The following entry was written in early 2018. As of today the worst case scenario is not as hypothetical as it once seemed. For those firms that grew their renewable revenue over the last two years there may be a
cushion to the fall. For those that haven’t it’s never too late.

The economy is strong, construction cranes dot the landscape and plans are in place for future expansion by businesses nationwide. Many firms are either planning to purchase new equipment or retrofit what’s in place. Times are good in the business community. Installers and contractors are hustling to get as much of this business as possible. For many firms the biggest challenge is staffing to support this activity. For those of us who have been around for awhile, we’ve seen it before. We want to believe this cycle will last forever.  We know it won’t. It’s just a matter of time before things slow down, or in worst case come to a halt.

The reward of focusing your business on new installations is immediate. Sales and profits grow. When times are good there’s a sense of enjoying the present. It’s easy to feel insulated from the risk of a downturn. Sometimes the change is subtle and extends over a prolonged period. As history has shown change can also be sudden as we experienced during 9/11 or the mortgage meltdown. For the most part what happens to the economy is out of our control. What we can control is how we manage and prepare our business for the future.

When construction stopped as a result of the mortgage crisis my business skyrocketed. Owners were calling to get their service business jump started. Was this a result of good planning by my future clients, obviously not. It was a matter of survival for some firms. Discussions regarding laying off technical staff or even worse meeting payroll in the near future were not unusual. For a few it meant the end of their company. For companies who had a strong service business, especially those with a solid RMR base, they were in a better position. They were not unscathed by the economy, but their future was secured.

Is your firm recession proof?  I doubt it. There’s no time like the present to build your RMR….before it’s too late.