Editor’s note: Our social calendar (including blog posts) is scheduled weeks (sometimes months) in advance. The following post was written over a month ago and “calendared” at that time. In other words, we did not plan this post to coincide with the Coronavirus scare and reaction. But it has proven to be well-timed. Trust is about taking risks I learned of some folks who took in a young foster care child who had been abused by his parents. He was unwilling to trust. He couldn

Proper budgets and estimates If your commercial construction contracting business is to survive, then you must be equipped to provide proper budgets and estimates. More importantly, if your construction business is to be profitable, then having budgeting and estimating skills in place is essential. Develop a total project budget Developing a project budget includes: Analyzing requirements and drawings to verify the scope Determining cost and time parameters Allocating enough

How neglecting some things in your business pays off Here’s the deal; big picture thinking is a core leadership competency. Yes, as a leader, you must see the forest and let others be concerned about the trees. Savvy construction leaders focus more on steering long-range objectives, providing inspiration, and motivating others. They are likely to: Anticipate opportunities, contingencies, and potential problems See idea, theory, and concept connections Understand people networ

Organizing Time is about organizing time When you find yourself running from one business fire to another all day long, there’s a good chance you didn’t take TIME to organize your time. From calendars to to-do lists and everything between, there are plenty of time organizing tools. Calendars Clocks Watches Apps SaaS Timers Checklists To-do lists In this article by John Rampton on Forbes, you’ll find twenty time management tips. All of the tips are valid and can make organizin

Being Patient for the long-haul Learning to be patient takes . . . well, it takes a modicum of patience. And, I’m among those who’ve had to learn the hard way how impatience is a sure-fire way to run smackdab into trouble – quickly. As a matter of fact, you and I both know it is often the case that we should take time to wait prudently to make the best logical move. Yet, we live in a fast-paced world where opportunities, bids, safety mishaps, product shortages, and lack of sk

How Financial Acumen puts you ahead When you gain financial acumen, you understand how to use financial reports along with all the accompanying metrics to monitor your commercial contracting company’s performance and make proper adjustments. Think about it. When you make decisions based on both historical and predictive indicators you gain a better outlook for success. Therefore, gaining financial acumen means you possess a solid understanding of what drives your company’s pr

Building Codes in Stone So, you think it is hard to deal with city hall? Then, you gotta check this out. The beginning of documented building codes came from Babylonian king Hammurabi, who reigned from 1792 to 1750 B.C. The black stone stele containing the Code of Hammurabi was carved from a single, four-ton slab of black diorite. Most of us know that dealing with a slab of stone weighing in at four tons, measuring 7 feet 3 inches high, with a circumference at the base of 6 f

Subcontractors – What’s Your Story? Subcontractors create The culture you create within the confines of your construction subcontracting business radiates. That culture becomes the story your construction company is known for. What story is your subcontracting business telling? Are your crews known for showing up on time prepared to give it their all? Or do they have the reputation for being late and leaving the site frequently to retrieve forgotten tools? Are your people the

Delegating in the Construction Arena Delegating: a leadership tool Every day you send people into the field or to their desks to accomplish a variety of tasks. You’ve delegated a certain portion of the work to each of them. How well they perform is based on their skill level and on how well you’ve delegated. Therefore, your job isn’t to accomplish the things your employees or subs are tasked with. Furthermore your job is to see to it they have the proper understanding and the

Outsourcing Accounting – How to know when it is time Outsourcing accounting too soon If you: Are an average (non-construction related) small business owner who factors in the time needed for administrative and accounting tasks you can probably wait to outsource until such time as you become quite busy. Can’t identify the business result you want to see (an actual benefit to you or your business) perhaps you should wait. You must be clear in your own head about what you’re pay

Subcontractors in Construction – A view from both sides Subcontractors are not alone Listen Subcontractors, more than once I’ve heard construction business owners mention one of the reasons they decided to go into business was because they wanted to be the boss rather than take instruction from the boss. Some have even jested that their elementary report cards often had a notation stating, “does not play well with others.” Truth is, “playing well with others” is a major part

Business is great Business is great – until it isn’t. The construction contracting business is well known for its boom or bust nature. Using the boom to prepare for the bust is simply a matter of having good business sense. And, two ways you make the preparation are considering future financial needs and creating documented, sustaining processes. This is the third in a three-part series dealing with growing an established construction business. Taking it up a level. Getting b

Construction business growth Construction, at its very heart, is exhilarating. Being part of an industry that manufactures the clients’ desired product on site is challenging, stimulating, and fulfilling. Growing a construction business is hard work and requires more than wishful thinking or hoping things will fall in place. In part one of this three-part series we looked at one area, “dealing with changing regulations” which contractors must heed in order to succeed. If you

You’ve gone beyond finding your first client. You’ve gotten past all the start-up issues. You are ready to take the next steps to grow and prosper your construction business. Grow and prosper in ways which are likely to surpass your original dream. It is fun to look back on and remember those heady days when you first became a business owner. It is even more fun to look ahead at what you’ll accomplish next. Now it is time to roll up your sleeves and get to work – on the next

Who our clients are Our clients are construction subcontractors. Yet there is more to the picture. They’re ambitious, smart, determined, enthusiastic, resourceful, industrious go-getters. We understand the position many of our clients are in when they come to us. They’re splitting their time between: returning phone calls developing new products or services going on sales calls hiring or firing employees managing social media doing the bookkeeping answering email checking the

Cost is something we can all understand – or not There is this interesting mindset we humans get caught up in known as the Lost Cost Fallacy, otherwise known as Honoring a Sunk Cost. David McRaney at You Are Not So Smart goes into detail concerning what is entailed in Lost Cost Fallacy. What it boils down to is, it’s hard to abandon a person, a product, or a process once you’ve invested time or money into any of them. It is hard to give-up when you’ve spent so much. You don’t

Your technology choices Finding technology that is relevant to running your subcontracting business is easy. Right? *Beep* Wrong! Finding tech is easy. Finding tech that is relevant is a totally different picture. Two starter questions to answer are: Can we afford it? Do we (really) need it? Answer these further questions and they will help clarify the answers to the initial two: Will this be advantageous to our clients? How can this make it easier, more efficient, and more e

Phones anywhere on a construction site What do you think? Should there be phones on your construction site? There are a number of construction business services which are based on the availability of phones and other mobile electronic devices. There are mobile applications for managing field operations on just about every corner. Yet, for the purpose of this discussion we’re going to stick with phones. Everyone is doing it Do you remember the days you tried to convince your m

Hubdoc! Whether or not you faithfully watch the annual Hollywood extravaganza known as the Academy Awards, you know there is a competitive division known as “Best Supporting Actor.” Much like the movie world, the real-life accounting world has tech. Tech which supports the big-name players. Those in the supporting rolls make the movie (or the accounting) so much better. Let’s break this down The best tools you own don’t perform well if they’re used with the wrong attachments.

I grew up hearing this phrase, “Let go and let God.” The jist of the phrase is to allow God to handle the things you can’t. It is a simple concept to understand, yet a devilishly difficult discipline to achieve. And, if we have a difficult time allowing God (you know – the guy who can do ANYTHING) to handle things for us, how much harder it is to allow people to take over the things we’re finding difficult to deal with. Yet, if you’re serious about guiding your construction c