by Simplar | Nov 14, 2024 | Business, Strategic & Project Planning, Business, Strategic and Project Planning, Financial Management and Risk, Growth, Growth, Leadership, Weekly Construction Message
For many years I have been cautioning about the risk inherent in accelerated growth. Construction professionals, however, have not been listening to these cautions because, unlike all other industries, construction has no ongoing business inertia. Contractors must...
by Simplar | Nov 7, 2024 | Built Environment, Business, Strategic and Project Planning, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Leadership, Project Selection, Risk Management, Weekly Construction Message
A Case Study I was very young when I found myself running the field operation of the contracting firm my brother and I started. After a number of years, we were the successful bidder on a church nearby. We diligently submitted our first payment requisition to the...
by Simplar | Oct 31, 2024 | Business of Construction, Financial Management and Risk, Weekly Construction Message
Contractors usually start out as closely held companies that grow their business gradually over time. Many have formal education as engineers or constructors, but rarely do they have any business education or experience. Their first bookkeeper is often their spouse or...
by Simplar | Oct 17, 2024 | Built Environment, Business of Construction, Financial Management and Risk, Weekly Construction Message
Big business starts as small business especially in the construction industry, which is primarily made up of tens of thousands of small and medium sized privately owned companies. Today I am addressing the contractors who are still of a size to be building their...
by Simplar | Oct 3, 2024 | Built Environment, Business of Construction, Organization Transformation, Uncategorized, Weekly Construction Message
The process of building an organization that can execute profitable construction contracts sometimes begins with asking your spouse to answer the phone two days a week. Regardless of how incidental it may feel, every time you hire new personnel you are building your...
by Simplar | Sep 26, 2024 | Built Environment, Business of Construction, Financial Management and Risk, Uncategorized, Weekly Construction Message
I have often said that the first sign that a young contractor is developing business acumen is when they hire their first CFO. If you’re operating any size construction business larger than $5 million annual turnover you must have a professional CFO. Period. No...
