Using Business Intelligence to Forecast Profitability & Break-Even Point

Whether operating a small or large company, every construction business owner knows that the role requires quite the hefty toolbox of skills. Business owners must be able to simultaneously manage employees and issues, both on- and off-site, in an industry that is highly prone to unforeseeable circumstances. Despite the job having many facets and accompanying challenges, the ultimate goal remains constant—increasing company productivity and profitability.

What Marketing Trends Can Construction Companies Use to Improve?

Liz Wainger

President
Wainger Group
Construction companies should take a marketing page from the playbooks of Starbucks, Apple and Charles Schwab. Organizations like these present three lessons for building your customer base:

Metered Growth

Our economy is edging up by the quarter. While I do not believe 4.5% GDP growth is sustainable, it would be nice to think we will be somewhere around 2 – 2.5% at year’s end. We are still the world’s leaders right now, and this makes me smile.

About this time in the cycle, it seems everybody keeps thinking about growing, acquiring, M&A and adding everything else that may not be healthy longterm but seems right at this time.

To me, there are a couple of growth avenues. One is metered, defined, strategic and thoughtful. The other is rapid and not sustainable. While we will never have another financial crisis in our lives (or better said in the next 70 years) there will be downturns. Grow strong; grow slow. And in the meantime, enjoy what you have and be thankful.

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What You Can Do to Improve Your Company's Cybersecurity

Many construction companies are increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks, as the proliferation of mobile devices and other field equipment connected to the internet make the industry a particularly easy target for hackers.

Construction businesses typically have a strong culture of promoting the importance of jobsite safety in their organizations, from top executives to the junior staff. Applying that same rigor to cybersecurity would serve construction companies well as threats proliferate in the years ahead.

5 Areas Where Project Management Risks Commonly Arise

Information is the essential core of every commercial construction project. From the initial stages of a project through to its conclusion, having the correct information at every step is the best way to ensure you will not face costly delays and errors.

The Hidden Culprit of Soaring Construction Costs

The pace of business is increasing all the time, and there is more pressure than ever on decision-makers to act quickly and decisively to keep operations running smoothly, projects on schedule and budgets in check. For contractors, this pace is even harder to keep up with, due to the nature of the business.

The Most Important Meal of the Day

We are members of an FMI group with 6 other contractors spread coast to coast. We meet semi-annually to discuss strategy, and most recently, culture. On a that visit, I was exposed to a quote from Peter Drucker, maybe said by others as well: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” It’s true in many ways.

Culture is an aloof concepts, “that special something,” that is hard to define at times. To me, culture is in many ways the foundation of any success. Great companies or organizations have great culture.

Whether it be a new hire at the company or maybe a merger or acquisition of sorts, if the culture is not a fit, or learned soon and truly adopted, the chances of success are minimal. So what are we working on in our board rooms? Are we using our company’s unique playbook as an advantage, or are we trying to fight it? Our company has found success when we lean into culture.

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How to Utilize Fabric Buildings to Maintain a Safer Jobsite

When an operation needs to mobilize and demobilize quickly, it is crucial that the building itself is both highly durable and safe to transport. Conventional buildings made from steel, red iron or wood can have numerous obstacles when it comes to safe relocation. Disassembling a traditional building before transport requires disconnecting the water mains, electricity and other utilities, which can be dangerous if done improperly.