Ready-Fire-Aim

Ready-Fire-Aim

Capital capacity is just a fancy way of saying having enough cash around to finance projects ongoing plus projects under consideration. The construction industry is grossly undercapitalized. This, I believe, is the primary risk factor that contractors deal with daily...
Envisioning The Future

Envisioning The Future

Envisioning The Future Thomas C Schleifer, Ph.D. “What do you mean by envisioning the future?” was the first question I received just minutes after posting last week’s message. Whenever a poetic phrase like that occurs to me, I often hesitate to use it because I...
Disruption

Disruption

Disruption Thomas C Schleifer, Ph.D. For the past eight weeks we have been focusing on managing under disorderly market conditions. The feedback I have been getting from industry leaders is that they believe this current disorderly market is a temporary phenomenon...
No Guesses – No Surprises, Number Two

No Guesses – No Surprises, Number Two

No Guesses – No Surprises, Number Two Dr Thomas C Schleifer Last week we looked at how a construction CFO crafts a cash flow plan, project by project. A cash flow plan is also an essential part of a construction company’s mid-term (six months to a year)...
SURPRISE We’ve Run Out of Money

SURPRISE We’ve Run Out of Money

SURPRISE We’ve Run Out of Money! What surprised me most over the many years my consultancy finished hundreds of jobs for sureties after contractors had failed mid-project was how many contractors were surprised when they ran out of money. Most of them believed...