Pamela Bayer Interiors: My Biggest Mistake

Pamela Bayer Interiors: My Biggest Mistake The Mistake: When you're in business long enough you can count on working through a recession. They never lost my business card and called us first thing when they were ready to buy. I never planned to own a business. I let clients know that I would make myself available to them 24 hours a day if required. It didn't happen overnight, but I grew from a very small business to a large, lucrative business. At the time, it was a fast fix to get through the first recession that I was involved in as a business owner. I was still immersed in large building projects for a while. I learned that sometimes smaller jobs can be appreciated more than working on big building projects. We gutted two bathrooms and put in new toilets, sinks, tile, sconces, fans, vanities and faucets. I took it on without hesitation, sketched it out and wished them all the best. The changes helped them to sell their home. I wanted to accommodate their schedules. But when I got an unexpected opportunity to take over the business about 20 years ago it was an easy transition because clients were used to working with me. Now I have two crews -- one that focuses on small jobs and one for larger jobs. A few years ago when the last recession hit we were totally prepared. It was blueprints for a $3. It was too small a job, and smaller jobs are time consuming. I didn't think the smaller jobs were beneath me, I just didn't think that I could give them the time and energy that they were seeking. It never occurred to me that when the bottom drops out, larger projects are put on hold. What I didn't count on -- while I was turning away small jobs -- was for business to come to a halt. It didn't take long for me to start making big changes though, mainly with customer service. 2 million home that they're building on the Jersey Shore. Recessions hit just about everybody in some way. I went from booming to scrambling -- without a prompt plan on how to recover. Pamela Bayer Interiors: My Biggest Mistake Trade News selected by Local Linkup on 01/04/2012