It's Election Eve. And the best part about it? It will soon be done, and the country can move on, at least until the next one.
Some random musings on this topic, as it relates to staying focused on what matters, growth!
On Our Economy-
PAVERART by no means is representative of our economy, but we DO have a view that could be unique. First, the people we interact with range far and wide:
Homeowners
Contractors - General Contractors and the Sub-contractors they hire.
Landscape Architects & Designers
Municipal Planners, School Leaders, Non-Profit/Community Organizations
And we talk to people in every state across the country.
The most common questions we get asked and ask ourselves? How's business? What kind of year are you having? How are you feeling about things?
And the most common answer we receive that puzzles me?
Not great. It's an Election Year. People tend to hold back, too much uncertainty.
I do understand how uncertainty creates a hesitation to act. Sometimes slowing things down, being very disciplined and measured is the more "responsible" path forward. It feels better.
However, passive/hesitant and business ownership are bad combos.....
For business owners, elections are very easy event to point too as a reason for a dip in sales, or anything more negative than positive. Business owners must FIGHT LIKE HELL to take ELECTION PARALYSIS and all the explaining away of their results off the table. Focusing on outside forces lessens the focus needed to control what you can.
Some highlights of what's happening at PAVERART, a dose of self-accountability!
We celebrated a company milestone reached in October, record production! I must say, every time our team gets together I say the same thing.......try and do MORE of this. There's always a host of reasons why we let time lapse from getting together, and none of those reasons are good enough, they are excuses, just like an election stopping progress.
Projects With Wow Factor!
From a Galaxy Far, Far Away.......otherwise known as Saturn! A really fun project, certainly one of a kind!
We built a bunch of great, unique projects in 2024. Each had unique challenges, and our team figured them all out.
An Area We Struggle With at PAVERART?
Capturing Google reviews from happy clients. We are proud of the fact that 100% of our client reviews are 5 stars.......but 24 reviews is on the light side. To be honest, we just don't do a great job asking, but we need to improve on this. Happy clients are important. But you are what Google says you are, whether we like that or not.
New Business Development
This summer we were busy, laying the groundwork for the launch of a new business within PAVERART: BEYONDART.
Dominic will take his 5+ years working at PAVERART and enter us into new segments that are complimentary to our business as we look to continue to celebrate all that is great about ART.
Product development and innovating matter in business........says easy, does hard. Website launch, e-commerce, training are all happening as we speak.
Partner Development & Post Project Stories
Like Google reviews, sometimes it's a struggle to get installed photos of our designs and capture the ribbon-cutting events with our partners.
Here's a great design for Eastport-South Manor, a First Responders Memorial....
A Shout-out to our great partners at H2M Landscape Architecture.
PAVERART has partnered with Landscape Architects across the Country for 2 decades, but I suspect more do NOT know about us than do......so the quest continues.
I am proud of PAVERART's 22-year history, what we've achieved and the team we have assembled. We continue to confront challenges and each time we do, we get a little stronger.
The Choice: Daily, Not Election Cycles
It is a 100% certainty that nearly half the country will be upset with the election outcome.
Presidential elections are certainly important.
I also believe there is something MUCH more important: The choices we make each day. Are we going to get after the things that build better outcomes for those around us? Or are we going to let the policical drama of the day slow us down?
Almost always, focusing on what we can CONTROL is the better use of our collective energy.
I truly enjoy following your blog and seeing the amazing work your team produces. Keep going and stay focused! Thanks for the insight about election paralysis. You're right--we have to take that off the table and control what is ours to control!
Meet one of my 'customers'-rescued puppy and her foster mom. There's still a lot of joy and goodness in this world when you look for it!