Did you know May 1st-7th is “National Small Business Week”? Don’t feel bad, I didn’t either until yesterday when someone said, “It’s National Small Business Week”. I did a little digging and found out that the first National Small Business Week was created by a proclamation of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. This …
Do the words Sell, Selling, Sales and Salesperson make you do your cringy face? Have you ever been walking through a car lot and saw a salesperson only to quickly walk the other way? Or my favorite, have you ever had someone ring your doorbell during family dinner time and ask if you are interested …
I am going to start with what is not new! I hear so many colleagues and others in the construction industry say, “This is going to be a year unlike any other.” While I do agree with that statement, I must stop and reflect on the last two years. The last two years were …
Have you ever said any of the following statements? “You did tell me that!” “I didn’t realize that!” “I heard something different!” “That was not what I was expecting!” “I thought we were on the same page?” I know that both in my home and professional life I have used these statements at one …
I am asked often “Is this something that MJI would do?” The answer to that question is complex, but most of the time its yes, we can help you out or we can at least point you in the right direction. As MJI has grown as a company, we have noticed that the things …
When Can We Start? In today’s construction market, often our customer’s first question is “When will you be able to start?” This is in sharp contrast to the first question we most often were asked a few short years ago which was, “When can you be finished?” Both questions focus on the timeframe, but they …
It was May 23rd, 1993, when I first entered the world of construction. Fresh off the farm and in between semesters of technical college, I could not wait to start a “Real” job in the industry building beautiful homes and commercial buildings. I had this idea that I would be reading plans and erecting …
Frankly, I’m tired of hearing “Teamwork Makes the Dream Work”. Yes, its catchy and it rhymes. But, in the construction world the term “Dream” does not hold the same weight as a “Solution”. Dreams seem to connotate a childhood thought or a wish that is mostly impossible. Such being the new Superman when he …
Trust me when I say that I have trust issues. Typically, I can tell if someone is trustworthy after the first few minutes of a conversation. Those first few minutes of interaction are very telling. Does this person get to the point, stay focused, ask questions, and accept feedback or are they dominating the …
Have you ever heard the phrase “What you don’t know won’t hurt you!” Typically, this is referring to issues surrounding foods such as hot dogs or that fast food burger. Often times, you may not want to know what the kitchen looks like or who is preparing your food, on the other side of …
