A general contractor can help you to do everything from build a fence to renovate your home. Regardless of whether you need a contractor for help with a larger or smaller home repair or improvement project, you may be looking for a professional who will do quality work for a great price. If you are looking for a general contractor to work with, you can narrow down your options by focusing on a few key points.
License and Insurance
In most areas, general contractors are required to be licensed, and they may display their license number on their website. You can check with your state licensing board to ensure that they are in good standing. In addition, inquire about the liability insurance that they carry, and ensure that the policy is active. This will minimize the likelihood that you have to contend with shoddy work or that you may face a liability issue yourself if a worker is injured on your property.
Great Reviews
There are numerous online review website that you can use to research contractors. In addition to looking at how many stars or points they have, read the individual reviews. If you notice a trend in the reviews, such as several reviews that attest to slow or sloppy work, you may assume that this may be the same experience you would have as well. However, avoid making a decision based on just one or two negative reviews.
Good Customer Service
You should also pay attention to how the company treats you as a customer. When you are setting up your appointment for a consultation and waiting to receive a written estimate from them, do they return your calls promptly? Are they courteous and honest? If you do not receive good service up-front, you may expect the same low level of service to continue on throughout the renovation or improvement process.
There may be dozens of contractors in your area vying for your business, but you understandably want to work with a top professional who charges a great rate. By interviewing the contractors and doing your own research, you can make a more informed decision about which contractor to choose.
An attractive landscape speaks volumes about your home. As a homeowner, however, you may lack the time and experience needed to achieve a cohesive landscape. Thankfully, there are professional landscaping companies that will gladly take control of your yard, maximizing its aesthetic value.An attractive landscape speaks volumes about your home. As a homeowner, however, you may lack the time and experience needed to achieve a cohesive landscape. Thankfully, there are professional landscaping companies that will gladly take control of your yard, maximizing its aesthetic value.
1) Improves Curb Appeal
What’s the first thing a person sees when approaching your home? It’s the landscape. As the adage goes, “You only get one chance to make a first impression.” A poorly designed landscape with overgrown brush, weeds and dead grass sends the wrong message about your home. People will assume the unkempt landscape is indicative of your home’s interior.
You can improve your home’s curb appeal, however, by hiring a professional landscaping company. They’ll choose the best plant varieties for your area, designing them in a manner that’s both functional and aesthetically pleasing.
2) Reduces Your Home’s Energy Usage
Professional landscaping can even make your home energy-efficient, lowering cooling costs during spring and summer. Strategically planted trees provide natural shade by blocking sunlight against the roof, siding and windows. This reduces heat gain, allowing your home’s central air conditioning system to achieve its target temperature while drawing less power.
So, how much energy can you expect to save with professional landscaping? According to a study of 460 homes conducted by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, trees planted in the west and south sides of Californian homes saved homeowners roughly $25 per year. A separate study conducted by researchers from Auburn University found that 17.5 percent of “heavy shade coverage” reduced homes’ energy usage by approximately 11.4 percent.
3) Improves Air Quality
Air pollution is a serious problem that’s responsible for roughly 2 million deaths throughout the world each year. Residents living in areas of high particulate matter (PM) have an increased risk of developing asthma, lung cancer, and other respiratory diseases.
However, research cited by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) suggests that landscaping can help curb these numbers. When trees providing 100 percent coverage were planted in urban areas, researchers saw “significant short-term improvements” in air quality. The ASLA also says that trees planted in the U.S. remove 784,000 tones of air pollution each year, offering $3.8 billion in value.
4) Promotes Outdoor Living
Investing in professional landscaping services also promotes outdoor living. With a well-designed landscape, you and your family will spend more time lounging on the patio and enjoying the outdoors.
A survey conducted by the American Home Furnishings Alliance (AHFA) found that 71 percent of consumers with outdoor living spaces want to improve those spaces. While there dozens of ways to improve an outdoor living space, landscaping is arguably one of the most effective. A professional landscaper will turn your vision of a dream outdoor living space into a reality.
5) Increases Property Value
Hiring a professional landscaper isn’t cheap. Depending on the scope of the project, it may cost anywhere from $2,000 to $100,000, leaving some homeowners to assume it’s not worth the money. While professional landscaping requires a monetary investment, it will likely be returned in the form of increased property value.
Experts say that a gorgeous landscape can increase the value of your home by 5 percent to 15 percent. If your home is currently valued at $200,000, professional landscaping services may increase its value to approximately $220,000. Assuming you spend less than $20,000 on the service, you’ll ultimately make money in this regard.
Some of the top value-adding landscaping services include the following:
- Construction of a deck or patio
- Outdoor kitchen
- Irrigation system
- Installation of permeable pavers
- Well-manicured lawn
- Retaining wall
- Flowerbed
6) Ensures Proper Runoff and Drainage
When rainwater settles against the base of a home’s foundation instead of draining away, it can cause serious problems. The water may seep into the home’s siding, promoting mold in the basement or crawlspace. Furthermore, it’s difficult to maintain an attractive flower bed or garden if rainwater collects. The excess water will saturate the soil, causing plants to become “waterlogged.”
Professional landscaping companies can fix drainage problems such as these, ensuring rainwater flows away from your home. First, they’ll draw a drainage plan by identifying high and low spots. Next, they’ll grade your lawn by altering the soil to achieve proper drainage.
7) Offers Hands-Free Maintenance
Lawns usually need mowing once a week to maintain an attractive, healthy height. Rather than setting aside several hours each week, you can hire a landscaper to perform this and other landscaping maintenance tasks. They’ll work with your schedule to ensure your lawn is properly maintained.
Of course, hiring a professional landscaper to maintain your lawn saves you from tedious, oftentimes laborious work. If your landscape is sloped, mowing it with a push-mower can be painfully difficult. Landscaping companies have professional-grade mowers to knock out difficult lawns such as this in a breeze. You don’t have to worry about trying to crank a stubborn lawnmower, nor do you have to worry about pushing it up a steep hill.
8) Provides Experience and Knowledge
The greatest benefit of hiring a professional landscaper is the experience and knowledge they offer. Do you know which plant species are suitable for your USDA Hardiness Zone, or how much sunlight and water those plants need to thrive? For most homeowners, the answer is no — and that’s okay. Landscaping companies do this for a living, so they can answer all of your questions about which plants are best suited for your lawn.
9) Creates a Clean Image for the Neighborhood
Landscaping doesn’t just affect your home; it affects all homes in the neighborhood or surrounding area. Neglecting your lawn will make your home stick out — and not in a good way. Some neighborhoods even have rules that require homeowners to maintain an attractive landscape. Failure to comply with these rules could leave you with a hefty fine or other penalties from the homeowner’s association (HOA).
From improving your home’s curb appeal to increasing its selling value and more, there are countless reasons to hire a professional landscaper.
If you worry about where your employees are traveling in company vehicles, or simply want to track where your vehicles are, now may be the time to install a global positioning system (GPS) on those vehicles. With a GPS vehicle tracker, you can accurately track company cars or trucks. State-of-the art GPS services allow you to log in and view current location from any web-enabled computer or cell phone. Some systems also allow the setting of online geographic boundaries. Vehicles that cross a boundary trigger an instant violation alert.
The chief advantage of a GPS vehicle tracker is the ability to allow management to track the location of company cars and the employees driving them at all times. When a customer calls about a scheduled delivery, you can easily advise the customer of the estimated arrival time—without having to call the employee en route. Inappropriate use of company vehicles (e.g. for personal reasons) can also be easily discovered through GPS.
GPS vehicle trackers also encourage more efficient use of company cars. When employees know that their mileage and even driving habits is being monitored, they tend to be more careful in company vehicle use. Employees who understand that the GPS will result in improved efficiency, profitability, and on-the-job safety are much more likely to view the new company vehicle policy as a good thing.
The end result is bottom line savings, which can easily offset the investment made in GPS equipment and installation.
GPS systems are also extremely helpful when drivers become hurt, stranded, or lost. In addition, companies can guide the employee quickly and directly to hard-to-find locations, saving time and fuel and if the fleet management is significant in your business, the savings and efficiency achieved are likely to be well worth the investment.
Fleet tracking software is widely used in big and small businesses. This is because it has a multitude of benefits for all sorts of businesses. Installing fleet tracking can reduce fuel costs, increase safety and allow businesses to offer better customer service. While it may seem like a high upfront cost, fleet tracking software is an investment for the future of your business.
By using a fleet tracking software, you can reduce the fuel costs to your business. Reducing these costs comes in a number of ways. Fleet tracking allows for less idling and less speeding, both of which can add up in terms of fuel costs.
Safety in businesses with fleets can be difficult. However, using fleet tracking software can help. This software can give you the means to supervise your trucks and your drivers. Inventory management and unauthorized truck usage are easier to manage with the installation of tracking software. Employee accountability becomes a bigger part of your business.
Every business should be looking for a better way to offer improved customer service. Business is won and lost on this basis, something that fleet tracking software can help you with. You can increase the number of service calls, or deliveries, with better route guidance, more employee accountability and reduced fuel costs. This software also provides you with a wealth of information which allows you to keep customers, and drivers, better informed to provide a higher caliber of service.
Installing fleet tracking software can improve a business’s productivity while decreasing costs. The benefits to such software includes more, detailed information which will allow you to make better decisions for your business. Lowered fuel costs and higher employee accountability can pay for the installation of fleet tracking software quickly enough to make it a sound business strategy. And what you’ll save over time will make you want to install it sooner rather than later.
If you run a grocery store you know how difficult the industry can be. Margins are low, food products have a limited shelf life and the cost of getting produce from the farm to the shelves is high.
GPS fleet tracking software can address all of those issues, lowering your costs, making your operation more efficient and potentially boosting your profit margin. Here are a few of the many benefits GPS fleet tracking software can bring to your grocery store operation.
- Increased freshness of produce – Fresh produce is a major selling point for grocery stores, but it is one of the hardest product lines to manage. Fleet tracking software helps company managers track the time from field to store – bringing customers fresher and more delicious produce every day.
- Better labor utilization – Driving a truck is a valuable skill, and an expensive one. GPS fleet tracking software makes it easier for managers to track their drivers and optimize the time they spend on the road.
- Ease of use – Some fleet tracking systems proved too difficult and cumbersome to use, but GPS fleet tracking software is intuitive and easy to use.
- Simple location of assets – Installing GPS fleet management software on company vehicles makes them easier to locate if they are lost or stolen.
- Increased safety – Grocery trucks and delivery vans often operate in congested urban areas. GPS fleet tracking software allows managers to develop better routes and improve safety for drivers, pedestrians and vehicles.
- Lower costs – Grocery stores operate on notoriously thin margins, so every penny saved makes a huge difference. GPS fleet tracking software lowers costs in a myriad of different ways, from better labor cost management and lower fuel costs to smarter trip routing and lower insurance premiums.
Nothing can make running a grocery store chain simple, but having the right technology in place can make it easier. If you have never considered a GPS fleet tracking software solution for your company, now might be the time.
