Supply Chain Connections

Monday, August 17, 2009

Reader Comments

at 9/2/2009 1:46:23 PM, Simple Mind said:
What exactly is the greed and ignorance you are referring to? Is it pricing products to what the market will bear? Taking advantage of then legitimate financial vehicles to get people into new homes? Or maybe its the penchant for expanding product lines, diversifying services or speculative building because that was producing a better return than savings bonds.
One man's idea of ignorance and greed is another man's idea of sound business practices.

In my brief 25 years of experience in the industry my memory tells me to make hay while the sun shines.
Having seen my fair share of "cycles" the communication in the supply chain will always be the same reminiscing about how great the last uptick was or how bad we lost our shirt on the last downturn.

at 9/3/2009 11:43:00 AM, At Peace said:
Simple Mind you missed the point. What Glenn stated was not a direct attack on the building industry for conducting legitimate business, but on the irresponsible and carefree attitudes that developed because of too many inexperienced people entering a market in which they were not fully competent to enter. As professionals we must keep in mind that when we see others taking excessive risks we should use our knowledge as a temper against allowing greed and excess to cloud our current business decisions. Admittedly, short term profits are less, but the long term advantages and peace of mind of not excessively participating in the "feeding frenzy" of an overheated market are well worth the costs. Much of the pain of this cycle could have been avoided by simply making sound business decisions based on the company's original business plan, rather than taking the attitude of "I want all I can get, and I want it now".

at 9/15/2009 2:18:39 PM, Joe said:
Thank you. Many speculators have jumped in when the "going is good". Thankfully, for the industry's sake, these people will not come back into our profession, because they will not want to obtain licenses, workman's comp and other insurances. Professionalism has finally come to the Building Industry. No longer can a nail apron and a pickup truck with a sign on the door, be enough to begin operating under the name of Professional Builder. Thank you.

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