Lost in transition.(Editor's Note)

One of the toughest transitions facing any trade-based business owner is knowing when to let go ... of your tools. It's an awkward moment for sure because so much self-perception and personal identification, ingrained over years of hard work and jobsite camaraderie, are wrapped up in the simple act of strapping on your toolbelt every day. So "hanging it up" as they say, and focusing on managing your business, clients, crews, and futures is where a lot of contractors get lost in transition and make U-turns when they see how challenging and uncomfortable growth and change can be. For sure, growing a small contracting company into a mid-sized or larger operation isn't for everyone, but most everyone who has done it probably started out just like you.

This came up recently in a conversation I had with TOOLS Or THE TRADE contributing editor Steve Veroneau. Besides being a valued tool tester and editorial adviser to our magazine, Steve is a smart and successful high-end builder/remodeler in Virginia who came up through the trades and has been at it long enough to have tried a number of business models related to growth. His balance point now, after running a fair-sized employee workforce, is subcontracting almost all of his trade work and completing critical elements of projects himself with one employee.

Steve understands the pressure to grow, the need to manage, and the connection to the jobsite we often can't overcome, and he's convinced that contractors should really ...