Tools and Systems

If you sell construction services, then you have had to deal with the following question from a client: “Can you break out the price of each line item?” How you respond to this question can determine your customer’s level of trust and affect the project’s margin. Many types of construction…
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Learning how to accurately price a construction project involves more than just calculating the costs of the labor, material, subcontractors, and equipment, and applying a markup to those costs. Pricing a construction project also includes developing a repeatable and scalable system to account for producing a precise scope of work…
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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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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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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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This is the final article in this series on how to grow your construction business. In my previous articles for Fine Homebuilding.com, I discussed how to grow your construction business in sustainable and profitable ways by understanding your margins and your markup, how to track your labor costs, and how…
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