Looking Beyond Housing?

People still aren’t building new homes at anything like the normal pace. How can onsite installation contractors adapt and thrive in this economy?

The slump in the housing market began about three years ago, and its effects have been widespread. Onsite installers and designers have been hit hard, right along with the homebuilders, plumbers, masons, carpenters, and appliance, furniture and fixture makers.

Heads of onsite industry associations have reported that installation businesses have been hurting, many cutting back, some going under, some diversifying, a goodly number struggling to maintain their association memberships, and so associations have had a tough time, as well.

The housing market has rebounded more slowly than expected. A 6- or 12-month slowdown is challenging enough to get through. Three years is much worse, especially when it’s still hard to see the upturn at the far end.

So, what are onsite professionals — designers, installers, consultants — doing to take up the slack? We’d like to explore this question in a future issue.

 

Staying upbeat

In talking to professionals around the industry, I don’t see many signs of doom and gloom. During the Pumper & Cleaner Expo last March, I saw good representation from the designer/installer community. These were people persevering, still investing in new knowledge, making adjustments in their businesses, and looking to emerge stronger when things do improve.

But from a practical standpoint, what has it been like? What are your secrets for getting through? There seem to be a variety of approaches. Dan Ragan of Ragan Grading & Septic Tanks in LaGrange, Ga., a 30-year professional, was remarkably optimistic. He retains three employees, each with him about eight years.

The business is fairly diverse, with a wide range of general backhoe, dozer and front-end-loader work in addition to the onsite business. Of course, some of that is housing-related, as well. Ragan, a Georgia Onsite Wastewater Association member, has kept going in part by getting more involved in system repairs, many of which actually involve complete drainfield replacements.

So while his new-system business has gone down, he has been able to backfill some of it with substantial repair projects.

 

Looking to O&M

Some other installers I’ve spoken to are looking to what’s already in the ground as new income sources. A few reported purchasing vacuum trucks for the first time and getting into the pumping business. Others have expanded into operation and maintenance of advanced systems, which in some states require maintenance contracts.

In the past most installers seemed to prefer simply to install, leaving the maintenance to others. But now more seem willing to adapt to the different business model that O&M requires and dedicate themselves to it, instead of just letting all that work go to someone else.

Of course, some professionals look at their machinery and everything that it can do besides excavate for onsite systems. So now they’re more deeply into moving earth for any purpose that suits a customer.

We’d like to hear your story. If your business has been slower during the recession, how have you coped? What has the experience taught you? What will be different for you when the better times come again, as they must?

Send me a note with your comments to editor@onsiteinstaller.com. I promise to respond, and we’ll report on your stories in a future issue.



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