by Simplar | Dec 26, 2025 | Built Environment, Business Failure, Business of Construction, Business, Strategic & Project Planning, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Leadership, Leadership, Weekly Construction Message
In my experience, construction firms do not operate under firm budget disciplines like most other industrial concerns. Contractors usually craft project budgets in advance but rarely use them as a management tool. Because of the complexity and variability of each...
by Simplar | Dec 18, 2025 | Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Managing Subcontractors, Weekly Construction Message
One of the things that frustrates me about the relationship between contractors and owners is that owners act like they’re doing us a favor by letting us take all the risk in the financial transaction. It’s as if contractors are not trustworthy and owners...
by Simplar | Dec 11, 2025 | Built Environment, Business of Construction, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Organization Transformation, Partnering, Planning, PM, Project Delivery, Weekly Construction Message
“The ultimate measure of performance is not what is earned, but how the earnings are used to increase a construction company’s value.” (The Business of Construction Contracting, Thomas C. Schleifer, Aaron B. Cohen, Wiley, 2025 The only way for small...
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 | Jan 11, 2024 | Business, Strategic and Project Planning, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Leadership, Weekly Construction Message
The title of this blog is our theme for 2024. It is too hard to make good money in our industry these days. Contractors risk their own capital taking on enormous and highly complex projects that require expert knowledge and execution and often last for years. But,...
