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...

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...

Professional Performers Don’t Require Immediate Compensation

 “Did you think you could have the good without the evil? Did you think you could have the joy without the sorrow?” – David Grayson, professor and author

Most people are fully engaged in microwave thinking – a deep belief that compensation should immediately follow any effort. Champions are different. They believe every effort performed with good intentions yields some form of compensation at some point. People become champions by perfecting their competencies until other people label them ‘champion.’ In most cases, this label took years of hard work and sacrifice to achieve, with little or no apparent compensation along the way.

Many of the great ones were ridiculed and criticized for investing so many hours in the development of their core competency. Not swayed by amateur opinion, they pushed forward aggressively. This delayed gratification set the stage for all future battle...