As I finish up the design touches of this issue, I realize that we have three solid business topics — and all three are topics you are going to want to soak in. You all know how to build beautiful ponds, but you also need to have really good business sense and advice in order to run your company soundly and make a good profit. For no matter how skilled or artistic your work may be, your business needs to stay afloat — and, ideally, thrive!
That’s where we come in. Hopefully you’ll find this issue’s articles about making smart hiring and operating decisions (Hirer Beware: Unlicensed, Uninsured Workers), determining your real cost of doing business (Identify Overhead Expenses and Find Increased Profits), and deciding how to classify your workers (The Hiring Puzzle) helpful as you ramp up your business for the busy summer season. I found the latter article from Mark Battersby especially informative with regard to tax implications — and not to mention timely, as the summer season tends to inflate the temporary work force, raising questions about part-time versus full-time, and so forth.
Beyond the business element, as usual, we have a wide variety of other content for your reading pleasure. From multifaceted, visually stunning pond construction projects to a tour of Koi Mecca, we’ve got you covered. Ed Beaulieu of Aquascape wrote a fascinating article (Pond Diet? Parallels Between Humans and Ponds) that really puts into perspective the dynamic, living features of a pond. The parallels between a pond and the human body may not be apparent at first, but after reading Ed’s article, you’ll see that the similarities really are uncanny!
Finally, for all the craftsmen and artisans out there, we are ramping up for this year’s Water Artisans of the Year contest. The entry info will come out in the next issue (Sept/Oct 2019), so remember to save all the specifications and photos of your best work of the year. The competition gets more and more intense each year, and I personally can’t wait to see what masterpieces you have in store for the Supreme Stream Court this year.
Happy PONDering!
