by Simplar | Oct 26, 2023 | Business Failure, Business Failure, Cash Flow (Getting Paid), Weekly Construction Message
The process of estimating and preparing bids is one of our most essential management tasks, including direct and indirect costs. Professional estimators have a detailed knowledge of construction materials, specifications, techniques, codes, and pricing trends as they...
by Simplar | Apr 10, 2025 | Business Failure, Business Failure, Business of Construction, Business, Strategic and Project Planning, Leadership, Weekly Construction Message
My portrayal of the start-up process of most mom-and-pop contracting firms (which represent a huge portion of the $ 2.1 trillion industry) in last week’s blog was meant to describe the natural recruiting and training process that founders engage in as firms...
by Simplar | Apr 3, 2025 | Business Failure, Business, Strategic & Project Planning, Leadership, Leadership, Leadership, Weekly Construction Message
The First Projects “How recruiting and training begins.” After a contracting company gets underway, the founder rarely works on the job site. In the startup stage, the founder is usually involved in procuring materials and looking around the market for the next...
by Simplar | Feb 20, 2025 | Business Failure, Business, Strategic & Project Planning, Business, Strategic and Project Planning, Business, Strategic and Project Planning, Financial Management and Risk, Risk Management, Risk Management, Weekly Construction Message
Continuing last week’s risk discussion: Recognizing, identifying, and measuring risk is a critical pre-bid task. A Las Vegas sports book doesn’t wait to set the line until after the game. A handicapper who failed to take a key player’s injured wrist into account or...
by Simplar | Feb 13, 2025 | Built Environment, Business Development, Business of Construction, Business, Strategic & Project Planning, Business, Strategic and Project Planning, Change Management, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Growth, Growth, Labor & Labor Issues, Leadership, Leadership, Managing Subcontractors, Project Selection, Project Teams, Risk Management, Weekly Construction Message
Designers avoid risk, owners prefer to pass it along, and contractors absorb it. Today’s construction risk environment is dramatically different than it was in the last several decades, and risk factors are mutating just enough to be almost unrecognizable. It is...
