With all the technological and social changes happening today, it sometimes seems that our own industries (Plumbing, Electrical, HVAC) are being left behind. Our products and tools change periodically, but it seems that YouTube, Facebook, iPhones, and Android are leaving us in the dust. The truth is that we will all need to move into new technologies to remain competitive.
The changes we will need to make can take two paths – one forced upon us or one we choose.
The pure technology path is more or less forced upon us. Our cell phones will become more Internet connected because the phone company makes more money that way. Our entertainment will become more interactive and pervasive – TV, YouTube, Facebook, and baseball play-by play in our pockets. Even if we don’t want to, as our electronic devices wear our, we will be forced to change.
Our businesses are no different. But, unlike your personal life, waiting to be forced to make changes may not be the best path to success. Modernizing your business as new technologies are proven to work will keep your business model from becoming obsolete like your old VCR.
Most people view the Electrical, Plumbing, and HVAC trades the same way they did a decade ago. The problem and opportunity, is that these fields are changing just as fast as the rest of society. We work with new tools, new materials, and new techniques every day. And, ever increasing energy costs are leading to major changes whether we like it or not.
The future for all of our trades is “Green.” Whether we call it that or not, energy efficiency is where future opportunities for business growth lie. For electricians, this could mean expanded lines of work retrofitting lighting; specifying and installing photo sensor technologies to take advantage of daylight to save energy; energy management systems; and photovoltaics and wind turbines.
Why just do new installs and client requested upgrades when you can offer value to your clients through new technology based upgrades of just about every electric/electronic device they own? And, there are even free tools to help sell and continue to sell these upgrades like Google PowerMeter, or Microsoft Hohm. The potential for sales at each client site is significantly higher than ever before because you can easily show and continuously measure how quickly upgrades can pay for themselves.
There are similar opportunities in Plumbing and HVAC where energy efficiency has been in the forefront of change for many years and is accelerating. One of the big changes forced by the availability of new technologies is the the expansion of many companies into all three trades. A company that has Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC expertise can compete across the board in complex integrated energy saving projects where the real profits are.
Getting the training and tools needed to compete in this growing market could be critical for continued success for many businesses. The size of the energy efficiency and retrofit market is projected to be over $10 billion by 2014. Most businesses moved to computers and software to replace the old ways of setting prices, printing price books, dispatching, and running the office years ago. It’s time to embrace the latest technology for the rest of your business as a way to ensure future growth and profitability.
