What do experienced owners wish they knew in their first year of running a business? I'm four-plus years in.
Incorporated Great Raven Renovations Ltd. on January 18, 2022. Salt Spring Island base, work across the Cowichan Valley and South Nanaimo. Renovations, roofing, decks, structural.
Four and a half years in now. Been thinking lately about what I'd tell myself on day one if I could. Putting it here in case any of it lands for someone earlier in the journey, and because I'd genuinely like to hear what the rest of you would add.
1. The contract is the business.
Year one I thought craftsmanship was the business. Craftsmanship is the product. The contract is the business. Weak contract language is how good work turns into unpaid work. Hidden-conditions clause, signed change orders, deposit terms, warranty conditions tied to payment — every one of those came after losing real money for not having them.
2. Slow down on hiring. Way down.
The cost of a bad hire isn't just their wages. It's the project they damaged, the client they alienated, and the time you spent fixing both. I'd rather turn down a job than put the wrong person on it now. Took me a while to learn that turning down work is sometimes the most profitable thing you can do.
3. Photograph everything.
Before, during, after. Substrate conditions. Hidden framing. What was behind the drywall before you closed it up. Two months from now the homeowner won't remember what was there, and neither will you. The photo record is worth more than any verbal reassurance.
4. One accountable contact beats a polished process every time.
Clients don't want to be passed around. Especially on renovations, where they're already nervous about the unknown. Being the one phone number, the one email, the one face — even at the cost of scaling slower — has done more for our referral pipeline than any marketing.
5. The completion walkthrough is non-negotiable.
Walk every project with the client at the end, point by point against the original scope. Sign-off before final draw. If something needs touch-up, it gets done before you invoice. The disputes I've had almost always traced back to a project that didn't end with a real walkthrough.
6. You're going to make expensive mistakes. Build a system that survives them.
The losses aren't optional. The lessons are. The only difference between a business that survives bad years and one that doesn't is whether the founder turned each loss into a piece of the operating system or just absorbed it as pain.
Curious from the rest of you — what would you tell your year-one self that you wish someone had said earlier? Especially anyone who's made it through years three to five. That stretch is where I think most of us either consolidate or fold.
Appreciate the community.
— Chad
Great Raven Renovations Ltd.
Salt Spring Island, BC