Jim McVaugh
When Jim McVaugh sees an opportunity to improve his business, he doesn’t waste any time. Shortly after hearing about a turnkey home theater system sold by Owens Corning, the builder signed on to become the product’s exclusive distributor in his Houston market. “It’s a theater in a box,” he explains. “It comes with everything.” He’s not kidding: The theaters, which cost between $40,000 and $90,000, arrive by truck at the jobsite complete with lighting, seating, projector, 98-inch perforated screen, and molding and pillars containing hidden wiring. A room doesn’t have to be prewired for the theater to be installed, and no technical knowledge is required to set the system up. “You can install it in three days, in any room that is at least 12 to 13 feet wide,” says McVaugh.
McVaugh’s embrace of the “theater-in-a-box” concept has helped his business in more ways than one. It gives him a way to provide extra value to the 10 percent to 20 percent of his buyers who purchase the product. “You cannot find a bigger bang for the buck,” he says. “Normally these types of theaters would cost $150,000 to $200,000.” But it also acts as a sales and marketing tool, a way to differentiate himself from other builders.Owens Corning sold its home theater operation, known then and now as Visionaire F/X, a year ago. McVaugh, still an authorized dealer, is bullish on the dozens of new customization options developed under the current ownership. “You can also go into existing homes and put the theaters into them,” he says. “It’s a perfect fit for a custom home builder.”
McVaugh Custom Homes Houston Type of business: custom builder/developer; Years in business: 13; Employees: 18; 2002 volume: $9.5 million; 2002 starts: 25
Orren Pickell
When we selected Orren Pickell as our 2001 Custom Builder of the Year, one of the things that impressed us most was his embrace of information technology to efficiently manage a large, complex company. So we are not surprised, nearly three years later, to find that Pickell has advanced farther along the same path by centering his entire company’s operations on a vast, comprehensive Internet site. Not surprised, but equally impressed.
“Every client who gives us a check,” be it for a $2 million custom home or the smallest remodel, “we assign them a Web page and password right away, and all of their data is available to them,” Pickell says. The page gives clients 24-hour access to their architectural plans, real-time schedules with start and completion dates for each phase of the project and selection deadlines they must meet to keep the project on track, contact information and e-mail links for all the personnel working on their project, and current digital photography from the jobsite. Each client page also links to a photographic database of over 80,000 product and material options. Selections made online are automatically passed to the project coordinator for ordering.
As whiz-bang as all this may appear to clients, however, what they see is merely the tip of an iceberg.The client’s page presents a filtered view drawn from the mountain of data housed on the company Web site, which will archive every document, every selection, every image, and every communication related to their project, including those they are not privy to. “Simply put,” Pickell says, “this will be an as-built of their project.” Vendors can access the site for a different view, including bidding information, plans, and schedules for current and upcoming projects. The site has become the nerve center for operations and communication for the entire company. Even for tasks “as simple as requesting a check from accounting,” Pickell’s staff goes to the Web site, rather than the office down the hall, or even the phone. “I can’t think of a better way to get a complex process done quickly than on the Internet,” Pickell says. But when a better one appears, we expect to find him using it first.Orren Pickell Designers & Builders Bannockburn, Ill. Type of business: design/build; Years in business: 28; Employees: 120; 2002 volume: $30 million; 2002 starts: 17
Steve Wiggins
Innovation often lies not in creating something new, but in using commonplace things in new and productive ways. Lots of custom builders live out of their laptops; using CAD software for drafting and spreadsheets for scheduling has become routine; and the industry would come to a grinding halt without cell phones and PDAs. But Regency Custom Homes president Steve Wiggins (left with vice president Brian Recher) takes things a big step further, using digital technology in a comprehensive and networked way that remains rare among custom builders. “For some reason,” Wiggins says, “we as an industry seem to be neglecting to keep up with the advances in technology.”
Wiggins uses a homebrewed spreadsheet built with off-the-shelf software to create and maintain project schedules. “There are advanced scheduling programs on the market,” he says, “but we have found simple spreadsheets can accomplish scheduling tasks easily.” A different spreadsheet built with the same software facilitates the company’s estimating. “I can just sit down with our spreadsheets and look at all the costs for every project we’ve ever done,” Wiggins says. As a result, estimating is quick and accurate, “even for a $2 million home.”
Where Wiggins really got our attention, though, was by distributing computing power throughout his company. Recher loads his own laptop with a complete set of CAD plans for every current project, which he updates by linking to the office server, eliminating the hassle of keeping paper plans current.Working with computer-literate subs allows plan updates to filter quickly and efficiently through the system. “We send our plumber CAD files, so we don’t have the jackhammering of slabs anymore,” Wiggins says.Networking all company computers makes the company’s central database, as well as contracts and project specs, an open book. To keep remote clients apprised of progress on their projects,Wiggins uses the company Web site and e-mail (“The paper trail of e-mail is great,” he notes).And how do clients respond when they find a builder who is just as wired as they are? “Some of them are impressed,” Wiggins says. “Some of them just expect it, because that’s the way things are in their industries.” – Bruce D. Snider
Regency Custom Homes Scottsdale, Ariz. Type of business: custom builder; Years in business: 3; Employees: 2; 2002 volume: $5 million; 2002 starts: 7
2003 Pacesetter Awards
Introduction
Excellence in Customer Service
Excellence in Management
Excellence in Marketing
Excellence in Production