The Common Traits of Successful People

Have you ever wondered what it really takes to be successful?

Most people have a false belief of what success really is, and how you attain it.

Some think it is the price tag of the car you drive, the size of the house you live in, the family you were born into, the school you attended, or just the mere perception you may have more than them.

However, when you take a true look inside what success is, you see a different set of values.

Successful people see things differently for one thing. One may see a problem and develop a solution to fix the problem, where others are just fixated on the problem, or blame others.

Successful people may see a run-down part of town where hopelessness, poverty, crime and despair reign, and find a way to build it up so it can prosper. Others are content to wallow in their meager existence.

Successful people have their eyes constantly scanning for opportunities, while others are focusing only on mediocrity.

Successful people sharpen their skills with passion in order to do their best in their endeavors, while others passionately find excuses for doing nothing.

Successful people consistently view the future in the present tense, while others always look back in the past.

Successful people don’t wait for success to come to them, instead they relentlessly chase after it. Most people quit too early and never give success a chance to develop.

Another trait that is prevalent among successful people is courage. They nurture the courage to keep up the effort, the courage to be creative,  the courage to go against the group, the courage to get moving, and the courage to go it alone.

You see. The successful realize it isn’t all about the money, the cars, the homes, jewelry and other trappings. It’s about accomplishing something of value with their lives. It’s about achieving something that is worthy of their efforts. It’s about the courage, skills, self-reliance, personal responsibility, and self-worth to do it.

Successful people realize what the real value is of creating advantage and opportunity.

The Real Unemployment Rate

I’ve been watching the unemployment figures for quite some time now, and I can’t believe how the average American is being misled.

To be truthful, you have to be naive to believe the 7.7% rate. Yet, no one really challenges it. Allow me to take a shot at it.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the seasonally adjusted official unemployment rate for February fell to an alleged four-year national low. All America watched as the White House and drive-by media congratulated itself.

Meanwhile, the Republicans quickly pointed to the U6 rate that stood at 14.3%, as the real unemployment rate.

Unfortunately, I believe both are wrong. Allow me to explain.

The BLS looks at six categories, from U-1 to U-6. Typically, the government states the unemployment rate from U-3. This rate includes people who have been unemployed but have actively looked for work during the last month. Excluded from this rate, are people who work part-time (as defined by the government as someone who worked one hour or more).

The U-6 number contains data from the U-3 rate, including part-time workers and the unemployed who have unsuccessfully looked for work in the last month. Already, you can see a huge difference.

Unfortunately, Washington has found a way to skew the numbers by not counting a very important group of people in the calculation. The worker who is on disability. They have found a way to make them invisible, and the sad part is how the number in this category is increasing.

Why should they be counted? Because they are unemployed and unable to work. Simple. Yet, because they are part of the workforce, they are not counted. And, because they are getting disability insurance instead of unemployment insurance, they're not counted. Yet, they are still unable to work. By not counting them, they have become invisible, and thereby skewing the numbers in favor of the administration.

Under Bill Clinton, welfare changed as we know it. Its intent was to push people off the welfare rolls and into jobs. He also pushed individual states to assume a much larger share of the cost of welfare. However, like all big social programs, it worked against what it was suppose to do.

Let me explain.

Each person on welfare cost the individual state. This added burden to the state financially, while it removed it from the federal government.

The states found a way around this added burden. Each person on welfare cost the state, but if you moved the person to disability, the entire financial costs moved to the Federal government. Why? Because Social Security disability insurance is fully funded by the federal government.

That means neither the U-3 or U-6 number can be fully trusted.. They’re bogus numbers.

In February the number of Americans as ‘not in the workforce’ was 89,304,000, a record high. The economic trend monitoring site InvestmentWatch concluded that the actual American unemployment is around 30%!

I’ll be the first to say that it is not possible to be exact in calculating the number since the population is not a certainty at 310,000,000. It could be more or less. Not enough data is available. However, the 7.6% rate is as bogus as it can be, and the 14.3% is only halfway to being true. My 'gut' says around 25%.

It is possible to be informed enough to realize when something smells fishy. That we can do. Look around you, a 7.6% unemployment is unrealistic. If you don't think so, you must be blind. Too many are suffering, without work or unable to find work. The average income per family has dropped.  And, we’re not even taking into consideration the college graduates who are graduating. Add them to the mix. 

People, this not a recovery, at best, it is a reversion.

It’s time to cultivate a healthy skepticism of what our government is telling us. It’s time to stop listening to the rhetoric; it’s time to get informed. The federal government will be releasing its unemployment rate for the month of March. Unfortunately, stay tune, Washington has more BS to fling at you at that time..

How the Top Ten Most Successful Contractors Market Their Services!

According to the Small Business Administration, more than 50% of businesses fail within the first five years. Unfortunately, the numbers are even more dismal for contractors, many of whom rely on limited marketing acumen to build a business based on their skills. A carpenter or lawn care specialist, after all, has spent their career developing a thorough knowledge of their field, not learning the ins and outs of running a business. That said, many successful contractors have built million dollar businesses out of their passion. What do these contractors have in common? Here are some of the ways the most successful general contractors, builders, and remodeling contractors got to the top of the pyramid.

Market Research
This is a step so many general contractors skip, to their own peril. Thorough market research means studying your target demographic, the current state of your field, and the economy to focus your advertising in an effective manner. Roofing contractors, plumbing contractors, and air conditioning contractors can all benefit from increased market research.

Targeted Campaigns
An ad in a local car magazine may draw a lot of eyeballs, but what good is that exposure if no one cares? Too often, builders, remodeling contractors, and construction companies focus their efforts on reaching as many people as possible. This is a good way to eat through a marketing budget, but it isn’t a good way to attract business. The best companies in the game know that targeted campaigns are the key to success.

Studying the Competition
Ask any successful business owners where they got their ideas and, if you catch them in a rare moment of honesty, they’re likely to tell you that they got most of them from the competition. Don’t waste time trying to reinvent the wheel. The most successful roofing contractors in the business are there for a reason. The plumbing contractors who have more business than they know what to do with didn’t become successful by accident. Study what the top air conditioning contractors in your area are doing with their marketing campaigns. Chances are you will find a lot of ideas simply by taking notes on your competition.

Do You Own A Business Or A Job?

If you find yourself working endless hours and dealing with every little detail in your business, you don’t own a business, you own a job!

There is a passage in Alice in Wonderland where Alice reaches a fork in

the road. She is unfamiliar with the territory and a big, smiling Cheshire’s cat is nearby. She asks the cat, "Which road do I take?" and the cat inquires, "Where do you want to go?” Alice says, "I don't know" and the Cat replies, "Then take either road."

You see. Life is full of choices, choices that we make along the way, and if you don’t know what you want and make the right choices to achieve it, you never get to where you want to go with your life.

            For many owners of construction businesses, building a business that works for them is an almost unobtainable task. They mire in their profound efforts of micro-managing minuscule tasks and completing ignoring what has to be done in order to achieve the Big Picture and bring certainty to uncertainty. In short, they are majoring in the complexity of simplicity!

            For just one second, I want you to dwell on why you started your own construction in the first place.

            With all due certainty, you absolutely must have wanted to improve upon your lifestyle as well as money (for the record, wealthy people have their money safely tucked away in their bank accounts, while poor people have all the trappings that “small minded” people portray as examples of wealth and thus, are always chasing after the next paycheck to pay their bills, never having any “extra” money).

So, why do I say that lifestyle and money are the primary reasons for owning your own business? Because when you think of it, there are no other reasons that make the risk worth the undertaking.

That is why I am always saying, “It is more important to own a business that works for YOU!” This simple, yet astounding thought expresses the real meaning of achieving your goals.

The other side of the coin is this.

There are a lot of people who leap into owning their own construction business with no clue as to how to make it a viable business that works for them. They don’t bother to do their homework and end up trapped by their very own business that sucks the life out of them each and every day. In short, they didn’t plan to fail … they failed to plan to succeed.

Why A Good Business Model Is Necessary

Without a good business model to follow, you’ll get trapped into the day-to-day frustrating efforts that in reality will put you one or more steps backwards, not forward to reaching your goals.

This means that you must adapt an optimizing mindset. By adapting such a mindset you’ll spend more time working on your business, rather then in it. You’ll find the meaning and importance to achieving your goals of a better lifestyle and financial freedom.

The sad fact of it is this. Does your business model direct all of your efforts to achieving your main priorities for starting your business? I’m willing to bet that it doesn’t. Are you expanding your potential in all areas? I’m willing to bet you are not. Have you sincerely achieved your business model? Probably not.

To get started, I suggest you do the following:

1.    Determine the end result you want from your business.

2.    Check in your ego at the door, sweep your stubbornness under the carpet and open your mind to reality and come to terms with where you are right now.

3.    Come to terms with what you need to do to get from where you are now to where you want to be.

4.    Plan the steps you need to take to make it happen, optimizing every aspect of your business and business model.

5.    Get the help you need to help you achieve what it is you want to achieve.

6.    Commit to your plan and work it.

Achieving your goals is not doing the wrong things quicker. It’s doing the right things in the first place and developing a successful business model is the first most important step.

            If you would like to learn more about building a successful construction business that works for you, and get the help you need to accomplish that, check out our coaching at: www.contractorcoaching.com. 

           The right time to start building yourself a better business is always, right now!

The State of Our Industry

With the certainty that the U.S. economy could be contracting, and the global economy slowing, one must ask deep questions as to what the near future will bring us.

For myself, I am not being an alarmist, nor a dream slayer. I consider myself a realist. I believe it is far more prudent to see things as they are and be prepared accordingly, then to be wrong and caught unprepared. I lost my rose-colored glasses many years ago as a young contractor. I seek only the correct truth. Even in the Great Depression, the smart survived and thrived. Please remember this as you read this blog.

When I read the press releases of the so-called experts and national associations, they paint an overly optimistic colored picture, one that clearly points to an upward trend. However, my own analysis sees a different take and one that might be truer to form for the existing economy and our industry. You may agree or disagree; I ask that you only keep an open mind and digest it for yourself.

Many say that the housing industry has bottomed out, and they point to their facts that new home pricing has surged to its highest since 2005. However, it is still below any figure that could sustain a long-term impact on the industry, especially when inventory has remained unchanged. Even one national organization Chief Economist himself states that the 'razor-thin supply' of new homes for sale is about the half-way back to what could be considered a 'normal' level of activity. Just the use of the word 'about' raises questions of certain uncertainty in his statement.

This points to many of my earlier statements that we are in a sluggish crawl out of a very deep hole. And because it is such a lethargic crawl, it may be too early to make a valid call.

My main point is to be safe rather than sorry. Instead, I urge my fellow contractors to digest the real problems that need to be overcome before we think that we have bottom-out and invest heavily in rebounding with great vigor.

I see some problems, maybe I'm wrong, but I do believe they warrant consideration and attention. Allow me to present them to you.

Employment-

One cannot ignore the indisputable fact, too many Americans are out of work. You can distort the unemployment figures with voodoo math all you want. However, you can't ignore the real number. The employment force is at its lowest. The true number may even be greater when one formulates the rise in our population into the equation (something that appears to be lacking in the present calculation). Too many Americans are out of work, and too many are becoming addictive to government entitlements.

For us in the construction industry, we must face the facts. Experienced labor is almost unavailable, at least in large numbers. Many of those have long since retired, sold their tools or moved to other areas or different careers, and I believe an immediate up-tick in construction activities would be quickly suffocated by the lack of skilled labor. Our only recourse may be to open the flood gates to illegal workers to satisfy the demand, thereby doing more harm to a fragile recovery, populace and costly support system.

This is a problem. A real problem, and I believe it needs to be addressed by the contractors themselves. Somehow, someway, they must reach out to our young and convince them that learning a trade may be better than spending foolish amounts of money trying to get a college education that no jobs exist for. The course of action would have to be initiated at a local level by the contractors themselves. The time is now before the need arises.

The Economy-

Our economy took an injurious turn when the Democrat's initiatives of a home for everyone were forced on the banks to give loans to unqualified people. This in itself set the banks up for failure by forcing them to find a way to deal with the bad loans. The result was derivatives and the bursting of the housing bubble. All of which was fed by the greed and stupidity of the individuals perpetuating and participating in it.

The result is another problem that was created for the economy, a working class of poor people. With hundreds of billions of dollars thrown stupidly into the winds, with failed initiatives that produced nothing but more pain and misery, a greater dependency class and the deepening of financial wounds, where is the job-growth that was promised when the politician screamed the need for stimulus, bank bail outs, green initiatives and quantitative easing? Instead, we are saddled with almost 33% of all working families struggling at the poverty rate of income. The rising number of 'working poor' in this country in itself, proves the lack of leadership and failure of this government's policies.

It appears to me, that all of these initiatives have benefited no one except the big banks, the large campaign contributors, and those on the inside of the beltway in the 'Land of Oz' that we call Washington, D.C. Job growth and job creation appears to be nothing more than misleading talking points of the politicians that they spoon feed the populace, so they can keep their mystical lives of opulence and overabundance alive and well at our expense in their Wonderland. When will enough be enough?

The truth is, the U.S. economy is on life support. It will require extensive changes in order to be pronounce it a survivor. The average American is suffering. Many are being forced to tap into their retirement in order to get along. With savings deteriorating and prices moving up, the problem created by this lack of leadership will only get worse. It cannot be corrected by printing more money, increasing the national debt or big government. Someone needs to take a chainsaw to this government's out-of-control spending and slash it profusely. In a remake of the words of Marie Antoinette, "Let the politicians eat the cake!"

The Housing Recovery-

Is the so-called housing real or make believe? What is driving the rise in pricing?

I believe it is in itself something that has never been seen before. It is not the purchasing of homes by individuals as it is instead the surge in the purchasing of homes by institutions.

Institutions are purchasing existing homes and turning them into rentals. The Blackstone Group itself has bought $2.5 billion worth of homes --- over 16,000 units with cash.

With this surge of institutional home purchasing and turning them into rental units, other institutions are doing the same. Why not? Investments in other sectors are producing slim pickings. However, this isn't an actual recovery, instead it is a 'shift' in home ownership from individuals to renters. The question of any verisimilitude is, what happens when these investors see a better rate of return somewhere else?

First-time home buyers are declining, and that is not something you want to see in a recovery. We need jobs, good-paying jobs in order to reverse this effect.

Where do we stand?

Reality is real, there is no doubt about it. As contractors, we must take care of our businesses and families. That means accepting reality and adapting to the changes that are taking place around us.

There will be opportunities, maybe not in great number, but it will be what you make of it. This will require a re-invention of your business and mindset. You must no longer wait for your phone to ring, instead, make yourself competitive and innovative in this economy.

Earlier, I said that even in the Great Depression, there were those that survived and thrived. I believe that a "Street-Smart" contractor can and will do the same in this Great Recession. The question this economic picture has painted for you is this, are you capable of becoming that "Street-Smart" contractor?