Scott Avery operates Modern Tech Floors in Portland, Ore. He has been a regular student and instructor with the NWFA since 2002, when he left the biotech industry to satisfy his inner entrepreneur and have his own business. In late 2008 the changing economy triggered Scott to re-evaluate his business and personal habits, resulting in a greatly improved home life and much more profitable business. Scott blogs for HF in an effort to help other wood floor contractors reclaim their personal time from their business while increasing profitability.

Recent Posts:

A Message for You Haters in the Industry
Lately, the NWFA seems to be a target for finger-pointing as positive changes come through that the “haters” of this ...

On the Duality of Man: Being Firm Yet Easy-Going
For all the fun and relaxing times that I had at the Expo, the weeks that have followed have been ...

Leaving the NWFA Expo: T-Minus 30
So I’m giving myself just 30 minutes before I board to put my thoughts together for the NWFA Expo I ...

Following Up on a Bad Sand Job
Yesterday I took a look at a job that was pretty messed up by another contractor. Normally I make it ...

A Work Marathon We Call Spring Break
When reading Wayne Lee’s blog posts versus mine, I’ve often gotten the feeling that people think I’m sort of a ...

Strong Feelings About Why I Lost This Job
Recently I had a customer email and agree to our price for a project. However, she wanted us to use ...

We Are the Next Generation of NWFA
I have a real fondness for the NWFA because I’ve known it for so long. I think of all of ...

What Has Time Done for Your Attitude?
I was recently told that a person I knew only through social media had passed away. His name was Hank ...

Easy Tech Tips to Improve Your Business
Sometimes tech evades the attention of a contractor. The brilliant side of running a company these days is that you ...

How to Compete with Lowballers
We got a question from a Hardwood Floors reader about how to compete with lowballers. In this economy this is ...

How Can I Help? Send Your Ideas
I have to admit that I was really close to sending out a post on Thursday, but I wasn’t 100% ...

Three Things to Think About for 2012
Sorry I’ve been out of touch for a little while, folks. It was a really laid-back holiday season and I ...

My Red Flags for Clients
It only really takes one bad client to really upset your day. Everyone has them no matter what people say ...

How Much Do You Really Cost?
How much does your belt machine weigh? How about if you add the weight of the buffer or edger? How ...

Chemicals Don’t Care
I watch the Hardwood Floors forum occasionally and what I notice is that people love to discuss installation specs and ...

Let's Stay in Touch and Stay Upbeat
It occurred to me that I’d like to let the readers in on a few things that maybe I have ...

Avoiding A Dirty Word: 'Free'
Estimates are not free, no matter how much we want to use that in our marketing. It is funny how ...

Are You Working for Too Little Money?
A reader named Shane Broumand recently commented on my last post, and his comments resonated with me; it’s something I ...

Are You a Minimalist?
Years ago I wrote an article about my move from Colorado to Oregon and the stress of things when you ...

A Good Strategy to Delay Retirement
I was having coffee with a really good friend in the business and we were talking about the costs of ...

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