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What’s it Take to Build a Successful Construction Company?

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Gene’s Excited About His Meeting with John

As usual, Gene had been on the go, nonstop, trying to keep construction projects moving forward, collecting money, paying bills, and meeting with new potential customers when he realized he still had six projects needing proposals. As he thought about this, he realized it had been more than two weeks since he had talked with John about how he did construction proposals.

It’s so easy in business to get caught up in fighting daily fires.

Gene picked up the phone and dialed John’s number. “Hey John, this is Gene, have you got a few minutes?” “Sure,” John said, “What can I do for you?” “I just realized that I’ve got six projects that need priced, this reminded me of our conversation a few weeks back, when you offered to go through your bidding process with me. Does that offer still stand?”

“Sure,” said John, “when would you like to meet?” Gene thought for a minute, realizing he wasn’t sure when he would have time to squeeze in anything else. “I don’t know John, as usual, I’m booked pretty full.” John waited for a minute and then said, “I understand. Think back to what you said in our previous conversation. Do you remember how frustrated you were?”

“Your situation isn’t going to change until YOU decide to change it.”

Gene rubbed his forehead. He knew John was right. “Okay”, Gene said, “I can probably squeeze in an hour or maybe two Saturday. Would that work?” John shook his head and smiled, remembering what it was like to be where Gene is.

Then he said, “Gene, I appreciate where you are, but the process of getting from where you are, to where I am, isn’t going to happen in an hour or two. I’ve been doing it for forty years. If you can commit to four hours Saturday, I will be glad to meet with you and we can start the process.”

“YOU are the only one that has the power to make this change.”

Gene sat there with all the things that needed to be done, bouncing around in his head. Then he thought about how tired he was of feeling out of control. Once again, he knew his mentor was right. John had taught him so much about construction and how to build things.

Now it was time to learn about the business part of construction.

“Okay,” said Gene, “How about we meet at noon on Saturday, and I’ll bring the pizza.” John said, “That sounds great, and we can get started, but that’s all this meeting will be…getting started. Like I said before I’ve being doing this for years. It takes work, it takes commitment, but the end result is worth it.”

“It’s more than just learning. It’s a lifestyle change.”

“Gene, most people in construction never learn the business side of operating a company. This is where they struggle until they get to a point where they give up. Bring an open mind and an open heart and be ready to have them both filled.”

“Nothing is going to change until something gets done”

Now Gene was getting excited and looking forward to meeting with his friend and mentor and making some changes in his business and his life. He was beginning to realize that a construction project started out right, begins long before any actual construction takes place.

It takes the right tools, training, and action to build a successful construction business. It requires you to do more than just talk about it.

If you or someone you know is feeling out of control like Gene, there are tools and training available to help get control of the business. The Business BUILDing Toolbox is filled with construction business tools.

If you would like to dive into the Blueprint for Building a Better Proposal, we’re hosting a free 90-minute workshop for Building a Better Proposal on Saturday, January 6, 2024, at 10:30 CST. Register for the workshop here.

If you have questions about the workshop or business systems, you can schedule a free 30-minute construction company consultation here.

Getting Signed Construction Proposals, What’s the Best Number for You?

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How to Know What Your Number Is and What You Should Do with It

I have been reading Simon Sinek’s book Start with Why this past week. In it, he discusses how customers will do business with companies and not even really know why. He says that it often has more to do with trust than price.

This is where word of mouth marketing comes in. If someone you trust shares about the great experience that they had with a company, you’re more likely to do business with that company.

This got me to thinking about the closing ratio of our proposals. Our closing rate has almost always been higher than industry standards. This is in large part due to many of our projects either being

repeat customers or someone that has been referred to us by one of our past satisfied customers. It does not seem to be this way for most construction companies.

With the hit and miss way of doing business in the construction industry, it’s amazing to me that there are any construction companies out there at all.

Another thing to be aware of and something that is often overlooked is when our closing ratio gets too high. Selling a lot of jobs is a good thing, but when this number gets too high, it’s a good indication that your pricing is too low.

Is your bid-hit ratio ok?

When asked the questions… “Do you know what your bid-hit ratio is? Do you keep track of it? How do you use it?” Most contractors have no idea. Well over 50 percent don’t have a clue what their ratio is. Less than 25 percent know and track theirs.

This is like driving a car blindfolded — trying to go somewhere without a clue where you are headed!

In order to determine how many jobs to bid on and what type of jobs to bid on, you must know your bid-hit ratio. Track it regularly. Track it for all projects you bid on. Track it by customer.

Having a system will help you determine which jobs to bid on and which jobs not to bid on. It will also help you determine when to eliminate a project type or customer from your plate and seek out better opportunities to invest your estimating dollars.

Knowing the percentage of proposals that get signed can be a critical piece of information and may determine whether your company will stay in business or not.

Most small to medium sized construction companies run their businesses by just throwing a dart and hoping it hits a dart board. They have no real idea of what they’re doing.

I would bet my annual salary that most construction companies have no idea of what percentage of their proposals turn in to actual construction projects. This is vital information to have for building a profitable business.

This is why we have a Job List tool for tracking this information in our construction business. This tool will do a lot more than just tracking the percentage of signed proposals.

You can find out more about this tool here –

I realize that the whole business thing can be daunting and overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be.

The Job List tool, as well as, the Proposal, Contract, Change Order, Payment Application, and Saving Account Transfer tools are some of the tools that will be coming soon in our Business Building Toolbox.

If you have questions about the Business Building Tools and if they would be a good fit for your construction company, you can schedule a free 30-minute construction company consultation here.

How to Build the Construction Company of Your Dreams

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It’s Like Building Anything…You Need a Plan and the Right Tools

Labor Day is coming up on Monday. It’s the only Monday holiday that I don’t work. Actually, there are only three holidays each year that I don’t work. Those being Christmas, New Years Day and Labor Day.

I celebrate Christmas because it is the day we honor our Savior’s birth. The other two are days that our family has celebrated together as far back as I can remember.

This sounds like I’m a workaholic. And yes, I’m a recovering workaholic, but…

It’s easy to be a workaholic when you love the work you do.

On the other hand, working a lot of long hours and not having anything to show for it can feel like drudgery. It’s like being stuck in a rut without a way out. I’ve heard it said that “A rut is just a grave with both ends kicked out.”

Owning and operating a construction company can feel this way. We get in a rut and don’t even realize where we are. Plodding back and forth going through the daily routines of operating the business, never looking up to see where we are or where we’re going. If we’re not careful the rut will get so deep that we’ll never get out.

Change can be scary; it might not work. We know our rut, and we like it. “We’ve always done it this way”, isn’t a very good plan for building a better business. Too many construction companies find themselves in ruts, and “rut thinking” doesn’t allow for building your dream business.

So how do you get out of that rut and build the business you always dreamed of?

When you started your construction business you had this vision of how things would be, and I’ll bet that it hasn’t turned out at all like what you expected. This is something that I’ve seen way too many construction companies struggle with.

I know what it feels like because I went through it too.

That’s why early on in my business when I became aware of these issues, I decided to do something about it. I wanted to get out of the rut.

I began researching the problems and studying alternatives. Then I began to understand what was needed to get out of the rut. This is when I started building and designing business building tools that I could use to build the business of my dreams.

If you’re like I was and started your construction company with a dream and no plan, you probably find yourself stuck in a rut. Building a business is like building anything…if you don’t have a plan, it probably won’t turn out well.

After I understood what was needed, I designed and built business tools to help me build that business that I had dreamed of.

If you would like to build the construction business of your dreams but don’t want to spend the time and energy making your own tools…I have good news. At Solution Building we’re going to be offering our Business BUILDing tools and training to help you get out of the rut quicker and easier.

If you’d like to get out of your rut, check out our tools and systems to help you build the business of your dreams. complete with the 5-step business BUILDing process for implementing and learning to use them.

Becoming aware of the rut you’re stuck in is the first step to building the construction company of your dreams.

Clarity of the Plan is Key to Knowing What to do and How to do it

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How an Operating System Can Help Your Construction Company Navigate the Business Fog

The past couple of weeks we’ve discussed how an operating system can help you build a successful business and a list of what should be included in a standard operating procedure. This week we’ll look at style and formatting ideas for putting together a plan for operating your company.

It takes thousands of pieces to construct a building. If these pieces aren’t put together in the right place and in the right order, the end project is not what was expected. It might even lead to the building collapsing.

This can be avoided with a clear plan and good communication.

The same is true for a business. There are thousands of pieces that need to be put together in the right place and in the right order if the company is going to survive and become successful.

You don’t want your business to collapse, do you?

A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is the current hot title for this document. I will agree that these three words do a pretty good job of summarizing what this is, but don’t want to get caught up in what it’s called. You can call it whatever you want.

Just like you can call it what you want, you can design it however you want. Here are some ideas that you might want to include in your operating system.

  • Determine the format – This can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be.
  • Gather the relevant stakeholders – When you start discussing the system you should include anyone who has a stake in the process.
  • Define the structure – Bigger companies will likely have a more formal structure and startups, or smaller companies may use a more informal process.
  • Determine the scope – Keep in mind that you should have a clearly defined scope. It may involve multiple areas and people but be sure to not lose focus on your goals.
  • Be consistent in style – This makes it easier for the person who’s going to be using it if it’s a clear consistent style throughout the whole document.
  • Include all steps of the process – Record all steps that are required to complete a certain process.
  • Choose the right metrics for measuring success – To understand if you’re achieving your target results, you need to determine what the key performance indicators are.
  • Test the process – To make sure that your system is good or to make any final edits and tweaks, ask some of the team who will be using it for their feedback.
  • Implement the process – Once you’ve completed the above steps, you’re ready to implement. Keep in mind that these procedures are dynamic and will change with time.
  • Plan for regular reviews and updates – Since the construction industry and your business processes are changing all the time, your standard operating procedures should too!

An SOP is not a document to be made and forgotten about. It’s a manual that people use daily. So…it must be reliable.

Revising your SOPs every 6 or 12 months is a must if you want to stay on top of any changes and keep on delivering the best possible results.

As the owner or operator of a construction company, your head probably feels like it’s going to explode with all the things you’re trying to keep track of and do. Wouldn’t it be great if you had some help doing some of those things?

The problem with this is…now you have to teach and train them, and either you or they are going to forget something. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was an operating manual that they could refer to?

There could be. You just have to decide if you want to continue doing things the way we’ve always done it, hit and miss way. Or use the better, clear plan that can be implemented by a new hire or used by the most experienced team member.

If you would like to discuss this more set up a free 30-minute construction company consultation.

How a Business Plan Can Help You Keep Your Business from Crashing

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It’s Hard to Keep Your Business in Balance Without a Plan

Most of us who are self-employed spend way too much time feeling like our businesses are out of control. We started our businesses with grand ideas and dreams. Then one day we woke up and wondered what in the world we were thinking.

Last week I wrote about needing a plan for building your business and how many businesses fail because they don’t have one. We compared a plan for building a business to a blueprint for building a building.

I recently finished reading the E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber. This book does a great job of pointing out the misconceptions around starting your own business and shows how commonplace assumptions can get in the way of running a business.

Michael walks you through the steps in the life of a business, from entrepreneurial infancy, through adolescent growing pains, to the mature entrepreneurial perspective.

Gerber draws the vital, often overlooked distinction between working on your business and working in your business.

As I read through the book I was reminded and encouraged to review and improve our business and the operating procedures. If we don’t have a plan and aren’t intentional about implementing it, we are doomed to failure.

Business is like a three-legged table. If one leg is short, it gets kind of wobbly.

I know I have felt this way about my business and sometimes still do. This is why after reading the book I was reminded that I have not been giving each of the leg’s equal attention.

You have probably heard the saying ‘feast or famine’. This is used quite often in the building industry. It refers to the common problem of having way too many projects to do. Or not having enough and 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 due to an ‘out of balance business’…like a table with a short leg.

As in Gerber’s book, we usually start a business knowing the trade but not having any experience in operating a business. We know what we know and don’t know what we don’t.

We started out by learning our trade as an apprentice, while 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.

Like a three-legged table, when all the legs are the same length, it provides a level sturdy platform for my company to sit on. When any one or two of them is short the table starts leaning and begins to tip over. If it tips too far the company will slide off.

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

The three table legs of a construction company are:

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

2 – Production/Operations – Organizing, scheduling, and maintaining the projects. 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. Ordering, delivery, storing and returning of building materials. Facility and equipment maintenance and repairs.

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 and can cause the table to lean quickly.

The top of the table – This is the big picture planning and organizing of the company. It’s what connects the three separate legs. It’s one of the hardest parts for the tradesman to understand and the most important. If there is no attention or work done on this part, you may just as well throw the legs in the fire and go to work for someone else.

It’s easy to give too much attention to one or two legs and forget the other parts. To get so focused on the production of a project and forget to follow up with a new customer. To get so into preparing proposals that we forget to invoice. To work so diligently on tracking expenses that we don’t leave enough time for working on the project.

There is no perfect solution to keep the table from ever leaning. The most important thing is to BE AWARE that it can happen, UNDERSTAND the problem, gather INFORMATION and get INSTRUCTIONS about the tools needed to keep the business from crashing and LEARN how to use these tools in your business.

Keep your business from crashing by intentionally working to keep the table balanced.

Portions from a previous post on 4/30/16

You Need the Right INFORMATION to BUILD the Construction Company of Your Dreams

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Next, You’ll Need Some INSTRUCTION on How to IMPLEMENT This INFORMATION

Most of us in the construction business started out with a vision in our minds of what our dream company would be like. We see those successful companies out there and there’s no reason we can’t do the same thing. After all, we’re really good at building things.

The problem is more times than not…those companies are struggling with the same kind of things that you are. Everything always looks better from the outside.

Dreams usually aren’t founded in reality; it is after all…a dream.

Without knowing the struggles inside those other companies, we begin to doubt that we have what it takes to run a successful business. Then the dream turns into a nightmare. Maybe we’re just kidding ourselves. What made us think we could do this anyway?

This is where a lot of companies give up, close the doors and go back to working for someone else feeling like a failure.

In that time of doubt, you know something is wrong, but you just don’t know what. BEING AWARE that there is a problem is the first building block in BUILDing your dream business.

You don’t need anyone’s help with BECOMING AWARE there’s a problem.

This is where the next block in the foundation of a successful construction company needs laid. The second building block is UNDERSTANDING those problems. It would be nice to have some help with this block.

This is the realization that building a successful construction business includes more than just construction. It requires a plan for the business. In time you can figure out what you need to build a successful business, but it can take a long time and can be expensive. What you need is INSTRUCTION from someone who’s graduated with a master’s degree from the ‘school of hard knocks’.

Having been in construction for more than forty years I have just such a degree.

The third BUILDing block is INSTRUCTION. Just like going to school to learn from teachers is helpful, having someone with more experience in business operations to INSTRUCT you is also helpful. It’s important that you are INTRUCTED with the right INFORMATION. You need the right INFORMATION to help you solve the problems specific to your business.

Asking for help can be a hard thing to do, but it’s easier and faster than trying to do it alone.

The amount of information it takes to run a successful construction business can be overwhelming. Asking someone for help can be scary, not to mention time-consuming. Ultimately, it comes down to you making a decision. You can decide to keep doing things the way you’ve always done them or…

You can decide to do something different and change things.

After being INSTRUCTED and INFORMED you need to LEARN how to use the INFORMATION you’ve received. LEARNING is the block we’ll lay in the next post.

I don’t think your dream was to start a company and have it fail.

It’s up to you to keep that from happening.

If you’d like some help with finding solutions to the problems your company is facing, you can get a free 30-minute construction company consultation with me by filling out this survey.

Wouldn’t You Like to BUILD Your Construction Company into Your Dream Business?

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This Requires an UNDERSTANDING of your Problems and Having Solutions to Fix Them

Last week we talked about the high number of construction companies that fail and some of the reasons this happens. None of these companies were started hoping that they would go broke and go out of business.

So why is it that construction companies fail so often?

We discussed some of those reasons last week. They included things like – a lack of funding or poor cash flow, poor production performance on projects and not having a good business plan.

These problems are more on the business side of things than doing construction. Most people in construction just want to do “construction”, they don’t want to do “business” stuff.

If you want to BUILD your dream construction company, you need a plan…a Blueprint for BUILDing a Better Business.

This plan starts with Being aware that there is a problem. Most people who own or manage construction companies know that something’s not right, but don’t know what it is. They know how to build buildings but not businesses.

Being aware that there’s a problem is the first step. The second is, Understanding what those problems are. Understanding what their business needs help with. Understanding that just like building a quality building isn’t a simple task…neither is building a successful business.

To help us Understand what construction companies are struggling with, we have developed a short survey. In exchange for your time filling out this survey we will give you a free 30-minute construction company consultation to help you Understand the problems your company’s dealing with.

We’ve talked about the first two steps to BUILDing a better construction company, the B and the U.

  • BEING AWARE of the problems
  • UNDERSTANDING what those problems are

There are three more building blocks needed to finish building the foundation of your dream business.

They are –

  • INFORMATION on how to fix those problems and INTRUCTIONS for implementing those solutions into your business
  • LEARNING how you use these processes and systems in the daily operation of your business
  • DELIVERY of the DREAM – This is where your dream business becomes a reality. It is where all the hard work begins paying off.

In upcoming posts, we will dig deeper into the I, L and D of BUILDing a Better Business and how these building blocks are the foundation that successful construction companies are built on.

If you own or manage a company that is involved in construction, don’t forget to fill out the survey and get your free consultation! Also, if you know someone in the construction industry that you think would benefit from a construction company consultation, please send them a link to this post or the survey.

Link to the survey – Understand Your Problems Survey (surveymonkey.com)

How Does the “Job List” Help Us See the Future of Our Construction Company?

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That’s a Question We’re Going to Continue Answering in This Week’s Solution

Previously we discussed the importance of building your business on a solid foundation and how it can prevent your business from falling down around you. We talked about the different parts of that foundation and their purpose.

Next, we talked about construction companies that are avoiding these foundational building blocks because they are out of their comfort zone. It’s amazing how people in the construction industry will use all sorts of power tools and equipment but are afraid of paperwork.

Then we began breaking down the “Job List”…one of those foundational building blocks. In that post we looked at how it can tell you…

  • Which types of work were consistently the most profitable
  • How you were doing at meeting your financial goals for the year
  • When you should have the signed projects finished to stay on track
  • How well you’re doing at getting proposals signed
  • What the average price of your projects are

We began with how the “Job List” can help with creating and recording project numbers, tracking project bid amounts and tracking dollars of signed proposals.

Now let’s continue looking at how the “Job List” can help us plan for the future.

When we look at the total project bid amount and the total signed amount we can see where we are in relation to our financial goals for the year. (See the previous post for more details on this).

Next is…

Tracking dollars collected from projects – This collected amount (column K) is exactly what it says it is. It is where we enter the amounts collected from each project weekly. This total gives us a comparison to our signed amount (column J) and let’s us see if our projects have increased or decreased after signing.

Percentage of jobs signed – This percentage, 60% (cell I-24) is the percentage of proposals that have been signed. This is cell B-22 (15) divided by cell C-22 (9). This information lets us know how we’re doing with our pricing. If the number is below 15%, we’re not selling well. If our number gets too high, above 50%, we may not be charging enough.

Percentage of dollars signed per dollars bid – Knowing this percentage helps us as we’re looking forward, to know how we’re doing in relation to reaching our financial goal for the year. Based on the percentage of 53% (cell J-26), knowing that if our goal for the year is $400,000.00, we need to have done twice that many dollars of proposals.

Percentage of dollars collected per signed – Just like tracking the amount of dollars collected is pretty straight forward, this percentage of 93% (cell K-28), is the same. This simply lets us know if we’ve collected everything that was bid. If not, there may be some outstanding receivables, or we may have made changes during production that reduced our receivables number. It’s also possible for this number to be more than 100% which means that there were changes made during production that increased our receivables.

There are still five more areas of information that the “Job List” provides but to keep this post from getting too long today, I’m going to stop here. I know that this feels like a lot but it’s not nearly as overwhelming as it seems.

Just like there’s a lot to constructing a building, the same is true for building a successful business.

The five remaining areas are –

  • Average dollar amount of projects bid
  • Average dollar amount of projects signed
  • Average dollar amount of projects collected
  • Projected timeframe for doing signed projects
  • Projected date work should be done

Of these next five areas I think the last two are the most revealing.

I’m looking forward to bringing this “Job List” topic to a close in the next post.

The “Job List” Is One of the Foundational Building Blocks of a Successful Construction Company

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Now, What’s the Purpose of This Building Block and Why Does it Matter?

Recently we discussed the importance of building your construction business on a solid foundation and how paperwork is outside of most contractor’s comfort zones. I know, I know paperwork is not a very exciting topic, but neither is concrete. And we all know how important concrete is in supporting a building. The same is true for paperwork and your business.

As we discussed previously, one of the three foundational piers is administration and finance. One of the building blocks in that pier is a Job List which offers valuable information for forecasting the company’s financial needs and production plans.

Wouldn’t it be helpful if you knew –

  • Which types of work were consistently the most profitable
  • How you were doing at meeting your financial goals for the year
  • When you should have the signed projects finished to stay on track
  • How well you’re doing at getting proposals signed
  • What the average price of your projects are

The Job List is an Excel spreadsheet that lets you gather and track information. It has preset formulas determining and sorting the information you need to make your business more profitable.

This document provides information for –

  • Creating and recording project numbers
  • Tracking project bid amounts
  • Tracking dollars of signed proposals
  • Tracking dollars collected from projects
  • Percentage of jobs signed
  • Percentage of dollars signed per dollars bid
  • Percentage of dollars collected per signed
  • Average dollar amount of projects bid
  • Average dollar amount of projects signed
  • Average dollar amount of projects collected
  • Projected timeframe for doing signed projects
  • Projected date work should be done

This list can seem overwhelming but doesn’t have to be.

Here is an example of what the Job List spreadsheet looks like.

Let’s go through the document and break it down into smaller bite size pieces.

Creating and recording project numbers – Having a numbering system can help you sort projects so that you can review which types and size of projects are the most profitable and what you do the most of. It may be that your most profitable ones are not the ones you do the most often. Having this type of information can help you to focus more of your attention on the right kinds of projects for you.

This Job List is a place to list project numbers in conjunction with the size and types of the projects as well as their chronological order. This document provides the numerical part of the project number specific to each project. The other portion of the project number is determined by job specific parameters not included on this document.

Tracking project bid amounts – Our Blueprint for Building a Better Proposal system provides the dollar amount for each project. Once a proposal has been finished, the information specific to that project is entered into the appropriate cells on the spreadsheet. This information includes Job Number (column E), the Customer Name (column F), Description (column G), Bid Date (column H) and the Project Amount (column I). Regardless of the system you use for preparing proposals, you should have a dollar amount that could be entered into this document.

As each new project amount is added in the project amount column, the total project amount at the bottom will update giving you a total dollar amount of the proposals you have done to this point in the year. Based on your company’s past history, this dollar amount should give you a clear picture of where you are in relationship to meeting your financial goals for the year. We will explain this further with the tracking dollars of signed projects.

Tracking dollars of signed proposals – Once a proposal has been accepted, the accepted dollar amount should be entered in the signed amount column. Initially this amount should be the same as the amount in the project amount column. Sometimes the dollar amounts of projects are changed due to change orders. This can be either an increase or decrease depending on the change order(s).

As each new proposal gets signed the dollar amount of the signed proposal should be entered into the correlating cell in the signed amount column. Just like in the project amount column, as each new amount is entered in the signed amount column, the total dollar amount at the bottom automatically updates giving you a total of work you currently must do.

With the total of the signed amount column and the total of the project amount columns, you should be able to get a clear picture of where you are financially in relation to where you want to be at year end.

Let’s say your goal for the year was to generate a gross revenue of $400,000.00. Using the example, you can see that as of December the 12th you were at $352,877.66. This is getting close, but not quite there. If you compare the signed amount to the project amount ($664,381.27) you will see that the signed amount is 53.11% of the project amount. Based on this percentage, to get the signed amount to $400,000.00, the project amount would need to be $754,000.00.

This kind of info is helpful when looking ahead to the future.

We’ve covered a lot here today. In our next post we’ll pick up at tracking dollars collected from projects.

I hope you’ve found this helpful. If you have questions, feel free to put them in the comments below and I will answer them.

So…What is it That Your Company Does?

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The Importance of Telling Your Companies Story and Telling it Well

We’ve all been asked the question…you know the one. “So…What is it you do for a living?” This is one of the most frequently asked questions when people meet someone new.

A simple answer of I’m a contractor, a painter or an electrician doesn’t cover it anymore. The business world has become so diverse in the different types of things being done. As an entrepreneur or solopreneur giving a clear and precise answer this question can be tough.

A cookie cutter answer doesn’t cut it anymore.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve worked on getting clear on our mission and the characteristics and actions needed to accomplish it. We’ve been using the Business Made Simple process for this.

This week we’ll use the things we learned, making a story that will clearly explain what it is we do in an exciting and interesting way. It won’t be the typical boring history of when the company was founded by my grandfather in 1929….

This story will be focused on our dreams and the future, not the past.

When asked, “What is it that your company does?”, we tell this story:

Construction companies struggle with a lack of business knowledge and construction customers don’t know what to expect.

Lack of knowledge and understanding leads to out of control, unprofitable businesses requiring too much time for too little profit and customers paying more than estimated for less than expected. This results in overwhelm, burnout, unhappy dissatisfied customers, lawsuits and termination of businesses.

We help both achieve their dreams, by providing businesses with systems, processes and training while educating and guiding customers through the construction process.

This leads to happy satisfied customers who become raving fans and profitable less overwhelmed companies separating themselves from their competition.

With the right tools and knowledge, construction companies and customers can build the businesses, construction projects and lives of their dreams.

If we will live out our story everyday in everything we do, we’ll accomplish our mission and…

Bridge the gap between construction companies and customers.

We can choose to live in a boring mundane world, void of purpose and vision…or we can discover our passion and purpose and write the story of our dreams.

It’s up to us.