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Ours is an industry where entrepreneurs cling to traditional ways of doing business. It’s an in-person service, after all. We work with our hands, we serve clients face-to-face. Who cares how tech savvy we are? Everyone cares, and if you don’t see that reflected in your customers’ priorities now, you will soon.

“If the Jon from five years ago has anything further to add, perhaps this idea still has merit: ‘Your office is your second home. Arguably, you spend more time in your workspace with your work peeps than with your actual family, so making it an enjoyable and functional environment should be a priority,’” Jon Isaacson writes.

Remember, good is the enemy of great. You might pay little attention to accountability standards and still find a way to grow a good company. But especially at a time when customers and employees have more choices than ever, and margins continue to grow thinner, becoming a truly great company in the long term requires 100% accountability throughout your entire organization, Scott Severe writes.

Les Cunningham shares 13 reflections and predictions for restoration business owners to consider as they plan for 2022, from working with TPAs, to increasing labor and material prices, to COVID-19 effects.

By being proactive and educating property owners about the risks of dishonest engineering and insurer fraud, you can help defend your clients from unethical claims professionals, Jack Hanks and Doug Quinn write. This will help ensure fair insurance markets where policyholders suffering a loss have the best chance for an honest claim and a smoother process of rebuilding their property. When this happens, the consumer, the restoration professional and the insurer win.

Sometimes we get in our own way, not because we don’t recognize opportunity, but because we resist it. A lot of entrepreneurs have done this to themselves, including me. Business has never been better. Leads are pouring in, your team is performing at their highest level, but something within you keeps pulling towards a new opportunity outside your business.

This article likely will not convince you to become a soccer player, but maybe it will remind you to stop and think about whether your frustration is aimed at the right causes. Many employers are struggling to recruit, hire, and retain good talent. This isn’t a new problem but recent events have compounded the issue. As I have said in prior articles, blaming the current workforce will not help you turn the tide. You need a winning perspective.

For a lot of business owners, October isn’t exactly a time of new beginnings. You might be fantasizing about taking a breath, taking a break and starting fresh. If you’re like most, setting a New Year’s resolution for your business is the furthest thing from your mind. It shouldn’t be.

Apply the same investigative mindset we teach our teams to use in water-damaged homes when you are dealing with interpersonal and organizational challenges.

While some of today’s issues are unique, there will always be major obstacles restoration contractors must solve, resolve or absolve to find success. It has always been this way, and it always will be.