthy’ by the Press on top of this pent up demand. Giani also provides customers a big shot of self-pride because it’s their ‘art’ which they naturally love to show off to their friends online and on Facebook! The parent company of Giani was founded 51 years ago to supply specialty raw materials to regional paint manufactures. Over the ensuing years they began developing and manufacturing their own dispersions, fixers and additives for large paint companies around the world. In 2007 a new division was established to develop and market specialty kitchen and bath coating because an employee wanted to paint their own refrigerator and asked one of the chemists for his help and that is how ‘Liquid Stainless Steel’ was born and ultimately Giani. Company Slogan: Paint granite on your laminate
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER … ALLPRO 2011 Fall Stockholder’s Meeting St. Regis Resort Monarch Beach Dana Point, CA, Oct 27 – Oct 30, 2011 ALLPRO 2012 Spring Show & Sales Meeting Rosen Shingle Creek Orlando, FL, Mar 14 – 18, 2012 ALLPRO 2012 Fall Stockholder’s Meeting Westin Kierland Resort & Spa Scottsdale, AZ, Oct 25 – Oct 28, 2012 ALLPRO 2013 Spring Show & Sales Meeting JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa Tucson, AZ, Mar 20 – 24, 2013
ALLPRO 2013 Fall Stockholder’s Meeting Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & Spa Hilton Head Island, SC, Oct 24 – 27, 2013 ALLPRO 2014 Spring Show & Sales Meeting JW Marriott Desert Ridge Phoenix, AZ, Mar 19 – 24, 2014 ALLPRO 2014 Fall Stockholder’s Meeting Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa Miami, FL, Oct 16 – 19, 2014 ALLPRO 2015 Spring Show & Sales Meeting Rosen Shingle Creek Orlando, FL, Mar 18 – 22, 2015
Member Happenings Recently several members have been recognized locally and even nationally in various media outlets as standouts. Curry’s Hardware was voted as the “ 2011 Very Best of South Shore” in the local hardware store category by the readers of South Shore Living online magazine. Another member, Budeke’s Paints & Decorating was also recently ranked as one of Baltimore’s “ Top 5 Paint Stores” for 2011 by Baltimore Magazine. And last but certainly not least, Canpro member City Paint, Montreal's oldest paint store, was recently named The Paint Dealer's “ 2011 Dealer of the Year!” Congratulations to each of the above on a job well done. Other media notables include Kerry Huffman and the folks at Huffman Paint and Wallcoverings, who was profiled in the Dealer Feature of Paint & Decorating Retailer magazine. Chris Cummings from The Paint Center was also recently profiled in the online magazine AbilineBiz.com. And if you’re looking for some must see TV, check out Robin Daly from Daly’s Paint & Decorating who was a recent guest on the Northwest Real Estate Forum’s web TV show (http://northwestrealestateforum.com/shows) where she discussed the importance of curb appeal with hostess Patricia Wangsness. Congrats to ALLPRO member Canpro, who recently added Colorworks Inc., which operates 3 stores in Nova Scotia, and Boyd's Decorating Centre, a single store operation in Scarborough, ON as their two newest members. Congratulations also to Steve North of Royal City Colours who recently opened a second location - the new store is located in the lower mainland of British Columbia.
Supplier Happenings Supplier partner Ben Moore recently introduced their newest contribution to technology - a new magazine app for the iPad called “Color Life.” The app is FREE and provides value by offering color trends, home tours, interviews with designers, and more. Supplier partner DAP is also moving forward with technology. The company just launched their new mobile site at m.dap.com, which provides users a condensed "nuts & bolts" version of their regular site. It’s a great resource for the dealer or contractor on the go.
Who’s New at ALLPRO? We’d like to officially introduce and welcome the newest member of the ALLPRO team, Elaine Henry. Elaine came aboard as our newest account representative in June 2011. Born in Okinawa, Japan Elaine grew up as an Air Force brat and moved around quite a bit. She eventually landed in Florida along with her mom and sister in 1987. Prior to working for ALLPRO, Elaine worked for 15 years in the medical radiology field as a center manager and supervisor for medical billing as well as assisted radiologists with medical procedures. Elaine is a single mom of two girls, 16 year old Deborah and 13 year old Tiffaney. On her days off she loves to spend time with her girls going to the beach, sightseeing, hanging out with friends from church or scrapbooking. About working at ALLPRO Elaine says, “It’s a good group of people to work with and they’ve been very helpful to the new kid on the block.” Please join us in welcoming Elaine to the ALLPRO team!
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even manage multiple social media sites from a dashboard site and usually they allow you to manage up to a certain number of social media accounts free of charge.
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Present professional promotional flyers
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Posting sale flyers and promotional events to even tools to help you present a clean, • Another option would be to utilize an internship professional product. Rather than post JPEG images of each page of a sale flyer separately, program through your local college. You’ll need try using an online publisher like Issuu. It’s free to contact the college directly – a good place to and enables you to upload PDF or Word docs start is the college of business or communication and provides you a link to the file that you can or the career management center – to determine attach to a post. The multipage flier is what their internship process entails. Typically presented in what’s called a page flip format so you submit a letter detailing the type of services the person viewing simply clicks on the left or you are looking for. Students will in turn submit right arrow and the resumes for review and, page “flips” as if according to Kerry they were reading Jones of Huffman Paint book. It presents a who recently used an professional looking internship program, flier that can be finding the right student downloaded or is absolutely critical. printed and best of Internships can be paid all you can see how or unpaid and if unpaid, many people view most colleges the flyer, which recommend you offer helps you measure some sort of incentive effectiveness. to keep the student Lastly, because it is motivated. Once you a link, it doesn’t have an intern the key clutter up your is to lay out your ideas photo album with and objectives and individual sale flyer Sample of a multi page document uploaded to Issuu.com and presented in monitor that person on a page flip format pages that you have an ongoing basis. Most to go back and delete interns average about 10 hours per week and later. 100 hours per semester. The advantage is you have an individual with the expertise to Are you listening? implement and build on your social media presence. They are typically highly motivated • When a fan thinks enough of a post to comment to do a good job, as it will provide them with on it and there’s no response that’s the social media equivalent of being ignored and nobody practical experience they can add to their likes being ignored. You should always respond resume. The disadvantage is every 10 weeks or to your fans when they comment on a post. If so you’ll have to trade in your expert, which it’s a comment that doesn’t lend itself to a typed makes it imperative that you be involved with response, just click “like” under their comment, what your intern is doing, so you don’t suffer a so they know you’ve acknowledged their input. competency gap between school semesters.
How do I keep up?
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The above list of tips is certainly not an all inclusive list. As social media continues to develop and more and more members utilize it as a tool we will continue to report on how it’s being used and offer helpful advice. That said, member or supplier, if something is working for you that you would like to share please feel free to e-mail me at scott.morath@allprocorp.com. I’ll be more than happy to include any additional “do’s or don’ts” in future issues. Until then, good luck with your Facebook pages!
You’re busy and that’s a good thing. Unfortunately, it doesn’t allow for a lot of time to build your brand and communicate with fans on Facebook. One option to help manage this tool is to utilize a social media dashboard site – we use Hootsuite but there are others available. Essentially, a dashboard site allows you to draft an update then set a specific time/date for that update to post. For example, if you want to promote an event for next month you can prepare a series of creative reminders to go out once a week until the start of the event. You can
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NEWS AND VIEWS New Debit Card Rules May Hurt Consumers In June of this year the Federal Reserve reduced the debit card processing fees businesses were required to pay for transactions from an average of 44 cents to 21 cents plus 5% of the transaction amount. According to the Lansing State Journal, banks are now threatening to end free services to customers in order to make up for the lost revenue. In addition, consumers may also see:
• Fewer reward programs.
Case in point, in March JPMorgan Chase & Co told 8 million card users it would eliminate its reward program in midJuly as a result of the then pending cap on interchange fees.
• Free checking.
Without debit card interchange fees to subsidize free checking accounts banks may eliminate free checking or require customers to meet minimum balances, use direct deposit, or even maintain more than one account to avoid paying a fee for checking.
• More Prepaid Cards.
The new fee limit doesn’t apply to credit or prepaid cards so we may see more banks getting into the prepaid card market. Banks may also bring back charge cards that require the card be paid off in full each month to appeal to consumers who want to control spending.
What EPA/RRP Rule?
Editor/Production Scott Morath
Proofers Ann Spire, Julia Thomas, Angel Nemath, Chris Gingell, Pat Brulfer Elaine Henry
Contributing Writers Scott Morath, Angel Nemath, Joe Poliseo - ALLPRO, Al Kinnear - Big Eye Productions Steve Ryan - Mad Dog Paint Products, Inc.
ALLPRO® President Travis Detter
Exec. Vice President Joe Poliseo
SUGGESTIONS WELCOME Your suggestions, ideas, articles and comments are encouraged. The Scouting Report is an important
According to the Journal of Architectural Coatings a national survey of communications media for ALLPRO®. contractors conducted by the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) showed that general awareness of the EPA/RRP rule was Mail all correspondence to: The Scouting Report lacking among homeowners. According to the survey, 61% of contractors c /o ALLPRO® Corporation said their homeowner clients were not familiar with the lead-paint rule. The remaining 39% indicated their clients were familiar with the rule but only 1215 Millennium Parkway Brandon, FL 33511 • (813) 628-4800 after they had been educated by the contractor. Another interesting statistic: Website: www.allprocorp.com According to contractors surveyed, 77% of homeowners indicated they The Scouting Report is a bimonthly publication would opt to do the work themselves or hire someone regardless of of the ALLPRO® Corporation. compliance due to the increased cost of compliance, compared to 23% who Printed on recycled paper indicated they would not. The survey was conducted “in an effort to gauge the potential additional effect of a new requirement the EPA is expected to impose, involving ‘lead clearance testing’ at the conclusion of a project.” Judging by the statistics, the new rule may only serve to increase the number of homeowners willing to do the work themselves or hire a contractor who is not compliant with the RRP rules.
Roommate Wanted In the current economic climate every business is looking for creative ways to cut costs. According to the CaldwellsPatch, one ACE Hardware retailer is even looking for a “roommate.” That’s right; Caldwells ACE Hardware in Caldwells, NJ is looking for a roommate to share part of their 17,000 sq. ft. of retail space. The business intends to sub-lease anywhere from 6,000 to 10,000 sq. ft. of its space to the right tenant. They’ve already experimented with a few different floor plans to make sure both parties would have the necessary retail space. The only thing left is to find someone to share it with. It’s an interesting idea to be sure. The right tenant (a business that compliments the hardware store) could not only help Ace by cutting their costs but it would also generate more foot traffic and ultimately more revenue. On the down side, there is concern that with less space, Caldwells Ace won’t be able to hire the necessary seasonal staff when it’s needed, due to the reduced space. How it ultimately plays out remains to be seen.