The tale of a water crossing About thirty years ago, I drove an 18-wheeled truck from Farmington, New Mexico, to Page, Arizona. It was my job to deliver a load of gasoline to one of the convenience stores owned by the company I worked for. After I made the delivery and was headed back to home base, a rainstorm marched heavily across the high desert. And, as is often the case during Arizona’s desert rainstorms, the arroyos crossing the road I was traveling began trickling with

Not choosing a path is the same as choosing a path Let’s say you have a choice to cut your hair or to let it grow. If you say, “I don’t want to make a choice,” you’ve already made a choice. Your hair will continue to grow. Here’s another example; each morning, you have a choice to get out of bed or to stay in bed. Yep, you guessed it. If you can’t make a choice, you’ve already chosen. You’re staying in bed. Now, with the world’s reaction to Coronavirus, you’re faced with the

Every Monday morning, The Profit Constructors’ social media posts are routinely filled with something akin to an Irish blessing. They vary slightly week to week, but typically they look like this, “May your coffee be strong, your influence be ever-growing, and your week be profitable.” It is that last portion of the “blessing” we’re discussing today. That part about being profitable – because it never varies. Those are the same words week after week. Even during the Coronavir

Want to know what your employees want, so they feel satisfied with their job? Ask them! It isn’t as daunting as you may think. There are reasons you should be asking the right questions of your team members, both your employees and subs. It makes them know you care. You’re better able to lead. It improves your construction business. It makes them know your care The questions you ask go beyond “How’s it going?” to showing you do have an interest in their well-being. The follow

Respect While researching the topic of respect and dignity at work, I came across many statements like this, “A Dignity and Respect at Work Policy encourages a working environment that is free from Bullying and Harassment.” And, this exact wording of that idea was the very first sentence in one (rather boring) article I read. Other articles harp on how much a company loses when there is a large turnover of workers. Their premise that people will hang around longer when treate

Not another meeting! If you’ve heard or thought, “Not another meeting!” you know what a challenge having or attending meetings can be. Yet, having well thought out and appropriate meetings will enhance your construction company’s ability to perform. Meetings address two basic components of establishing a highly functioning business – information and relationship. Keep in mind; some meetings can be replaced by an email or a shared document. When possible, do that! For the meet

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

Preventing Loss of Tools, Equipment, and Supplies Preventing loss of your stuff I remember the overall depletion of my dad’s spirit the morning he walked out the door to go to work and discovered his tools had all been stolen. Tools which had taken years to accumulate. Tools which had somehow been magically transformed to fit the curves of his hands, his fingers, his being. Yes, there was insurance. No, it didn’t cover the entire loss. It stinks! It stinks when you have to de

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

It’s not easy Firing someone is among the hardest tasks you face. Dismissing an employee is a horrible experience for everyone involved. Yet, the growth and well-being of your construction company depends on being able to tackle the task head-on. In the last 5-part series of posts, I dealt with doing all you can to retain your best hands. Doing so is to your advantage. Still, there are those times when letting someone go is also advantageous. “Hire slow and fire fast” is one

This is the fourth in a 5-part series about specific strategies you can use in order to retain your best construction employees. You can find the first installment here, the second here, and the third here. Have fun! Of all the things that make you a Construction Industry insider, one of the most overlooked is knowing how much fun it can be. Just one of the many reasons to be in the construction trades is the camaraderie which tends to be a part of the scene. The guys and gal

This is the second in a 5-part series about specific strategies you can use in order to retain your best construction employees. You can find the first installment, concerning passing on your vision here. Train your team Construction company owners who receive passion as well as performance from their employees are the ones who hire teachable people, train them well, and then give them the autonomy to make decisions. In order to engage your people there must be ongoing traini

Frequently, what we do to aid our clients as they grow their construction contracting businesses is a steady process wherein the gains are best noticed in hindsight. After a few months of working with us we hear things like, “Yes, that is exactly how I always wanted it to be, but didn’t know how to get there,” or “I had no idea it would be that easy, thank you,” or “This makes so much sense now, we had been doing it wrong for so long I didn’t think we could ever get it straig

You’ve already figured out that when you own a construction contracting or service business your world is colorful. Some of the myriad of “things” on your mind are job sites, retainage, percentage completed, purchase orders, prevailing-wage rates, payroll, change orders, subcontracts, AIA billings, and equipment usage. But did you know about the contractor’s friend called Job Costing? Did you know job costing is really designed to make all the above “things” take their rightf

A successful construction contracting or service business means having great people on your team. Finding and keeping those great people is a vital part of maintaining the success. So, how do you go about not only finding them, but also keeping them around? Long term thinking Of course, people who are looking for a job are concerned with both salary and benefits, yet those two items are only part of the equation. Just as on the sales side of your company it is important to bu

Ever wondered which common traits shape successful owners of construction companies and construction service businesses? Here are seven foundational traits which are found in the “closets” of savvy construction contractors. Garment #1 They are Servant Leaders The following quotes will give you food for thought concerning how savvy contractors lead. “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” John Quincy Adams “You don

You know the story. Company’s coming – we need to get this place straightened up! Truth is, when guests are on their way, getting the “stuff” picked up isn’t much of a problem if there are already systems and routines in place. If like-items are stored in appropriate use-ready places, if each family member knows what his assignment is, if the place is simply cluttered as opposed to being in a state of filth, you can probably nail it in less than an hour. But, what if your hom

In this monthly post, it’s my pleasure to introduce you to one of the many apps that we at Schulte and Schulte endorse and recommend to our customers. As a firm of construction accounting specialists, we love to help companies in the construction industry with their books and finances, part of that help is finding different apps or software that can help our clients out.  During this monthly feature, we take a look at several apps that we love at Schulte and Schulte, LLC, and

In this monthly post, it’s my pleasure to introduce you to one of the many apps that we at Schulte and Schulte endorse and recommend to our customers. As a firm of construction accounting specialists, we love to help companies in the construction industry with their books and finances, part of that help is finding different apps or software that can help our clients out. During this monthly feature, we take a look at several apps that we love at Schulte and Schulte, and dig a

This is the third in a three-part series of articles. You can find part one here and part two here. A great Job Close Out system without documentation is only a rumor about the way your company performs the job close out process. If you don’t “get it in writing” then you don’t actually have a system. What you have is wishful thinking. Think of your construction contracting Job Close Out system as a set of rules, policies, and procedures that trained individuals can repeat as