by Simplar | Jun 23, 2025 | Board of Directors, Built Environment, Business of Construction, Business, Strategic & Project Planning, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Leadership, Risk Management, Weekly Construction Message
I have been waging a lifelong campaign to convince contractors that financial management is a professional skill and a critical component of their team. Our profits are limited by unique risk factors like multiple simultaneous projects, extended schedule, and risks of...
by Simplar | Jun 5, 2025 | Built Environment, Business of Construction, Business, Strategic & Project Planning, Leadership
Unexamined beliefs play a role in the management decision making process and deeply held beliefs go largely unexamined. That is to say, we aren’t even aware that we believe what we believe. The problem arises when these unexamined beliefs affect our decision...
by Simplar | May 15, 2025 | Business, Strategic & Project Planning, Cash Flow (Getting Paid), Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Growth, Growth, Leadership, Weekly Construction Message
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...
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...
