Danger and Opportunity
When written in Chinese, the word CRISIS is composed of two characters. One represents DANGER and the other represents OPPORTUNITY. John F. Kennedy said, “Be aware of the danger—but recognize the opportunity.”
American entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban made a similar point in his posts and statements about the Covid19 virus epidemic. To paraphrase Cuban, he said there will be new billionaires who identify products and services that provide answers to a forever changed America that emerges and remains long after the immediate threat is thwarted. As an example, Cuban hinted that sanitation will be one area with an all-new standard.
Yes, it has long been said that learning from challenges and from failure itself is the only path to progress. When it comes to building structure and HVAC equipment, our industry has witnessed disastrous outcomes from not fully evaluating end results, or “not knowing what we didn’t know,” as they say. A higher standard of tightness in a building envelope would certainly seem to be a no-brainer, but it took observation of moisture build-up and poor indoor air quality problems to understand that X+Y=Z unless you do YY.
As our Energy Efficiency Focus Section this month suggests, you can use great products, but without experts who understand the building science and oversight to make sure everything is installed correctly, things can go awry. Our Savvy Special Report explores some of the most common construction deficiencies and seconds the need for consulting with experts and engineers upfront as well as securing inspections after the work is done.
Alair Homes is an example of turning challenge into opportunity. Alair’s founder identified the reasons why large nationally-branded companies have gained market share over the independently run custom builders—they provide better training, better, processes, better marketing and accountability to their stakeholders, which in turn, meant better piece of mind for the clients. Why couldn’t the same be accomplished by establishing a major brand name in custom home renovation and homebuilding? Alair became just that, and two award-winning firms here in North Texas are now benefitting from the opportunity to make their great businesses even better by working with other excellent builders across North America.
Savvy builders, remodelers, architects, developers and designers put continuous training high on their priority lists and are not afraid to challenge the norm. Our goal at Building Savvy is to inspire and motivate you to be successful, informed and prepared for long-term business sustainability.
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