Management

I SAW A help-wanted ad in the 1980s that I remember to this day. With precious little exaggeration and a ton of implied irony, this company said it was looking for a young man "under 40 years" of age who had degrees in both architecture and...

I'VE BEEN CLEANING drains for 36 years; you'd think by now I'd have a pretty good idea of what causes drain lines to clog. In all those years, I've worked with a number of sewer machines from different manufacturers: thick and thin sectional...

A WEBSITE IS the easiest way to show off your company to prospective clients and communicate up-to-date information about your business. If you don't already have a vibrant company Website, a new online Microsoft solution effectively takes away...

I EXPLAINED HOW I believe I contracted Legionnaires' disease in my May column. What I didn't explain was the good news/bad news scenario. The good news is that there are no known cases of a person ever having contracted the disease twice within a...

SAYING THE WORDS " plumber's truck" typically conjures up an image of a beat - up white pickup truck, sometimes with a cracked windshield, rusting bumpers, tools sticking out the back, with the driver speeding along to the next job, completely...

GETTING NEW BUSINESS is always a challenge, so when the phone rings and you are asked to work for a new customer, your first instinct is generally not to send an inquiry about its corporate status to the secretary of state. Yet, if there is a...

SUGAR LAND, TEXAS Alternative fuel production is among the industries leading this year's acceleration in industrial plant construction in the United States, according to Industrial Info Resources. About 76 ethanol and biodiesel plants are...

HOW DO YOU HANDLE customer complaints? Most contractors think they do a good job of resolving them. But when asked, "How do you know?" most owners/ CEOs respond, "I don't!" Research shows that if customer complaints are resolved quickly, fairly...