Remember, good is the enemy of great. You might pay little attention to accountability standards and still find a way to grow a good company. But especially at a time when customers and employees have more choices than ever, and margins continue to grow thinner, becoming a truly great company in the long term requires 100% accountability throughout your entire organization, Scott Severe writes.

We asked restoration industry professionals to answer one question as we close out the year: What is your biggest takeaway from 2021?

The motivation paradigm is described as the reasons we do the things we do in the manner we do them. Over the years, I have taken the position that money does not motivate, nor is it necessarily an effective tool that creates desired outcomes. Appreciation ranks higher than money, believe it or not, when it comes to motivation, Lisa Lavender writes.

In 2016, Benjamin Surdi, founder and CEO of PureDry Restoration, purchased a business that was in major debt and all-around bad shape. Since then, the company has quadrupled in size and revenue, and it is a recognized market leader in Washington State.

Sometimes we get in our own way, not because we don’t recognize opportunity, but because we resist it. A lot of entrepreneurs have done this to themselves, including me. Business has never been better. Leads are pouring in, your team is performing at their highest level, but something within you keeps pulling towards a new opportunity outside your business.

During the 2021 Violand Management Associates Business Planning Retreat in Canton, Ohio, Chuck Violand sat down with R&R to share his observations of attendees over the years. He talks about the importance of small business owners looking beyond the granular, short-term aspects of their companies to drive growth.

After years of putting out fires and pointing the finger at employees, Eric Sprague and Larry Wilberton learned to point the finger at themselves. Here, Sprague shares how he and Wilberton transformed their restoration company into one with high engagement, performance and profit.

For a lot of business owners, October isn’t exactly a time of new beginnings. You might be fantasizing about taking a breath, taking a break and starting fresh. If you’re like most, setting a New Year’s resolution for your business is the furthest thing from your mind. It shouldn’t be.

Apply the same investigative mindset we teach our teams to use in water-damaged homes when you are dealing with interpersonal and organizational challenges.

Jim Kowalski is owner and vice president of Kowalski Construction Inc. He is also president of the Restoration Affiliates board. Here, he shares secrets to success and lessons learned in growing his third-generation, family-run property restoration company. He also explains what Restoration Affiliates is.