The Tim Faller Show

Between 1950 and 2010, the use of the term “company culture” has doubled — Tim looked it up.  But for a lot of people, it’s still a bit of a mystery. You hear about having a good culture, but it can be hard to quantify. Often, remodeling companies can have a great culture in the... The post Ep.90: Moving Company Culture to the Job Site with Dennis Engelbrecht appeared first on The Tim Faller Show.

Money isn’t the only way to motivate your team, but profit sharing can boost morale, productivity, and help attract and keep good production employees. Profit sharing can be engineered into the budget so there will be funds to distribute. As long as you hit the gross-profit margin, you can set up profit sharing, says Shawn... The post Ep.89: Profit-Sharing Strategies with Shawn McCadden appeared first on The Tim Faller Show.

The remodeling and construction industries are dominated by men. Even such necessary things as safety equipment are a bad fit for the few women who are working on the production side in residential remodeling or construction. But things are slowly changing. More women are showing up on job sites, and working in production and operations... The post Ep.88: Women in Production Management with Heather Tankersley appeared first on The Tim Faller Show.

We all occasionally think about the worst that could happen, like a disaster befalling your business or family. The kinds of thoughts that creep into your brain in the wee hours of the morning, that prompt you to think about how you might handle it. Luckily, for most of us, those imagined catastrophes never materialize.... The post Ep.87: Rising from the Ashes with John Murphy appeared first on The Tim Faller Show.

If you’ve ever wondered what you’d do differently when starting your remodeling business if you only knew then what you know now, you’re not alone.  Tim and Steve do, too.  In this episode, the guys talk about what they’ve learned in their time at Remodelers Advantage and from their podcast guests that they wish they... The post Ep.86: Hindsight is 2020 appeared first on The Tim Faller Show.

There can be a bit of a disconnect between folks working in residential and those in commercial construction, and a way of thinking that they’re just completely different. But there are ideas and methods of production that can be used successfully in both. Steve Tankersley is a third-generation builder whose earliest memories are of being... The post Ep.84: Residential vs. Commercial Construction with Steve Tankersley appeared first on The Tim Faller Show.

If you’re getting to your final walk-through and finding work that’s not done, or not done right, your schedule gets fouled up and your budget is busted. To tie up all the loose ends before they can cost you more time and money, you’ve got to be a step or two ahead of the problems.... The post Ep.83: Secrets of the Final Completion List with Ed Hoksbergen appeared first on The Tim Faller Show.

Many problems plaguing production departments end up costing time and money. While it’s clear that there are issues, many remodeling companies can’t pinpoint the causes.  One way to find out what’s really going on is to establish Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs. KPIs allow you to measure how well your production process works. But what... The post Ep.82: Key Performance Indicators for Carpenters & Project Managers with Rick Swanquist appeared first on The Tim Faller Show.

Today we’re tackling what can be a simple topic, but some remodeling companies are still struggling with daily job logs. Technology has made this task so much easier to accomplish and to store. In this episode, Jason Stearns talks with Tim and Steve about what to capture in a daily log, how to get your... The post Ep.81: Success with Daily Logs with Jason Stearns appeared first on The Tim Faller Show.

We talk about working with trade partners and subcontractors a lot around here. It can be a complicated and challenging relationship — too often it’s like you can’t live with them, and you can’t live without them. Part of any relationship is change, and adjusting to those changes to keep it fresh and healthy. To... The post Ep.80: Evaluating Trade Partners with Joe Divel appeared first on The Tim Faller Show.

It’s a common challenge Tim finds in his consulting work with remodelers — how difficult it is to accurately estimate your remodeling company’s own work, to bring jobs in on time and budget. The difference can cause friction between estimators and those in the field, and cost you money.  In this episode, Ryan Beaber talks... The post Ep.79: Syncing Estimating & Production with Ryan Beaber appeared first on The Tim Faller Show.

To make the remodeling business work, there are a few musts — you have to be efficient, you have to have a competitive edge, and a good work-life balance. Tim Welsh’s company does it in four days a week — at least in the field. In this episode, Tim discusses the four-day work week with... The post Ep.78: The Four-Day Work Week with Tim Welsh appeared first on The Tim Faller Show.

The skills gap is real, but when we all talk about it, it often takes a negative turn. It seems like it’s always a complaint, with nobody taking any real action to solve it. Richard Laughlin is the exception, and is taking a grass-roots approach in his small town in Texas that’s already growing in... The post Ep.77: Building a Trade School From Scratch with Richard Laughlin appeared first on The Tim Faller Show.

Restoring a home after a catastrophe like a fire or flood is fairly specialized, not something most remodeling companies do. There are different challenges, like dealing with insurance companies and payouts, so these companies have different perspectives on production. Mike Carey has worked in insurance restoration for 25 years, as well as doing residential remodeling... The post Ep.76: Production in Insurance Restoration with Mike Carey appeared first on The Tim Faller Show.

Finding good employees and managers can be difficult — there just aren’t that many qualified workers out there. Hiring somebody young without much training is an investment, but it can pay off in the long run. If you find the right person. Ryan Murphy is one of those people. He didn’t know anything about construction... The post Ep.75: Promoting the Young Guy with Ryan Murphy appeared first on The Tim Faller Show.

Any remodeling involving a historic building is complicated. You never know exactly what you’ll find hidden and what will have to be replaced. Period details have to be replicated, material that would be tossed out in a standard remodel must be saved, and old-world techniques like window glazing must be done. If the local historical... The post Ep.74: Remodeling in Historic Restoration with Walter Beebe-Center appeared first on The Tim Faller Show.

We’re big advocates of getting young people into the building trades. Getting kids and their parents to understand that working in remodeling and construction can provide a great career is the first step.  Stuart Feldt has an internship program for high school students at his company, giving them hands-on experience during their summer vacations. In... The post Ep.73: Getting Young People into the Trades with a High School Summer Work Program with Stuart Feldt appeared first on The Tim Faller Show.

While driving through Maine earlier this year, Tim started wondering how a client of his there deals with the labor shortage in his small town. So he called and asked, and found out that while there are different challenges, what he does to attract and retain his people can be done in any size labor... The post Ep.72: The Labor Shortage from a Small-Town Perspective with Wally Staples appeared first on The Tim Faller Show.

When remodeling companies start up, typically the owner is working in the field, making sales, estimating, and doing almost everything else to run the business. There comes a tipping point as the company grows, and one person can’t do it all. That’s where the lead carpenter system comes in. Transitioning to that system has its... The post Ep.71: Switching to the Lead Carpenter System with Steve Nash appeared first on The Tim Faller Show.

When you work in a remote area, where your materials are shipped on barges to small islands, and a quick lumber yard run just isn’t possible, everything just takes longer.  So having all the details planned ahead is crucial, says Ben Reynolds. In this episode, Ben talks to Tim and Steve about the challenges of... The post Ep.70: Mastering the Look Ahead, Part 2, with Ben Reynolds appeared first on The Tim Faller Show.