The next business book we're reading ...

We saw a review for this title today and can't wait to read it:

"The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do and How to Change It" (Charles Duhigg)

What especially drew our attention was the mixing of psychology and business perspectives that explain why bad habits persist and how good habits can be formed. You can teach an old dog new tricks!

Lowe's Inman News Service Review

Bloomberg Business Week Review

This review sealed the deal: "For those who truly crave to change their habits, their teams' routines and their lives, this book offers well-founded hope and simple, concrete tools that have been proven to work, over and over again."

One more good one on the shelf .. Next to some perennial favorites from Zig Ziglar, Og Mandino and newer stuff like Jim Collins, Michael Gerber or the Heath Brothers. What's on your bookshelf?

PS - I realize that this post is a little ironic given the last one "Why We're in this Business" ... But actually it fits right in because we see the methods and success stories the author uses for "good examples" as being very much in keeping with how we have been able to achieve our high standards ... It's all habit!

Why we're in this business

An estimate we did this week reminded us of why we're in this business. The client we visited said that his friend booked a mover he was planning to use and while their estimate was $400, when they walked through the door they immediately said "this is going to be closer to $1,000."

Ouch! Needless to say he called and cancelled his reservation with them.

This story reminded me of why I started this business four years ago. Besides the usual reasons to go into business like being your own boss, we began Stronger to do moving the RIGHT way. As industry insiders, we had seen too much of the "ugly" side of this business: bait-and-switch estimates, sloppy work, overbooking, tardiness ...

Personal leadership is the process of keeping your vision and values before you and aligning your life to be congruent with them. — Stephen R. Covey

Rather than dwell on the negative though, we are focused on how positive our crews are on every job. Consistently for the past four years, we have been able to stick to our standards of estimating as fairly and accurately as possible, training crews well, delivering excellent customer service and constantly monitoring quality.

So not that we like to "toot our own horn" but we think this commitment speaks for itself:

• positive customer testimonials
• repeat customers and referrals
• accreditation by the Better Business Bureau

Our hope is that we can set a positive example of movers for everyone we come into contact with and they leave saying "I have heard a lot of nightmare stories, but this move was a dream." At the end of the day, that's what makes it worth it.

Green tips for moving

As we prepare to celebrate St. Patrick's Day this Saturday, we were thinking about GREEN in two ways - both the green, eco-friendly way to move and how to save some green (as in money!).

Here are our Lucky 7 tips:

1. Pack less stuff ... Sell, donate or recycle items you no longer need to reduce the amount of packing materials you will use. You may be ready to consider parting with books, movies or cd's in this new age of digital media). Warning: do not start this process a few days before the move, more like a few weeks to months before you plan to move.

2. Find used boxes ... Moving companies can give them to you or try local stores.
3. Use newspaper for packing materials ... Save a few weeks or ask a neighbor before their recycling goes out. Be careful of ink staining (especially avoiding any chance that the paper would get wet). Generally this is not an issue but if you have any concerns, just use the newspaper as padding rather than wrapping items with it.
4. Purchase biodegradable materials ... Packing peanuts and bubble wrap for your most delicate breakables is available in biodegradable formats.
5. Recycle/reuse your packing materials ... Give them to a friend who will be moving or post them online (for example: craigslist or freecycle).
6. Clean green ... Keep "green" in mind during the move-out / move-in cleaning process and use green products or hire a certified green cleaning company.
7. Hire movers ... Consider the "green" nature of using a moving company to move everything at once instead of making many small trips in a personal vehicle.

The next step is "greening" your new place. A move can be the best time to make lifestyle changes and upgrades to your new home, which will not only be helpful for the environment but usually save you money as well.

We believe that all of this green is not just a color we wear on St. Pat's day or a catch-phrase but really a mindset based on principles of doing the right thing. As a company, we encourage these kinds of initiatives in our clients, employees, vendors and require them of ourselves.

It takes a special kind of moving company for these homes

We came across this article today on Yahoo.com and thought it was too neat not to share:

"Homes made from wacky materials"

We could definitely do the moves for any of these homeowners, although maybe the "dumpster home" we would just pick up and move the whole house?

What homes have you seen in the Tampa Bay area made from unusual materials re-used in creative ways?

Start your New Year right ...

Some wait for Spring to do their deep cleaning. Since Florida doesn't have the traditional seasons, we got started this week! What has made the most difference for us is getting rid of stuff we no longer use or need.

Rather than letting perfectly good items go to waste, we always donate what is in good condition. Here are some of our favorite resources:

Furniture and household goods:

Manatee Habitat for Humanity 355-7082

Sarasota Habitat for Humanity 363-0777

South Sarasota Habitat 493-0529

Food:

All Faiths Food Bank (Sarasota) 379-6333

Food Bank of Manatee 747-FOOD (3662)

Clothing:

Goodwill 351-8945 (for home pick-up)

Salvation Army 1-800-958-7825

Of course there are many other places that welcome your donations and you may have your favorites already established. But if you have not, please look into these or do your own research because the charities who receive donations can turn the proceeds of sales into life-changing intervention programs.

Not only will you enjoy the benefits of cleaning out and making a fresh start in 2012 but also local nonprofits will be able to reach more families in need and do more good.