Tag Archives: mudjacking

By: Paul DelFino
“Welcome to the Family” are the words I have used for many years to wrap up every HMI “Discovery and Training Seminar”!

The word family is continuously populated in the HMI website since it is in reality a family business that markets to families as well as major corporate entities and government. Last week, as I was queued up waiting to deliver the seminar wrap up, following Jeff’ presentation in Las Vegas, I starting thinking about the word – family - in a business context. What expectations and perceptions were created as we say “welcome to the family” or position ourselves as a family business?

FAMILY BUSINESS – GOOD or BAD IMAGE?

Generally family, in a business context, evokes multiple images/percepti


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Buying Your College Grad A Job

Ernie Cvetezar

Over the past year we have seen a trend developing at our seminars.  Families are attending to consider/research the possibility of investing in a concrete raising business for their recent son/daughter who has graduated college and who cannot find a job. In reality they are buying a job and career. The good news is that after doing their homework and evaluating options, the HMI Polyurethane Concrete Lifting business opportunity is evolving to be the career of choice.

I AM OFFENDED BY THE TERM UNDEREMPLOYED!

The news is saturated with stories of our current underemployed workforce.  These articles presuppose a mindset that anyone with a college degree should be sitting behind a desk working fo

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QUESTION – If you just purchased a new boat where the operators console looked like a Boeing 747 – would you let your 5 year old son push all the buttons to see what worked and how?

QUESTION – When you purchase a new piece of concrete raising equipment do you read the operators manual cover to cover; for your safety, to prevent damage?

Do not feel bad, if you answered NO to the second question you are not alone.

Less than 6.5 % of purchases read manuals completely.

It is also interesting to note that in the electronics world 95% of equipment returned due to malfunction actually works – the problem is few read the operating instructions. AND – for the record and to dispel the old mindset there is no statistical evidence to prove a

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Evolving Technologies Suggest Entrepreneurs Should Relook At Concrete Repair As A Business Opportunity!

Paul DelFino

 Concrete repair services specializing in lifting and leveling slabs have been around since the 1930’s. There has been and there currently is high demand for this service. There is possibly even more demand now since the passage of the American Disabilities Act. This law mandates the repair of trip hazards from sunken or heaved concrete in public areas. With literally billions of square feet of concrete in the US, many of the slabs are old and out of alignment, pitched incorrectly and in desperate need of repair. Whether it is governmental, commercial or residential, customers are looking for a cost-effective solution to t

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How To Hire a New Estimator

Ernie Cvetezar

Typical story that always seems to happen – “your concrete raising business grows fast and as an owner operator you cannot keep up doing estimates and doing the work!” I have “been there done that” many times in my career.  So it is decision time – do I hire a worker to do the work or do I hire an estimator?

My experience is that most new owner operators choose to recruit an estimator.  Why:

It is easier to hire and train an estimator. HMI has created systems and the Appstimator Estimating App to allow you to train someone in as little as three days to estimate concrete repair.
Estimators can also double as temporary workers for peak periods and can be paid in multiple ways; salary, h

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Missed Opportunity – “I’m Just Too Busy to Make More Money”

Business Advice from a War Horse “Who has Been There - Done That!”

Ernie Cvetezar

One of my great frustrations is watching clients and new friends make the same mistake I once made.

THE SYMPTOM – Many of HMI’s clients who attend our seminars and secure NEW polyurethane concrete lifting and leveling equipment do so to add an additional service to their existing business. These entrepreneurs want to diversify, grow and increase their profit margins.  Too often we get feedback from customers that they love the equipment.  They have successfully completed a job, but have not used the concrete raising equipment recently because they just too busy with other parts of th

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“How you get the work has changed as much as how you do the work!”

As I was sitting back and observing the recent April HMI Training Seminar, two thoughts came to mind:

1.      How you get the work has changed as much as how you do the work!

2.      When you consider; marketing, estimating, and sales HMI devotes as much time in our seminar on getting the work as we do training future equipment owners on how to do the work!

More than 3 decades ago I started my mudjacking business by putting a 2’x4’ ad in the local newspaper. That one ad generated 14 requests for estimates and my first 10 jobs. RaiseRite/HMI was born and I had a new career. For the next 10 years, newspaper advertising was the anchor to my marketing program.

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Using polyurethane to lift concrete slabs is not a new concept. It was first introduced in Europe in 1989 and quickly spread to the United States. The process was initially patented here in the US and was primarily used on large DOT projects. The big news is that the patent expired in

2003. Now any contractor with the know how and correct equipment can use this efficient technique to raise concrete slabs for jobs of any scale.

Yes – polyurethane concrete slab lifting can be a profitable business even with a project focus at the residential level. When first introduced, prohibitions and costs of equipment and material made profitability elusive at a small scale. That is not the case today.

Why Is Polyurethane Concrete Lifting Advantageous?

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The equipment is costly and the material is 4 to 5 times more expensive than mudjacking.  Why would polyurethane concrete raising be used instead of traditional mudjacking? Four major questions need to be answered.

I’ve been hearing about polyurethane concrete raising for the past 20 years.  Having been in the mudjacking business for the past 35 years, I thought that because the process was so expensive it would come and go.

Polyurethane Concrete Raising
Vs.
Traditional Mudjacking

 

Why would anyone spend 4 to 5 times the amount of money to have their concrete raised using polyurethane opposed to traditional mudjacking?
Is polyurethane strong enough to raise and support concrete slabs?
Does the finished job look better than



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I’ve been in the mudjacking and mudpump manufacturing business for over 35 years. I figure it’s time to “give back” and share my knowledge with other entrepreneurs on how to successfully start a profitable mud jacking business.

I hope to educate others with my Blog posts. I recently read a blog post I found myself agreeing with at gaebler.comstarting a mudjacking company, in which the author covered several steps that a person looking to get into the mudjacking business should consider.  The 4 main points that he covered were: locate competitors near you, know what you will offer that will provide an advantage over your competitors, learn form people in the business outside your area and ask yourself, will purchasing a franchise wo

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