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20 Club Provides Answers Owners Need to Know
 One of the problems we have as small businesses owners is a lack of solid guidance when developing our business models and running our businesses. While we were learning to be great framers, trim carpenters or cabinet makers, nobody ever bothered to tell us about a balance sheet
Many of us have come up through the ranks. We learned our trades and learned them well. And since we were so good at our trades, we naturally decided we should go into business for ourselves.
Well, as many of you already know, running a business is very different from doing the work we were trained to do for all those years.
For instance, when perfecting our trades we didn’t have to learn how to market, sell or advertise. We didn’t have to know which advertising medium would bring the best return on our marketing dollars, how to determine the best way to estimate projects, or even what our customers wanted. But now that we run our own businesses, we have to know all that — and more.
In addition, as business people, we have to move away from doing all the work ourselves to actually managing a company and becoming entrepreneurs.
Business author Michael Gerber addresses this phenomenon ― the process of evolving from a technician into an entrepreneur ― in his book, “The E-Myth.” (I strongly recommend that you read it.)
So where do we get this type of information? How do we learn how to run our companies?
I have looked at a great number of options over the years. Certainly, you can pursue some college courses in accounting and business management, but these do not provide the industry- or business-specific knowledge you will need to be more successful.
I feel you can gain a tremendous benefit from peer review groups. There are different types of groups to join. I can only discuss the few with which I am familiar.
It’s All About Making a Profit
The main goal behind a peer review group is not to reinvent the wheel, but to see what other companies have done and use their ideas.
The 20 Clubs are a peer review group program sponsored through NAHB (www.nahb.org/20clubs). Within the program are different clubs consisting of 20 companies each that have a similar volume and structure and are from non-competitive geographical locations around the country.
Most clubs meet twice a year for three days each trip. As a member, you reveal your finances and everything you do to your fellow 20 Club members. You see how the other companies operate and what has made them successful. You have 19 other companies looking at your operation and critiquing it.
Yes, it’s tough, but it is great constructive criticism. I can say without a doubt that joining our Remodelor™ 20 Club was the single best thing we ever did for our company.
In addition, I am also a member of a peer review group consisting of other local businesses. I would strongly encourage everyone to explore peer groups in your area as well.
Joining a peer review group will benefit you in ways you cannot imagine. If you want to take your company to the next level by working smarter and more efficiently, peer review groups are the way to do it.
In closing, let me share one great piece of advice I heard in our Remodelor™ 20 Club: volume doesn’t put food on the table, profit does.
Erik Anderson, CGB, GMB, CAPS, is vice president of Anderson-Moore Builders, Inc. in Winston-Salem, N.C. He also currently serves as vice president of the Home Builders Association of Winston-Salem. For more information, contact Anderson via e-mail.
 The NAHB University of Housing Offers Designation Programs for Remodelers
The NAHB University of Housing offers CAPS, CGR, CGB and a variety of other professional designation programs and business management courses that set builders and remodelers apart from the competition. To learn more about NAHB’s designation programs, visit www.nahb.org/designations. For a complete list of all current education offerings, click here.
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