by Simplar | Feb 6, 2025 | Built Environment, Business Development, Business of Construction, Business, Strategic & Project Planning, Financial Management and Risk, Leadership, Leadership, Organizational Change Management, Risk Management, Risk Management, Weekly Construction Message
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...
by Simplar | Feb 22, 2024 | Financial Management and Risk, Organization Transformation, Organizational Change Management, Organizational Change Management, Organizational Change Management, Risk Management, Weekly Construction Message
The term “Corporate Darwinism” was the title of a business book published in 1966 that tracked the stages of birth, growth, and death of the typical American industrial corporation. According to the research, all start-ups that survive pass through these...
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 | Dec 14, 2023 | Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Risk Management, Risk Management, Weekly Construction Message
Every bet has a winner and a loser. The bookie always wins a little, but the bettor often loses a lot. What’s the difference? The Recognition and Management of Risk. Risk Recognition Both the bookie and the bettor recognize that every bet has a winner and a loser....
by Simplar | Oct 19, 2023 | Business of Construction, Project Delivery, Risk Management, Risk Management, Weekly Construction Message
The two major risk factors built into contracting: 1) Chronic under-capitalization 2) Highly complex transaction Chronic Under Capitalization Every contractor I have worked with over these past 40 years has been plagued by cash flow problems at one time or another....
by Simplar | Sep 21, 2023 | Business Failure, Business Failure, Risk Management, Risk Management, Risk Management, Weekly Construction Message
If you say “contracting” to anyone they immediately think of “construction”. The “building” industry has become identified with the signing of a contract at the point of sale. “Builders” have become “contractors” in the eyes of the public. This misidentification has...
