Too Busy to Build a Better Business?
The strong economy has lifted almost every contractor’s boat to a higher level at a faster pace. With more work comes more stress, more decisions, more commitments, more mistakes, and more things to get done. It also stretches your resources, time management, and ability to stop and plan your future. And the important question: has the additional workload increased your bottom-line and allowed you to reap the benefits of owning a bigger boat?
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hen you allow a heated economy to push your boat faster and faster, you get out of control like streaming down a rapid river without a rudder allowing the elements to take you where it wants to go. Is bigger better for your business? Are you getting the results you wanted when you first started your company? Are you doing more and at a higher level without allowing time to improve, plan or alter your course towards higher margins? Or are you working too hard to make enough money for all the effort, energy, sweat, and additional pressures required? Before the economic growth began, your company was designed to handle and deliver the results you were currently getting. Your goals were to get more organized, install systems, upgrade your job cost tracking systems, or take more time to pursue better customers. But as your business grew at a faster pace than it could handle proficiently, you likely got bogged down, postponed your improvement plans, and encountered challenges. Some common growth problems include: profit margin shrinkage, missing bid items, not enough trained supervision or
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manpower, lack of financial resources and cash-flow issues, or low mark-up not high enough to pay for additional overhead or lack of productivity to produce more work.
Your Business Goal is Not to Be Busy. Your goal is to build a business that works and delivers what the owners want! This includes a high return on investment of time, energy, people, and money. When you’re working too hard and accepting too many responsibilities yourself, don’t know your numbers until it’s too late, don’t have an accountable management team, and not making enough money, you get frustrated. Why? You can’t afford to hire or train the right people, or don’t have time to focus on higher margin customers or project types. In other words, being too busy forces you to keep doing what you’ve always done while hoping for better results.
Dan’s Story Dan started Connell Commercial Builders seven continued on page 66
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