Too many business leaders have been misled by the “accounting mentality” and think paying their people too much (whatever that means) results in uncompetitively high costs. Seriously? 

Welcome to my {mostly} annual restoration trends update. I have spent more than 30 years working in the restoration industry which gives me a relevant perspective on the business of restoration. The following list is meant to help restoration contractors assess their business strategies – and just be an overall interesting read. I believe these issues will be the top drivers of change, not only in 2019, but into the future.

What does the cleaning and restoration industry look like in 2019? That seems like a billion (maybe trillion) dollar question. If any of us knew the answer, we might very well not be reading (or writing) this piece.

Over the last two years, I’ve focused on 25 companies. The companies ranged in size from around $250,000 to nearly $30 million in annual sales, and everything in between. 

They say familiarity breeds contempt. Perhaps that is the inspiration for this piece. Or maybe it’s just that after 17 years of dealing with the same issue, you lose patience with it. Especially when the solution seems so simple. At least on the surface.