by Simplar | Jun 12, 2025 | Built Environment, Business of Construction, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Leadership, Leadership, Risk Management, Risk Management, Weekly Construction Message
Contractors often wait too long to employ the business management expertise of a qualified Chief Financial Officer. Small and mid-size businesses across all industries have traditionally left accounting to a bookkeeper, hiring an outside accounting firm to close the...
by Simplar | May 23, 2025 | Built Environment, Business Failure, Business of Construction, Business, Strategic and Project Planning, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Leadership, Leadership, Weekly Construction Message
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,...
by Simplar | Apr 25, 2025 | Built Environment, Business of Construction, Leadership, Leadership, Leadership, Weekly Construction Message
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...
by Simplar | Apr 17, 2025 | Built Environment, Business of Construction, Leadership, Leadership, Weekly Construction Message
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...
by Simplar | Apr 10, 2025 | Business Failure, Business Failure, Business of Construction, Business, Strategic and Project Planning, Leadership, Weekly Construction Message
My portrayal of the start-up process of most mom-and-pop contracting firms (which represent a huge portion of the $ 2.1 trillion industry) in last week’s blog was meant to describe the natural recruiting and training process that founders engage in as firms...
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...
