Nothing is more frustrating than dealing with poor services by a department within your company or a vendor when you need to resolve a problem or find information on a timely basis. However, what is even worse than the poor services is having that troubled group in complete denial about their...

One of the most frequent responses we hear from prospects when asked how they hope to pay for their equipment is simply: I’m going to pay cash. It’s a nice feeling to pay cash. Done and paid for. No payment schedule or finance charges. And surely, if interest payments hover in the...

A little over 30 years ago along Rt 15 in Selinsgrove, PA, a modular home builder had two model homes on his lot. They were both ranch style homes, 2 or 3 bedrooms, 1 bath models. One was 28’ x 44’ and the other was 28’ x 48’ if memory serves me. The sign said he would...

The pandemic environment has affected many things. Perhaps surprisingly, one of the effects derives from the Fed’s desire to assist the economy in any way possible. In particular, interest rates which were already at historical lows are now even lower. As a result, monthly payment quotes...

Over the last couple of years, a lot of new modular home factories have either opened their doors and are taking orders or are in the process of opening. It’s inevitable that many businesses fail in the first 3–5 years for a myriad of reasons, mostly from being under-financed...

Since 2010, the number of households that rent has grown from 32% to 36% with the addition of 4,000,000 new renters. Mid and high-income renters saw the biggest increase. With construction slowing down due to COVID-19 and lawmakers debating the pros and cons of rent forgiveness for those who...

The 2008 housing recession ended with many East Coast modular home factories closed forever along with scores of independent new home builders, both site and modular. There were no buyers looking for new custom homes. Then in 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast of the United States...

An anonymous former lumberyard CEO of 17 lumberyard locations (LBM) explained to me that his two component manufacturing (CM) plants made up only 10% of his sales yet contributed 30% of his net profits. He wished he had given the CM division far more focus and resources. As a guru for process...

For years, I’ve been interested in why the residential building industry has been so slow to innovate. Other industries constantly innovate. The U.S. automobile industry, arguably pushed along by Japan and European car makers, continues to advance its products and production methods....

The words “panic attack” in our social sphere imply being attacked by panic. It can be debilitating. Put in another context, panic can lead to the action of attacking, typically defensively. Being attacked by panic and attacking in response to panic are positions of weakness that...