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 Failure, Business Failure
INSIGHTS INTO THE RISK OF FAILURE If that’s all it takes to succeed in the construction business is a pickup truck, a box of tools, a cast-iron stomach, and a forgiving wife, why do so many contractors fail? Check next to the causes listed below that you believe most...
by Simplar | Jan 14, 2021 | Business Failure
“How did you go Bankrupt?” “Two Ways…gradually…then suddenly.” (The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway) Subject: financial planning Ernest Hemingway, apparently knew more about business failure than some executives, scholars, and politicians gathered around the recent...
by Simplar | Jan 14, 2021 | Business Failure
Current Construction Recovery Top Line vs. Bottom Line Since 2012 the construction industry has been enjoying a robust recovery. In this blog I have been alerting contractors to the business risks hidden in the euphoria of construction market upswings. Now that we...
by Simplar | Jan 14, 2021 | Business Failure, Business Failure
The Big Dig No discussion of the failure rate of megaprojects would be complete without a careful look at Boston’s Big Dig, the largest and most challenging highway project in the history of the United States. Few megaprojects have been accused by so many of taking...
by Simplar | Jan 14, 2021 | Business Failure, Managing Subcontractors
A Negative Bias We called this blog “Let’s Talk Business” (letstalkbusiness.net) because we wanted to emphasize business management issues in construction as opposed to operations, engineering, or design. Many senior managers in the construction industry started as...
