Recycling and Conserving Construction Material to Save Money and Your Business
Those who make their living in the construction industry have a lot to worry about these days- and I am not talking about the slump in commercial and residential construction. In the face of rising fuel prices and the surging cost of raw materials, many small and medium-sized contractors are realizing that in order to keep operating they must change the way they do business.
To that end, numerous builders, contractors, and demolition companies are learning how to best conserve and recycle their resources. Here are a few of the most successful ideas:
Get what you need for cheaper:
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Shop at a stores that sell used building materials and check out your local materials exchanges.
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Keep your eye on the global markets for price-volatile, commodity items, such as wood, metal, and aggregates and where possible negotiate bulk purchases for future projects and advance buys.
Make the most of what you have:
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Many raw materials, such as wood, metal, drywall, and concrete can easily be recycled for resale or reuse. You should research your options to see whether it pays transport material to a recycler or to recycle on site with your own equipment, such as a wood chipper or an industrial grinder.
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Fuel can also be conserved with the use of various location-based and telematic devices.
Plan ahead:
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Create a waste reduction or recycling plan for your business, and give it over to your employees.
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Use standard material sizes in your building plans
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Include the use of recycled supplies in your building plan
For more information on construction material recycling and waste disposal check out these sites:
The Environmental Protection Agency
www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/debris-new/index.htm
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/cea/publications/pubs/section3/ie211.pdf
Winham Solid Waste Management
Constructionbusinessowner.com
www.constructionbusinessowner.com/
Building Materials Reuse Association
Do-It-Yourself IT
Small business owners are known for wearing many hats- manager, sales representative, marketer… Now “IT consultant” can be added to the list.
Corporate spending on IT has slowed down just as numerous studies and forecasts predicted earlier this year. And according to John Chambers, Cisco Systems Inc’s Chief Executive, we can expect the slowdown in tech spending to drag on for several more months.
This trend belies a struggle that countless small business owners are facing as they try to run a successful small business in a cooling economy. Small businesses must strike a delicate balance between investing in the IT solutions that will keep them competitive, productive, and efficient, while tapping into a drying well of resources.
In an effort to conserve capital, many in the small business world are becoming their own IT experts, getting their education from the various free tutorials, primers, and articles offered on the Web.
One company to recently enter the fray is bMighty.com with its new Server How-To Center- a free collection of tips, tricks, and hints for everyone from beginners to experts on how to choose and install a server.
For the determined business IT expert wanna-be there is certainly no shortage of information.
The question is, however, if this strategy pays off in the long-run as IT solutions get more advanced and integrated, yet more vulnerable. Making a mistake in network security, for example, can lead to devastating breech of sensitive information.
Every small business should examine their own unique circumstances before choosing how (and on whom) to spend their IT dollars.
Agrievolution Conference Reveals World-Wide Trends in Agricultural Machinery
According to presentations made at the first Agrievolution summit that was held last month in Rome, evolving and growing economies are increasing the global demand for agricultural equipment. As a result, equipment manufacturers and dealers are experiencing a world-wide shortage in farm machinery supplies.
The summit included several major farm machinery manufacturers from around the world who convened to address the issue of producing more food for thriving world populations by analyzing economic and industry trends as well as new technologies.
The summit focused on six regions that are significantly effecting the world market: Europe, Brazil, China, India, Russia, and the US. A common theme among these regions is that farmers are looking for bigger, more powerful machinery. There was also a unified call for open trade and the exchange of ideas across boarders.
In short, there seems to be a bright future ahead for the global agricultural industry.
Fixing the Housing Crisis: Small Businesses Should Take Note
The current housing crisis has sent a shockwave to the economy that has reverberated across several sectors and industries. Though homebuilders and mortgage lenders have been singled out as the sole bearers of this economic burden, the truth is that numerous businesses and service providers are feeling the strain. Think carpenters, landscapers, and house painters as well as the retail outlets for home repair and supplies, such as Home Depot.
A large number of these goods and services are provided by local small businesses who have limited resources to weather the economic storm. So any action taken (or lack thereof) to fix the housing situation will impact the nation’s economy on both a macro and micro level. Since most small businesses are in some way effected by how the housing crisis is handled, they would do well to keep an eye on the issue.
If you are a little clueless about the details of recent housing legislation, CNN has a general primer on some of the different housing proposals to grace the Capitol. Small business owners should also follow the (sometimes evolving) proposals of McCain and Obama.
Being successful in today’s economy means staying informed.