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Call 911
Last week we established that the high failure rate in the construction industry comes down to a single cause - a shortage of working capital. Some blame failures on a whole variety of causes: labor unrest, natural disasters, economic stress, market shrinkage, unfair...
Is There a Doctor in the House?
Last week we discussed the irony of the construction industry's traditional low-bid acquisition system. It seems you can't win the game of making money if you pick up all your work by being the cheapest price. On the other hand, you can't even play the game if you...
Low-Bid Acquisition
Browse the Dodge Report and submit a competitive bid, to acquire any work that is available. Simple. For many years this was standard operating procedure in the construction industry. Selecting the lowest qualified bidder was mandated by regulation for most public...
Surprise!!!
I experienced this firsthand when my company was sent in by sureties to complete projects interrupted by a contractor's unexpected failure. The Contractors were always shocked that they did not see it coming. The question is why didn't anyone see it coming? It...
Team Building
The most important function of construction "bosses" after they promote themselves to "leader" is to build a professional organization that can provide their clients with expert services. After all, their team is their product. We are not selling finished buildings,...
Leadership
As I pointed out last week, the construction industry is populated largely by entrepreneurial firms. Confidence and independence are the traits that cause entrepreneurs to start their own business. However, when construction firms grow into mid-size or larger...
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