The most transformational businesses are driven by curiosity, passion and the promise of creating a better world.  They are built around seeing a problem that needs fixing or a pain for people and then doing everything possible to fix that problem. In essence, the best businesses are built around helping the most people.

Our own path at BuildDirect started this way and continues this way today. Help more people = grow business faster.

A reason to be in business – to fix a problem

I think this is true for any business. Definitely for ours! The reason BuildDirect exists today is because we saw a huge problem that needed fixing.  I co-owned a development company and was building a house for clients. The family was supposed to move in and the flooring didn’t arrive on time, meaning that I had to put the family up in a hotel and their furniture in storage.

I  felt like I had betrayed this client, and that my supplier had betrayed me. I was mad and I went looking for answers. It seemed like every answer given was another riddle, with everyone making promises that couldn’t be kept. At the time, I thought they were lying, but that was not the case either. The truth is just that they didn’t know where the product was or how to fix the problem.

Why, I found out as I kept digging, was that the flooring touched up to 5 people in the supply chain between manufacturing and the end customer.

It’s no wonder with this as a backdrop that when considering a renovation or build, you believe that they have to:

Step 1: Find a contractor that you can trust to navigate the chaos

Step 2: Expect to double the estimated cost and time frame.

I thought to myself, “If it is this hard for me, and I’m in this business every day, the end buyer does not stand a chance.”  With that thought….we had discovered the huge problem that was in need of fixing.

Passion for helping people as a key business goal

BuildDirect was born out of solving that problem; to simplify the building industry, to remove the chaos, and to provide much more value along the way.

That passion for simplifying and helping people is exactly what we needed to weather the dot.com bust, the building industry depression, and more than one of our own self-inflicted wounds.  We were going to change the world and nothing short of that was satisfactory.

We’re not there yet, not by a long shot. But everyday, we attract more incredible employees, partners and customers.  It is actually getting easier, the pace accelerating, but it is no time to rest…..we have plenty of work to do.

Think of the best businesses or leaders – and by that I mean the businesses or leaders that have made the biggest positive impact on society. You will invariably find that at their core the message was the same; help others!

All lasting success is a by-product of that!

Help Others: Business Goals That Create A Better World is a post from: Building Into the Future with Jeff Booth. Jeff is CEO of BuildDirect, the world's leading online source for building materials including flooring, decking, roofing, siding, and more. Jeff writes on a variety of topics including entrepreneurship, social media, business management, and housing trends.

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It is just amazing to see how fast micro-finance has taken off. This video does a fantastic job visualizing the growth. I can only imagine how many people the world over have benefited.

Intercontinental Ballistic Microfinance from Kiva Microfunds.

The incredible growth of Micro-finance is a post from: Building Into the Future with Jeff Booth. Jeff is CEO of BuildDirect, the world's leading online source for building materials including flooring, decking, roofing, siding, and more. Jeff writes on a variety of topics including entrepreneurship, social media, business management, and housing trends.

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Companies do not change industries.

People drive change.

A company is only a collection of the people who work in it. Therefore:

You cannot change an industry unless you build a culture that supports that change into your workplace!

Any fan of BuildDirect knows that we have BIG dreams!

Our people work tirelessly to transform the building industry - to provide more value and give incredible service. But it is equally important to us to be able to give back as we do so.  I think one of those ways of giving back is to be able to transform the lives of the people who join us on our adventure.

I want to share with you a resignation letter that recently came across my desk. I fully realize that it is not without irony that the inspiration for this blog post is a resignation letter.

“It is with regret that I must leave my employment with your company, effective June 17, 2011, in order to further enhance my knowledge, skills, and abilities through additional post-secondary education.

I have enjoyed working for your company immensely, having acquired not only immeasurable professional experience within the building supply/warehousing industry, but have also had the delight of enjoying many laughs and overcoming numerous job related obstacles and challenges alongside the fine staff of your company.

I would like to thank Dave Donnelly, for his endless patience and the respect he shows for the warehouse team, Jim Hourigan for all of his efforts to keep the warehouse staff informed and current on BuildDirect’s mission and goals, as well as Robert Banks and Jeff Booth for having created a company wherein which each and every employee’s opinion and ideas are valued, and no one feels like an anonymous cog in the wheel.”

Martin H. 

In the end it’s not some faceless company that changes an industry. It is the people within a company whose ideas, hope and ambition allow a company to thrive.

It gives me goosebumps that our people feel like that about BuildDirect. For the people who leave, my hope is that they can take something from this special place into their future careers. Then, as we grow and develop more people, we not only transform an industry, but maybe leave the world in a little better place than we found it.

No employee should feel like an anonymous cog in the wheel is a post from: Building Into the Future with Jeff Booth. Jeff is CEO of BuildDirect, the world's leading online source for building materials including flooring, decking, roofing, siding, and more. Jeff writes on a variety of topics including entrepreneurship, social media, business management, and housing trends.

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I wanted to share a short note that I received from a friend who used to work with us at BuildDirect. The note left me feeling amazing, but I am sharing it because it also highlights a secret to finding success.

I hope you’ve been doing well, keeping busy. I’m in the Education Program at UBC in the middle of the short practicum, just delivered my first lesson to a class of grade 8 kids. It was awesome, man.  I walked away from that class feeling like a rock star.  I took a bit of a weird path here but I’m where I want to be, doing what I should be doing. Really I’m writing to thank you again for your help at BuildDirect, first for the opportunity and maybe most importantly for getting me out of there! You walk the walk when it comes to following your dreams Jeff, and it’s appreciated.

When you do what you love, abundance  follows and therefore, people who find their passion are the luckiest around. Does it mean that they never have challenges? No. Does it mean that it is a straight line to success? Probably not. But measured differently, these “lucky” people are successful in the game of life.

My goal is that every person who works  with us at BuildDirect finds their passion here. We hire, and inspire, and challenge to make sure that happens. But as you can see by the note, sometimes it doesn’t. When that happens, we encourage those people to find their passion elsewhere.

The cynic would say we only do it for ourselves to make our company a better, more enjoyable place to work. I will admit that this is at least partially true.  But as you can see by the letter, we also do it for them.  Everybody deserves to find their passion.

Writing this post reminded me of a short 3 minute TED video on “What leads to success” I would encourage you to watch it.

Finding success through passion is a post from: Building Into the Future with Jeff Booth. Jeff is CEO of BuildDirect, the world's leading online source for building materials including flooring, decking, roofing, siding, and more. Jeff writes on a variety of topics including entrepreneurship, social media, business management, and housing trends.

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While I was on vacation last week,  Mashable.com carried a story in its business section which included BuildDirect’s co-founder, Robert Banks.

In the article, Mashable points to the continued debate for CEO’s and Founders of using social media and video to engage direct conversations with customers.  The debate centers on the question of return on the investment for the time spent in the medium.  The article then went on to list 12 companies that were having great success.

In most cases, these companies were leaders in their fields, creating thought leadership and transforming markets.  BuildDirect was one of the companies listed and Robert Banks was in some great company on the list that included:

• Tom Dickson of Blendtec (@Blentec on Twitter, and Blendtec on YouTube)
• Gary Vaynerchuck of Winelibrary TV (@GaryVee , Gary Vaynerchuk’s YouTube Channel)
• Tim O’reilly of O’reilly Media (@TimOReilly,  O’Reilly YouTube Channel
• Kevin Rose of Digg (@KevinRose , Kevin Rose’s YouTube Channel)
• Aaron Patzer of Mint.com (@apatzer , Mint.com YouTube Channel)

… and many more.

One noteable addition that should have made Mashable’s list was himself - Founder and CEO, Pete Cashmore (@Mashable, Mashable YouTube channel) who is obviously on the right side of the debate on social media and the return on investment.

BuildDirect and Robert Banks featured on Mashable is a post from: Building Into the Future with Jeff Booth. Jeff is CEO of BuildDirect, the world's leading online source for building materials including flooring, decking, roofing, siding, and more. Jeff writes on a variety of topics including entrepreneurship, social media, business management, and housing trends.

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A friend and fellow YPO member came into my offices yesterday and met independently with some of my team. When we talked afterward, he  commented on what amazing team and culture we have here at BuildDirect.  It is absolutely true. I know because I hear it often,  and you can feel it the minute the elevators doors open. Something is different.

Thinking about that comment last night, and questioning what it is about the company that attracts incredibly talented people, and keeps them, my mind went to a comment left on my post about getting better everyday and how it can add up to tremendous benefits.  The comment was left by one of our  many “A” players. Jim Hourigan, who heads up our supply chain, and  then reinforced by another “A” player, Emma Pang, our assistant controller.

The comment was: “Never a blame, always an opportunity, people thrive and strive under that level of trust”

We have fought through some of the hardest times you could imagine. The dot com meltdown, September 11th 2001, and housing market falling by over 60% since 2005. We also made a fair share of our own mistakes as we tried to crack the code to enable us to transform the building industry. Trust me; there were many times where it would have been easier to point fingers or blame.

But Jim’s comment says it all.  And if our people are thriving and feeling that now, I can only imagine how they will feel when the housing market starts to normalize.

What type of corporate culture allows people to thrive? is a post from: Building Into the Future with Jeff Booth. Jeff is CEO of BuildDirect, the world's leading online source for building materials including flooring, decking, roofing, siding, and more. Jeff writes on a variety of topics including entrepreneurship, social media, business management, and housing trends.

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Although the worst is over for the building industry, there is a high chance that in the US,  housing prices will fall further.

One of the signs that I watch is the mortgage purchase applications index. The reason this is important is that it gives a leading indicator to home sales because home sales generally lag the mortgage application by as much as 2 months.

The  index was very positive 2-3 months ago, as the government tax credit moved demand forward, but has, as  expected, fallen off a cliff since the expiry of the tax credit for housing. The latest weekly reading has mortgage purchase applications falling by 3.1% to a low not seen since 1996, meaning that over the next number of months, home sales will also fall off a cliff.

It does not necessarily mean that home prices will fall dramatically (housing markets are local, and in some markets, prices may have bottomed already) but when demand falls, prices typically are not that far behind.

Mortgage purchase applications lowest since 1996 is a post from: Building Into the Future with Jeff Booth. Jeff is CEO of BuildDirect, the world's leading online source for building materials including flooring, decking, roofing, siding, and more. Jeff writes on a variety of topics including entrepreneurship, social media, business management, and housing trends.

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We recently launched our Quarter 3 plan to the BuildDirect team. It is the 9th quarter that we have been running the same process where we lay out the top 5 priorities for the quarter and the steps needed  to achieve them.

I found out a long time ago that if you keep improving a little every day, eventually those little changes add up to make big changes. It is why having a passion for getting better every day is one of our core values.

As part of the Q3 planning process, we ask that every person in the company ”buy into” the plan. In other words, we ask EVERYONE if the plan is something that they can fully support. By encouraging active participation,  it is not my plan, nor the senior management teams plan. It is the BuildDirect plan.

One plan; one direction; complete alignment.

You can imagine what happens when you have everyone on your team doing their best to get a little better every day and add that kind of alignment.

Amazing things happen.  Who knows?  Maybe you can even transform an industry!

A little better every day really adds up is a post from: Building Into the Future with Jeff Booth. Jeff is CEO of BuildDirect, the world's leading online source for building materials including flooring, decking, roofing, siding, and more. Jeff writes on a variety of topics including entrepreneurship, social media, business management, and housing trends.

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Debbie  is recognized internationally as an interior design industry leader, featured on Oprah Winfrey, Regis & Kelly, and is the author of eight best selling books about interior decorating. She is a pioneer on TV as a home make-over guru.

Here in Debbie’s own words:

We at BuildDirect have a proven and unique knack for efficiently sourcing the best materials that reflect quality in durability and look for less money.  Between our expertise and Debbie’s, we’ll be able to add tremendous value to anyone looking for the best in flooring and other building materials.

Most people understand that they can save money while buying quality products at BuildDirect, but another goal we’ve always had is to take the risk out of buying building materials online.  Buying building products shouldn’t be as complex as it is today. We intend to de-mystify that process.  Debbie’s expertise, and her status as a trusted voice in the world of interior design, helps us get there even faster.  And that’s an exciting prospect.

A really important aspect to all of this is that we really like Debbie.  In speaking with her over this past few months, we’ve come to know her as a down-to-earth, friendly, and warm person.  She truly wants to contribute to good design in homes everywhere, because she knows that good design and quality of living go together.  And we agree!  When values like that meet, great things can happen.

To find out more about our new partnership with Debbie Travis, visit our Debbie Travis Designer page.

And if you want to learn more about Debbie, there are lots of resources on the official Debbie Travis website including a video of her interview with CBC The Hour.

On BuildDirect Partnering with Debbie Travis is a post from: Building Into the Future with Jeff Booth. Jeff is CEO of BuildDirect, the world's leading online source for building materials including flooring, decking, roofing, siding, and more. Jeff writes on a variety of topics including entrepreneurship, social media, business management, and housing trends.

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Funny if it weren’t so true!

Clarke and Dawe: Lending merry-go-round is a post from: Building Into the Future with Jeff Booth. Jeff is CEO of BuildDirect, the world's leading online source for building materials including flooring, decking, roofing, siding, and more. Jeff writes on a variety of topics including entrepreneurship, social media, business management, and housing trends.

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