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February 2026 The Contractor’s Advantage
HarrisonLawGroup.com (410) 832-0000 jwyatt@harrisonlawgroup.com
A Simple Framework for Getting Paid Stop Letting Good Goals Boil Away
When it comes to reaching big goals, we really are a lot like frogs. You know the story. A frog sits in a pot of lukewarm water, stays put as the heat creeps up toward boiling, and never jumps out. In the end, it boils. A lot of business goals go the same way. We set them at the beginning of the year, then as the stress and heat of work pick up, those goals evaporate.
difference in how quickly you get paid. For example, say your goal is to bring your average collection time down from about 90 days to 45. You could set a line for yourself that no account will sit more than 45 days from the invoice date without some kind of follow-up. That is your set point.
From there, you decide in advance what happens when an account crosses that line. At 45 days, you pick up the phone and send an email, ask for payment, and remind the customer that your company expects to be paid for its work. If the bill reaches 60 days, you send a polite but firm letter that makes it clear you will have to take further steps if the account is not brought current. If it hits 90 days, you file a claim, whether a mechanic’s lien, a bond claim, or a straightforward lawsuit, and you make sure you know filing deadlines before you do it.
I have seen it with my goals and with my clients. You take time to map out targets for revenue, fitness, reading, or whatever matters
to you. Then a few weeks or months go by. A rush job comes in, a problem blows up on a project, and your attention shifts. One day, you look up and realize the goal is nowhere in sight. So, how do we avoid that? To me, the main problem with “normal” goals is that we don’t
decide what happens when we slip. We write down the target, but we never spell out what we will do when we fall behind. Without that, the goal just sits there while the temperature rises. What has helped me is breaking it into two pieces. The first is a set point. That is the line you draw for yourself. It is specific enough that you can see when you have crossed it and realistic enough that you are willing to live with it. It should also be measurable so you know when you are not meeting your goal. The second piece is what I call a correction protocol. It’s the simple plan you have agreed to carry out for yourself when things drift past your set point. Once those two pieces are in place, you aren’t arguing with yourself every time something slips. You watch the set point, and when you are beyond it, you take the steps you already chose. In the receivables world, that can make a real
Some contractors worry that this type of plan is too aggressive. I think the greater risk is doing nothing and letting old receivables sit. When unpaid bills roll past 60, then 90, then 120 days, lien and bond rights start to slip away, and your leverage drops. After six months or a year, it is easy to talk yourself into taking 75 cents on the dollar just
to cover expenses. But you worked hard for that money and deserve everything you are owed. Establishing a simple set point and a clear plan gives you a better chance of actually seeing it.
-Jeremy Wyatt
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How the World’s Most Iconic Brands Stay Instantly Recognizable Consistency Is the Ultimate Brand Power Move
Consistency creates connection. When your audience hears a familiar voice on your website, your Instagram post, or in a reply to their email, they feel grounded. They know what to expect. That reliability is what turns awareness into loyalty. Something powerful will happen as your brand’s voice begins to line up across every touchpoint. Your audience starts to feel like they know you. They see you as dependable, familiar, and, most importantly, trustworthy. That’s how loyalty forms, not from discounts or gimmicks, but from a steady, genuine voice.
Every great brand has a voice that sticks. Before you even see the logo, you know it’s them. Whether it’s Apple’s crisp confidence, Nike’s motivational punch, or Disney’s warm nostalgia, that’s the power of a consistent brand voice. It transforms businesses from “just another company” into trusted, recognizable favorites. And trust matters a lot. In fact, 81% of consumers say they must trust a brand before they’ll even consider buying. The surest way to build that trust? Consistency. When your tone, words, and energy stay aligned across every email, caption, and customer interaction, you create a relationship your audience can count on. What does ‘brand voice’ mean? Yes, your brand voice is how you sound, but it’s also your company’s entire personality. Your values, mission, and spirit are made tangible through every sentence you publish and conversation you have. Your brand voice should be unique, recognizable, and impossible to fake. It’s the difference between Red Bull’s fearless adrenaline-filled energy and Lego’s creative playfulness. Each has a tone perfectly matched to what they stand for, and that alignment makes their messages hit home every time.
How to Keep Your Voice Strong and Steady 1. Document your brand DNA.
Don’t leave your voice up to chance (or whoever’s managing your social media that day). Create detailed brand voice guidelines. Outline your tone, key personality traits, do’s and don’ts, and examples of real-world language that reflect your brand. Ensure that everyone on your team, from marketing to customer support, knows how to represent your brand effectively. 2. Adapt, but don’t abandon. Your core voice should remain consistent, but your tone can adapt to suit the situation. Social media posts can be relaxed and conversational, while email newsletters can strike a balance between friendly and professional. The key is adaptability without losing your brand’s essence. 3. Listen and refine. Your brand voice isn’t carved in stone. It evolves as your audience, market, and values grow. Monitor engagement, review feedback, and watch how your community responds. If your tone feels dated or disconnected, adjust. Brands that stay relevant never stop listening. Be the instantly recognizable brand. Your voice is your signature, and in a noisy digital world, it’s your most significant competitive edge. When your message sounds the same across every platform, your audience can identify it, trust it, and remember it. So, stop blending in and start defining your voice. Because the most powerful brands speak with a voice their customers can’t forget.
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The couple invested a modest $20,000 from their savings (barely a fraction of what they’d set aside) and watched the business take off almost immediately. Sheri began buying little charms from craft stores, such as peace signs, hearts, and smiley faces, then gluing them to cufflinks that fit perfectly in Crocs’ signature holes. Her kids wore them to school, and that’s when the orders started pouring in. Within weeks, Sheri’s basement was a full-scale production line. Then came the website. In just two weeks, she was drowning in demand. Retailers wanted hundreds of Jibbitz at a time. Soon, the
Crocs. He asked where she’d gotten them. Lexie proudly replied, “My mommy made them.” The man handed her his business card and said, “Have your mommy call me.” The man was Duke Hanson, founder of Crocs. A little over a year after Sheri stuck that first silk flower into her daughter’s shoe, she and Rich sold Jibbitz to Crocs for $10 million, plus another $10 million if they met sales goals. More Than a Happy Accident Today, Sheri and Rich still lead the
Jibbitz brand. Their story is a reminder that when creativity meets opportunity, you need to bravely say “yes” to that spark of an idea and let it grow.
Schmelzers had to trade their basement for a warehouse, and within a year, Jibbitz were being sold in more than 3,000 stores. The Poolside Pitch That
From a rainy afternoon to a multimillion-dollar deal, the Schmelzers’ story is proof that innovation often starts small, with curiosity, creativity, and maybe a sewing kit full of surprises.
Changed Everything Sometimes, luck meets preparation in the most unexpected places. One afternoon, at a local pool, 7-year-old Lexie caught the
eye of a stranger who noticed her decorated
HAVE A Laugh
A Revolution of Residential Design Levittown and the Rise of Suburbia In 1947, a stretch of potato fields on Long Island started growing something new. Instead of potatoes, thousands of identical houses filled the space. The development was called Levittown, which marked the beginning of a new type of suburbia. Before Levittown, suburbs were mainly for the wealthy, but this was different. The developers treated home construction like an assembly line, and crews efficiently completed house after house. With veterans returning from World War II and the baby boom beginning, demand for affordable housing was high. Levittown helped meet the need with homes that came with appliances and a small yard for barbecues. Soon, the development became its own world, with swimming pools, baseball fields, and shopping centers, which transformed the American landscape. Before long, similar neighborhoods stretched toward the horizon, and the dream of a better life moved to the city’s edges.
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Jeremy Wyatt jwyatt@harrisonlawgroup.com HarrisonLawGroup.com (410) 832-0000
40 West Chesapeake Avenue, Ste. 600 Towson, MD 21204
Inside This Edition
1.
Drawing the Line on Late Pay
2.
The Real Reason 81% of Buyers Trust Some Brands Over Others
3. The Birth of Suburban Life 4.
Meet the Mom Who Made Crocs Even Cuter (and Cashed In)
JIBBITZ: PROOF THAT PLAYTIME CAN PAY OFF BIG
How a Rainy Afternoon Sparked a $10 Million Idea
Every great brand has a light bulb moment, but few shine as brightly as the one that sparked Jibbitz. Last month, we dove into the fascinating ups and downs of Crocs’ creation. Now here’s the almost too-good-to-be-true tale of how Crocs’ most valuable accessory came to be. Junk Stored in a Sewing Kit It all began on a rainy afternoon, with three restless kids and a stay-at-home mom trying to keep them occupied. Sheri Schmelzer wasn’t setting out to build a business empire. She was simply searching through her sewing kit for a little arts-and-crafts fun. Her children, Lexie, Julian, and Riley, were obsessed with their Crocs, colorful rubber clogs that had suddenly become everyone’s favorite footwear. So, when Sheri stuck a silk flower through one of the holes, her kids went wild. Soon, they jammed buttons, beads, and baubles into every Croc in sight. Sheri said on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “I was
just trying to keep everybody entertained. My girls flipped out when they saw these. They were like, ‘I want the pink one! I want the red one!’” When her husband, Rich, came home that night, he didn’t just see a cute family project; he saw potential. “You could see this little light bulb go on in his head,” Sheri said. From Craft Table to Trademark By the next morning, Rich had filed for patents, trademarks, and copyrights. A seasoned entrepreneur, he knew the value of protecting a great idea before it left the house. Then came the question of naming their new venture. Rich had long called Sheri his “flibbertigibbet,” a nickname for someone who talks a lot and brims with energy. Sheri cut it in half, added a “z,” and Jibbitz was born.
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