Jade Enterprises

Jade ... a highly polished gemstone ... a precious jewel ... Jeff and Deb Enterprises.

Jade Enterprises is a design and construction company which Jeff and Debbie Speck started in Albuquerque in August, 1983.

What's a design and construction company, compared to an ordinary construction company? "We try to do the design work and build from our own plans," Jeff explains. "That way, I can go through the whole process and I know everything involved in the project. If someone just hands you a set of plans and says, build this, it can be difficult because you don't know what they have been thinking about during the time before you got involved."

And knowing what the homeowner/client wants is of utmost importance to Jade Enterprises. "The client is number one," Jeff says. "I make a serious commitment that the end product and client satisfaction is more important than the profit margin."

Client satisfaction also brings in referral business, which is the major source of new business for the company. "I have just a one line listing in the Yellow Pages," says Jeff. "Most business comes from word of mouth. We are in the home show once a year, and we get maybe two or three jobs from that. The home show also helps re-establish relationships with previous clients.

"We get a fair amount of repeat business. One of our customers calls for an estimate, and because of our existing relationship, they know we'll give them a fair price and do a good job. It's great base work."

Jeff believes the construction trend is going more towards remodeling than new construction. "Each year, I get busier and busier," he says. "Usually we slowdown in the winter, but this year we were busy all through the winter."

Jeff started in construction when he was in high school, and worked for other contractors until starting Jade Enterprises. Debbie Speck worked with him in the business until she became pregnant with their daughter. "When we worked together, we both wore tool belts," Jeff recalls. "We used to work on jobs until as late as 10:00 or 11:00 at night."

When not on site with Jeff, Debbie fielded telephone calls - until Jeff got a cellular phone. Then the calls reduced dramatically. Debbie was so impressed with the usefulness of cellular phones, she said "if I ever quit working here, I'm going to go sell cellular phones!" And that's what she did. They now have a part-time secretary/bookkeeper, who comes to their home/office three times a week. Of course, they built their own home - a southwestern style residence in North Albuquerque Acres, complete with a horse.

Jade Enterprises handles anywhere from 50 to 100 remodeling jobs each year; the quantity depends on the size of the job. "I try to stick to the larger jobs," Jeff says. "The business is really geared that way. They also have had some new construction in Santa Fe Cedar Crest, and North Albuquerque Acres.

Everyone has a favorite project, and Jeffs was a custom home in Cedar Crest, built at the base of South Peak with a beautiful view of the mountains. "We worked approximately six months on the job," he recalls. "Right through the winter -it was a real challenge."

While Jeff is quietly proud of the quality work done by Jade Enterprises and their many customer referrals, they have received public recognition in the form of several recent awards given by the Home Builders Association of Central New Mexico. In 1988, he received the award for the Best Renovation over $50,000. In 1990, Jade Enterprises received three awards: one for the Best Addition between $25- and $50,000; one for the Best Kitchen, and finally the Grand Award for Best Remodel of the Year.

Jade Enterprises has a lot to be proud of.

Courtesy of Profit Builder, Fall, 1992.
Article: Glenise Kyle