Dear Nick

This month, we look at helping inspectors in a slow real estate market and ask InterNACHI Founder Nick Gromicko what inspectors should do on a day with no inspections.

Treat your inspection business like a real job. Every night, set your alarm clock, and when it rings in the morning, get up and go to work, even if you don’t have an inspection scheduled. But what can you do when you don’t have an inspection scheduled? Here are some things you can do to help your company and yourself.

1. If you market your inspection business every day you don’t have an inspection to do, you’ll eventually have few days that aren’t booked. In this way, the inspection business is self-leveling: the slower you get, the more you market, so the busier you get. 
2. Take an inspection course. Smart inspectors who are serious about their business will stay on top of their game by continually learning. Furthermore, the growing innovations in the building industry mean that there’s always something new for the inspector to know. Improving your technical competency also reduces your liability. InterNACHI® has hundreds of free, online inspection courses that can be completed in a day.
3. InterNACHI® has an enormous inspection-related article library. Inspector Outlet has dozens of downloadable inspection book. And InterNACHI’s forum also has 2.6 million posts to enjoy.
4. Add a new inspection service.Offering an additional ancillary inspection is a great way to increase your company’s revenue. InterNACHI’s House of Horrors® partner PRO-LAB offers top notch mold inspection courses. Get certified to offer mold inspections.
5. Clean, organize, and prepare. Wash your inspection vehicle and fuel it up. Organize your office. Answer emails. Charge the batteries for your tools.
6. Look into the many vendors in our industry and see what products and services they have to offer. Purchase new inspection equipment. Experiment with new reporting software. 
7. Compare insurance quotes. InterNACHI has 300,00 discounts in its Super Deals section. Need a new inspection vehicle? Check out the discount FORD gives InterNACHI members. Whatever you and your family buy, InterNACHI® can likely save you money on it.
8. Explore business development options.Think about what you can do to grow your business. Go through the recommended reading in BizVelop.com. No, really. Go through the recommended reading sections and follow through with some.
9. Develop a totally new vertical market. I recommend commercial property inspections. Being a commercial inspector is the perfect “encore career” for many home inspectors, and you can operate your commercial inspection business long after physiology prevents you from performing home inspections. Don’t wait till then, though–get started today by joining CCPIA.
10. The inspection business takes its toll both physically and mentally… and sometimes even emotionally. Even God rested one day a week.