business Solution Building

A Successful Business Needs a Good Foundation

November 11, 2024November 9, 2024 by Mark Eastman

What Supports That Foundation is Just as Important

Building something that will stand the test of time and the elements requires a solid foundation.

A building foundation is made up of two parts: the footing and the foundation. The footing creates an attachment point between the foundation and the soil. The role of the foundation is to support the building and help prevent settling.

The foundation is the base and support of any building structure. It transfers the load from the structure to the ground. It also provides resistance from external loads exerted on it.

If the foundation of a building is inadequate or not maintained…the building will collapse.

The foundation of a business is the same. It is who you are. These are the non-negotiables. The things that, when faced with decisions, will help you withstand earthquakes. Your business foundation consists of your core values and mission.

We discussed business core values back in August. Core values are your fundamental beliefs. They are your guiding principles. It’s like your business conscience. It’s the building blocks of your business foundation.

If the foundation of a business is inadequate, it can be changed.

A foundation is built. Depending on what it’s going to support determines how it should be built. The other thing that needs to be determined to build an adequate foundation is…what is the ground like?

Is it dirt, sand, or rock? This is the most important thing to know. It will determine what kind of foundation is needed to support the structure. If the foundation or the structure doesn’t match the ground…maybe you should build somewhere else.

The ground of your business (and life) is your purpose. It goes beyond who you are. It is who you were made to be. It is why you exist. You need to start by asking the questions.

Who am I? What is my purpose? Why am I here?

This takes some work and some digging. It isn’t an answer that’s going to magically appear. It’s like looking at the surface of the ground where you want to build a building. You won’t know what’s underneath without doing some work.

When it comes to knowing what’s below your surface, you need to ask, “why am I here?” Then like a small child curiously ask it again. And then ask it again and again and again.

This is where the foundation of your life and your business will be built. Don’t start building your business without knowing what kind of ground you’re building it on.

Knowing what supports the business (your purpose) is critical if it’s going to withstand the test of time and the storms that will come.

Your Construction Business Isn’t What You Expected

October 21, 2024October 19, 2024 by Mark Eastman

Now What Are You Going to Do About It?

If you had known how hard it was going to be to own and operate your own construction business…you probably wouldn’t have done it.

It’s hard work, time-consuming, and risky.

The problem is that no one told you how hard it was going to be. Or, if they did, you didn’t believe them.

This isn’t to say that it’s not worth it…because it can be.

The problem is being faced with things like –

Finding the time to do the physical construction and the paperwork
Constantly feeling like your life is out of control
Construction projects behind schedule
Not having enough money to pay the bills
Construction projects going over budget
Disappointed and upset customers
Misunderstandings with customers and production teams

And not knowing what to do about these problems.

If you work in the construction industry, you’ve probably experienced some or all of these things.

So, what are you going to do?

Are you going to just keep plodding along, hoping that something is going to change? You know the definition of insanity is “Doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.”

If you want different results, you’re going to have to do something different.

The question is…what are YOU going to do? Are you going to continue living in the current insanity or are you going to do something different? What you know about the crazy mess that you find yourself going through daily seems less scary than the unknown.

New and different is scary.

Deciding to do something different is the first and hardest step in a series of hard steps.

If you want to stay in business you need to take this hard step. You need to DO SOMETHING. Otherwise, you will eventually go out of business.

You need a change of perspective. Some new and different ways of doing things.

As scary as this is, it can be less scary than going out of business.

What you need is someone to help you with this. You need someone who has been there and done that to guide you through finding the solutions you need.

This doesn’t mean that it’s going to be simple or easy. Building a new building isn’t simple and easy.

When you started working in the construction industry you didn’t know what you know now. Building a business is the same way.

Someone taught, trained, and helped you to learn your construction trade. What you need now is someone to teach, train, and help you to learn how to build a construction company. This teaching, training, and help is available for you at Solution Building. We’ve been where you are and would love to help you with our forty plus years of experience. If you have questions about how we can help, you can set up a free, 30-minute construction company consultation.

Keep Your Business Balanced and Supported

October 15, 2024October 12, 2024 by Mark Eastman

An Out-Of-Balance Business is Like a Short-Legged Table

Have you ever felt like your business and/or your life were out-of-balance? This is a common situation with self-employed companies. It’s like a three-legged table with one short leg…kind of wobbly.

I know I’ve felt this way and sometimes still do. You’ve probably heard the saying feast or famine. This saying is used quite often in the building industry.

It refers to the common problem of having too much to do. Or worrying about how you are going to pay the bills if you don’t get some work soon.

Sometimes this is caused by situations beyond our control. The economy, the weather, or some other external force. More often than not it is an out-of-balance business. It’s wobbly like a table with one short leg.

Most of us that are self-employed started out by learning our trade as an apprentice, working for someone else. I know this is how I got started.

The problem with this is that while I learned how to build a building, I wasn’t taught how to build a company.

After years of struggling and learning things the hard way—paying the expensive tuition to the school of hard knocks—I’m still not close to graduating yet.

This became apparent this past week. I realized that I was not maintaining balance in the business. I was letting things distract me and not being intentional about what I was doing.

One of the things that I implemented years ago was having a different focus for each day of the week. I had been neglecting this. So, I was intentional this week to focus on the specific focus for that day. It was a productive week.

Keeping the business balanced and supported is an ongoing process.

I was reminded that my business is like a three-legged table. When all the legs are the same length, it helps provide a level, sturdy platform for my company to sit on.

When any one or two of them are short, the table starts leaning. If it leans too far the company will slide off.

It’s never good when a company crashes to the floor.

The three legs of the table are:

1 – Sales/Marketing – Searching for and finding customers that you can help. Sharing about your service and/or product through word-of-mouth, advertising and awareness. Meeting with potential customers, determining what they want/need and preparation of estimates, proposals, and contracts.

2 – Production – Organizing, scheduling and maintaining projects or products. Determining who the right people are to perform specific tasks. Knowing the parts that are needed and making sure they fit. Maintaining communication between all parties involved.

3 – Administration/finance – The preparation of documents needed to communicate, track, and record all aspects of the business. The filling out and filing of income, expense, banking, and tax papers. This leg is one of the easiest for ‘tradespeople’ to neglect.

When any one of these legs get short, it can really cause the whole table to lean.

The tabletop is the big picture: planning and organizing. It’s what connects the three separate legs. It’s easy to give too much attention to one or two legs and forget the other.

Getting so focused on the production of a project that we forget to follow-up with a new customer. Or working so hard on preparing proposals that we forget to invoice. Or even working so diligently on tracking expenses that we don’t leave enough time to work on the construction project.

There is no perfect answer to keep the table from ever leaning.

The most important thing is to realize that it can happen and to continually work to keep the table balanced.

Updated from a previous post 4/30/16

What Should Be Done First?

October 7, 2024October 5, 2024 by Mark Eastman

It’s Amazing How Clear Things Become With Limited Time

There are so many things trying to get on the “to do” list and each one is competing for the top position. Deciding which one should get the number one spot is tough. There are so many important things that we need or want to do.

The past few weeks have been crazy trying to keep up. You might have gathered that from last week’s post about the runaway train.

It’s easy to say that we have limited time, but it’s hard to schedule that way.

Several years ago, I had a computer with a battery that was not lasting as long as it had when it was new. One day while working out of the office, without the power cord, I had 2-3 things that I needed to get done before the computer shut down.

This limited time forced me to sort and prioritize.

How do we decide what to say yes to?

Emergency situations often require triage. This is the process of prioritizing patients’ treatments based on the severity of their condition and the resources available. In these situations, victims are divided into three categories:

Those who are likely to live, regardless of what care they receive.
Those who are unlikely to live, regardless of what care they receive.
Those for whom immediate care might make a positive difference in outcome.

These choices aren’t easy and often require a quick “gut decision”. A pre-determined system, training, and experience aid in the process. This provides for the greatest number of survivors.

Another life and death choice is deciding who gets a transplant when there are a limited number of organ donations available. Take for example a set of twins who both need a liver transplant, and their father has only one to give.

Which little girl gets it?

The early thoughts of a father would be to give half to each. The problem with this is that half would help neither. The final decision will be determined by which one needs it most or which one is most likely to survive.

Most of the choices that we make in business aren’t this critical…or are they? Decisions we make can mean life or death for our business.

In medical life or death situations, there is a system and plan in place beforehand. This same type of system should be implemented in our business. We should predetermine how we are going to choose the most important thing for the life of our business. This is where things get hard.

What should be the highest priority? Should it be production or proposals, record keeping or customer service, marketing or staff? We’re faced with tough decisions in business every day.

What makes one thing more important than another?

I can’t answer this question for you. Are you tired of struggling with this dilemma? Having the right business BUILDing tools and training can help you be better prepared for business “triage”.

If you would like to give your business a better chance of survival, schedule a free 30-minute coaching call.

This is a revision of a previous post on Nov. 3, 2019.

Riding on a Runaway Train

September 30, 2024September 28, 2024 by Mark Eastman

Getting Control of Your Busy Life

For years I’ve used the example of a runaway train as a comparison to my busy, on-the-go, overscheduled, out-of-control life. It’s like I am riding on a speeding train of which I’m supposed to be in control.

The problem is, instead of being seated comfortably in the engine car at the front, I am barely hanging onto the ladder on the back of the caboose, trying to not fall off. The train keeps speeding along, with no way for me to get control from the caboose.

I start pulling my way forward, one train car at a time. First through one, then another, then even a third. Look at me, I’m making some real progress here. It won’t be long now and I will have this train back under control.

Then—wouldn’t you know it—the train hits a bump. I lose my grip and catch the caboose as it goes by. Now I get to start clawing my way back toward the front all over again.

How am I ever going to get this crazy train called life under control?

If you’ve ever felt like this, then here are some ideas that might help:

Have a plan – This is where gaining control starts. How are you going to make it to the engine? The key is to not quit. Don’t ever let go of your train unless you’re dead. As long as you are still alive, you can do something about your situation. You need to be intentional about how you want your train to operate.

Review the past – Look back at what has worked and what hasn’t. What was it that caused you to lose your grip from the train? Determining this will help you to know how to hold on as you move forward next time.

Find your purpose – God has given each of us specific talents that fit who we are created to be. It is up to us to find out what they are and put them to good use. This determines who we are and what kind of train we have. Is it a freight train? A passenger train? Or maybe something different?

Don’t overload your train – Once you have determined what kind of train you’re on, you can decide what kind of cars it should have. Most likely there are some that will need to be disconnected and left behind. Overloading your train is a very common problem. Most of us think we have a ‘super train’ that can pull as many cars as we hook onto it. It’s okay if we don’t pull them all. They might fit in someone else’s train better or are just a waste of good fuel. Who knows, maybe you will need to add some different cars. The important thing is to know how many are too many and which ones don’t belong.

Get help from other trains – Sometimes when our trains are overloaded there are others that can help us with our load. Maybe they can give us a push, a pull, or take some of our cars. It’s okay to get help. Our train isn’t the only one. If we get our load right, then we are better prepared to help other trains when they need help.

In this world, there is no such thing as a perfect train. We will never have complete control or a ride without any bumps. What is important is to not give up or quit. Keep working to make your train better. Be aware and understand what your train should be.

Work every day to make your train the best train it can be and remember, ENJOY THE RIDE!

This post is reworked from my previous post on June 16, 2016.

I Want To Be More Accountable

September 23, 2024September 21, 2024 by Mark Eastman

How Can I Do This?

As it seems to happen fairly regularly, the business mastermind that I’m a part of discussed accountability. This topic came up regarding things we need to accomplish in the last quarter of this year to be prepared to reach our 2025 goals.

Accountability is not a new topic for me to discuss. Back in June of 2021, I wrote about how being accountable is up to me. This post was also generated from that same mastermind.

Accountability is a hard thing to do.

Being accountable is taking responsibility for what you do or have done. Accountability is the quality of being accountable.

In the previous post, there were some examples of some subcontractors taking responsibility for problems and doing the right thing.

A couple more cases have come up just this past week.

One of my subs had an employee drill some holes through floor joists that they weren’t supposed to drill. The owner of the company is going to install some supports that are code approved. This is accountability!

The other situation was a breaker that tripped. This led to the food in the customer’s refrigerator going bad. The electrician offered to pay for the food, even though they weren’t sure if they were responsible for tripping it. This is accountability!

Being Accountable, take 100% accountability

Being accountable is good business.

Why do we avoid doing things we know we should do?

For me, there are a few different reasons, all of which are within my control.

There’s fear – being afraid that we’re going to fail, afraid we aren’t good enough, or afraid it’ll cost too much.

What about busy – I don’t have time to do that, it takes too long, and I already have too many other things to do.

Don’t forget uncertainty – I don’t know how to do that thing and it’s going to require me to learn something new.

I previously wrote about filtering my life using my core values. One of those is being accountable.

Ultimately, accountability is up to me. It is a choice.

One of the struggles with accountability is trying to do too many things. Overpromising and underdelivering is not very accountable. Scheduling better will help.

Five things that will help with scheduling:

Find the balance of accuracy and urgency – This is a big struggle that I have when scheduling. I know that I’m deadline-oriented. If I allow two hours to do something it will most likely take twice that long. If I allow four hours, it reduces the level of urgency, and I will procrastinate. Something else will take its place. I’ve figured out that if I schedule myself short on time, I focus better, and the increased urgency will get it done faster. Figuring out your balance of accuracy and urgency can be tricky, but is critical.
Give as much importance to my schedule with myself as to others – When I put things on the calendar that are for myself, I tend to be more lenient. This is different than when I have a meeting scheduled with someone else. If I am going to honor God and others, I need to also honor myself. This is hard for me but is one of those areas where I need to be more accountable. If I hope to spend my time efficiently, I need to be realistic when scheduling with myself and honor it.
Stop trying to do too many things – But there are so many important things that need to be done. If I don’t do them, they won’t get done or they won’t be done right. This tendency of trying to do too many things has always been a characteristic that I have been proud of. This is what movers and shakers do, right? Being a micro-manager doesn’t help either. There are just too many pieces to put together by myself. I need some clarity of focus on what my time is best spent on and to stop trying to do everything if I want to be the best steward of my time.
Take into account the number of things out of my control – The bigger the project being scheduled, the more things there are to schedule. One small delay can have a snowball effect by pushing things farther and farther back. There needs to be some margin scheduled in to cover these delays. The important thing is to not let the margins become areas of wasted time. It is critical to communicate clearly to those involved the importance of being on schedule. I use two different schedules with projects. One with the customer and one with the subcontractors.
Plan for unforeseen things that interrupt the plan – There are always things that can’t be planned for. It doesn’t matter how well you plan, if something breaks down or there’s an accident, the priority and focus can change quickly. This is out of my control. The difference between this point and the previous one is in the frequency and the level of disruption. We can only plan for these things to a certain point. It is more about being aware that it can happen and being ready to deal with it the best we can when it does. This is flexible rigidity.

Being accountable is being aware of these things. Understanding them. Taking intentional action to do something about it. And continually learning.

As a construction contractor adding coaching and consulting to my list, it seems that construction projects are more important than coaching and consulting…or is it?

The question is, how many more people would benefit from construction companies knowing how to do business?

Being accountable is up to me. Ultimately, it comes down to this…

I’m accountable to God.

What am I going to do about it?

There’s Not Enough Help for Construction

September 16, 2024September 14, 2024 by Mark Eastman

What Does This Mean for the Construction Industry?

As part of my morning routine, I listen to Albert Mohler’s podcast: The Brie f ing. This past Friday’s episode started out talking about the falling birth rate and the effect this will have on the world.

We’ve heard how extreme this situation is in some countries like South Korea, China, and Japan. Dr. Mohler pointed out that this is not just happening in these countries, but around the world.

This is a problem because ultimately, if we continue down this path, there’s not a future for civilization if you’re not having babies.

A falling birthrate means you’re not going to have enough workers.

You’re going to have more aging people leaving the workplace than younger people joining it.

Just look at what’s happening in Japan, where they are using robots to take care of people in nursing homes. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want a robot taking care of one of my family members.

The Communist Party of China enforced a one-child-only policy to prevent a future threat where they had too many babies. It turns out, the threat is too few.

They’ve ended up with an imbalance of males to females because of the preference for male babies. Now, there are millions of Chinese men who aren’t able to marry anyone because there aren’t enough women.

That’s a shortage in the tens of millions.

This got me to thinking about how the struggle of finding good, qualified help in the construction industry.

This is not a new problem but seems to be a growing one.

I think this is due to more than just the decreasing population. I think it’s a combination of a society that has gotten spoiled and untrained.

A lot of young people see life as something owed to them. They’ve not had to learn to work. Then, you have those of us who’ve been doing construction for a long time. We’ve been too focused on our work and never bothered to share our experiences and knowledge.

It doesn’t matter if the shrinking number of qualified people is due to a shrinking or an untrained work force.

What matters is getting the ones that are out there, trained.

That’s why I’m working to find ways to coach and consult people in the construction industry that need some mentoring and guidance.

The Next Step in My Business Journey

September 9, 2024September 7, 2024 by Mark Eastman

Doing the Things Only I Can Do

Over the past several weeks we’ve talked about having too much to do and not enough time to do it. Of how I need to delegate more of my business, but how hard delegating is for me. The only way that I can help more people is by sharing the load.

This issue has been brought to the surface after reading the book The Highest Calling by Lawrence Janesky. This book resonated with me because I see how construction businesses struggle with the business side of things. After reading this book it confirmed what I already knew…

Businesses need help building their business.

For several years, I’ve been working on ways to help construction companies with business building tools and processes. The problem is this takes time and energy away from construction projects.

So, then I shift my focus back to construction proposals and keeping those projects moving forward. And then the problem is I don’t have time to work on coaching and consulting to help people in the construction industry.

This past week is a good example of the construction part of the business not leaving any time for coaching and consulting.

It started out with Monday being a holiday. This means we started out the busy week with one day less to get everything done. There are ten different projects in varying stages. Some are almost finished, some are halfway done, and some haven’t been started.

To add to this list, I need to be doing proposals so that we will have work to do in the future.

I spent the majority of my time this week doing things that someone else could have…SHOULD HAVE…done.

If I keep doing what I’ve always done, I’ll keep getting what I’ve always got. Something has got to change. It’s up to me to do something different if I want to get past this mountain. The mountain will be easier to move, if I’m not the only one with a shovel.

One of the shovels that I’m working on giving to someone else is production coordination.

What exactly is production coordination?

It’s just what it sounds like. It’s the organizing and overseeing of the production and operation of multiple construction projects to maintain production schedules, complete projects within budget and achieve the quality of workmanship expected.

That sounds easy enough, right?

Trust me. To organize and oversee the production of multiple projects is a lot.

Project Coordination
- Productivity Monitoring and Control
  - Coordinate schedules
  - Coordinate materials
  - Coordinate tools
- Quality Control and Documentation
  - Periodic site visits and verify that quality is being achieved and maintained
  - Document with pictures and reports
- Communicate with teams
  - Regularly review, follow-up and verify schedules
  - Determine materials and tools that are needed
- Project Troubleshooting
  - Listen to customer concerns and document them
  - Communicate concerns with management
Planning and Control of Material and Tools
- Coordinate gathering and delivery of materials and tools
- Coordinate moving the balance of material to shop or return to supplier
- Coordinate collection of tools from projects and/or production teams
Customer Service
- Communicate schedules with customers and subcontractors
- Assure that site organization is maintained
- Coordinate and document finalization of punch list

So, where do I go from here?

I’m just one person and I can only do so much. If I’m going to build the business that God has called me to do…I’m going to need more help.

This means that I must be intentional and take action. Otherwise, I’m going to be limited to the number of people that I can help. That’s why this past week, I started the process of adding a PRODUCTION COORDINATOR to the team.

Stay tuned and we’ll keep you posted as to how it’s going.

Labor Day and My Problem With It

September 3, 2024August 31, 2024 by Mark Eastman

The Difference of Labor and Work

Labor Day is one of my three favorite holidays each year. Christmas being my favorite. (This is no big surprise). Labor Day and New Year’s Day are tied for the second spot. These two are not typically ranked in most people’s top three.

My extended family celebrates both holidays in an almost identical way. Both start with parades in the morning and conclude by spending the rest of the day playing games, eating, and enjoying time with family.

This doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy the other holidays, because I do. These three are just my favorites.

As I was looking forward to the upcoming holiday, I began thinking about the reason behind the celebration. Labor Day was started to show appreciation for the hard-working labor force in America in the late 1800’s.

We often forget the reasons behind holidays.

We need to remember the reason for this and all holidays. Don’t just look at it as another reason to barbecue with friends or go to the lake.

The problem I have with Labor Day is the view that there is a separation between labor and management or employees and business owners.

No doubt there’s a difference in the roles of these two groups. Too often it’s seen as a battle between the two. It’s us against them. There certainly have been and still are situations where this is true.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

This attitude is a problem for both groups. It’s a view that there is a limited amount of pie and if I don’t get my piece, there may not be any left.

This “scarcity thinking” in a world of abundance isn’t beneficial to either side. God will provide enough for everybody if we do the work we’ve been called to do. If we would quit viewing labor and management as two competing entities.

Instead, we should look at both as being on the same team working together. Then both would benefit.

Having been on both sides of the employee/owner relationship, I can tell you that both work hard to achieve success. It is easy to look at other people and think they have it easy. This is rarely the case.

If all involved work hard together toward the same goal everybody wins.

The definition of labor focuses mainly on the physical, while work refers to both physical and mental actions. Work seems less divisive than labor. We can and should work together toward the same goal.

On the first Monday of September this year, I’m going to celebrate WORK instead of labor.

Revised from previous post.

What are Your Core Values?

August 26, 2024August 24, 2024 by Mark Eastman

They are the Foundation of Your Business

I was having a discussion with a sub-contractor. They were venting their frustrations with a general contractor they had worked for. This GC bid the project low to get it. Then after getting it, continued raising the price through change orders.

The sub-contractor felt this was dishonest and unethical.

Core values are the building blocks that make up the foundation your business is built on.

Core values are fundamental beliefs. They are your guiding principles. The definition of CORE is the central or most important part of something. This is the most inner part of who you are. This is also the most inner part of your business.

It’s like your conscience. Deep down, on the inside, who God made you to be. VALUES are the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something; a person’s principles or standards of behavior; one’s judgment of what is important in life and business.

You choose these values. How you want to be, how you will treat others, etc. This doesn’t mean they have to be good. Some people’s values may be selfish or greedy, but regardless, we choose what values we will live by.

A wise person builds their business on a solid foundation. The rain can pour down, rivers flood, and the winds beat against the business. But if it’s built on a solid foundation, it will not fall. (Matthew 7:24-25)

Bad core values will not support the business in the long term.

The foolish person builds their business on the sand. The rain can pour down, rivers flood, and the winds beat against the business. It will fall with a crash. (Matthew 7:26-27)

The core values that my business is built on are a collection of some things that I’m naturally good at and some things…not so much. I’m constantly working to get better at all of them.

These things are in alignment with what I believe God wants from me and my business.

These core values, other than the first one, are in no specific order. Some you may recognize as quotes or common sayings. Others derived from things I’ve heard or experienced. All of them are values I hold high and am striving to live out daily. Here they are:

You can find out more details about these core values by following the links above.

Build your business on a solid foundation!

This post includes excerpts from my previous post, Using Core Values as My Life Filter.