Marty Black
Mary “Marty” Black jumped into the home building business just six years ago. She’d worked for another builder for 10 years and was ready to set out on her own. “I decided I really needed to be independent,” she says. So she took the knowledge she’d gained from her previous job and started Noir Homes.
In the time since, she’s developed a successful custom building business that keeps getting better. She’s doubled her gross profit in the last two years to a figure that is nearly twice that of the country’s most profitable custom builders (as reported in the NAHB’s “Cost of Doing Business Study”). Black’s secret is simple: She keeps her business small and adheres religiously to her budget.
She’s Noir Homes’ sole employee, doing all the bookkeeping, marketing, customer service, and field supervision herself. Many builders would go crazy trying to keep so many balls in the air, but Black sees the situation differently. “Based on what I’ve seen in other small companies, the more business you do, the less control you have,” she says. “If I hired more people, I would have to do more houses.” In a prime year she builds two homes, one spec and one custom. “I’ve done more than three in one year,” she says. “I had to use subs I didn’t like, because my regular ones were working on my other houses.” Her profits are larger when she limits the number of jobs she takes. Then she has absolute control over the quality of the work and can minimize delays and changes.
Black concentrates her energies on finding lots in older developments — she doesn’t have the size or the desire to go after newer communities or develop land herself. “In Ann Arbor there’s not a lot of land available,” she says. “There’s less competition to build in the older developments.” And, rather than commission an architect or designer to come up with new plans for each project, she usually employs the same basic plan, calling on her interior design experience to help her adapt it to the client’s needs and tastes.
Her street-smart, disciplined attitude extends to her decisions about clients she’ll work with. “I’ve learned to turn people away,” she says. “If they’re going to beat me down over money, it’s not worth it.” Her commonsense management strategy — don’t overreach and stick with what works — has given her numbers a 30-year veteran would envy.
Noir Homes, Ann Arbor, Mich. Type of business: design/build; Years in business: 6; Employees: 1 (self); 2001 volume: $711,000; 2001 starts: 1
Larry Nichols & Claude Comito
A prime piece of property near Colorado Springs’ famous Broadmoor Hotel played a pivotal role in the making of Nichols & Comito eight years ago. Local builders and friendly competitors Larry Nichols and Claude Comito each wanted to buy and develop the land, but neither one had a big enough company to do so. So they formed a joint venture for that purpose. They liked working with each other so much that, when the project was finished, they decided to merge their businesses.
The financial success of that first venture spurred Nichols and Comito to do more of their own subdivisions. They still buy scattered-site lots and build on individual clients’ land, but about 60 percent of the homes they build are located on land parcels they’ve bought. This strategy ensures complete control over the look and placement of all the houses in a community. “That fact that we can tell people, ‘You don’t have to worry about what’s going up next door,’ enhances our reputation,” says Nichols. It also sets up a built-in brand identity for a Nichols & Comito house — you won’t find one of their homes in a standard subdivision. By separating themselves from the rest of the pack in this way, Nichols and Comito project an image of exclusivity and quality.
The partnership works from a management point of view because it frees both partners to do what they do best. “I’m more the marketing person — I like to work with the clients and come up with concepts and ideas,” says Nichols. “Claude is more hands-on and into the construction details.”
Having two people in charge enables each one to receive objective feedback. “Like most builders, we’re both Type A,” Nichols says. “We’ve helped each other back off from having to control everything.”
They’ve gradually expanded their staff to include a CFO and a field operations manager. “We’re training people in various aspects so we’re not needed as much,” says Nichols. The time they save by dividing up management duties and delegating responsibility to staff gives them time to pursue new land acquisitions and development opportunities. While they intend to keep building the custom homes that form the foundation of their company, they’re thinking about other project types as the area’s available land supply dwindles. “We’re looking into diversifying,” says Nichols. “Maybe doing some lofts, and also some commercial work.”
Nichols & Comito, Colorado Springs, Colo. Type of business: design/build, development; Years in business: 8; Employees: 15; 2001 volume: $11.9 million; 2001 starts: 9
2002 Pacesetter Awards
Introduction
Excellence in Customer Service
Excellence in Design
Excellence in Marketing
Excellence in Production
