I spoke at PCBC in San Francisco and discussed how to overcome the skills gap in the construction industry. You can watch the entire presentation below: After the seminar, I sat down with Justin and Brian at the Fine Homebuilding booth and discussed in further detail the main point of…
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Finding the right certified public accountant (CPA) for your construction business can be an intimidating task. Hiring a CPA can be confusing because you might not be sure what you should expect from a CPA and exactly what they do. Sound familiar? Like your customers, homeowners know they need a…
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I love books.  I have found that reading (or listening to) books has been the best investment I have made in the past few years.  The ROI from books is enormous. Now that the summer is upon us, I hope you have plans to step away from your construction business…
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In theory, cost-plus contracts (also known as Time and Materials contracts) are a win-win for the contractor and the owner. The contractor’s risk is lowered because the price the owner pays is the cost the contractor incurs plus a predetermined rate. This “plus” is exactly what the contractor needs to…
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SELLING VALUE IS MORE PROFITABLE THAN COMPETING ON PRICE Customers say they want the lowest price, but what they really want is the best value. Construction businesses that compete on price are racing to the bottom.   YOU NEED BETTER CONSTRUCTION SALES STRATEGIES Construction businesses that focus on identifying and…
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As I have written before, there’s only one way to be successful in pricing construction projects — know your numbers. PRICING STRATEGIES FOR CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS Construction is a cost-based business. You have to know your costs for any given project, and mark up those costs by the appropriate amount to…
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Taking measurements and creating estimates for your customers is a faster, easier and more efficient process with Go Figure and Spike. With the Go Figure app for iPad, you can generate accurate stock lists, estimates and invoices all while on site with your customer. Using Go Figure with Spike, you…
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Web-based construction project management software gives you the ability to manage your work no matter where you are. Whether you are in the office or in the field, Web-based (a.k.a. “cloud-based”) services and applications allow you to manage the flow of information required to successfully communicate, coordinate, and complete your…
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Below is a transcript of an interview I had with Todd Dawalt, host of The Construction Leading Edge podcast and owner of ConstructionLeadingEdge.com. Todd and I discuss a simple yet profound planning strategy he calls Right To Left Thinking. In construction, we often plan our projects and our businesses from…
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WATCH THE SHAKER TABLE PRICING VIDEO BELOW I don’t always get things right.  In fact, I mess up all the time. Here’s an example of where I got something wrong, but I hope you can learn from my mistake. HOW NOT TO PRICE A SET OF SHAKER TABLES I am…
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