ForConstructionPros.com

We've all heard it from business management experts and our older peers, and sometimes the optimism is hard to swallow. But guess what - they're right! When times get tough, jumping ship isn't always the smart thing to do; stick around, tough out the bad times, and there's a good chance when things turn around you'll come out on top.

Finding opportunity in a downturn can mean a variety of things. It might mean picking up customers from former competitors who go out of business. Or it might mean taking advantage of extra free time to complete educational courses or train your employees on a new technique. Whatever opportunities might present themselves to your company, take advantage of them and most likely they'll benefit you in some way down the road.

Our January contractor profile looks at Bartley Corporation out of Silver Spring, Md. Now here's a smart company that looks for opportunity in economies good and bad, but during my visit to their headquarters in early December I became fully aware of just how proactive this company has been in regards to looking for opportunity in the downturn.

With money tight throughout the economy, Bartley Corp. saw an opportunity to market the company's offerings in "green" concrete, namely concrete homes, insulated concrete walls and pervious concrete. They saw a number of homeowners looking for ways to save money on heating bills. By teaming with local home builders and making themselves visible at local home shows, the company is starting to land a number of jobs through its "green" marketing.

Another thing Bartley Corp. did was bring in a new employee, Andy Bartley, son of the company's president, Tom Bartley, to focus on several marketing and promotional projects within the company. Andy, who has a background in computer science, redesigned Bartley Corp.'s website and created a series of promotional brochures for the company. Each brochure explains a different aspect of Bartley Corp.'s line-up of services so the company can send only the brochures applicable to a specific client when sending out job proposals.