If a 2017 report in Report Buyer is to be believed, the residential outdoor storage product industry is enjoying a nearly 4 percent uptick through at least 2021. Such an increase is welcome news to Jon Bartolotta, manager of New England Outdoor Sheds & Gazebos, a third-generation construction company whose[Read More…]
Tami Kamin Meyer
Tami Kamin Meyer is an Ohio attorney and writer.
It’s Tax Time
It’s a whole, new ballgame when it comes to taxes. “This is going to be everyone’s first year with the new tax law,” says Michael Dinich, a financial advisor and personal finance blogger in Pennsylvania. That’s due to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which went into effect[Read More…]
The Lure of Unmanned Lots
Matt Glick wears several hats at Pennsylvania-based Tuscarora Structures. As owner, sales manager, and marketing head of his family-owned and -operated rent-to-own (RTO) business, he is involved in all aspects of the entity established in 1991. With three retail and one wholesale lot in Maryland, New York state, and Pennsylvania,[Read More…]
Full Disclosure
Although many aspects of rent-to-own (RTO) businesses mirror one another, there are definite areas that differ due to state laws governing those peculiarities. For example, laws pertaining to the information that must be included on price tags for sheds vary from one state to the next. Because of those differences,[Read More…]
LITIGATION 101: For the Plaintiff
Attorney Barry Kaufman has a simple suggestion for shed builders and other small business owners who want to avoid having once-valued customers become late and non-paying ones. “Have good communication with customers or clients to forestall payment issues,” says the Jacksonville, Florida-based lawyer who has been in collections 18[Read More…]
LITIGATION 101: For the Defense
Congratulations! Your shed-building business is a success. Customer orders are flowing in, employee morale is high, and you might even take a short vacation. Then you hear from a disgruntled customer, whose gripe may or may not have any legitimacy, and nothing you suggest will appease them. Next thing you[Read More…]
Family I Business Succession Plan
It probably comes as no surprise that shed building and rent-to-own companies are overwhelmingly family-owned endeavors, rather than huge corporate undertakings. In fact, says Scott Zucker, a partner with the Atlanta law firm of Weissman Zucker Euster Morochnik PC, who represents several self-storage entities, approximately 80 percent of those companies[Read More…]
From Sheds to Tiny Homes
You’ve undoubtedly heard about the growing popularity of tiny houses. They’re cute, far less expensive to buy and maintain than the average American home, and can even be built on wheels, meaning they can be mobile, too. Tiny houses are attracting so much recognition that members of the industry hold[Read More…]
Set in Cedar
When Bruce Cheng was a child in British Columbia, he spent hours frolicking in his cedar wood tree house. Little did he know he would grow up to focus his professional life on his love and enjoyment of cedar wood. Back then, he couldn’t have foreseen how his childhood[Read More…]
Rent-To-Own (Part 2)
It might seem the business of rent-to-own (RTO) sheds would be straightforward, especially since credit checks of renters are not performed nor is there any collateral involved to secure the transaction. But, just like so many things in life, the business of RTO is complex and is impacted by many[Read More…]
