My HBA membership renewal is this month.
Naturally, upon receipt of the invoice I was
faced with the question of whether or not to
renew. Being a man who is slow to talk and
quick to ponder I decided to think it over
from the comfort of my old, worn out couch.
With my dog at my side, fully reclined with my
arms behind my head, feet crossed, beer on the
TV tray, beef jerky crumbs on my chest I dozed
off to reflect upon the question of just what my HBA membership means to me.
First, I had to remind myself of why I joined in 1999. I hadn’t been in the building business that long. I remember two reasons. One was for the education and two because I felt it was the right thing to do. I believed, both then and now, that you have to support the industry that supports you. I remember my wife’s uncle, Jim Albert, a former member telling me I should join.
My first GMM was intimidating. Could Judy Barnes really be that upbeat I asked myself? I later found out that she is and she has been a positive influence for me, our industry and our community. At the meeting there were a number of older, established builders; smart folks that built great homes. I wondered how they got that way and what it would take for me to be like them.
With no homes under construction I decided to participate in the Home Show. At the time, I had only built one custom home and a couple of unprofitable, ugly spec homes. My booth had no photographs of any of my homes. I also took a leap and signed up to speak at a seminar. Home run! Without the home shows and the seminar, I wouldn’t have built homes for the Pierson’s, Nash’s, Zuiderveen’s, the Kumko’s and others.
My first barrier free home came from a customer I met at a Home Show. They had come to my seminar. Over the years, I have milked to death my “Great Ideas When Building a Home” seminar materials. Imagine someone thinking that I am an expert? It seems like the $2,000,000 in sales from the home shows has been worth the $8,000 entrance fees we have paid. If only I were smart enough to remodel. I could stop referring business to my remodeling brethren here at the HBA.
From my seminar at the Home Show, I met a customer willing to participate in the Parade of Homes. Who knew that one of my first parade homes would also be my first home featuring both universal design and green built construction? Who knew that both of those niches would be the foundation of our business today? I wonder if there is a parallel there. Perhaps, but that is way to deep!
Over the years, my parade entry fees have totaled about $20,000. My sales generated from parade homes are close to $4,000,000. How much of our sales today come from green building and/or universal design. All of it! Does the HBA need me or do I need the HBA? Does the fact that most of our business today is from referrals tie back to the customers we first met at HBA sponsored events? Whoa man, way too deep again.
So I joined because of the education. What can you learn in a classroom? I don’t know, but I have spent well over 500 hours in classes both at our HBA, the International Builders Show and during my Builder 20 Club sessions. I sure hope it pays off. I can tell you that the best thing I have ever done for my business is joining a Builder 20 Club. It was a little scary at first. Sharing my financials and operations with other builders from around the country? They will see how little money I make and how stupid I am! Well, they found out. But I also found out what my profit margins were supposed to be and how I was supposed to run my business. If only I were smart enough to implement what I learned I could afford a better brand of beer and more jerky.
In my dreamy state, I continued to wonder if my membership was worth it when I remembered the website. I have a logo link on the HBA site. The $1,000 a year I spend on that link has generated over 400 unique visitors to my site each year and two of my customers in 2009 found me through the HBA website. Can you have returns over 1000%? I am expecting even greater benefits from our new website. Not only will it drive more traffic to my website, it will change the way we do business in our community.
Yup, at my first GMM I didn’t know anyone. Because of my own insecurities, I was sure that it was a country club and I didn’t know the secret handshake. However, over the years I have sat on nearly every committee and participated in many events. Many of my trade contractors and suppliers today I first met through the HBA. I am not smart enough to quantify the benefit of networking. It just feels right.
I still hear people snicker about having to sell the building. Who cares! I still hear people say they don’t get anything from their membership. As I listen to the whine, I wonder just where this person’s head is at. Is this a business or is it a hobby? The natural questions become “Have you sat on a committee?”, “Have you ever taken any classes?”, “Ever been to a meeting?” Nope. Nope. Nope. When I ask them about advocacy they look at me like my dog does when I talk to her. She turns her head and stares at me like I am a fool. Guess I am!
As for the current state of the HBA, we are lucky. These are tough times, but we are still around working hard to fulfill our mission “to empower our members to succeed through education, advocacy, networking and promotion.” We have a great staff that is committed to our members.
The first time I ran for the board of directors I lost. Now, I just hope this President thing works out. It takes a lot of time, but man I sure get a lot of press coverage. It’s pretty good when prospective customers keep seeing my name in the media. It’s too late to hope that it doesn’t go to my head.
I just wonder if the HBA will get as much from me as I get from it. As my kids say “Dad, stop with the crazy talk”. They’re right! I don’t owe the HBA anything. They get my money every year. What do they do for me? Anyway, my dues aren’t due for a couple more weeks. I got time to keep thinking about it. Time for more beer and jerky!
Signed - A proud member of the Home & Building Association of Greater Grand Rapids
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