Ice Road Door Guys Installing and Servicing Doors in the Arctic
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T H E S W E GARAGE DOOR N VOLUME 21 ISSUE 4 The Monthly Overhead Door Newspaper Since 1992 APRIL 2012 Ice Road Door Guys Installing and Servicing Doors in the Arctic NORTHWEST TERRITORIES - It’s not surprising to most door professionals that a door company in a community of 70,000 people needs to look beyond residential and commercial garage doors as a source of income. But CN Doors is no ordinary small town garage door installation and service company. Based out of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories (NWT) of Canada and servicing neighboring Nunavut, CN Doors services a geographical area of 1.3 million square miles – equal in size to ½ the contiguous 48 US States. Launched in 2004, the company is, according to Colin Cleveland, Operations Manager and co-owner of CN Doors, a specialist in servicing the arctic market. “Our tech guys routinely fly in with the Ice Pilots of Buffalo Air and drive the same ice roads as the Ice Road Truckers,” notes Cleveland. The market north of the 60th parallel lives and dies by the seasons. Winter in the Canadian arctic runs from September to May, and many towns are only accessible by truck Continued Page 12 CN Doors' service van on an 80' wide ice road. For links to our SALES & CUSTOMER SERVICE 1-800-361-3198 advertisers go to: www.dekcanada.com OPENING DOORS FOR PROFESSIONALS 1928 St-Regis Blvd, Dorval, Q.C., H9P 1H6 www.garagedoornews.com THE BEST DEALS on truck doors, parts and accessories Parts & Accessories for All Brands of Operators BORN AND RAISED IN OUR CLIMATE. & +%&$%$* #% * &$% #( &+%%# %+$(* %#% #$' CLIMA WEATHER DURA #% $%*$$%# &#!%%$*$% '#!$ '%$%"&%* '#* %#% # %%#(%% %%# #)%# #$$ $&% %(%!$ ! %$ ! $%&# &% (!# '$# & * %#%# (%#+$ &%$ )%% * &# # %%#$%#% $$%% $# #$# !# %% # %%$ % &# (%# THE DOOR WITH MORE. # !%$% !# &%$$!$'$%Steel-Craft.ca STEEL-CRAFT The Garage Door News 3 APRIL 2012 ADVERTISER INDEX A-tech 800-233-8265 Page 17 Access Entry Systems Inc. 905-564-8601 Page 4 Ackue Inc. 407-323-8688 Page 26 Advanced Plastic Corp. 847-674-2070 Page 8 American Access Systems Inc 800-541-5677 Page 27 BD Loops 714-890-1604 Page 14 Carlo Gavazzi Automation Components 888-575-2275 Page 28 Clopay Building Products 800-526-4301 Page 9 Collier 877-548-2799 Page 7 Croskill Overhead Doors 800-567-7472 Page 16 DEK Canada Inc. 800-361-3198 Page 1 Dynamic Closures 800-663-4599 Page 5 Goff's Enterprises 800-713-3285 Page 15 Genie Company 800-843-4084 Page 31 Leland Industries Inc. 800-263-3393 Page 15 Les Distributions Portes (CHI) Quebec Inc. 877-537-3130 Page 6 LiftMaster 800-323-2276 Page 11 Manaras 800-361-2260 Page 13 Newton's Apple 800-583-9903 Page 3 Ridge Doors 800-361-7123 Page 3 Schweiss Doors 507-426-8273 Page 10 Service Door Industries Ltd. 905-670-1200 Back Page Skylink Group 800-304-1187 Page 24 Steel-Craft Door Products Ltd. 800-463-3667 Page 2 SuperSeal Manufacturing 800-337-3239 Page 30 Thermostop Inc. 866-678-0123 Page 7 Vee Industries Inc. 800-327-3332 Page 16 T H E S W E GARAGE DOOR N LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Garage Door News Published by KRUBUS Inc. Letters to the Editor regarding anything thatyouseeinthisnewspaperorelsewhere Publisher: Dave Bussière in the industry are welcome. Letters Editor: Lucia Krupa should be approximately 200 words, and Advertising: Krysia Bussière faxed to: Administrative Support: Accu-tel THEEDITOR,GarageDoorNews,faxto 866-838-2967. Please include your name The Garage Door News welcomes comments and phone number.Your letter will appear and suggestions. Letters to the Editor and anonymously if requested. articles are also welcomed. The Garage Door News is a monthly publication for garage door installers and manufacturers. The information The Garage Door News included in this paper is intended solely for the 1331 Harvest Bend use of the reader. No part of this publication Lasalle, ON Canada may be reproduced in any matter without the N9H 2B5 expressed written permission of the Editor. The ideas and suggestions expressed in this Toll-Free Tel: 866-854-0561 paper are those of the writers. KRUBUS INC. will not be liable for the use of the information, Toll-Free Fax: 866-838-2967 opinions or products expressed, advertised or e-mail: [email protected] otherwise contained herein. POSTMASTER: Please forward address corrections to: The Garage Door News The Garage Door News 1331 Harvest Bend 3430 East Jefferson Ave., #637 Lasalle, ON Canada N9H 2B5 Detroit, MI USA 48207 The Garage Door News 5 APRIL 2012 The Case Page: E-MAIL: [email protected] PHONE: 1•800•663•4599 LAST MONTH'S CASE & ANSWER Case 21-3: A Prominent Customer Case 21-3 ANSWER: Bill has been managing GDN Doors for over a decade. In that The details of this case may seem unfamiliar to the average time he has seen a strong economy and a recent slowdown. His focus manager, but the general underlying principle is more common. on residential and light commercial installations and service had been In this case, Bill has been offered an opportunity to participate in profitable for the early years. This same focus had made the last two years an exciting new construction project. The project appears to be profitable more difficult. While the residential market had been healthier than some and high profile. The problem is that delays and other issues always seem areas in North America, there had been some market decline. to push the project back. Three months ago, a chance meeting at a local fundraising event The core management issue portrayed in this case is not the specific had given Bill a more optimistic view of 2012-13. Bill and his wife were example of the new residential and commercial development. Instead, this seated near the owner of a major construction company. While business case focuses on the impact of projects and opportunities that distract key was only marginally discussed at the event, a follow-up lunch meeting had management from traditional and mainstream revenue sources and market given Bill reason to be optimistic. growth. The construction company had an aggressive plan to take advantage There is something exciting about aggressive projects that boast of low property prices and available construction resources. The company excellent profit potential. The entrepreneurial sense in most managers is wants to develop a new community on the ‘attractive’ edge of the city. piqued by the chance to secure a large project. The problem, however, It will include single family housing and a market village concept (key is that it is sometimes hard to tell the difference between true business retail within walking or short driving distance). Taken together, this new opportunities and the sales pitches that come from many sources. community represents 2-3 years of on-going work for GDN Doors -- with The problem is further complicated, in this case, by continued a mix of residential and commercial work. delays. Again, this is not surprising. In this case, Bill is likely to feel The problem is waiting for this dream project to become a reality. increasingly tied to the project because he has ‘invested so much time and Bill and his team have had several meetings with the construction company. effort’ into the project. Accounting has long labeled these past efforts and They have come back with approximate pricing…..but that was really a costs as sunk costs. Making decisions about the future based on sunk costs ballpark figure based on a range of directions the overall project could take. is bad business. Each month, however, the timeline and project parameters shift slightly. Bill needs to evaluate this project as if he had no personal or Bill is getting frustrated. At what point does he lose his patience business commitment. If he can’t do this without bias, he needs to find a and simply walk away? trusted business advisor who can. Case 21-4: A Chance at Ownership In many ways, Bill was a new employees. About 8 years ago is 60 years old and is interested in has little savings that he can actually typical door guy. He had installed he started attending regional trade retiring in the next 4-5 years. The risk. So how can he realistically doors for years. He had done shows, and he had attended three of second owner is the 55 year old son expect to be able to buy in to the everything from new residential the last four IDA Expos. This had of the company founder. He will company and take on a partnership housing tracts to large industrial allowed him to meet other installers retire at one point, but will likely role? He is also worried about the bi-fold doors. He was comfortable from across North America, and hand over his ownership stake to expectations of the new role. Bill working on rolling steel doors and also to gain an understanding of the his son, who is GDN Doors’ key knows that he is a hard worker, but dock levelers. broader door product market. sales person. is ownership pushing his own skills Bill’s technical skills made Three days ago, Bill was Bill loves the idea of being a too far? him an excellent installer and approached by the two current business owner. At 45, he knows that service technician. His personal owners of GDN Doors. They he has a future in the door industry, NOTICE TO CASE READERS: skills made him a leader within the wanted to know if he was interested so being a partner in a successful All business cases in the Garage Door company. Over the last 10 years, he in becoming a partner in the door company is attractive to him.