ProCon

8 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 7 he said, “and it is considered the perfect storm for us. It’s sad to say that, because my friends are the ones who have suffered in that community. But we had that recent storm, (Hurricane) Ian, and half of the community got flooded out. So right after the storm, we had storm-chasers coming in, and they are the eat-and-run type of guys. They supposedly mitigate the damages and move the demolition, bill the client, collect on the insurance, and then they are never to be seen again, leaving the client behind with a home that is gutted. And now the client has to find a contractor in an area that was devastated by so much flooding. It is very hard to find competent contractors. The definition of a contractor in someone’s mind might be one thing, and the way that I operate is a totally different way. “We have to understand concrete block, dry wall, lumber, assemblies and fire ratings,” he continued. “We definitely have to understand all of it. We also must understand business management. We must understand that once that client awards us a job, they awarded us a liability. Until we’re done, we have not earned a profit. We’ve been able to shine right away in those one-on-one conversations with our clients by showing them the fact that we are transparent in our estimating, in our estimates, and we are transparent in the process. And the client knows every step of the way where they stand in that project. So I can say that from Dec. 31 through March 31, we acquired 50 jobs in the remodelling sector inside of one particular community, and we are way over half-completed and should be finishing up within the next month and a half. We have been able to absorb scale, scale up and perform at the highest of levels.” Things getting better Lemus said lumber prices have come down dramatically.