by Simplar | Jul 17, 2025 | Built Environment, Business Failure, Business Failure, Business of Construction, Cash Flow (Getting Paid), Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Leadership, Risk Management, Risk Management, Weekly Construction Message
Managing cash flow in a construction company is a daunting task. The unique nature of the construction transaction makes it almost impossible to match cash flowing in with cash flowing out. Low bid margins are often so tight they’re insufficient to maintain ongoing...
by Simplar | Jul 3, 2025 | Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Risk Management, Risk Management, Weekly Construction Message
Back in the 1960s “What Me Worry” was the masthead motto of a little counterculture publication known as Mad Magazine that is still around somewhere to this day. Some of you more senior readers out there may remember it. At that time, my brother and I were...
by Simplar | Jun 26, 2025 | Built Environment, Cash Flow (Getting Paid), Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Leadership, Leadership, Risk Management, Risk Management, Weekly Construction Message
A major theme throughout the Godfather trilogy is betrayal by enemies hidden within the family. “You’re nothing to me now, Fredo” Al Pacino says to his brother who has betrayed him in Godfather 2. “Nothing happens to Fredo while my mother is...
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 1, 2025 | Built Environment, Business of Construction, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Risk Management, Weekly Construction Message
I experienced this firsthand when my company was sent in by sureties to complete projects interrupted by a contractor’s unexpected failure. The Contractors were always shocked that they did not see it coming. The question is why didn’t anyone see it...
by Simplar | Mar 20, 2025 | Built Environment, Business of Construction, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Risk Management, Weekly Construction Message
It’s tough to build something on time and exactly as specified. It is even tougher to make money doing it. It seems like the deck is stacked against us. A project in progress is like a leaky vessel that oozes money out of every crack. Cracks can appear in...
