Mystery of the Toilet

Our daughter, Melissa and Son-in-law, Kevin recently moved into their new home near Orlando. The house is about 3 years old and was a short sale. The previous owners moved out about a month before Melissa and Kevin closed and moved in. It is a larger home since they have 4 children and need some space of everyone.
Lynn and I are in Florida for the fall months. Since we could not move into the home we are staying in for several days, we bunked in with Melissa and Kevin and the 4 grandchildren. I noticed that the toilet in the main bath did not flush properly. Of course being a plumber that was not something that could go unfixed! And as a guy who likes tools and working with my hands, I brought my trusty tool bag properly outfitted with us to Florida. I was fairly certain that one of the grandkids or a child of the previous owner had dropped something into the toilet that should not have been deposited there.
It was Monday morning and the two grandsons left for school thus removing some of the chaos of four kids wanting to know what Grandpa is doing. The toilet was a builder’s model but the other similar toilets in the house flushed well so I was sure I would find a comb, a toy, a jar lid, or some other item in the trap-way of the toilet. I did not have a toilet auger with me (they don’t fit well in a tool bag), so I removed the tank from the toilet and pulled the bowl.
This is where it gets interesting and my point of the story. I gently place the bowl into the bathtub on a rubber mat so I can check the closet bend for the “object”. There is no “object” but there is standing water at the bottom of the closet bend. I immediately thought that the “object” has gotten lodged in the lateral piping from the closet bend to the stack. I stopped and unfroze my brain and evaluated the issue. The trap-way is the smallest diameter of the water and waste pathway so an “object” logically would not make it into the lateral without continuing on its path through the system. My next thought was some sort of construction debris, a rag, a chunk of a 2x4 or something similar was the culprit. But then my brain got into gear and said to me that it would not just be a slow partial flush as the toilet was operating, but a total blockage and a potential overflow of the toilet, which did not occur. Also the water remained in the lateral at the bottom of the closet bend even after several minutes. Being a well-trained Master Plumber for over 35 years, I remembered the basics of plumbing. Hot is on the left, “stuff” flows downhill and payday is Friday. The lateral must be going uphill!
I removed the screws holding the closet flange to the floor and tried to pry up the piping. If it didn’t work, I would need to open the living room ceiling to make a repair and that was not my first choice of solutions. Slowly the PVC closet riser came up but the water was not leaving. I decided that I would continue to pry it up since there was not much to lose. If the line broke or a joint broke that wouldn’t be an issue since I would need to open the ceiling for a repair anyway. The pipe kept coming up. The water began to drain. I continued to pry it up. At four and ½ inches, the water finally drained out completely. Having cleared hundreds of plugged or partially plugged toilets over the years, I had never seen this problem before.
What do I do now? Thinking about the alternatives of opening the ceiling to provide support for the lateral or just cut the riser down and glue a new flange on to the riser to support the lateral, I decided to just depend on the closet flange to hold up the piping. Not the way I would do it if I have access to the lateral piping, but with a substantial gluing surface on the flange I used, I was counting on the flange glue joint to support the piping. With everything put back together, the toilet now flushes perfectly for a builder’s model.
But how did this happen? The installing plumber didn’t support the lateral properly and the finish plumber didn’t test flush the toilet to assure that it was working properly. Perhaps a carpenter or the tile man pushed down the riser and broke the hangers. In any event, the details of a job are as important as the core task of the job. Be sure to remind your technicians of the importance of details especially testing of the finished job whether plumbing, HVAC, or electrical. They too may find a unique problem!

Are you the same person you were as the New Year started a WHOLE year ago, but you WANTED to change?

Let’s talk a little about that issue. Same old, same old, different day! I’ll bet the year flew by and you ran out of time to make the changes to your life to become “who you wanted to become.” Life moves quickly, daily emergencies come up; insignificant tasks are on your lists, others use up your time and on it goes until the day is over. Then the week is over, then the month is over, and finally it’s a new year and you haven’t become “who you wanted to become.”

As a businessman, you have a list of things you need to accomplish each day you arrive at your business. That list could be on paper, on your cell phone, on your computer, in your head, or in a planner. Of course the list is long and daily you have a number of items you just don’t get to start or finish. Those items seem to keep rolling forward to the next day, the next week, or the next month. These often are the things we need to be doing to become “who you want to become.”

You also have a calendar with things scheduled for certain datesand times.These could be meetings, seminars, conventions, vacation, kid’s ball games, a social event or perhaps a golf outing. Most of these are based on outside influences and demands. When you take a close look at your calendar, you find that there is little or no time left for “who you wanted to become.”

"Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right."

Henry Ford

Schedule less about what to get done than who you want to become!

To become “who you want to become”, requires a commitment of time, energy and perhaps money. Let’s look at a couple of possible examples. We’ll look at a business related scenario and a personal related scenario.

Business

You would like to grow your business but since you came up as a Technician, you really don’t really understanding of the financial side of your business. You have said you need to do something about that but another year has gone by and you’re not making any more that you did when you worked for someone else. Then another year goes by and the same thing all over again! Time for a timeout! Time to put a couple of hours aside (your business won’t fail if you do this). You need to analyze the options. You could go a local junior college and take classes in finance and accounting. You could take some online classes in finance and accounting. This is not the best option since it’s too easy to sluff it off and never get the financial understanding you need to improve your business. You could hire a business coach to work with you in your business and teach you the fundamentals of finance and accounting. These are just a couple of options. Surely there are more.

Now comes the hard part. You must change your life in some way to accomplish this goal no matter which choice you make to move forward. To truly become “who you want to become” you will need to put a much higher priority on understanding the financial side of your business than you might have in the past. If you take classes at a junior college, you will need to attend the classes (time), do the studying and assignments (energy), and pay for the classes (money). The same would apply if you took online classes with the exception that it would require a lot more energy to learn what is needed that a classroom setting. If you hired a business coach, time, energy and a lot more money would be involved to get the understanding that you need. The upside is there would be someone right there with you as problems and concerns arose. Change is required to become “who you want to become.”

There is one more issue to keep in mind and that is balance in your life. You still need time, energy and money for your personal life of family, friends, home, and recreation.

Personal

You enjoy playing golf with some friends and you’re able to play 9 holes 2-3 times a month with

them. Your handicap is 25 and has been for years. In fact a couple of years ago it was 23 so you have slipped a little. Some weekends you’re able to watch an hour or so of the PGA Pros play and deep down you would like to play more like them. You realize you’re a contractor and not a golf pro but a score in the low to mid 80’s would be a dream for you. For this dream to come true, you would need to commit a heck of a lot more time, energy and money to achieve that dream!

This will require ongoing lessons and coaching for as long as several years to change your game on a consistent basis. This is a real money, energy and time commitment. It would also require hours and hours at the driving range to practice what you have been taught, more time energy and money. And it will also require playing much more frequently to maintain the consistency and feel to shoot the lower scores and become “who you want to become.”

Here also there is another issue to keep in mind and that is balance in your life. You still need time, energy and money for your personal life of family, friends, home, recreation and your business. 

It's a New Year

So as we start a new year, are you going to become “who you want to become” or are you going to repeat last year and the year before and the year before that? You decide!

 Dan has been in the service industry for nearly 50 years. He has operated a large plumbing, heating and air conditioning service company and for the past 12 years has helped small companies in the service business to grow and prosper. 

Contact him @ Dan@SayYesToSuccess.com

Also check out these Posts:

Minor Leaguers

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Are You a Half-Hearted Kamikaze Revisited?

Why Update

I find this trait so prevalent in small business today I see the need to write about it again with updates since I wrote about it in 2012. A lot has added to the causes of this disease that has infected small business owners.

A quick review of the term “Half-Hearted Kamikaze”

 It came from Tim Elmore a Christian Pastor and Speaker. I think it is relevant in today’s service business. First let’s look a definition of Kamikaze. As Tim Elmore puts it,” A Kamikaze is someone who (whether for good or evil) puts everything into one purpose.” Wikipedia defines the Kamikaze, literally: "God wind"; common translation: "Divine wind", where suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II. These attacks were designed to destroy warships more effectively than was possible with conventional attacks. Numbers quoted vary, but at least 47 Allied vessels, from PT boats to escort carriers, were sunk by kamikaze attacks, and about 300 damaged. About 14% of kamikaze attacks managed to hit a ship.

The Business Definition

So what is a Half-Hearted Kamikaze? My definition as relating to business is a service business owner who talks the story of improvement, change, and full commitment but does not consistently strive to achieve the goal of an extremely successful business with time for the owner to enjoy life.

So why are so many service business owners half-hearted?

My observations of dozens and dozens of service businesses demonstrate several reasons.

1.             They may great technicians but they are not knowledgeable business owners.

2.              Another reason is the owner just does not have the drive to take the business to success but is satisfied with a paycheck equal or less than they could make as a technician for a successful company. Perhaps their spouse works and provides the additional income and benefits for the family.

3.             Often an owner enjoy technical side of the business so much they shy away from the hard decisions, the “books”, margins, waste, and the changes needed to more the business to the next level. Not necessarily larger but more profitable.

4.             A recent trend I am seeing is business owners dealing with technology. They either get so involved in technology that they forget about the fundamentals of operating a successful business or they fail to grasp the opportunities that newer technologies offer to improve the fundamentals of a business.

5.             Also a recent issue is the red tape and regulations imposed by the government that stifle success these include regulations that do not make sense for a small business, burdensome paperwork, poorly trained inspectors, codes that change often, codes that do work for existing structures, laws that vary city to city, and of course government involvement in employee benefits.

6.             The last one I’m going to mention is marketing. A business owner can no longer rely on a simple “Yellow Pages” display ad to generate business. With websites, social sites, third

party advertising, customer online reviews, mobile marketing, and dozens of other newer marketing places and technics, the business owner is lost so they often give up.

The Consequences

The owner probably has little or no retirement fund when he retires. He may take cash under the table thus compromising his integrity. His business may be supported by his vendors who provide credit too easily. He owes more than the business is worth. He may have stress related illnesses such as heart trouble, high blood pressure, diabetes or another health issue. He retires to a life much less than a business owner deserves, if he is able to retire. Perhaps he works at a big box store like Walmart or Home Depot instead of enjoying retirement, hobbies, and the grandkids.

So what’s the answer?

Either become fully engaged or work for someone who is and avoid the downside of being half-hearted. Today there are dozens of ways to beat the half-hearted disease. Contact me if you would like to discuss this more and move your business forward.

Don't be a Half-Hearted Kamikaze, make the decision today!

Link to original article here.

Dan has been in the service industry for nearly 50 years. He has operated a large plumbing, heating and air conditioning service company and for the past 12 years has helped small companies in the service business to grow and prosper. 

Contact him @ Dan@SayYesToSuccess.com

Also check out these Posts:

Minor Leaguers

Spring Training


If People are Sleeping...

Prepare for the N.A.T.E. Test in the Detroit Michigan Area

We have upcoming N.A.T.E. review classes for Core, Air Conditioning, and Heat Pump.These are evening classes so you won't loose you opportunities to earn. Testing is scheduled a few days after the classes so you can review, retain, and test.

  

You can get more information at our website www.SayYesToSuccess.com 

Dan has been in the service industry for nearly 50 years. He has operated a large plumbing, heating and air conditioning service company and for the past 12 years has helped small companies in the service business to grow and prosper. Contact him at Dan@SayYesToSuccess.com

Also check out these Posts:

Minor Leaguers

Spring Training

If People are Sleeping...

First to Try Guy

Let me relay an experience I had a number of years ago and then a repeat of that experience 15 or so years later. I guess I didn’t learn from the old adage, “Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.”

The New Rooftop Units

I was a sales engineer with a large HVAC equipment manufacturer right out of college. I was teamed up with a great mentor and partner. We had submitted bids to contractors who were bidding on a low rise office complex which would require multiple 20-30 ton rooftop units. Our old units were not very competitive since the curbs, plenums, dampers, and other accessories needed to be assembled and installed on the basic unit. Our competitors had fully assembled units which saved the contractor labor, making the installed price less than with our equipment. Well the powers to be at corporate saw the light. They redesigned our units so they would be fully assembled at the factory. We also had some features available in the units that engineers, owners and installing contractors would find of value. The installing contractor who got the job liked our bid and we were selected to provide the equipment with our redesigned units.

This was the largest order the factory had to date on these new units, so one of the engineers flew in to see the installation and be there for startup. As we were driving him from the airport to the jobsite, we passed another low rise office complex going up. Just the structural steel was in place but the roof curbs were set in place for the roofers to install the roofing material. The engineer commented,” Is that the way they support the roof curb and unit?” We discussed this for several minutes when my partner and I looked at each other in sheer astonishment. The engineer thought much more structural steel was used to support the rooftop unit. We knew we were in trouble! The type of fans used in these units caused a lot of vibration when installed with code approved structural steel which was much less than the engineer had thought would be used. We had a problem job! We did eventually solve the problem but the lesson was IT IS NOT ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA TO BE THE FIRST TO TRY GUY.

The New Furnaces

Leaking Chimney

I moved on after several years in that position to take over a family plumbing business. Years later, after adding HVAC to my plumbing business, our major equipment supplier held their annual dealer meeting and introduced the furnace of the future. It eliminated the flue damper, had a new heat exchanger, had a new circuit board to control the unit and could vent into a masonry chimney just as the less efficient units did. It increased the efficiency from the mid-sixty percent efficient to eighty percent efficient. Wow! We immediately began to market and sell the units. Obviously most every customer wanted a more efficient furnace in their home and we were ready to provide it. After installing dozens of these units, we started getting calls about water on the basement floors below the chimney cleanout. What was going on? We asked the factory engineering staff and they said it was condensate forming in the chimney. They asked if our chimneys had clay tile liners inside of the brick. Well of course they did since this had been code for many decades. What they didn’t know that most clay lined chimneys do not have a consistent air gap between the clay tile liner and the exterior brick so the chimneys were too cold to carry the moisture out of the chimney before condensing. What can be done? No one seemed to have an answer. By trial and error we found that installing an aluminum liner the problem went away.  After several years the flue piping began to rot out and had to be replaced with B vent. The aluminum liners rotted out and had to be changed. Several generations of circuit boards had to be replaced. Problem after problem gave us the privilege of satisfying many unhappy customers at our expense for issues that was not our fault. I recall one contractor who did not jump on board with the new and improved units for two plus years. He avoided many of the headaches we endured .The lesson was IT IS NOT ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA TO BE THE FIRST TO TRY GUY.

Although it can be exciting to have newest products, the newest truck designs, the newest software, it can be costly and create unhappy customers, employees, or owners. Tread cautiously when and if you decide to be the first to try guy!

Also Checkout:

Did You Go or Grow in 2013

The Walking Dead

Are You this Committed?

Checkout our new website

Often owners and managers need assistance in using their time wisely to grow the business or improve the business. We can help. Contact us.

Dan has been in the service industry for nearly 50 years. He has operated a large plumbing, heating and air conditioning service company and for the past 12 years has helped small companies in the service business to grow and prosper. Contact him at Dan@SayYesToSuccess.comDan@SayYesToSuccess.com.

The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead is one of the most popular programs on television. This fall the fourth season will begin. It is on Facebook, there are apps, there are games and I expect there will be a series of movies in 3-D. The idea came from the comic books which began back in 2003. After an apocalyptic event, humans fight “walkers” similar to zombies.

My question for you is “Are you one of the humans or one of the ‘Walking Dead’”? Now you’re asking what I mean by this question.  I’m asking how engaged you are in your business. Let’s do a little self-analysis.

First pull up a 5 day hour by hour calendar on your computer. One with at least hour slots on it. It might be best to print it unless you are on your computer all day long. Start by tagging each of the calendar’s days with a number from 1 to 5. I have put one together for you that you can access on our website (Go to www.SayYesToSuccess.com, click on the Free Stuff button and Download the pdf form). You are going to write in the calendar hour by hour what you are doing. I know this isn’t easy but you can do it. If you get an hour or two behind you can think back and put into the calendar. You must have some disciple to do this and be of the right mindset. You must be ready to change your business and your life.

As the days progress you start to gather a picture of what you do all day long. As a business owner or manager, there are an endless variety of tasks you must perform. You’re the coach, the CEO, the CFO, the CSR, the Buyer, the Technician, the Service Manager, the HR department, the delivery driver, the estimator, the collections department, the referee, the trainer, the tool crib man, the vehicle maintenance department, and on and on. There are a never ending list of tasks you can handle and a myriad of problems and issues for you to solve. After the 5 days you will have a reasonable idea of where your time has gone.

Now comes the interesting and difficult part. I want you to take an hour alone with your office door closed, computer screen off, cellphone turned off and a mindset that you want to improve your business. If the office doesn’t work, try a quiet coffee shop in your area such as a Panera to analyze your input to the business. Perhaps you need to do this early in the morning or on a weekend so you won’t be distracted by your people needing you during this hour. I can assure you that your business will not fail because you have been out of touch for an hour.

Look at the various tasks and honestly ask yourself, “Could someone else in our company do this instead of me? Could I hire someone for a lot less payroll expense to do these tasks? Could I sub these out to someone else?” Then ask you, “Have I put in a real effort during this week or have I just slacked off?” And finally ask yourself, ”What did I do to make changes within the business that will make the business more profitable this week?” These last two questions are the real telling ones.

If you haven’t put the time into your business or the true effort, you are one of the “Walking Dead” as far as your business is concerned.

If you have done little or nothing to make changes to improve your business then you have not been the spark to make things happen. You are one of the “Walking Dead”. These could be checking you invoices, flat rate books, and financials for price changes. It could be developing or editing the employee manual. It could be building a budget. It could be looking at new income producing options for your business. It could be training your Technicians to have better customer service skills. It could be improving your marketing. The list is endless and different for every owner and business. But, you must do it to survive in today marketplace.

Check out these posts:

Are you Committed?

Are You a Half-Hearted Kamikaze?

Check out our new website

Often owners and managers need assistance in using their time wisely to grow the business or improve the business. We can help. Contact us.

Dan has been in the service industry for nearly 50 years. He has operated a large plumbing, heating and air conditioning service company and for the past 12 years has helped small companies in the service business to grow and prosper. Contact him at Dan@SayYesToSuccess.com.

Minor Leaguers

Spending the spring in Florida, there is a lot of talk on television, radio, and in the newspaper about the local spring training teams. They cover the players, are their stats, the schedules, the injuries, and the various teams expectations. Among the players are both “big” leaguers and the “minor” leaguers. The big leaguers are trying to get in shape for the season and keep their jobs. The minor leaguers are also getting into shape for their season and hoping to make it to the big leagues. But when I visit service businesses, I find something a little different.

In baseball, players are drafted just as we “draft” new employees into our businesses. Then the differences begin. In baseball, the new player is evaluated on his strengths and weaknesses and assigned to a farm club to improve his skills so he can play at his maximum capabilities. In many service businesses, we send the new “player” to ride along on a truck with another tech for a few days. We get a little feedback from the tech and then put the new “player” out to take care of customer problems and provide the excellent customer service we expect. Somehow we think the new player will do the job as well as we would ourselves.

We need a new paradigm; one in which we have a career plan for the new employee at least 3 to 5 years out. We do this by setting out expectations from the new employee to meet throughout their career at our company. We set increases in their income on gaining new skills that make them more valuable to the company. We expect them to achieve success in state and national accreditation such as a Master Plumber’s license, NATE certification, a manufacturer’s training program, or a degree from a college or association training program.

This career plan needs to be written and specific. It should be clear what needs to be done by the employee to move to the next level. Each level has a pay range, a list of skills need to be in that level, and what training or skills are needed to get to the next level. There is a pay range since an employee may be at a level for several years but after six months or a year has accomplished many of the skills needed for that level. There can also be automatic increases as a Technician becomes NATE certified or gets his trade licensing.

There are numerous benefits to a career plan for an employee. They know what they must do to gain a raise or move to the next level. There is a sense of a future at your company for the employee. There are some written metrics to evaluate an employee by at review time. When you hire a new employee, your company shows the employee is important and there is a future at your company.  You can direct an employee to the skills your company needs to better serve the customer and be more profitable.

Contact me if you would like a sample of a plan that you can use as a template to write your own career path for your employees.

Dan has been involved in the service business for over 50 years operating a successful plumbing heating and air conditioning business and consulting service businesses. He can be contacted at Dan@SayYesToSuccess.com.

Little Things

I'm sitting in the terminal at Detroit Metro Airport waiting for my 3 hour delayed plane without any other flight options. I decided to check at the Delta service center an hour or so ago and see if there might be a connecting flight that would get me back to Orlando sooner than my 3 hour delayed flight. There were no alternates that would work. The agent was as helpful as she could be for a tired flyer. I even got an exit row seat! Then the little thing caught my eye. On a table between the agents there was a selection of soft drinks, bottled
water and the "Delta" snacks. Those consist of peanuts, pretzels or
some small cookies. It's a small thing but it shows some concern for passengers
who have flight delays or cancelations. I'm not happy with a flight delay but
the bottle of water helped ease the anxiety of the moment. I was up a 5:15 this
morning and arriving at about 1 AM the next day does not make it easy to have
the best of attitudes. As I am sitting and waiting, it brings to mind little things
we can do to relieve some of the anxiety our customers have.

When our Techs go to a customer's home it is like we are invading their castle. The moat
is filled and the bridge is drawn. The defenses are in place. The troops are at
the walls with their bows drawn and the cannons readied. We are not best buds.
But could this change if we came with a peace offering? What if we brought the
newspaper or a packet of flower seeds or some other small thing? Would we be
looked on differently? Would the draw bridge be lowered, the arrows be returned
to the quivers, and the cannons put on standby? Often it's the "little
things".

After the call is completed do we call and thank the customer? Do we send them a token of
our appreciation? It could be a couple of movie tickets, or an air conditioning
cover, or an extra filter. There are hundreds of ideas that could be used. The
cost can be related to the size of the service call or installation. Even something as simple as a couple of garden hose washers or a universal aerator would work. It's the "little
things".

Your employees are also customers. What "little thing" have you done for
them? When they do an exception job do you ward them with a thank you and a
token of your gratitude? A couple of movie tickets or a gift certificate to a
restaurant can do wonders to keep up the moral of your people. Be sure to
remember the office people as well as the field people.

Dan has been in the service industry for nearly 50 years.
He has operated a large plumbing, heating and air conditioning service company
and for the past 11 years has helped small companies in the service business to
grow and prosper. Contact him @ Dan@SayYesToSuccess.com.

Mystery of the Toilet

Our daughter, Melissa and Son-in-law, Kevin recently moved into their new home near Orlando. The house is about 3 years old and was a short sale. The previous owners moved out about a month before Melissa and Kevin closed and moved in. It is a larger home since they have 4 children and need some space of everyone.
Lynn and I are in Florida for the fall months. Since we could not move into the home we are staying in for several days, we bunked in with Melissa and Kevin and the 4 grandchildren. I noticed that the toilet in the main bath did not flush properly. Of course being a plumber that was not something that could go unfixed! And as a guy who likes tools and working with my hands, I brought my trusty tool bag properly outfitted with us to Florida. I was fairly certain that one of the grandkids or a child of the previous owner had dropped something into the toilet that should not have been deposited there.
It was Monday morning and the two grandsons left for school thus removing some of the chaos of four kids wanting to know what Grandpa is doing. The toilet was a builder’s model but the other similar toilets in the house flushed well so I was sure I would find a comb, a toy, a jar lid, or some other item in the trap-way of the toilet. I did not have a toilet auger with me (they don’t fit well in a tool bag), so I removed the tank from the toilet and pulled the bowl.
This is where it gets interesting and my point of the story. I gently place the bowl into the bathtub on a rubber mat so I can check the closet bend for the “object”. There is no “object” but there is standing water at the bottom of the closet bend. I immediately thought that the “object” has gotten lodged in the lateral piping from the closet bend to the stack. I stopped and unfroze my brain and evaluated the issue. The trap-way is the smallest diameter of the water and waste pathway so an “object” logically would not make it into the lateral without continuing on its path through the system. My next thought was some sort of construction debris, a rag, a chunk of a 2x4 or something similar was the culprit. But then my brain got into gear and said to me that it would not just be a slow partial flush as the toilet was operating, but a total blockage and a potential overflow of the toilet, which did not occur. Also the water remained in the lateral at the bottom of the closet bend even after several minutes. Being a well-trained Master Plumber for over 35 years, I remembered the basics of plumbing. Hot is on the left, “stuff” flows downhill and payday is Friday. The lateral must be going uphill!
I removed the screws holding the closet flange to the floor and tried to pry up the piping. If it didn’t work, I would need to open the living room ceiling to make a repair and that was not my first choice of solutions. Slowly the PVC closet riser came up but the water was not leaving. I decided that I would continue to pry it up since there was not much to lose. If the line broke or a joint broke that wouldn’t be an issue since I would need to open the ceiling for a repair anyway. The pipe kept coming up. The water began to drain. I continued to pry it up. At four and ½ inches, the water finally drained out completely. Having cleared hundreds of plugged or partially plugged toilets over the years, I had never seen this problem before.
What do I do now? Thinking about the alternatives of opening the ceiling to provide support for the lateral or just cut the riser down and glue a new flange on to the riser to support the lateral, I decided to just depend on the closet flange to hold up the piping. Not the way I would do it if I have access to the lateral piping, but with a substantial gluing surface on the flange I used, I was counting on the flange glue joint to support the piping. With everything put back together, the toilet now flushes perfectly for a builder’s model.
But how did this happen? The installing plumber didn’t support the lateral properly and the finish plumber didn’t test flush the toilet to assure that it was working properly. Perhaps a carpenter or the tile man pushed down the riser and broke the hangers. In any event, the details of a job are as important as the core task of the job. Be sure to remind your technicians of the importance of details especially testing of the finished job whether plumbing, HVAC, or electrical. They too may find a unique problem!

Wish it or Will it!

We are quickly moving into 2010. The start of a New Year is a time that many of us make New Year’s resolutions. We are going to lose weight, get into shape, be more disciplined in following our faith, or kick a bad habit. It’s a time to change our ways! It’s a time for new beginnings, a time for improving ourselves, a time to make the New Year even better than the last year. We takeoff with a wish to change and many of us don’t have the will to change and the result is we fail. By the time February comes, the new exercise equipment is gathering dust, the few pounds we lost in the first weeks of January are back as our spare tire, and we still have that bad habit!
The same happens as we start a New Year and make some vague plans to improve our business. We’re going to make a profit this year. We’re going to grow and add a couple of technicians this year. We’re going to get rid of that problem employee this year. We’re going to start saving for our retirement this year, and so on and so on…. Each of these may be the exact thing your business needs in 2010, but my guess is it is the exact thing your business needed at the beginning of 2009 and maybe several year beginning’s prior! How do we get out of this cycle of “Goal Failure”?
Perhaps these ideas will help change the yearly “goal failure” in your business and possibly your personal life. First, the goals need to be written, then they must be very specific, and they must have a time frame for completion. Now for the hard part of the first step, you need to share your goals with someone who will hold you accountable. This could be your spouse or a friend.
Second, post your goals where you will see them almost every day. To paraphrase Earl Nightingale, “You become what you think about all day long”. Seeing the goals continually will keep them on top of your mind and what you think about. Put them up on your wall, on a 3x5 card that you carry in your pocket, on your “Outlook” calendar every day of the year so they come up as you start up your computer.
Finally, I would recommend that you mark your “Outlook“ calendar for a review of your goals every 2 months. Things do change, and you may need to change a goal or two. Who knows, you may be so far ahead of your goal that you need to set a higher goal before the end of the year.
Need some forms for the New Year to help set goals for your business? You can go to our website, www.SayYesToSuccess.com, and go to the “Free Stuff” tab. Near the bottom of the page are several free forms to begin a Successful 2010. Remember “Say Yes To Success in 2010”!

Clean it out

Over the past rainy weekend, Lynn and I started cleaning out our basement storage area. My goodness, what a collection of stuff we haven't used in years. There was an aquarium which I cannot remember the last time we had tropical fish. There was a box of golf balls that have to be at least 5 to 10 years old. I'm sure they have lost their elasticity. Perhaps I'll pass them on to opponents in our weekly golf outing. We found a lot more stuff like this that needs another home other than the Bergstrom's.

Just about every shop I have been in has a corner, a shelf, an area with stuff that has not been used in 5 or more years. Hubbed cast iron fittings, DWV copper fittings, galvanized reducing tees, street els, and much more hiding in the backroom. HVAC contractors with old circuit boards that have been replaced with updated versions, odd motors, OEM parts that are not used any longer. Electricians with outdated switches, panels and light fixtures that are not used any longer. In all of these shops, I see parts not used on a job, but not returned to the suppliers even if they were not special ordered. It is like throwing money away.

Prompt return of unused parts that cannot be turned over in less than 60 days would reduce payables and help cash flow without a substantial change in the business. It would just require a few minutes a week by someone in your company to process these parts and send them back. Even with a stiff restocking fee it is far better to return these parts than to keep them in stock.

Those parts that have sat in your inventory for years and not used need to be sold off, scraped, or just thrown out. You may find space in your warehouse that could be used for parking a truck inside, or better yet perhaps you could rent some of that gained space and get income. A good rule of thumb is you should not stock parts that you can't turnover in 60 days or less. Some suppliers will give you a discount for a large order but if it is more than 60 days of stock I would recommend you not buy. Work with that supplier to provide the stock you need when you need it and set discounts on the inventory you buy from them on a long term basis. Every item in your warehouse should have a min-max quantity set based on 60 days or less stock.

There is a trend in the industry of suppliers providing next day restocking for trucks and warehouses reducing the 60 day inventory down to a week inventory quantity. Having cash available and not tied up in "stuff" will make you money and allow you to take advantage of opportunities when they come available. I believe many contractors could work out of a smaller warehouse area thus reducing rent, utilities, taxes, and maintenance.

Some Yes....Some No

As I have had contact with various HVAC contractors in the last two weeks, I have have two completely different reations to the business climate in the metro Detroit area. Some are very busy selling replacement air conditioning units and furnaces in the middle of August. They are selling high efficiency equipment and are not selling it at cost. They are selling it for a profit! The suppliers are telling them they are the only ones selling high efficiency equipment. They are getting the maximum support the supplier can give them to help them to continue to sell. Others are telling me that there is no business out there and sure enough for them there is no business out there. They are telling me the prices are too low, no one is buying, things are so tough! They owe their suppliers and other vendors because they have zero cash flow. So I asked myself what the difference is between those selling, saying yes, and those not selling, saying no. Looking onto the reasons I find two main points that differentiate these contractors. Those who are selling have said, "There is business out there and we are going to find it." They are marketing and putting the energy into their businesses. They are not waiting for the phones to ring, they are using the Internet to market, they are selling maintenance agreements, they are training their techs to look for add on sales and opportunities for replacements. The others are waiting for the phone to ring, they have cut back on marketing, they are not selling maintenance agreements, they are not using the Internet effectively, they are looking back on how it used to be. Change is hard but tough times require that we evaluate our businesses and make the big step of change.