Almost one year after my working career in restoration started, I was baptized by accepting a request to look at a boat fire. I had absolutely no knowledge of marine vessels, how they were constructed or what the component materials were, let alone how they react when they burn.

In part one of this article we explored the four stages of turnaround involved in saving a failing business, including the objectives and actions necessary in each stage. These are the mechanics involved in bringing a business back to solvency and setting it up for sustained profitability in the future. Most of the information is easy to identify with; even common sense, if you will.

As part of my job, every year I review hundreds of income statements and analyze operational costs for the purpose of improving profitability. On three separate occasions in just the past year, I discovered that struggling contractors were not realizing their full profit potential because their gross profit targets were too low.

The Delaware Water Gap is a sweeping valley almost a thousand feet wide, where the Delaware River cuts through a large ridge in the Appalachian Mountains, creating the eastern border of Pennsylvania and the western border of New Jersey.

Shortly after graduating from college, I spent the better part of four years living on a horse farm in rural Southwestern Pennsylvania. In addition to working as a national account manager for the 84 Lumber Company, I spent my spare time mucking stalls, feeding horses, mending fences, and making hay on the farm in exchange for rent.

In disaster restoration, most negotiations occur between the contractor’s estimator or project manager and the insurance adjuster. The negotiation tends to be adversarial in nature, and generally ends with one of the parties feeling like they were cheated or taken advantage of.

Standing on a 40-foot stage, perched 25 feet in the air, nailing a rake board on the gable end of a home, I reached into my tool belt to grab more nails.

On April 10, 2016, professional golfer Jordan Spieth blew a five-stroke lead by taking a quadruple bogey on the 12th hole during the last round of the Masters Golf Tournament.

Restoration is one of the most unpredictable businesses in the modern economy. Contractors will often go days, or even weeks, without seeing a new and legitimate job opportunity.