You Gotta Have FAITH

Go with us on a journey of a restorer who fired most of his team, and now is living the life of freedom that he designed... all in a relatively short amount of time!

Introduction
Chapter 1 - Faithful
Chapter 2 - The Pivot
Chapter 3 - Big Moves
Chapter 4 - Culture Wins
Chapter 5 - Results Also Win
Conclusion

This blog is a detour of our normal content. But one that I think will deliver massive value. I love witnessing and celebrating the success of others. Especially when I was on the journey with them (for the wins and losses)

Introduction

Let’s meet one of the main characters of this story. Nick Lambert owns and operates Faithful Restoration in Billings, Montana. He has built this full-service company with his wife Jennifer and a few key staff members that he would call family.
When we talk about Montana, it is important we not think of the popular TV show Yellowstone. While that stereotype can be found, it is not representative of the hard work ethic that most...

Let’s have a conversation about certifications. 

The restoration industry loves education. They love all the certifications. Many people chase the prestigious title of “Triple Master”.

Certifications are very popular and some may say pertinent to have to build a strong restoration company.

In our discussion, we will cover some of the following topics:

• Required vs Recommended
• Should vs Shall
• Basic vs advanced
• Certification vs Education
• Licensing
• Specialty Certifications

I want to start by saying that education, knowledge and accuracy on the processes in which you perform restoration and especially mitigation are incredibly important.
Important from a liability standpoint for sure. Improper structural drying, faulty cleaning and skipped steps in the terms of safety, can open you and your entire company up to liability.

Molds, toxins, bacteria, hazards and biological exposures can impact the health of your staff, your client and the surrounding...

Let's talk onboarding.

In 2016, I met a guy named Andy McCabe.

He was making videos on LinkedIn. I liked what he was saying but I really was drawn to his desire to stand up and talk about things no one else was, and things that most avoided from fear.

We spoke for a while and developed a MOVEMENT called Restoration 2.0.

A reboot

A newer version

An update

An exit from the Matrix.

The carriers were getting more brazen and stronger with their tactics outlined in Delay, Deny, Defend.

A profit driven system applied to the claims process.

Carrier relationships that built incredible companies were no longer as strong and many had deteriorated with the expansion of the MRP's and growth of TPA's.

Quality and Customer service had been removed as KPI's and replaced with Claims Ratios, claims shrink and lowering of overhead by limiting site visits ( pushing the documentation onto the contractor).

Frustration was building.

Franchising was exploding (MRP's) and the quality of work in the industry...

Anyone asking how to find new employees or get more business should take a close look at their relationships in the community that they operate their business.

While there are many lanes for marketing your restoration business, and all are very important, almost none can be counted on to be as predictable and resilient as having a very strong network that you built with service and trust.

These are your cheerleaders and when the weather is not ideal, when google changes, when FB ads are not working…..these relationships will provide.

They also have a way of multiplying pretty quickly.

When you are doing things well and serving others, your network splinters off and you continue to be introduced to others.

When you put yourself out there in groups, panels, committees and other involvement, you show the kind of character that people feel trusting enough to be an advocate for.

Make sure you are being smart with your time and investments. Some groups will gladly take and...

The great Albert Einstein has been repeatedly attributed as saying, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results”.

While we refuse to call anyone insane, we do repeatedly see an industry that does the same thing over and over.

Over and over they plead for a different outcome. 

We have conversations with restoration professionals every day.
It's what we do.
And when I say professional, I emphatically say these people are some of the technically brightest people on the planet in their discipline.
They know how to dry very well. They know how to mitigate impressively.
They started their business because they want to help people. Empathy for others is off the charts. 

Empathy is what gets them in difficult situations. 

They feel the clients pressure so much that they assume the burden of the situation. They cannot separate out what the clients (insured…NOT the insurance company) burden is, and what...

As you celebrate Independence Day on the Fourth of July, it’s a good time to celebrate independence in business. This freedom is a primary reason why entrepreneurs take the leap of faith to build their own business.

“For all entrepreneurs, starting a business is the route to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,’ no matter how risky,” Martin Zwilling says in a story for Business Insider. He calls it “the American dream.”

The following are some areas of freedom that business owners can enjoy when they start their own business. Notice I said “can”. Not all do… that's why Restoration Advisers exists. We exist to help business owners find the freedoms they dreamed of from the start so that they can have a greater impact on their family and community. 

Some of the elements of today's blog are from an investing website called Business to Community.

Freedom to be happy

Happy is a word that more of us could use in our...

Once you’ve identified the key systems that make your business money, it’s now time to extract them.

But here’s where many business owners get tripped up... they try to create all the systems themselves! And once they’ve been created, then they feel an overwhelming pressure to perform all of the systems themselves. 

As a business owner, you’ll never be free from the day to day operations if you’re always deciding to involve yourself in them.

This is a pivotal decision point where businesses can either remain in the stationary stage and continue to decline, or start systemising the right way so they can move to the scalable and saleable stages.

I had a breakthrough moment with a client this week who has been working hard on breaking free from doing things the way he’s always been doing them. 

His words to me (in a troubled tone) were, “It's almost like I don’t care anymore.” 

On the surface that sounds...

 Contributed by: Robert More’ - BYLT Restoration 

People are the greatest asset a company can have. Good people gravitate to good culture which starts at the top.  

Techs want to be managed. They need to be managed; they will leave if they aren’t being managed. Employees coming into the restoration work force are looking for structure and organization. In the book by KnowHow, “ Why Workers Quit” they say that the new employees coming into a company are looking for high levels of structure on their on-boarding. They also say that today's worker isn’t looking to jump ship right away. They are looking to lay down roots and stay. Give them what they want. Be the company they want to be a part of from the beginning.
Become a process driven company.

People and their environment 

A violinist played 45 minutes on the New York subway. 4 people stopped and one clapped and they managed to raise 20 dollars.

The following...

DON'T LOOK DOWN

We polled some great restorers recently about the biggest mistakes they've made as leaders. 

The conversation was interesting. 

The most common response was keeping a bad employee. This is certainly understandable, especially given the current climate surrounding staffing. 

The second most common response was trusting your gut. Keeping a bad employee could certainly be part of trusting your gut, and if it were, then this would overwhelmingly be the leader. 

There is a great book on this subject. Its called "Blink: The power of thinking without thinking" by Malcolm Gladwell. Check it out in our Book Vault. 

We are human. 
We screw up. Some days it feels like we screw up a lot more than others
Most of us learn, and move on. 

But we all have that screw up that we may tell others later by starting the story with "there was this one time". 

We'd love to hear your story. 

Join Restoration Business Academy to share your story!