by Simplar | Jan 17, 2025 | Business, Strategic and Project Planning, Project Selection, Project Selection, Risk Management, Weekly Construction Message
Profitability in construction begins with project selection. Ours is the only industry that signs a binding contract to sell our service for a fixed price, not knowing exactly what it will cost to provide that service. What’s worse, we bid in a highly...
by Simplar | Jan 25, 2024 | Project Selection, Project Selection, Risk Management, Risk Management, Weekly Construction Message
I have railed against low bid contracting for many years as the root cause of shrinking contractor profit margins and increasing contractor failure. In principle, it is an insane way to do business (selling a product for the lowest price rather than the highest price...
by Simplar | Aug 17, 2023 | Business, Strategic & Project Planning, Business, Strategic and Project Planning, Business, Strategic and Project Planning, Project Selection, Project Selection, Project Selection, Weekly Construction Message
The Death of Expertise Thomas C Schleifer, Ph.D. The invention of the internet, powerful search engines, and the cellphone have made supposed experts of almost everyone. Some doctors are actually retiring early because they are tired of arguing with patients who use...
by Simplar | Jul 20, 2023 | Business Development, Business Development, Business, Strategic & Project Planning, Business, Strategic and Project Planning, Project Selection, Project Selection, Weekly Construction Message
Tony the Temper Thomas C Schleifer, Ph.D. Contractors and their senior executives don’t pull wire, pour concrete, drive nails, or dig holes. They don’t do the estimating, scheduling, or accounting for ongoing work. Once a contract is signed and a project is underway,...
by Simplar | Feb 23, 2023 | Built Environment, Business of Construction, Project Selection, Project Selection, Risk Management, Risk Management, Risk Management, Weekly Construction Message
Navigating Trends Thomas C Schleifer, Ph.D. I love this quote from a contractor who offered feedback on last week’s blog. “If we can’t do anything about trends, what are we supposed to do?” You have to love that. It reeks of the frustration that we contractors feel...
by Simplar | Mar 3, 2022 | Growth, Growth, Project Selection, Project Selection, Project Selection, Project Selection, Weekly Construction Message
SIZE MATTERS Warren Buffet once famously said: “I buy expensive suits… They just look cheap on me.” In this disrupted, unpredictable market of 2022, project selection may be the most important decision construction senior management will make. Last...
