Does Lumber Liquidators Matter to You?

I recently read one of the comments about the Lumber Liquidators profits soaring and the contractor talked about the really bad demise of his business and moving in with his mother. It sounded pretty rough, but let me offer my strongest opinion of this business:

It doesn't matter how well you install, sand, or finish… If you are too lazy to market, network, and learn to communicate like a professional, then there's always going to be another contractor who comes along and takes business away from you.  

Lumber Liquidators is only a fraction of what impacts any flooring market in a community. Not everyone wants their product, and there will always be a market for smart contractors who learn to differentiate themselves as craftsmen.

Think I'm wrong? Then walk into your local building office and locate the addresses of all the new construction or whole house remodels. If they pulled a permit, then it's public record. Sort through the list and find everything above 3,000 square feet and I'll bet that fewer than 90% (if any) of the houses are using low-end flooring. You can verify by just driving up to the job, meeting the builder and talking with them. You never know, you may be early enough in the planning to have a chance to do the work.

I know builders have to be somewhatprice-driven, but let's look at some logic.

1. Builders with a regular track record of doing high-quality work need quality help. Even if they have a have a regular flooring contractor, you never know when they may have a falling out. Being a qualified second on the backburner is better than nothing.
2. If you build a house larger than 3,000 square feet, you better not have problems with that much flooring, or your career as a builder will be short lived.
3. Fewer than 10% of the contractors I've had discussions with locally have engaged in ANY type of formal learning in wood floor acclimation, installation, or job-site preparation. This means there is ALWAYS a need for someone knowledgeable. People just need to detect that knowledge in the way that you speak. Telling a builder you have been in business since the dawn of time does not verify that you understand the importance of RH levels on a job as impacted by crawlspace vents and HVAC systems.
4. Builders who have their act together are usually business-minded, and they are interested in preserving their time by reducing problems. They need to understand your experience is an insurance policy and it will cost a little more up front, but it will pay off in the long run.

I'm just thinking out loud on that example. I would like to continue to let my peers know that paying attention to the wrong information distracts you from better ways to keep business coming in the door. It doesn't matter what Lumber Liquidators profits are unless you are a shareholder of their stock. The world will always be full of things that you could envy and be jealous about, but it's all a distraction. Reading this month's issue of Fine Woodworking will do more for your career advancement than reading PR pitches about profit from big corporations. Over the next month, once per week, I'm going to do a really in-depth four-part series on  the blog about tools online to educate yourself about marketing that are FREE.