One of our businesses is directly involved in the construction and contracting industry. We have successfully operated this business and give our clients a great value for the dollars spent. As a "contractor" I want to say that there are certainly "bad contractors" out there and they should be weeded out. On the other hand a good contractor can have a couple of bad customer experiences and through complaints to the BBB appear as if not a good company to do business with. For example our company put on approximately 250 roofs in 2008 with a customer satisfaction of over 98%. Yet because a few people could not be satisfied, or had issues that did not belong under the eye of the BBB our local rating was very poor. Even after responding and satisfying these complaint issues we still had a poor rating with the BBB.

Now I will bet that if purchased a membership and went through the BBB's ceremonies our rating would improve overnight. The real issue is that the BBB is a complaint clearing house with no room for anything positive other than the BBB's endorsement of a business and its relationship with the BBB. A website called perhaps the Best Business Services or something along this line with a forum type environment which operated much like eBay?s feedback system. Customers and clients can post positives and negatives with opportunity for comments and dialogue. Have businesses subscribe and offer it free to consumers. Basically a fair and balanced reporting site!

One other issue is "bad homeowners" and there are as many of them as there are bad contractors, perhaps more in the current economy! A way to verify these homeowners who screw their contractors would be great! Our company has approximately 15 files right now that are either completed projects owing or outright breach of contract issues that are worth $30,000.00+ in revenue collectively.

Just some thoughts and ideas.
Good luck and pursue your dreams with passion!