by Simplar | Jan 15, 2026 | Business of Construction, Leadership, Weekly Construction Message
“Two roads converged in a wood and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” ~ Robert Frost Every mature industrial company is nothing more than the net result of the management choices made from the beginning. Put yourself...
by Simplar | Jan 10, 2026 | Built Environment, Business Development, Business Development, Business of Construction, Business, Strategic & Project Planning, Business, Strategic and Project Planning, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Labor & Labor Issues, Leadership, Project Delivery, Weekly Construction Message
Even as the New Year has dawned, I offer these final thoughts on the year just passed. If I could sum up this past year’s dialogue into one overall theme I would say, “Managing a construction business is a completely different activity from managing a...
by Simplar | Dec 26, 2025 | Built Environment, Business Failure, Business of Construction, Business, Strategic & Project Planning, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Leadership, Leadership, Weekly Construction Message
In my experience, construction firms do not operate under firm budget disciplines like most other industrial concerns. Contractors usually craft project budgets in advance but rarely use them as a management tool. Because of the complexity and variability of each...
by Simplar | Oct 30, 2025 | Business, Strategic & Project Planning, Business, Strategic and Project Planning, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Leadership, Leadership, Weekly Construction Message
I have been wrong in my criticism of contractors for ignoring financial statements in the day-to-day running of their businesses. Their instincts, as it turns out, have served them well. They saw something flawed in relying on interim financial statements that were...
by Simplar | Oct 9, 2025 | Built Environment, Business of Construction, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Leadership, Weekly Construction Message
The earliest known instance of human engineering was discovered at Kalambo Falls, Zambia and dates to about 476,000 years ago. Researchers found two logs notched and interlocking forming a simple stable structure. The first examples of human commerce were simple...
by Simplar | Sep 25, 2025 | Built Environment, Business of Construction, Business, Strategic and Project Planning, Labor & Labor Issues, Leadership, Leadership, Organizational Change Management, Project Selection, Risk Management, Risk Management, Weekly Construction Message
Construction is a risky business. Diving from the springboard of project selection into the deep end of the risk pool immerses the contractor in a virtual ocean of risk factors. Like Football games, project financial risk can only be effectively managed before...
