August 24, 2007

Meanwhile, back in the real world …

Having wasted several days goofing off, I find myself playing Friday catch-up. The laundry is going, the dishes are done and now the office awaits. There’s a teetering pile of filing on the corner of my desk, threatening to bury my mouse pad. The books are at least a week behind. Checks remain un-opened and un-deposited. My date book is a shambles with inspection orders crammed between pages instead of being neatly penciled in.

Having a home office is a mixed blessing. I’m working in my jammies at half-past noon. That’s a big plus, but it blurs the line between business and pleasure. When I’m in pajamas I feel like it’s okay to take frequent breaks to visit with my message board friends or sort through the new batch of email forwards from a cousin. By the same token, when the weekend comes and I can give myself permission to ignore work, I can’t do it because it’s always *right there* reminding me that there are things to be done. It’s a routine I’ve tried to balance for over seven years and I’m still not very good at it. How do you separate work and private life when they are so intertwined? If you have the answer I’d love to hear it. My computer is a work tool and a toy, so it’s hard to focus on one appliction without the other intruding. Should I get a second one and put it in another room, so that I can clearly define my intent at any given time? I don’t think such mind games work very well for me. I would know they were both mine, and probably find myself working on reports in the living room while watching TV or checking my blog from the office computer rather than going down the hall to do it. Leasing a commercial space for my office might do the trick, but I’m a small business and that’s a ridiculously expensive way to address what, in actuality should be addressed by bettering my organizational skills. And the problem with that is that I’m an old dog, resistent to learning new tricks.

So I’ve answered my own quesitons, but still would welcome your input. How do you focus on the things you need to do when the fun stuff distracts? Those of you with home offices - how do you put a meaningful division between work and everything else? Is it possible to establish organization out of chaos? I may or may not learn your tricks, but I’m eager to know what they are.

[tags]business, goofing off, home office, organizational skills[/tags]

August 10, 2007

Disrupted Horizon

One of the wonderful things about owning a small business is knowing that I have complete control over how things operate. After spending half of a lifetime bending to other peoples ideas and wishes, I’m enjoying holding the reins of power. I decide how my business is structured, what services to offer and how to bring in clients. The hardest part, for me, is relinquishing that power when it comes to areas outside of my own expertise. Success in business demands that I acknowledge my areas of weakness and seek out the best experts to make up for my lack. Disrupted Horizon not only gets the concept, they’ve made it the foundation of their business:

1% of companies know how to know what they don’t know about Business 3.0

95% don’t know what they don’t know

None of us can be experts at every aspect of running a business. The smartest move we can make is put brilliant minds to work for us, whether on our own payroll or in the services that we contract. The way to know how to know what we don’t know is to put ouselves in the hands of people who do know. If you don’t know what’s making that annoying knocking sound in your car, you’re going to take it to an expert mechanic, arent you? Wouldn’t it be foolish to do any less for your business? How effective are the Market Research techniques you learned right out of school? The entire marketing world has been turned upside down since then, so no one can blame you for not keeping up. You’ve been too busy manufaturing widgets to focus on the digital revolution. If you’re like me and only just beginning to get a handle on web 2.0, how are you going to position yourself to take advantage of the next wave? Disrupted Horizon, the Business 3.0 Consultancy offers the solutions that will help you move seamlessly forward. Their expertise can give you the competitive advantage that can carry you to the top of your field. Start by asking them to assist you with a Business 3.0 Health Check. Assessing where you are and where you want to be will allow them to help you map a plan to get you there. As your partners, they can apply what they know best towards helping you reach your goals, so you that you can concentrate on making the best widget the world has ever known. Ask them how.

[tags]business, business consultants, business growth, Disrupted horizon, marketing[/tags]

July 30, 2007

BizMark Tech

Opening a small business is fraught with pitfalls. Just ask me. I’ve been there and done that, and I’ve learned everything the hard way, through trial and error. It would have been nice to have had a website that anticipated my needs and helped me locate the resources that would have made it easier. Deb has established BizMark Tech with that in mind. She’s waded through the morass of information available out there to find what’s useful and help us make sense of it. Most business websites seem to be unaware that one size does not fit all when it comes to establishing a business. What works for large corporate entities doesn’t necessarily apply to the mom and pop business with five employees or to someone like me, working with no employees at all. Most corporations these days require a college degree to consider you for hiring, so there are common assumptions about the knowledge you may have when you enter business. Many small business owners have skipped over those steps, though, and didn’t have a professor to teach them about how to structure a business or determine which type of tax and insurance programs are most applicable. Those are some of the situations that Deb can help us address.

The Small Business Administration is a resource every small business owner can use, but they spew out so much information that many people leave their site frustrated, not having found what they were looking for. Deb scours the SBA for relavent info and passes it on to her readers. I’ve been to their site many times, but was unaware that they offer live business chats on many specialized topics until Deb pointed that out. What a great resource, to be able to pick the minds of the SBA!

Did you know that you can rent a computer for short-term needs or to try out a new model before you buy? It never would have occurred to me that that was possible. I’ve been thinking about buying my first laptop. It’s so logical to try out several models in real life before I make that investment, but I didn’t even know such a service was available.

Insurance is another area that most of us consider a “necessary evil” when operating a business. I’m required by law to carry business general liability insurance, but what else do I need in order to fully protect myself from loss and lawsuits? Your insurance agent has a vested interest in selling you every kind of insurance under the sun. All of us will profit from learning about the different types of insurance coverage before we sign on the dotted line.

These are just a few examples from a menu chock-full of helpful info at BizMark Tech. I haven’t even touched on the marketing and technology tips Deb has researched for us. If you’re in business, and especially if you’re operating a small business, you’ll want to bookmark BizMark Tech.com and visit frequently. It’s a smart business move!

[tags]blogs, business, business blogs, small business[/tags]

July 17, 2007

Managing rental properties

A good percentage of the real estate transactions that I perform inspections for involve investment properties. I see a lot of success stories - investors who use my service again and again because their business is profitable and they acquire new properties on a regular basis. I also see a lot of nightmares - amateur investors who don’t know how to manage their properties and loose their shirts (and everything else) through their poor business practices. Many small investors buy one or two properties, anticipating that the rental incomes and equity will provide for retirement. It’s wonderful when it works out that way, but so often it doesn’t. The reason for the failures is almost always the same: lack of expertise in managing the properties. Tenants need to be screened, properties need to be maintained and vacancies need to be filled promptly. If you own rental properties and do not have a background in real estate management, the biggest mistake you can make is trying to do it all for yourself. Rentals.com lists qualified property managers in every state that can help you turn a profit with on your investment. Check out some of the professionals in your area who can help you turn your investment property into the money-maker you need it to be.

If you have a property in need of tenants, Rentals.com is a good place to start. They’re a high-traffic website with over three million renters searching each month. Their user-friendly site will send you renters who are looking for your type of properties in your area. They’ll even supply you with free yard signs to encourage drive-by traffic to stop and check you out. Take a look at their site before your next vacancy needs filling. I think you’ll like what you see.

[tags]apartment rentals, condo rentals, home rentals, property management, rental properties[/tags]

July 8, 2007

Real Estate Marketing

There are hundreds of realtors in my phone book and fax file. Some I do business with once and never again. Others close two or three sales a year, so they don’t bring me much business either. Then there are the others whose names I never have a problem remembering, whose numbers are regonizable to me when they appear on my caller ID. They’re my steadies - my regulars. They call every few weeks at least, sometimes several times a month, needing my inspection service because they have a sale that is approaching closing. There are two things I’ve noticed that differentiate them from their less successful competitors.

1. They understand that real estate marketing starts with marketing themselves. They work hard at getting their names out there and at recruiting new clients. They advertise and do cold calls. When they sign a contract with a seller, they don’t pat themselves on the back and go home to relax. They knock on every door in the neighborhood, introducing themselves and offering their services. When the buyer signs, they do it all over again. They understand that getting their name in front of potential clients is the most important thing they can do to keep their business growing.

2. They never stop learning. If they aren’t with clients, they’re in a seminar or continuing education class. When they’re finally at home each evening, they’re online studying a real estate marketing blog or looking for new classes to take. They’ve made it their business to understand housing trends and market fluctuations because they know their careers depend on it.

These are my personal observations as an “inside outsider,” not in the real estate industry, but working exclusively within it anyway. I think that every successful realtor I know will agree with me. And the ones who read my blog will be grateful that I’ve provided them with some new learning resources through this sponsored post. It’s the least I could do for the folks who keep the market thriving and make my business profitable.

[tags]blogs, real estate, real estate marketing, sponsored posts[/tags]

June 28, 2007

Back to school?

Doing the research for my turtle posts took me back a few years. I first learned how to use identification keys when I was studying for a degree in Integrated Pest Management. I really loved that program. I aced all of my entomlogy, vertebrate pest and pest control courses. Chemisty and trig, not so much, but I did well in various English and psyche courses. My one semester of OSHA studies was fun and I’d have taken advanced studies in that if they’d been available to me. I learned a lot about workplace safety and how to write and implement an OSHA-compliant safety program. I had to memorize a lot of govenment double-speak and acronyms. The course even included the history of govenrnment safety laws, like the Miners Health and Safety Act and the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, which helped pave the way to uniform safety standards in industry. I found the whole thing fascinating, and the information came in handy a few years later when I was required to write a safety handbook and training program for a national company. The history fascintated me more than the practical applications, though.

I never finished my degree program. I had to drop for a semester to deal with some family problems. When the next semester started the IPM program had been dropped from the course catalog and was only available to students who had been active the previous semester (the one that I missed.) I’ve studied pest control all of these years, of course, in order to comply with continuing education requirements for licensing, but somewhere along the line I’ve lost my hankering for the degree that I almost had. I work for myself. A degree no longer holds the power to open doors with prospective employers. If I were to go back to school today it would be for personal satisfaction and my studies would something totally unrelated to my career. Hawaiian studies would be at the top of my list. I love the history and culture of this magical place and hunger to know more. I doubt that I could afford the degree programs available at University of Hawaii, but I think most of the community colleges offer Hawaiian studies. I don’t have an infinite number of tomorrows, and am well aware that most of my life is behind me. I think it’s time to get myself in gear and start reaching for that dream.

What about you? Would you go back to school for any reason other than career advancement? If you did, what would you study? Would you be seeking a degree, or studying merely for the love of knowledge? Do you have any experience with going back to school at an advanced age that you’d be willing to share?

[tags]adult education, business, college, degrees, dreams[/tags]

June 27, 2007

I love my job - sometimes

I got a call late yesterday to do a hurry-up inspection today. The seller’s agents are supposed to arrange these things in a timely manner so that the real estate closing won’t be held up, but they frequently “forget.” The request this time came from a transaction coordinator for the escrow company. She was gathering documents for the closing, noted that the buyer had requested that I provide the inspection and that the seller’s agent had never ordered it. I’ve never spoken to the seller’s agent and probably never will. He’s “unavailable,” probably off-island on some leisuretime vip vacation. That’s why he has minions, I guess. It worked out okay. I didn’t have an overly-burdened schedule for today and the condo is here on the coast, quick and easy for me to get to.

The entire interior of the condo had recently been gutted. All new cabinets, floors, fixtures and appliances. When the nails were driven to install the quarter-round for the floor, one of them penetrated damaged wood at the base of a window and caused it to split.

It didn’t need much of an expert to discern that the bottom sill was toast. I probed along the framing on one side of the window and saw that damage had been inexpertly filled prior to the recent paint job. I opened up damage, concealed under a thin layer of fill and paint, all the way around the window.

I don’t know whether it was the seller or his repair contractor who attempted to hide an active termite infestation and damage. If I had missed it, it would have been on my shoulders when the buyer found it (and the buyer would have found it the first time he or she stubbed a toe trying to open the paint-sealed louvers.) I’ve been doing this for twenty-seven years. I’ve never been dinged with an insurance claim for a miss. Today’s find was pretty simple. Sometime the cover-up is more expert. Things like this make me angry, and they also make me wonder how many times I have missed something that the buyer was stuck with because they didn’t know they had legal recourse. There are some things about this business that I won’t miss at all if I ever retire.

[tags]business, fraud, real estate, termite inspection, termites[/tags]

June 22, 2007

Pau hana Friday

My Waikiki condo inspection this morning was uneventful. As I was stowing my gear in the trunk I looked up and noticed a small area of damage to some wood framing installed to support the roofing of the low steel-framed carport. One two-by-four diagonal brace was split and there was a scrape on adjacent framing, as if maybe a truck with a ladder rack
had been a little too tall for the structure. I took my probe back out of my trunk to investigate and was rewarded with a face full of drywood termtie pellets falling from the framing. That’s poop, to the uninformed. Detached structures are usually disclaimed in my reports for condominiums, but I asked the realtor representing the buyer if it should be included. Yes, because the stall would belong to him specifically and was not a common element. Not a major problem, but the real estate closing which was scheduled for early next week will likely be delayed until treatment can be arranged. Sucks, but things like that happen when they wait until the last moment to schedule an inspection.

The view is looking out over the Ala Wai Canal from the sixth floor lanai of the condo. Up until recently the scene would likely have been more populated. Fishing and paddling (by canoe clubs) have moved on to other sites because of contaminated water in the canal. Still, a pleasant scene with Ala Wai Field, Ala Wai Elementary School and Ala Wai Golf Course providing a park-like buffer between the canal and Kapahulu. The little slice of Diamond Head, doesn’t hurt, either.

It’s a few minutes before three. I have one report to complete and I’ll be pau hana (done with work!) Let the weekend begin!

[tags]condominiums, Hawaii, inspections, photo, real estate, termites, Waikiki[/tags]

June 4, 2007

Owie!

Well, it seems I was wrong about my back spasms being done with. I haven’t done anything terribly physical in the last couple of hours, but I feel like I’ve got lightning bolts emanating from the small of my back into my hips and legs. I honestly don’t mind growing older, but I do hate it that aches and pains seem to be more frequent and less amenable to the little tricks that used to cure them. I wonder if I could get some no exam life insurance, what with the rate that my parts are failing these days? I wonder how many more parts can become shabby before I must be definitively classified as “old?” But enough of that. Let’s talk some more about what I did that brought on the backache. It involves another owie, this one professional.

You may recall that there was some lumber among the clutter I moved yesterday. I knew it was there. I moved some of it one or two pieces at a time into the shed. The rest is piled up, waiting for Paul to haul it off to the landfill. I’ve thought it was sitting on masonry blocks all this time. As soon as I moved the first few pieces I realized that there was nothing between the wood and the ground. This is a huge no-no. It’s a surefire way to invite termite invasion. It’s analogous to giving them a free lunch and an engraved invitation to come dine. My builder and I had a few words about that while he was working for me. His opinion was that since all of my lumber was pressure treated, I didn’t have to worrry about the wood getting infested. I’m always amazed at how many people believe that.

This is treated lumber.

This is also treated lumber.

Yep, this is treated also. Click for a larger size and you’ll see the termites crawling around on both pieces. They are formosan subterranean termites.

Here’s one of the above pieces with most of the mud scraped away so you can see the actual damage.

Pressure treatement helps make wood more impervious to termite infestation. It doesn’t guarantee that the wood can’t or won’t get infested. Formosan termites are especially prone to infesting treated lumber if it’s what is readily available.

I still haven’t looked at the next door neighbor’s carport shed (the lumber was stored on the far side of my property from theirs.) I still think it’s possible that some of the swarmers we had last week originated in their shed. I think my carelessness may have contributed some, too.

[tags]backache, conditions conducive to termite infestation, formosan subterranean termite damage, formosan subterranean termite infestation, termite damage[/tags]

June 2, 2007

They’re ba-a-a-ack

I leave my carport light on at night as a security measure. Unfortunately, it was the brightest light in the area tonight when the termites swarmed. Swarmers are attracted to light. These are Formosan subterranean termites and they swarm by the thousands. I first became acquainted with them in New Orleans, where I started my pest control career in 1980. Ironically, they were imported to New Orleans in recycled military buildings shipped from Hawaii after World War II. They’ve spread throughout the Gulf South in the last few decades. I’d like to send these guys to Florida for a Kissimmee vacation, but I’m thinking Mickey probably already has enough swarms in his kingdom this time of year.

While I was working in my garden this afternoon I noticed some damage to my neighbor’s carport shed. I could just barely see it through the fence slats. The carport is a common structure, with his shed on one side, mine on the other and a roof connecting them. I think I might put on my working hat and go check it out tomorrow, as I now suspect that his shed is the source of our swarm. Good thing I have contacts and should be able to get us a professional discount on treatment.

[tags]Formosan subterranean termites, hawaii termites, photo, termite swarm[/tags]