Garages: A New Profit Center for K&B Pros

Kitchen and bath designers may find that their talents for organization and ability to personalize spaces using just the right cabinetry, lighting, etc. translates well to designing upscale garage environments as an added profit center.

authors Jamie Gold

Published: Kitchen & Bath Design News

If you’ve been designing kitchens for a while, it’s likely that at least one of your clients has asked you to install his or her old cabinets in the garage. If you manufacture stock cabinets, it’s likely, too, that some of those cabinets were made by your company. What neither of you might have realized is that there’s a tremendous opportunity to make real profits by putting new cabinets – plus lighting, flooring and other interior-grade amenities – in your clients’ garages. It’s happening right now, just maybe not yet in your company.

THE SCOPE

It has certainly happened for Chad Haas in his firm. Haas calls himself Chief Gearhead of Beaverton, OR-based VAULT®, which manufactures premium cabinetry and other products for higher-end garages. He is also the 13-year-old company’s founder. “In response to an industry that lacked innovation, I acted, conceiving a line of cabinets to be timeless and beautiful and, more importantly, built so durable that they would last a lifetime.”

His cabinets have made their way to Dubai and Australia, as well as across North America and the Caribbean. His clients are homeowners and architects, builders and car enthusiasts. “We are learning that our customers want more than just to organize,” Haas says. “Their vision is for the garage to be an extension of their home, and to be furnished similarly to every other room. Instead of oil-stained floors and a mishmash of shelves, cabinets and hooks that don’t fit, they want to re-imagine their garages to be attractive, clean and organized. In response, we expanded to either find them exactly what they want or to create custom solutions to help them re-imagine their garage to discover its hidden potential and get more out of their homes.” Isn’t that what you already do on the other side of the door?

Moorea Hoffman, an Orange County, CA-based designer, author and NKBA speaker has been asked by her Kitcheneering clients to help them with their garage spaces, too. These are most often smaller projects, she shares, designed to improve a home’s storage. But it has provided added revenue for her firm and an added benefit for homeowners. “One client wanted a bit of a mudroom feature. We used aqua paint to brighten the wall and inexpensive white furniture and cabinets to create organization for shoes, backpacks and sports equipment. She said every time she pulls into the garage, she’s grateful for the improvement.” Hoffman has also added task lights above work stations and put cushioned floor pads there for client comfort. “Any space can be a revenue opportunity. The most important skill – much like for kitchens – is listening carefully to your clients’ description of how they really live.”

Snaidero USA’s showrooms have seen clients make a bigger investment, shares Alberto Snaidero, the company’s operational manager.  What the Los Angeles County-based division of the Italian brand’s clients is seeking is design continuity: “It’s important to have a cohesive look in the interior of the house and reflect the customer’s taste.”

You’re probably used to this extending from kitchen to Great Room, but you may not have thought of style cohesion extending to your clients’ garages, too. You may also not have expected the kinds of interior accessories you’d install in a kitchen to make their way there, but homeowners are making the investment, Snaidero reports. “Cabinets with internal accessories are a must. Pull-out baskets can be provided for corner cabinet areas, and tall pantries [get] internal pullouts,” he adds. This is clearly a profitable departure from big box store open shelving.

For Tyler Udall, v.p. of Los Angeles-based luxury builder Tyler Development Corp., garages are just another premium space that his affluent custom home clients – many of whom are car collectors – expect in their projects. “Garages have become places where our owners hang out, and therefore spaces with finishes that equal those in the house.” They’re building in elements like sports bars, lounges and game tables, he shares. “It’s fun for them to spend time in the same space as their prized possessions.” As Udall notes, if a client is spending more than a million dollars on a classic car, its surroundings should be equally impressive.

These are not the Hoffman or even Snaidero clients who want stylish organization to greet them as they drive into their garages. These garage projects, Udall notes, “have definitely leaned toward the men making decisions, and they are designed more in a ‘man cave’ manner. Style cohesion does count, but ‘fun and unique’ elements are added into the mix,” he observes. One client wanted his cabinets to look like a vintage 1950s photo of a Bugatti mechanics’ garage. The builder’s custom cabinet vendor reproduced the look. Another client went for a glass floor in the home theater above so he could enjoy the view of his Italian sports car in the space below. One garage project got hand-cut bricks pulled out of “the dig” in Boston and a radiant heating system.

Home automation systems that control the whole house from the garage, car wash systems, automobile turntables and lifts, vintage lighting pendants that evoke those in mechanic shops, and custom toolboxes are also popular for luxury garages. In general, “The floor and ceiling finishes are as impressive and expensive as the house’s,” Udall says.

THE OPPORTUNITY

In the U.S., where three-car garages are being built faster than one-bedroom apartments, the demand for these spaces to become more attractive and functional isn’t surprising. Garages take up a lot of room and the larger, non-collector garage trend is being driven in part by multi-generational households. More generations equals more people equals more stuff, much of which ends up in the garage. More stuff, of course, means the need for more storage systems. And that means more revenue potential for kitchen designers and manufacturers.

Brandon Smith, founder of San Diego-based DCoopMedia, follows design, automotive and luxury trends for his No.26 journals and branding strategies clientele. “These spaces are responsible for protecting a consumer’s second-most valuable asset. One could spend just as much, if not more, on a truly awesome garage as they do on their kitchen,” he points out. Despite that potential, there are very few specialists like VAULT®’s Chad Haas. “While there are a number of reasons for this, it boils down to the consumer’s perception that the garage is a piece of a much larger whole. The architect designed the garage because he designed the house. The cabinet showroom fitted the garage because she fitted the kitchen. In short, the garage is oftentimes bundled into the scope of work provided by another professional.”

That professional could be you, especially in providing revenue-enhancing cabinetry, flooring and lighting to the space. “To really drive it home, the garage is typically the domain of the male occupant,” Smith points out. “That makes it another way to get him excited about the project as a whole,” he suggests.

“While the kitchen designer is certainly well-equipped to handle the design of function-heavy garage spaces, it has been cabinet companies that have made greater strides in tackling the garage,” Smith comments. “Originally billed as cabinetry for organization and storage functions, companies like The Closet Factory and California Closets are either marketing their wares as solutions for garage environments or producing separate garage-specific lines.” These will work for some clients and projects, but probably not for the higher-end buyer.

VAULT®’s Haas compares the garage to the custom closet, outdoor kitchen and home entertainment segments. “These multi-billion dollar marketplaces did not even exist 20 years ago. But today they’ve become mainstream,” the luxury garage designer observes. “The clients who are furnishing their garages today represent a very small portion of the overall market size. The much larger market is made up of ‘latent’ consumers who did not even realize they wanted or needed a finished garage, because they have yet to realize what their garage could be as an organized, functional and inviting space.” He predicts that every garage built in the future will address flooring, lighting and organization. “The income opportunity for designers is capitalizing upon serving the nearly 32 million mass-affluent and affluent households in the U.S. who want things done for them, who have high net worth and discretionary purchasing power and want to take advantage of [an] expert to guide them through the decision-making process.”

THE LEARNING CURVE

Designing a garage is no more complicated than designing a closet and less demanding than designing a kitchen, Haas asserts. “If a designer is billing time to design a client’s closet, they could easily pivot to the garage to capture additional revenue. The number of affluent households is sufficiently large and represents a business opportunity for designers with little training.”

Don’t assume, though, that because you consistently create gorgeous, highly functional kitchens (or kitchen cabinetry), that you know everything it takes to do the same in the garage. As Hoffman and her cabinet vendors caution, “Extreme temperature variations could cause problems. My projects were all in Southern California so I had no problems with that, but it’s something to consider for those in other areas.” 

If you’re working on the premium collector spaces that Tyler Development builds, you’re going to need to know a bit more. Smith suggests spending time in the pits and garages at working racetracks, visiting specialty vehicle trades (such as upholsterers and body shops), and monitoring the popular automotive editorial resources. Know your client, too, Smith recommends. Does he want a gallery for his collection; a workshop to work on his motorized toys; a man cave to shoot pool, drink beer and socialize next to his roadsters; a time machine with vintage details; or a modernist space that blends seamlessly into the home? The design and functional elements you’ll need to familiarize yourself with will depend on the garage character your client desires.

LAST WORDS

That is not so different from the varying demands of the client who bakes versus the client who juices versus the client who regularly entertains with caterers. You may just find yourself working around Lamborghinis, rather than La Cornues, to cater to the garage client.

6 Ways To Be Sure People Won't Misjudge You

Published: Forbes, 4/25/2017

Ron Carucci ,  

Contributor

I cover the messiest challenges executives face leading organizations.

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

Shutterstock

Of the many complaints I hear from leaders, one of their greatest sources of frustrations is feeling misunderstood, especially by their direct reports. It’s inevitable that employees sometimes “won’t get” where a leader is coming from. But more often, if a leader is misjudged, it’s because of his or her own actions. A leader’s failure to understand the deeper drivers of his messages and actions can blind him to how others may actually experience him, and weaken his most vital relationships.
Our emotional response to any given situation stems from our past experiences. We catalogue these moments and they become subconsciously recorded as the stories or operative narratives that help us make sense of the world. A leader who hasn’t taken the time and effort to become aware of his or her operative narrative risks being “triggered” by current events or situations, often in counterproductive ways. As a result, they fail to communicate effectively with their teams – and are often misjudged. Over time, those they lead and work with spend more time decoding, and avoiding, those triggers than trying to understand what the leader means or wants. The costs for such misunderstanding can be significant for the leader and the organization.
To be seen for who you really are, you must delve into your operative narratives and your patterns of relating to others to ensure the connections you form are as positive and productive as you intend. Here’s how:

1. Uncover what you believe and value

Begin by drawing a timeline of your life and identifying critical turning points—significant life experiences that shaped the way you see things. Ask yourself: What was particularly impactful about the event? 
What did I learn about myself through that experience? What is the core value or belief I hold as a result of that experience? How does that value or belief show up in how I lead today?  As you evaluate these emotionally significant events, your belief system will emerge. Assess how the value or belief shows up in how you lead today. Identify the positive, consistent aspects as well as any potential disconnects between your current behaviors and what you believe. Such disparities compromise your ability to lead effectively, and lead to others misinterpreting your actions and intentions. The more aligned your behavior is with your beliefs, the less likely people are to misinterpret you .

2. Give others permission to name your triggers

Most people are bad observers of their own reality, and this holds especially true for leaders. Many aren’t sufficiently self-aware to recognize when something has triggered them, and worse, once situations have devolved into unhealthy and damaging choices, they find themselves asking, “How did I get myself into this situation?”
Our reflexive actions, particularly under stressful circumstances, are so deeply ingrained that they happen far faster than we can recognize, arrest, and address them. Among trusted colleagues, it can be a powerful experience to allow others to point out moments when we are choosing a regrettable path, saying or doing things we later wish we could take back.

3. Know and understand your colleagues

First, identify who are the key individuals with whom you must develop effective working relationships. Ask yourself: What motivates them? What goals and milestones are they trying to achieve? How can I contribute to their success? Note your hypotheses, and then meet with each person individually. Explain that you want to be an effective partner, and focus the conversation on getting answers to your questions.
Throughout the conversation, explore their concept of an effective partner, how they prefer to communicate, and any “hot buttons” that might trigger a negative reaction. Be transparent with your intentions by asking, “How do you best like to collaborate? How might I unintentionally do something that irritates you?” Listen carefully to the questions they ask of you and gauge whether they initiate any form of politicking. If so, it is critical to establish boundaries immediately. If they start to collude with you, or gossip about colleagues, be sure and nip that in the bud. Reaffirm your intentions to establish a more positive partnership with them.

4. Be loyal while avoiding excessive accommodation


In a corporate setting, loyalty manifests as a genuine commitment to the success of your peers and the organization. In healthy relationships, its presence enables colleagues to become better people than they could be alone. This interdependence will impact your motives, preferences, behaviors, and outcomes, and it will sometimes require forgoing your immediate self-interest.
Don’t let your loyalty be confused with a level of accommodation that suggests you are buying favor. For example, you might be tempted to overlook a performance shortfall of a colleague because they are helping you with an important presentation. The conditions for your loyalty should be based on the worthiness and commitment to your partner’s cause, not on what she returns for it. If you are seen as overly deferential, not only will your loyalty be questioned, but so too will your credibility as a leader able to stand on your own.

5. Be trustworthy and trusting, but not naïve

Trust is foundational to all human relationships. Hard work, time, energy, and some degree of risk taking are required if people are to reap the full potential for satisfaction and productivity in their relationships. Rising leaders must particularly focus on building trust with key partners. Do you know the conditions under which you and your colleagues extend, or withhold trust? For some, it’s competence. For others, integrity. Still for others, its personality. Trust is a currency and you must know which form you trade in, and which form your colleagues trade in , so you learn how to earn and keep one another’s trust.
For many in the middle and lower ranks of organizations, earning the trust and regard of a respected executive is one of life’s most satisfying experiences. The power you hold to make people feel significant and well regarded by how you offer them trust can’t be underestimated. And so you should be generous, but discerning. With the trustworthiness you seek to earn, and the trust you offer, don’t be naïve about the fact that there may be times when the trust you are earning or offering is being exploited in destructive ways. Be conscious as you monitor how the trust exchanged between you and key partners is forming to ensure that it is not being subversively misplaced.

6. Remain genuinely grateful and generous

There is no greater emotional force in an organization than gratitude. Genuine gratitude is a social emotion that strengthens relationships because it requires us to see how we’ve been supported and affirmed by other people.

Is Technology Actually Making Us Less Productive? (New Research)

Written by Sophia Bernazzani | @soph_bern

Share

66
inShare

After working in my role here at HubSpot for almost eight months now, I’ve started to go into autopilot when I turn on my computer every morning.
I open up my email app, my calendar app, my organization and productivity app, my grammar-checking app, my note-taking app, my analytics tool, and my blogging tool.
And that’s only when I first get into the office.
By the end of most days, my browser is full of different tabs, and so many apps and tools are running that they eventually start shutting down of their own accord. When all of these sites, apps, and tools are working, I spend a significant portion of my day using them: to write, to proofread, to extrapolate data, to keep track of what I’m working on, to update notes -- all in the name of efficiency.
But as it turns out, the tools and apps that we marketers use every day could actually be making us less efficient. If you feel the pain of switching between 1,000 apps per day like I do, read on for new data from HubSpot Research.

The Trouble With Tools

We surveyed more than 2,000 business owners, salespeople, and marketers in the U.S. and U.K. The biggest finding from our research? Marketers and salespeople are using too many productivity tools and apps, and it’s actually making us less efficient.

Marketers are using a ton of tools.

You probably knew this one already from your own day-to-day experience, but it bears repeating: There are an enormous number of marketing tools out there, and marketers are using a lot of them to get their jobs done every day.
HubSpot Research analyzed our customer base of over 20,000 websites, and we found that each website has an average of 13 tool integrations -- one website even had 88 tools and apps. The marketing app and tool landscape is incredibly crowded and constantly evolving, a phenomenon Chiefmartec.com chronicled in this extremely busy graphic:

Source: Chiefmartec

Now, before you keep reading, think about how many tools you use every day to do your job. Keep that number in mind as you keep reading the results of our survey.

Marketers underestimate how many tools they’re using.

When I counted up the number of tools I use every day, my initial count landed at seven tools and apps. But then, when I started digging into my internet history, I realized the number was actually higher. HubSpot’s internal communications platform is a tool I didn’t consider. The same goes for our file-sharing service, my social media scheduling tool, and an analytics bookmark.

By the time I fully audited every single tool and app I use in a given day to do my job, the number was in the double-digits. And as it turns out, I’m not alone.

When we asked our survey respondents how many technologies they used in their day jobs, their answers were surprising -- and perhaps too low.

Source: HubSpot Research

The majority of survey respondents said they only use between one and five tools to do their jobs every day, and we think these numbers err on the conservative side for the same reason my initial number was so low. When technology becomes a part of your day-to-day routine, it’s easy to forget you’re using it -- and to notice that it could make your day less efficient.
When apps and tools are built into your workday as browser extensions, bookmarks, homepages, and push notifications, for example, it can be easy not to count them. But as it turns out, using them is taking up valuable time.

Too Much Tech = Too Little Efficiency

In an ironic twist, tools designed in the name of productivity and efficiency could be impeding those results.

Marketers are wasting time.

We asked marketers to estimate how much time they spend each day logging into, using, and jumping between the different tools and technologies they use. The results were surprising: Marketers are losing up to five hours per week managing and operating apps to get their jobs done.

Source: HubSpot Research

Marketers are getting frustrated.

The two biggest pain points for survey respondents were how much time it takes to work in and operate the myriad of different marketing tools out there, and how much time it takes to switch between tools using different logins and passwords.

Source: HubSpot Research

That hour lost to managing different tools and technologies each day is all the more aggravating if the tools share functional capabilities, and a majority of the marketers we surveyed think up to five tools they use could be redundant.

Source: HubSpot Research

I don’t know about you, but there are definitely redundancies between some of the tools I use. Heck, I use two to-do list apps and still write my list down with a pen and paper every day. How many tools do you use that work to do different versions of the same functions?

Marketers could be using that time to do other cool things.

Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of the inefficiency of tools is that time spent managing tools takes away from time that could be spent tackling big-picture challenges, creating content, or closing prospects. Here’s what the marketers and salespeople we surveyed said they wished they could be doing with that time:

Source: HubSpot Research

The three things marketers would prefer to focus on -- growing web traffic, creating content, and converting new leads -- might look familiar. They’re critical pieces of the inbound and content marketing funnel, and without ample time to dedicate to these tasks, marketers might not be able to generate as many leads as needed for their sales teams’ success.

What’s the Solution?

So, let’s recap.
The results of this survey aren’t great. Marketers and salespeople are having trouble being as efficient and productive as possible because they have to manage so many different tools. They’re sacrificing time to work on projects of greater impact and magnitude to log into tools and extrapolate data.
But not to worry -- we suggest two steps to maximize efficiency and stay productive in the face of hundreds of productivity tools to choose from.

1) Do an audit.

If you didn’t do it earlier while reading, sit down and write down (or type) a list of all of the websites, tools, apps, extensions, and bots you use every day to get your work done. From your sticky notes app on your computer to your pen and paper to-do list, make an exhaustive list of everything you use to get everything done.

2) Consolidate and integrate.

Then, try to categorize your tools and apps into different functionalities to identify any redundancies in your productivity system. If you’re using three different types of to-do lists, as I do, can you cut two and just use one? If you’re spending time reporting data from three different analytics programs, sit down with your team to determine if there’s a more efficient way you could be reporting, or if your KPIs are up-to-date with your team’s needs.
The ultimate goal should be to create a system of tools that are easy to use and make marketers’ jobs as productive as possible. To learn more about how we’ve done that here at HubSpot, read about our completely integrated Growth Stack here.

19 Statistics About Millennials Marketers Should Know (Infographic)

Written by Sophia Bernazzani | @soph_bern

Share

64
inShare

Millennials, or people between the ages of 18 and 34, make up the largest population group in the United States. There are more than 75 million millennials in total, and that number is projected to increased to more than 81 million by 2036. Additionally, this age group is the most active and engaged across social media platforms.
So it should come as no surprise that marketers are eager to learn more about how to capture millennials' attention, time, and spending dollars.

Download our guide to branding for modern marketers here.

Buzz Marketing Group, an agency dedicated to marketing to this demographic, surveyed multicultural millennials to learn more about their content consumption, purchasing, and social media habits. Among other surprising statistics, 83% of respondents said they like when brands take a public stand on issues they feel strongly about, and 28% reported they went on "digital diets," or breaks from technology, every month.
Read more about multicultural millennial media and purchasing habits in this infographic from Adweek.