I recently had the unique joy of having two doctors’ appointments in one day. That’s a personal record I never want to beat. I had called my primary physician to get a referral to an orthopedic doctor for a torn meniscus in my left knee. He quickly reminded me that I was overdue for my annual physical, so I decided to do it all in one day and threw in the lab work to boot. Two appointments in one day with three specialists: It takes a lot of various medical folks to keep us in good health.
It got me thinking about how many specialists it takes in our industry to design and build or remodel a store. Consumer research firms, site evaluation fi rms, retail design firms, branding experts, foodservice consultants, architects and various engineers all have uniquely focused consultancies that play roles in developing a new prototype or revitalized remodel.
Some firms (including Paragon) specialize in more than one area. We are a retail design and branding company with a special focus on convenience retail and travel centers.
I often see people struggling through the design development process with either no consultants or the wrong consultants guiding them. Everyone, and every company, has their own unique talents and experiences to draw from. By bringing in the right team to enhance the knowledge base within a company, you immediately increase the depth and breadth of knowledge from which to draw as you go through the design development process. The right specialists can take what you know and complement it with their perspectives. The resulting synergy will result in a far superior result.
I am fond of saying, “Never hire a plumber to do brain surgery.” Similar logic would dictate that you should always hire the right consulting team with the right skill set to develop your new or remodeled store. With the amount of money we spend on stores today, it only makes sense.
The Right Tool
You would think that, with all this preaching, I would heed my own advice. My wife and I recently went through a kitchen remodel that turned into a house remodel. We interviewed general contractors and finally found the perfect one—or so we thought. He was a licensed contractor, a structural engineer, a cabinet maker and a trained chef. Perfect!
His first test came during demolition, when we were removing a wall. I asked him—the structural engineer—to go into the attic to see if the wall was structural. He came back saying that it was not. As I removed the final two-by-four from that wall, the ceiling moved an inch, and not in a good way. (I’ve watched far too much HGTV to know the signs of impending disaster.)
We scrambled to prop up the ceiling and proceeded to remove the drywall to see what we were dealing with. It was incredibly obvious, even to those of us who aren’t structural engineers, that this wall we were removing was very structural. The last words the general contractor said to me were, “Don’t worry—I can fi x that with some screws and liquid nails.” The three painters standing close by looked at me, looked at the ceiling, looked at the general contractor and slowly walked away. After the general contractor left the building, the painters, my son and I proceeded to build and install a 16-foot beam that day. Disaster averted!
Lessons Learned
The moral of the story is, in the words of Ronald Reagan, “Trust but verify.” As you search for your team of professionals, consultants and contractors, verify their credentials and résumés. This is where I failed in selecting the right contractor. I was seeking the right tool for the job, but all I got was a tool. He may have had the degrees and certifications, but he did not fit into my team. He did not deliver on my expectations of quality and professionalism. I did much better with his replacement. The lead painter not only was a licensed contractor but also a quality craftsman with a can-do attitude.
I know you have been waiting patiently to hear this: The knee is fi ne after some physical therapy. I am very glad that I found the right specialists for my needs. The kitchen is complete and beautiful, and the wife is happy. In the words of Dr. Laura, “Now go do the right thing.”
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