The three of us left the shop at about 4:45 that November morning to build a 12 by 24 Side Loft Barn near the town of Marlow, Oklahoma. After checking to make sure everything was strapped tightly, we swung out onto the highway and began the one-hour trip to the[Read More…]
V5I1
February/March 2019
Why You Do What You Do
My wife asks good questions. Yesterday it was, “What makes some days at work good, and others just okay? What makes you sometimes come home in a good mood and sometimes you’re quite distant?” Actually, she asks great questions, and I know they’re great when I have to[Read More…]
Never Act in Haste
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the next four sharpening the axe.” — Abraham Lincoln We are all faced with the challenge of making important life decisions/trade-offs. They are often complex and involve many moving parts that can be paralyzing to your decision-making[Read More…]
Aging Inventory
It’s going to happen. You can’t avoid it. One morning, you’ll pull up to your sales lot, look around at the sheds and other structures you have displayed, recently built and ready to sell. Then, you’ll notice a shed or two that look familiar. Really familiar. Why? Because the buildings[Read More…]
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…]
Shop Automation: Another Take on Wall Framing
If you have followed my previous articles on shop automation you might be thinking, “Here he goes again with some out-of-reach, expensive equipment for shed building.” Well, that’s not the case with what I’m about to describe. What if you could build a jig for framing a wall panel out[Read More…]
Employee Retention
During a time when the unemployment rate is at an all-time low, employers find themselves struggling to hire and keep good employees. Turnover is expensive and the cost of losing employees can be devastating to a company. Due to the current job market, 85 percent of human resources leaders consider[Read More…]
God, Good People, and Growth
Last year, 2018, was a banner year for Liberty Storage Solutions of SC, based in Due West, South Carolina. The company, which constructs sheds and playhouses, built its 2,000th unit in July since starting up in 2015. About 850 units were made in 2018 alone. And the company hit its[Read More…]
Training New Builders
You’ve been blessed, and your shed business is growing. Your years of hard work seem to finally be paying off. Growth brings its own set of challenges, one of which is how to train new builders. When you first started building sheds, it was probably you and few of your[Read More…]
On Dealing with People
Winter is a good time for builders to gather their dealers and manufacturers around to improve their communication. Recently I was invited to speak to one such group, and I decided to talk about DiSC. In my years of working with people, I now believe sales and management are[Read More…]
