From The Desk of Toby Clem (No AI tools were used to write this piece, but we did have a good conversation) 

AI is part of our future. As individuals. As business people. As companies. As a society. 

I thought it would be interesting to hear from ChatGPT about what it meant to run an efficient restoration business. 

It was certainly interesting. And it prompted some questions that I have never hesitated to ask a human, so I certainly challenged the artificial intelligence machine.

Here is how it went. 

Word for word. 

Running an efficient mitigation business is crucial to ensure that your clients receive the best service possible. Whether you are dealing with water damage, fire damage, or mold remediation, the following tips will help you streamline your business operations and provide top-notch service.

1. Invest in training and certification for your team: Make sure that your team members are properly trained and certified in their respective...

Best Job I Ever Had

You get to choose

From the desk of Klark Brown (no AI tools were used to write this piece)

Sometimes the smallest things give you the biggest ideas. Or they give you a laugh or smile at exactly the moments you need them. 

Will Dunn is a close friend and former employee of mine that lives in the NE suburbs of Atlanta, Ga.

Will has served in the military with several tours in BAD places. He has seen some things.
He was also a police officer for many years. 

Will showed a desire to learn about the disaster recovery industry. I hired, trained, and mentored him.

Will randomly sent me a text one day from Arizona or somewhere he was on a project.
“Best Job I Ever Had”. That’s it. That's all it said.
If I were not such a huge movie fan, I may have taken that in any number of ways.

Brad Pit, Jon Bernthal, and others starred in a movie named [FURY]. 

A hard-hitting group of a tank battalion is pushing through Nazi Germany in WW2.
We can...

By Klark Brown  (no AI used in this writing)

The case where promotions can cause a stall. 

Obvious Growth Potential

There are many ways to grow a disaster restoration company.

Plumbers

Agents

Process Automation

Better Education

All of these are certainly strong components of a plan to scale and grow. I think we can also agree that good, dependable and hard-working people are a requirement!

NOW IF WE COULD ONLY FIND THOSE!!

I received an email from a really good guy from a medium-sized company in Maryland. He told me that he enjoys reading our blog and has even listened to a few podcasts when he has time.

This man is a Reconstruction Manager. He sheepishly asked if he could give me some feedback and suggestions. 

This got my attention. The answer was of course an emphatic YES. 

He told me that while he liked the podcast (and our YouTube Channel), his time is limited and he has to be very intentional with where he puts it.

Can you imagine...

By Klark Brown  (no AI used in this writing)

 Outsourcing your obligations like a BOSS!

This short story can be read here: [Tom Sawyer- Whitewashing the Fence]

Ben Tally: “Say – I’m going in a swimming, I am. Don’t you wish you could? But of course, you’d druther work – wouldn’t you? Course you would!”

Tom contemplated the boy a bit, and said:

Tom: “What do you call work?”

Tom: “Why, ain’t that work?”

It doesn’t take long to see how easy it is to manipulate someone to do your work FOR THEM. To pass along operational responsibility to another and make them feel obligated and almost excited to do it.

THIS MIGHT STING A LITTLE

To get right to the point of this mindset detour…..this is what is happening to the disaster recovery specialists that perform work where insurance carriers and their multiple tentacles of control are involved.
They have slowly (and effectively)...

 By Klark Brown  (no AI used in this writing)

 What was once meant to revolutionize might be sending us backward. 

This may be familiar to many of us:

New Restorers: What do I charge for XXXX?

Keyboard Commando’s: Charge ANYTHING you want !!  Add more than you do because the insurance will screw you

Also Keyboard Commando;s: Eff the Insurance. 

Go back to school and learn your numbers….

Charge what Xactimate says….

Why are you in business if you don’t know what to charge?.....

PM me…..I charge tens of thousands to show restorers how to overcome this…..

It’s easy…….

Look familiar?

Un-Social Media

As a very visible presence in such groups, these are my perceptions.  

Have you seen the conversations like the short one above occur across the various forums and groups?
Yea. Me too.
It infuriates me and truly makes me wonder what is wrong with people. What makes people come...

By Klark Brown  (no AI used in this writing)

We called it Paradise……

We can almost kiss it goodbye. 

“They call it paradise

I don't know why

You call someplace paradise

Kiss it goodbye”

Wrapping up our MUSIC SERIES this week, I wanted to share a musing I had as I traveled up I-85 in North Carolina a few weeks ago.

Don Henley and The Eagles wrote more than a lot of classics. The quality of music that practically any generation at least recognizes the melody.

Their most popular and best-selling album was Hotel California. Among the almost endless number of gems on that album was Last Resort.

The song itself has a very important message about the degradation of our native land. The overconsumption of The United States' beautiful resources for the sake of growth and expansion. 

The Curse of MORE. 

What I got from the message was our industry.
If you look at the quote above, which is near the end of the song, I think...

By Klark Brown  (no AI used in this writing)

Changes - The Only Constant

In life, in business, and in the world, the one constant is change. 

 
One could say that that change direction has picked up ALOT of wind in the sales and is occurring in bigger strides and in a much faster pace.

Bowie was clearly speaking from a creative position in this particular song from his Honky Dory album in 1971. This was certainly a time in music and in the world where we were coming out of the Woodstock era and people were looking to say new things.

If you do not know or study Bowie, he was a true visionary in the realm of entertainers reinventing himself.
This was surely partly artistic expression, but it was also a new world that HE was creating. Not trying to live within the confines of what others said you are supposed to be and how you do things. He was punk, he was a REBEL. 

As a business owner and entrepreneur, I can certainly resonate with this (sans...

By Klark Brown  (no AI used in this writing)

WHO KNEW STING DEPLOYS ACCOUNTABILITY

Every move you make and every vow you break

Every smile you fake, every claim you stake, I’ll be watching you

Every move you make, every step you take, I’ll be watching you

“What in the absolute HELL do The Police have to do with anything?”

Give me 6 minutes and I’ll share it with you. I think it will be worth it. 

Every Breath You Take (link to the song on YouTube) is by far the most popular song ever written by the British Trio named The Police. The Lead singer/ songwriter is Sting ( birth name Gordon Sumner).
If you want to know how he got the name Sting, reach out to me and I will share that story as well. My useless music knowledge rivals Wikipedia. 

Released in 1983, it shot to the stratosphere of the music charts thanks to the introduction of MTV (yes, they once played music videos). 

The dark and sinister lyrics...

By Klark Brown  (no AI used in this writing)

I would love to think this blog post will be THE THING that finally helps you become a master at recognizing the things that we try very hard not to face or approach.

The phrase “Bandaid for Bullet Holes” sounds like a great anecdote by Mark Twain.
It’s not.

It sounds like something you would hear from a sarcastic comedy actor on your favorite show.
Again…No.

"Bandaids On A Bullet Hole" is a song by a wildly popular young country singer/ songwriter. Morgan Wallen also has a respectable mullet that proves that the 80s may indeed be making a comeback.

I am riding in my truck one day when this song comes on. I look over at my stereo and notice the title. I felt the proverbial WHACK across my face. The phrase seriously struck me.
In an instant, it reminded me of what I often do. I also can surmise that it happens with many people.

The idea or context that I attach to this is we often look for a...

By Klark Brown  (no AI used in this writing)

A modern nostalgic tale

A quick sideways smile appeared as I read what an actual person in 2023 wrote in a professional (somewhat) forum. 

With a teaspoon of amusement, a dash of dismay, and a gallon of continued frustration, I watched the comment appear, and develop a large audience around the words in true social media fashion.

Before diving into my visions of Bugsy Siegel, Al Capone, and Tony Soprano, allow me to fill you in on the context. 

This is about yet another online post about Asbestos Testing, the laws and the standards surrounding the requirements.  

What many do not know (because I find no reason to announce it) is I made a PROMISE to do my part to help educate an entire industry. 

Being a hard-headed, ADHD, sometimes hectic industry about this important misunderstood law is affecting too many unknowing and helpless workers. 

But enough about that, I have written scores of...