RESTORATION
Clean start for restorers
The climate crisis and COVID-19 has created demand for the services of restorers. However, getting business strategies right and taking the chance to promote an often-underrated sector will be the key to ensuring that such gains are sustainable in 2023 and beyond. Words Cameron Cooper
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t a time when floods, hurricanes, and fallout from COVID-19 are creating enormous workloads for restoration experts, Chuck Violand admits these “tragic” events have been a driver of growth for the industry. However, he urges his peers to apply financial rigour in 2023 as they respond to opportunities stemming from climate change and the pandemic. “This market is creating a tonne of opportunities, but it’s not a piggybank and too often inexperienced or undisciplined restorers view it that way, thinking they 72
INCLEAN January / February 2023
can reach in and just pull-out cash,” says Violand, a respected US-based business consultant for the restoration industry and principal of Violand Management Associates. “This can end up coming back to bite them and may cause a lot of financial trouble.” The key to sustainable success for restorers, he believes, will be to run their business judiciously and understand the decision-making mindset of insurers who determine payouts. In the wake of devastating hurricanes that hit south-east America in 2022, Violand says
“it feels like everyone east of the Mississippi River decided they wanted to go down and be a restorer in Florida”, even if they did not have the relevant local knowledge and experience. His advice? “Stay home and take care of the customers you have.” Such counsel should resonate in an Australian market where a spate of floods across multiple states has created significant demand for restoration experts in the past 12 months. Lex Moir, CEO of NLR Restoration, experienced a busy year in 2022 courtesy of floods in Brisbane and northern New South Wales, in particular.