Connection is one of MECA’s 4 pillars that we work to align our activities with, the others being Information, Advocacy, and Education.
Why is connection important?
I’ve found that people are often surprised at the value they have gained by knowing other contractors in their trade. Sometimes we assume we need to take an adversarial approach to our competition, but this leads to isolation and short-term thinking.
The thing is, people like to be around people they understand and feel a kinship with. People who might have similar values or have had a similar experience in life. Tradespeople are no different. It is hard to run a business in this industry, and the only people who can appreciate it fully are those who are doing it! Often, that alignment leads to support and friendship.
There is great confidence that can be gained by understanding others in your industry. If you keep your ears open at a MECA meeting, you learn a lot about how people run their business. People are often sharing tips and strategies that are interesting and worth consideration.
There’s room for all of us.
There is a lot of work to go around, and no one company could ever service all of the needs out there. Healthy competition is good for the industry, and it is best for the homeowner and the industry as a whole if there are lots of good contractors out there.
The problem is when there aren’t enough good contractors. That lowers consumer confidence and creates a negative stigma around the industry and the people in it. I would suggest that this is the current state of our trade.
Why is it like this? It is because the industry is not connected and collaborating on its issues.
Getting to know others in the industry creates empathy, and empathy creates healthy communication around issues. Once we identify our issues we can analyze them and gain understanding. When we have understanding we can decide what we can do to improve them. Once the decision is made we can put our plans into action. As you may notice this is not an easy process.
“Seek first to understand, then seek to be understood.”
MECA has made big strides in these areas in the past 10 years but there is so much work to do. Our membership needs to grow so that we can create more energy around the issues that are keeping the industry down.
Industry challenges.
Another aspect of this is that our industry has a poor distribution of small (under 25 employees), medium (25-75) and large (75+) sized companies. Too many small companies are bad for an industry because it creates the conditions I mentioned earlier, the conditions we are in right now and have always been in, with low consumer confidence and not enough stable contractors for the market to choose from.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that it is bad to be a small operator, small operators can provide excellent service and be very good at what they do, but it is also true that smaller often means less stable and at greater risk of going under. The marketplace needs a healthy distribution in order to create stability and offer the community good options.
There’s value in sharing.
It takes time for a company to mature to place where it is experienced in handling the challenges of running a business. Understanding pricing, workplace standards, policies, leadership, procedures, a good safety program all come with time. No one gets this right in the first 5 years (or even 10) of running their business. Having too many companies in this vulnerable stage is the issue.
What does this have to do with industry connection? Networking speeds up the pace of development. We need that collaboration. Iron sharpens iron. Industry connections also increase the likelihood of transitioning a business. It is much more likely to sell your business if people know you and you know others. This helps to continue the momentum of the business so it doesn’t start over and continue the cycle we have always been in.
For me, this is one of our most important pillars and is a key contributor is how “a rising tide floats all boats.”
Please, join us, get involved. Let’s connect and work together.
– David Ehlers, MECA Executive Director