To Stay Ahead in Tough Times, Set Yourself Apart

Ed Nikles, CGB, GMB, CGR, and CGP, the recently-named 2008 Custom Builder of the Year, said that builders trying to survive today’s tough market must pay close attention to their budgets, set themselves apart from their competition and get the most out of what their local builders association and NAHB have to offer.

The owner of Ed Nikles Custom Home Builder, Inc. in Milford, Pa., who over his 45 years in business has survived the housing industry’s many cyclical ups and downs, said builders today “have to pay very close attention to their financials.”

“If builders aren’t maintaining income, or expenses are eating up their income, they have to make those hard decisions, whether it’s layoffs or cutting back in other ways,” he said.

In addition, he said builders need to be accurate when estimating jobs. Winging it, he said, can cause many problems.

For several years now, Nikles has used a computerized estimating system that lets him accurately project costs down to “the last 2 x 4.”

“Knowing your costs going into a project, even with the hard times this year, can save your business,” Nikles said. “We’re still making a profit right now — even though our sales are off. We have been able to maintain our staff so far.”

Adding recognizable features to his homes is one of the ways that Nikles has been able to stay ahead of his competition, and his customers are willing to pay more for his homes because they are different, he said.

“Our philosophy has been to do something different from what everybody else is doing," Nikles said. “If you’re doing the same thing that everyone else is doing and competing head-to-head, what separates you other than price?”

To further distinguish himself, Nikles earned the Certified Green Professional designation from The NAHB University of Housing and is promoting his green building program to the fullest extent.

His company has built a small home ? about 1,600 square feet ? that he expects to earn a Gold Certified Home designation under the NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines.

“It’s an Energy Star house that will save the home owner 50% of the energy costs over a typical code-built house,” Nikles said. “We’ve sold a house already off that fact.”

Nikles not only builds green, he teaches local Realtors® how to market and sell his green homes by regularly conducting seminars on green building. Nikles said that he’s received several referrals from these seminars.

Nikles said that every time he attends an industry event, meeting or conference, he takes away at least one or two things that can help him make his business better.

When members tell him that they don’t get anything out of their builders association, Nikles tells them to take education courses and attend IBS and other conferences.

“If you don’t do those things, then I can understand why you don’t get a large perceived value. Those of us who do get a lot out of it,” he said.

To survive the downturn of the early 1990s, Nikles said he changed his business from home building to remodeling. To learn as much as he could at that time, he attended as many remodelers shows as possible, and by 1997 his remodeling company had hundreds of projects and was profitable.

The information garnered at these seminars and conferences is valuable because it comes from peers who have gone through “the same things you went through,” he said.

“Go to the seminars and take notes, and then pick the top two ideas that strike you,” Nikles said. “If you try and do all the things mentioned, you’ll never get anything done. But if you get the first two done, then you can move on to the rest of the list.”

Nikles is an NAHB Life Director, National State Representative, Life Spike member and former BUILD-PAC trustee. His is also a Life Director and founding member of the Pike County Builders Association in Milford, Pa.