A Financial Rx
By By Lou Stoug as featured in Construction Today
In today’s slow economy, financial health is more important than ever. Is your firm due for a check-up?
There’s no denying that times are tough in the construction industry. Yet there are many actions contractors can take to improve the financial health of their companies. A vitally important aspect of one’s overall strategy is to have a working understanding of business finance options. That’s especially true for those who want to sell, buy and start a construction company or find a way to thrive in the current economic downturn. In these cases, …
The Ps of Success
By Tyler Burgess as featured in Construction Today
Thriving in a down economy takes a little business savvy and drive to increase performance, productivity and profit.
Despite the public perception that the economy is in a downturn, many contractors are thriving and turning a profit. That’s because these owners spend their time managing “the business of the business” rather than overseeing individual construction projects. By doing so, they more easily adapt to fluctuating economic conditions that can wreak havoc on performance, productivity and profits.
Managing the business of the business involves knowing, understanding and acting on a set of critical …
Short And Long Of It
By Donna Brewer as featured in Construction Today
Managing a profitable and growing business requires a balanced focus on the immediate and long-term gains.
It’s basic human nature to focus on immediate, “in-yourface” problems, and the average contractor sure gets lots of practice. Most are very good at crisis management and making important technical and project-management decisions on the spot – it just comes with the territory. The problem is that far too many owners spend years doing nothing but putting out fires and keeping projects on track, while ignoring issues related to the firm’s long-term viability (retirement and succession …
How to Thrive in a ‘Down’ Economy
By Tyler Burgess as featured in Manufacturing Today
Being left behind are the manufacturers that are just going through the motions…
Despite the public perception that the economy is in a downturn, many manufacturing operations are thriving and turning a profit. Their owners are managing “the business of the business” rather than just making widgets. Being left behind are the manufacturers that are just going through the motions, unwilling or unable to make changes to adapt to the current economic conditions and fluctuations.
First Order of Business
So, what exactly is managing the business of the business? It starts with …
Follow the Leader
By Tom Ryan as featured in Construction Today
Increase your customer base by taking care of your reputation and the needs of your existing clients.
Perhaps the best measure of a construction company’s reputation is how many repeat customers it has. A returning customer is a satisfied one, and most contractors would probably agree they’re the best kind. Running a close second are referral customers, or new business sent to a contractor by existing clients. What business owner wouldn’t love to have more of them? Unfortunately, most don’t know how to go about increasing the valuable customer base. But there …
The Great Debate
By Al Bachman as featured in Construction Today
Do unionized contractors really hold the competitive advantage? Proper management – union or non-union – is the key
When a construction company struggles to succeed, it’s tempting for the owner to find a scapegoat. There’s certainly no shortage of them, whether it’s a soft economy, skyrocketing business costs, cut-throat competition or this perennial favorite: labor unions. Such finger-pointing, however, is an all-too easy way for poor managers to deflect responsibility from themselves. When an owner ignores the real causes of unprofitability long enough, the result is nearly always the same: One more …
Retirement Strategies: The Future is Now
By Craig Koop as featured in Cutting Edge
As any owner of a diecutting and diemaking company knows, running a small to medium-sized business is more than a full-time job.
Depending on the size and structure of the operation, the owner may serve as marketing director, chief salesperson, director of human resources and more. In this environment, successful owners soon learn that setting priorities is essential. Unfortunately, in their efforts to keep their business profitable today, many owners may neglect to plan for tomorrow.
The sad result is that when owners finally decide to retire, they may lack the resources …
Digital Dazzle
By Tom Ryan as featured in Landscape Magazine
Five e-marketing building blocks to attract prospects, turn them into loyal customers and keep them asking for more.
The world is online. Can you afford not to be there with your own unique online strategy? A strategy designed to attract attention? Showcase your company’s services? Reduce your marketing costs? Build customer loyalty?
The short answer: Absolutely not.
The good news is building a killer online strategy isn’t as difficult as you might think. In fact, if you follow five simple suggestions, you will build a strategy that will return many times the …
Tax planning
By Craig Koop as featured in Smart Business San Diego
How to take fair advantage of state and federal tax codes
All too often, when business owners begin discussing tax planning, what they really end up referring to is the process of tax compliance. Tax compliance is the process of reporting your income to the Internal Revenue Service and, hopefully, accurately ensuring that your tax preparer takes advantage of all the deductions and credits you are entitled to.
“The effects of good tax planning can obviously be foregone without proper reporting and compliance,” says Craig Koop, director of implementation …
Smooth Sailing
By Dan Schneider as featured in Construction Today
Many factors can make or break a construction business. Communication across the firm allows for the fast analysis and resolution of problems.
Most construction company owners strive to run a smooth and profitable operation, and yet they stumble along the way. Although a construction company can be one of the most difficult business models to manage by even the most seasoned entrepreneur, many of an owner’s struggles result not from the complexity of the model but from ignoring the details of the business. In virtually every construction company, the details relate to …