Prior and Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance

Prior and Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance

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...
Look Before You Leap

Look Before You Leap

Contracting is a risky business that works because contractors are risk takers. Every time we acquire a new project we are leaping into the unknown. No one has ever built this next project, and no one can predict its uncertain outcome.  Is there uncertainty that the...
You Pick the Project

You Pick the Project

Don’t let the project pick you. In other words, don’t be tempted to take any project that comes along. Too many contractors scour the marketplace for any project they might be able to snag. They fashion a bid that they think will be competitive but often...
Looking Ahead to 2025

Looking Ahead to 2025

Looking Ahead to 2025 Thomas C Schleifer, Ph.D.  These are the topics we will be discussing in 2025. We’ll be diving a little deeper and our treatment of each topic will be more granular. See you next year. Marketing Reputation Market segmentation Owner...
Opportunistic Growth vs. Planned Growth

Opportunistic Growth vs. Planned Growth

For many years I have been cautioning about the risk inherent in accelerated growth. Construction professionals, however, have not been listening to these cautions because, unlike all other industries, construction has no ongoing business inertia. Contractors must...