NAHB Committee Positioned to Help Small Volume Builders

To help the 70% of NAHB’s builder members who are small-volume home builders building 25 or fewer units a year become better business professional, NAHB’s Single Family Small Volume Builders Committee has developed a mission statement and strategic plan to guide its work during the next five years

Under the plan, established last year with the leadership of the committee’s chairman, Bob Jones, of Robert R. Jones Homes, Bloomfield Hills, Mich., the committee will:

• Expand NAHB membership input
  
  
• Expand and develop new products, if necessary, that meet the needs of members
  
  
• Increase external communication to the NAHB membership
  
  
• Increase communication within the committee
  
  
• Build on the committee’s work year-to-year by educating new committee members about the group’s goals and activities
  
  
• Reduce duplication of services within the single-family builders’ groups of  NAHB
  
  
• Promote the committee’s open-door policy for its meetings

To expand membership input, the committee developed an online form to provide feedback about how the association might better meet the needs of small-volume builders. NAHB’s Business Management Department, which staffs the committee, will compile the feedback.

Updating Performance Guidelines for Builders and Remodelers

The committee also is working with NAHB’s Remodelors™ Council to revise and update the “Residential Construction Performance Guidelines for Professional Builders and Remodelers,” the popular warranty support tool available through BuilderBooks.com.

The Single Family Small Volume Builders Committee meetings are held in conjunction with the spring and fall NAHB Board of Directors meetings and the International Builders’ Show, and are open to other NAHB members.

The committee will meet from 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 6, in the Orange County Convention Center. Visit the committee meetings section on the International Builders' Show Web site, www.buildersshow.com, and use the "My Show Planner" tool to include the meeting in your schedule.

Education Sessions for Small-Volume Builders

Several business-related education sessions available at the 2007 International Builders’ Show in Orlando can assist small-volume builders in today’s market. The sessions include:

• "Business Planning Basics for Today’s Builder"
  
  
• "Essential Contract Elements To Keep You Out of Court & In the Black!"
  
  
• "Profit Is Not A Four-Letter Word"
  
  
• "So, You Want to Run a Home Building Company?"
  
  
• "From Your Home to the Office: Dealing With Family Dynamics"
  
  
• "Estate Planning for the Closely Held Business"
  
  
• "From the Kitchen Table to the Conference Table: Family Business Communication"
  
  
• "Seven Things to Learn From Katrina"
  
  
• "Defensive Estimating: Protecting Your Profits"
  
  
• "Do Your Policies and Procedures Build Profit and Reduce Risk? They Should!"
  
  
• "Get A Life! Achieving Balance in an Unbalanced World"
  
  
• "Change Orders: Profit or Punishment?"

To Learn More or to Register

To learn more about these education sessions, or to register for these and more, visit educational seminars on the International Builders' Show Web site, www.buildersshow.com. Use the "My Show Planner" tool to register for specific courses.

More Small-Volume Builder Resources

For more NAHB Business Management Resources for small-volume builders, go to www.nahb.org/svb on the NAHB Web site. This resource is available to NAHB members only.

NAHB Has Nearly 300 Resources to Help You Run Your Business More Profitably

Go to NAHB's Business Management Tools Web pages (available to members only) for instant access to nearly 300 timesaving, moneymaking and cost-cutting business resources to help you run your business more profitably. Get guidance on accounting and financial management, business strategy, computers and information technology, customer service, human resources and more.

Resources are added weekly, so bookmark www.nahb.org/biztools to go directly to these vital business management resources.

Local and state home builders associations can link directly to www.nahb.org/biztools from their Web site and give their members instant access to these resources. It will make your HBA's Web site the place to go for the information and guidance that members need to succeed.

With the current cooling of the nation’s housing market expected to persist into the middle of next year, NAHB has developed a comprehensive online toolkit geared to providing association members with information that will help them prosper in today’s changing business environment.

To access the “Back to Basics” toolkit, you must be an NAHB member and have a login to www.nahb.org. To create a login, go to www.nahb.org/login or click on the log-in button on the main menu bar.

For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242.

Subscribe to NAHB’s Business of Building e/Source

NAHB’s Business of Building e/Source is your monthly electronic guide to the hot issues and emerging trends in home building business management. You’ll find practical advice, tricks of the trade and sound business guidance — all delivered monthly, straight to your desktop, in a quick and easy-to-read format. Business of Building e/Source is available free to NAHB members and their employees.

To subscribe, visit www.nahb.org/BoB on the Members Only side of the NAHB Web site. 

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