by Simplar | Nov 6, 2025 | Business of Construction, Cash Flow (Getting Paid), Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Managing Subcontractors, Weekly Construction Message
Contractors handle large amounts of money but get to keep only a very small portion. In this way, the construction financial transaction imposes yet another unintended role and risk on contractors. They are functioning as fiduciaries at great expense to themselves. As...
by Simplar | May 29, 2025 | Built Environment, Business of Construction, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Project Selection, Project Selection, Weekly Construction Message
“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” As most of my readers I am sure will testify, I don’t often quote Shakespeare. But the confusion around the word profit in the construction industry has driven me to desperate measures. What do we mean...
by Simplar | Oct 24, 2024 | Built Environment, Business of Construction, Business, Strategic and Project Planning, Labor & Labor Issues, Organization Transformation, Project Delivery
The construction industry is perhaps the best example of an industry built on firmly held but largely unexamined beliefs. Most contractors I have worked with over the last 30 years believe that: top line growth in sales is always good; their company can build...
by Simplar | Nov 3, 2022 | Built Environment, Business Failure, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Weekly Construction Message
CLEAN UP YOUR BOOKS Thomas C Schleifer, Ph.D. While operating the nation’s largest workout firm for sureties, I had occasion to audit the financial statements of hundreds of construction companies that had failed mid-project. While the causes of those failures varied...
by Simplar | Jan 14, 2021 | Business, Strategic & Project Planning
Introduction to Business Planning The best lesson in planning I ever had was not in business school. It was attending a normal weekly contractor staff meeting and listening to an experienced and knowledgeable old-time contractor teach his management team how to manage...
