Business Building: Managing Your Managers & Supervisors Made Easy!

Business Building: Managing Your Managers & Supervisors Made Easy!

Business Building: Start Planning For A Slowdown?

Business Building: Start Planning For A Slowdown?

Business Building: Do You Enjoy The Benefits of Business Ownership?

Business Building: Do You Enjoy The Benefits of Business Ownership?

Business Building: Steps To Transition Your Company To The Next Generation

Business Building: Steps To Transition Your Company To The Next Generation

Business Building: What’s Your Ongoing Improvement Plan?

Business Building: What’s Your Ongoing Improvement Plan?

Business Building: The Right Role For Company Owner / President

Business Building: The Right Role For Company Owner / President

Business Building: Simple Tips To Increase Your Profit!

Business Building: Simple Tips To Increase Your Profit!

Business Building: What’s Your Vision Of A Perfect Company?

Business Building: What’s Your Vision Of A Perfect Company?

Business Building: Can Technology Help Contractors Hit Their Goals?

Business Building: Can Technology Help Contractors Hit Their Goals?

Business Building: Keep Your Profit Builder Wheel Spinning!

Business Building: Keep Your Profit Builder Wheel Spinning!

Business Building: Get People To Do What You Want

Business Building: Get People To Do What You Want

Business Building: Supercharge Your Sales Process!

Business Building: Supercharge Your Sales Process!

Business Building: Does Busy Make You Money?

Business Building: Does Busy Make You Money?

Business Building: Pay Owners What They’re Worth!

Business Building: Pay Owners What They’re Worth!

Business Building: Get Your BIZ-Systems Working!

Business Building: Get Your BIZ-Systems Working!

Business Building: Are You A Money-Maker?

Business Building: Are You A Money-Maker?

Business Building: Stop Profit Margin Shrinkage!

Business Building: Stop Profit Margin Shrinkage!

Business Building: What’s Your Company Worth? Is Your Company Valuable?

Business Building: What’s Your Company Worth? Is Your Company Valuable?

Business Building: Leaders Change To Make BIZ Better!

Business Building: Leaders Change To Make BIZ Better!

Business Building: Where Do You Want Your BIZ To Go?

Business Building: Where Do You Want Your BIZ To Go?

Business Building: Performance Pay Plans Improve Results!

Business Building: Performance Pay Plans Improve Results!

Business Building: No More Excuses For Poor Results!

Business Building: No More Excuses For Poor Results!

Business Building: Customer Focus = Bottom-Line Profit!

Business Building: Customer Focus = Bottom-Line Profit!

Business Building: Do You Have A BLUEPRINT For Success?

Business Building: Do You Have A BLUEPRINT For Success?

Business Building: What Should YOU Be Doing To Build A Better BIZ?

Business Building: What Should YOU Be Doing To Build A Better BIZ?

Business Building: Sell What Customers Want To Win More Work!

Business Building: Sell What Customers Want To Win More Work!

Business Building: Get A Handle On Your Numbers!

Business Building: Get A Handle On Your Numbers!

Business Building: Stay On-Track With BIZ-Scorecards!

Business Building: Stay On-Track With BIZ-Scorecards!

Business Building: Sales Is A Numbers Game!

Business Building: Sales Is A Numbers Game!

Business Building: Tough Guys Finish First!

Business Building: Tough Guys Finish First!

Business Building: Maximize Your Mark-Up With Variable Rates!

Business Building: Maximize Your Mark-Up With Variable Rates!

Business Building: Fix Your BIZ Fast!

Business Building: Fix Your BIZ Fast!

Business Building: Buy Low & Sell High!

Business Building: Buy Low & Sell High!

Business Building: Get Off The Low Price Treadmill

Business Building: Get Off The Low Price Treadmill

Business Building: Draft A Winning Playbook!

Business Building: Draft A Winning Playbook!

Business Building: Go Small To Make It Big!

Business Building: Go Small To Make It Big!

Business Building: 8 Steps To Become A Wealthy Contractor!

Business Building: 8 Steps To Become A Wealthy Contractor!

Business Building: Get The Monkey Off Your Back!

Business Building: Get The Monkey Off Your Back!

Business Building: Draft A Blueprint For Success!

Business Building: Draft A Blueprint For Success!

Business Building: Draft A Blueprint For Success!

Business Building: Draft A Blueprint For Success!

Business Building: Catch More Fish!

Business Building: Catch More Fish!

Business Building: Lead A ‘Best In Class’ Construction BIZ!

Business Building: Lead A ‘Best In Class’ Construction BIZ!

Business Building: Set Simple Standards To Improve Field Productivity!

Business Building: Set Simple Standards To Improve Field Productivity!

Business Building: Provide Excellent Customer Service And Watch Your Company Grow!

Business Building: Provide Excellent Customer Service And Watch Your Company Grow!

Business Building: You Are What You Want!

Business Building: You Are What You Want!

Translation: Business Building

Translation: Business Building

Business Building: Mandatory Management Meetings Maximize Money!

Business Building: Mandatory Management Meetings Maximize Money!

Business Building Blocks That Work!

Business Building Blocks That Work!

Business Building

Business Building

Business Building: You Can't Grow Without the Right People!

Business Building: You Can't Grow Without the Right People!

Business Building: Track Job Costs To Make More Money!

Business Building: Track Job Costs To Make More Money!

December 2016: Business Building

If I asked each of your construction project managers, field superintendents and crew foremen exactly what they were accountable and responsible for, would they know? Could they list what targets, goals and results they were trying to accomplish on the p

November 2016: Business Building

If you were asked by a good friend to pour money down the drain, would you do it to make them happy and avoid conflict? No! Then why do you do it on construction projects for your customers? Contractors often try to avoid conflicts and keep their custome

October 2016: Business Building

If you were the general manager of an NBA basketball team, one of your top goals would be to have the best players in each position on your team. With only five players on the court at any one time, every one of them is critical to winning. If you don’t

September 2016: Business Building

How many times have you been delayed on construction projects when you don’t have all the necessary approvals in time to order materials and keep the job moving? For example, forgetting to get the concrete foundation design mix approved by the structural

August 2016: Business Building

I get asked about employee incentive and profit sharing programs by every contractor I coach. Construction business owners seem to be looking for the magic bullet that will motivate their people to work harder and produce more. Some hope that providing a

June 2016: Business Building

Building a great construction business is not easy. It takes a burning desire to grow, make a profit, and continually improve by trying new ideas, installing systems, managing operational structure, and hitting results. You must love what you do, love cu

Business Building: Are Employees Stealing From You?

Have you ever had the worst day possible? One of my construction company coaching clients recently told me a long and winding tale of employee theft and deception too horrible to believe. He had recently hired a new controller. As the controller began to

Business Building: Have You Noticed Me Lately?

Construction is a difficult business with lots of moving parts. On every project there are 5,947 chances for things to go wrong. Contractors find themselves at the mercy of project plans, changes, payments, scheduling, weather, labor, equipment, material

March 2016: Business Building

I’ve learned that most construction company owners have a common fear: the fear of hiring the wrong person. And to avoid making a hiring mistake, they usually postpone hiring for months, years or forever. When owners don’t fill positions they need to fil

February 2016: Business Building

Too often, managers call too many meetings to report on what’s happening without involving the attendees, asking for input, having meaningful discussions, or adjourning with an action plan. In some meetings, the leader rambles along and doesn’t keep the

January 2016: Business Building

As a construction business owner or manager, you struggle to get it all done – no matter how hard you try. Why? You’re trying to be and do four different things or business tasks simultaneously. To grow your business, make a profit, and get it to work, y

November 2015: Business Building

Last week, I was coaching a construction business owner client. He told me his employees were terrible, even though most of them had been with him for five years or more. They weren’t accountable or responsible for anything, getting work done on time, or

October 2015: Business Building

Builders, contractors and subcontractors complain they can’t find enough good trained help. It seems like they continually hope for a miracle, but don’t want to put in the time, energy and resources to build a great place to work that attracts, retains a

September 2015: Business Building

Get over it! People don’t want to follow big, bad bosses who order people around and tell them what to do. People want to follow a leader who has a passionate vision, specific targets and goals, excellent communication skills, a caring nature, and the ab

August 2015: Business Building

Construction is a difficult business, with lots of moving parts. On every project, there are 5,947 chances for things to go wrong. Contractors find themselves at the mercy of project plans, changes, payments, scheduling, weather, labor, equipment, materi

July 2015: Business Building

Playing a sport without knowing the score doesn’t bring out the best in your players. Imagine coaching a basketball team without keeping score. You would put in the best players you have, call plays designed to outscore the opponent, and hope to finish t

June 2015: Business Building

The main purpose of construction field crew timecards is to keep track of employee hours, so you can pay them properly for the hours they work, right? Not entirely. If you also want to track accurate job costs, your timecard can become an important busin

May 2015: Business Building

When I first started my commercial general contracting company more than 35 years ago, I acted as both the field superintendent and project manager. After finding a potential customer who needed a project built, I estimated and bid the jobs, negotiated w

April 2015: Business Building

To achieve or beat construction project goals, your field crew and team leaders must know what you want them to accomplish. Implementing a winning strategy starts with a scoreboard showing all of the tasks, milestones, and measurable targets you want the

March 2015: Business Building

Many contractors don’t know their exact job costs, equipment costs, overhead budget or how much profit they should make. Without an understanding of your numbers, working hard in a financial vacuum keeps you busy and broke, instead of productive and prof

January 2015: Business Building

During my first seven years building my construct

December 2014: Business Building

Playing a sport without knowing the score doesn’t

September 2014: Business Building

Shooting par in golf means that you did exactly w

August 2014: Business Building

Selling construction services is simple. Price ev

June 2014: Business Building

Last week I was coaching a construction business owner client. He told me his employees were terrible, even though most of them had been with him for five years or more.

May 2014: Business Building

Who said business is slower? The economy slowed profitable sales, but it increased most construction business owners??? workloads. Cutting costs, reducing staff, and lowering overhead expenses kept most managers busier than ever trying to get every

April 2014: Business Building

Years ago the construction business was a lot simpler. All you had to do to be successful was bid it, build it and bill it. To grow your company, you just worked a little harder.

January 2014: Business Building

Every dollar counts, and every penny wasted is precious. Losing small change on your construction projects can add up to thousands of dollars at the end of the year. So, what are you to do?

November 2013: Business Building

Builders, contractors and subcontractors complain they can???t find enough good trained help.

October 2013: Business Building

Does it often seem like you can???t get your key employees to accept more responsibility? You try to get your people to take on more accountability, but they keep asking you to help make every decision for them.

July 2013: Business Building

Does this sound familiar? ???It???s impossible to compete in this tight construction market as there???s always too much competition.??? ???The only way I get any jobs is when we leave too much money on the table.??? ???I get tired of cutting our b

June 2013: Business Building

There are lots of ways to make a profit. They include cutting costs, reducing overhead, improving field productivity, accurate estimating, making zero mistakes in the field, and having an excellent training program.

May 2013: Business Building

Ever feel like the more you do yourself, the less you get done? Most business owners work far too hard for the return they get.

April 2013: Business Building

Remember when you were first dating? To get to know the other person, you spent lots of time talking, having fun, and doing things together.

March 2013: Business Building

Remember when you were first dating? To get to know the other person, you spent lots of time talking, having fun, and doing things together.

February 2013: Business Building

Business owners and managers fail to realize that squeezing out the last drop of productivity, cutting their overhead and costs to the bone, working harder, and continuing to do business the same way with the same old customers and project types won??

January 2013: Business Building

It seems as if business owners hope hard work will eventually make them some money. But the odds they hit a jackpot, win the lottery, or inherit a fortune to create profits are better than continuing to run their businesses the way they do.

December 2012: Business Building

Several years ago, I made a resolution to take charge of my business life, put my priorities first and focus on building loyal customer relationships.

October 2012: Business Building

Ask 50 construction company owners what a perfect business would be like for them. You???ll likely get 49 different answers.

September 2012: Business Building

The economy has taken its toll on almost every contractor you talk to. Contractors who relied almost exclusively on their reputations and being low bidders to win contracts are hurting the most.

August 2012: Business Building

The economy has taken its toll on almost every contractor you talk to. Contractors who relied almost exclusively on their reputations and being low bidders to win contracts are hurting the most.

July 2012: Business Building

Every construction company wants a simple solution to charge higher prices and win more work than the competition. But why should customers award your company contracts, unless you are the low bidder?

May 2012: Business Building

Several years ago, I went to a goals seminar to get control of my life. The following Monday, I got to work early and made a list of things to do.

March 2012: Business Building

The old days of working with your customer are over. In the old days, most contractors had a group of loyal customers with whom they worked and often negotiated the final terms and price for construction contracts.

January 2012: Business Building

What drives you crazy about managing your company? Is it trying to get paid, dealing with customers, having to cut your prices, scheduling workers, or making sure everything is done right?

November 2011: Business Building

Have you noticed that people who think and act ???small,??? stay small? And, those who think and act ???big??? are the ones who make it happen? Being ???HUGE??? is attitude, altitude and active action.

October 2011: Business Building

Have you noticed that people who think and act ???small,??? stay small? And, those who think and act ???big??? are the ones who make it happen? Being ???HUGE??? is attitude, altitude and active action.

August 2011: Business Building

Builders, contractors and subcontractors continually complain that they can???t find enough trained help to get all their work done. People, or a lack of them, is their biggest problem.

July 2011: Business Building

What is your top business priority every day? Where do you spend your time? Is it paying attention to details, the provision of customer service, supervising, scheduling crews or subcontractors, ordering materials, pricing jobs or