Voices
What I did on my summer vacation; what stayed behind, what came with me and what I got to know
by Robert Koci“The surprise of all holidays is not what you leave behind, but what ends up coming with you.”
The Myths of Contracting Part 4: An email change order is good enough
by canadiancontractor“If there is one piece of IT every contractor needs to adopt, my vote is for a mobile changer order ap”
The Myths of Contracting Part 3: If I build a house and live in it for a year, I can sell it free of HST/GST or capital gains tax.
by canadiancontractor“In fact, CRA doesn’t require a set time of occupancy to treat a house as your principal residence”
The Myths of Contracting Part 2: Cash work saves your customer sales tax
by canadiancontractor“Working for cash actually wipes out nearly all hope of profiting from the job.”
The Myths of Contracting Part 1: When your price is greater than your costs, you profit!
by canadiancontractorSome contractors choose to take what they can get rather than decline unprofitable work
Part 4 of What Steve Said! Working with your team
by John Bleasby“As I have grown my business and as it has matured, I’ve found it very difficult not to rush in with my cape on.”
Part 3 of What Steve Said! Everything starts with a business plan
by John Bleasby“It’s important to have a personal plan first, because it tells you where you want to be personally, who you want to be, and where you want to go.”
YES! Payroll is expensive! Listen to the bookkeeper we all need!
by Robert Koci“New business owners are always shocked with how much an employee really costs”
When you know just how irrational your customers really are, you can sleep till noon.
by Robert Koci“Give a renovator or custom homebuilder a reputation for having the best price and he can charge whatever he wants.”
Part 2 of What Steve Said! Steve Barkhouse on mistakes and the passion it takes to overcome them
by John Bleasby“If you don’t think you’re going to get tested, don’t go into business.”
Conservative Contractor? Us? A reader accuses us of right-wing media bias
by Steve Payne“When we started this magazine in 2000, our idea was to give pro renovators and custom homebuilders a magazine that wasn’t constrained from talking bluntly about regulation and taxation in this industry”
A review of Ontario’s WSIB includes testing its efficiency against private sector insurance providers. It’s a test it can’t pass.
by Robert KociFord’s WSIB review should conclude it go private
Code changes that could save thousand$ Why they can’t—or won’t—get done even when they are smart, cost effective and timely
by canadiancontractor“It’s a small wonder that many manufacturers of innovative products privately feel they are held hostage to the approvals agencies perpetuating their existence along with numerous fees, delays and other impediments to innovation.”
The problem employee: “He is stuck, running at about 60 per cent efficiency, dreading every day but doing the best he can.”
by Robert Koci“He is stuck, running at about 60 per cent efficiency, dreading every day but doing the best he can.”
Perfectionism versus excellence
by Steve Maxwell“Don’t spend your time lookin’ around for something you want that can’t be found.”
Carpenters unions against the cash-deal industry? They are creating the problem in the first place, he argues
by canadiancontractor“Unpaid taxes are only secondary to them. Most important is their salaries.”
Are the unions really interested in legit workplaces – or their job security?
by canadiancontractorSurely it’s both, no?
Comment about Bleasby’s article “kicking our addiction to A/C”
by canadiancontractorCasey Edge of the Victoria Residential Builders Association sends us some interesting links