The First Failure

Dear Boss,

I’m sorry to report that we’ve recently experienced our first hiccup at Hillsdale Renaissance. When I started Hillsdale Renaissance, one of my first purchases was the “Willowbrook Emporium” building at 92 N Broad St. I was fortunate to obtain this property, as it sits at a critical intersection and serves as part of the entrance to downtown Hillsdale. When I purchased the building, the previous owner asked that I work with a young man and help him accomplish his vision of starting a woodfire pizza shop. I agreed to meet with the man and was happy to find that he was young, thoughtful, and dedicated to hard work. I was pleased to work with him to start the pizza shop in the Willowbrook Emporium building.

Our goals were simple: to renovate the existing building and have the shop ready to open by Hillsdale’s spring semester in 2024. Spring classes have begun, but the pizza shop is still not prepared. We missed our deadline by about one and a half months. Renovations are wrapping up soon, but they are finishing too late for the business owner to hire students for the spring semester. Because of this delay, the business must wait until August to open.

There were many issues along the way that contributed to this failure. I should have taken the necessary time to set up the renovation correctly. After I purchased the building, I immediately gathered several contractors for a building walkthrough and gave them broad directives as to what work I thought needed to take place. Assembling a general contractor, an inspector, an architect, and the business owner to have a more foundational discussion and comprehensive planning session would have allowed us a more clear vision of the work that needed to occur. One essential item that was unknown until late in the project was the business owner’s preferred deadline for the renovation to be finished.

Communication with contractors was also subpar. The final goals for the space should have been clearer to contractors, and timelines were nonexistent. This lack of precise planning and communication meant many contractors took longer than expected to complete their work as they were comfortable taking their men off this job to finish other projects. Their (justified) delays meant that other contractors had to push back their schedules. As you can imagine, this caused timing issues to compound as spaces were not ready in time for the planned executions from subsequent contractors.

Finally, perhaps most importantly, the renovation’s necessary scope was much larger than expected. This was my first time renovating an old building, and I needed to prepare for the scope of change orders required to get the building into top condition. One significant discovery concerned the basement. After purchasing and inspecting the building following a rainstorm, we discovered the basement was not waterproofed. We knew that water had been in the basement at one time, but we were unaware that this was an ongoing problem at the time of purchase. This discovery led to a complete gutting and overhaul of the basement, which is now thoroughly waterproofed and in prime condition. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise, as the change allowed us to totally repair the basement and will ensure good conditions for many years.

Despite these setbacks and missteps, we only missed the spring semester by one month. The major renovations are finished; all that remains is for the business owner to install his furnishings and equipment. I am pleased with our ability to quickly adapt and react to the changes, but this deadline unfortunately carried a steeper penalty than most.

Because of these failures I hired a business manager.  That manager is now fully onboard, and he has made life much easier. Hillsdale Renaissance’s business manager is a former contractor with a keen eye for aesthetics and a desire to do things the right way. I knew that if I hired him, I could trust him with important decisions and also trust his advice regarding the direction of a renovation. Because he was a contractor himself, he has a solid understanding of preferred ways to set up a project and how to communicate well with contractors working a job.

Hiring the business manager has allowed for improvements in both process and communication. While our renovation process will need continuous refinement, hiring the business manager allowed Hillsdale Renaissance to take a giant leap forward rather than small steps. Because of this, we have experienced improved and regular communication with contractors. Finally, having him on board has allowed me much more time to move forward on other vital aspects of the overall project, such as starting the traditional trade school (now an “ecclesiastical” trade school) and maintaining good relations with potential donors and investment partners.

It is always frustrating to experience failure, but failure is often the only way to improve. Failure highlights weaknesses and illuminates a path forward, supposing you do not fall off the royal path into either despair or panic. In philosophy, a failed hypothesis allows one to see that his knowledge is lacking, which opens the avenue to an examination of the self, finally resulting in the opportunity for synthesis, understanding, and becoming more whole than one was prior to the initial fault. In Christianity, failure encourages confession, repentance, reconciliation with God, and the opportunity to participate in His works moving forward. In this business, my goal is to allow failure to bring me to a clear understanding of how best to serve my tenants, my employees, my contractors, and my community.