Tag: entrepreneur

Construction Business Owner, May 2008

The market is slowing down. You need sales. Where are all those sales opportunities going to come from?

Are they behind that door?

Are they under this rock?

You know they're here somewhere, but where?

Well, maybe, just maybe, they're right under your nose.

Construction Business Owner, April 2008 

When Jose Elias-Calles first began in construction, he enjoyed remodeling and building homes, but the emotions often interlaced with homebuilding eventually pushed him toward commercial work. He purchased a small commercial construction business in 1989, and nineteen years later, Consolidated Contracting Services, Inc., has grown to a $40 million-a-year commercial contracting company.

Construction Business Owner, March 2008

Dear Jayme,

My drywall business grew steadily to about $1.3 million and then things got weird. When I tried to keep growing, the business would increase somewhat but then fall back to around the $1.3 million level. This happened a couple of times. The market is out there, but there just seems to be too much for me to handle when the business gets bigger. Am I stuck here forever?

Josh

Construction Business Owner, February 2008

Dear Jayme:

I’m a great electrician, and I’ve built a solid business. But now there are management situations I don’t know if I’m handling right, and I’m really uncomfortable just guessing. Am I just not getting the “ownership” thing? Shouldn’t I have learned how to run the place as I went along?

Construction Business Owner, February 2008

Editor’s Note: This is the second in our 2008 series of “Get Your Business to Work,” written by our regular columnist George Hedley.

Imagine you want to build your dream vacation lakefront home. You own the perfect two-acre waterfront lot free and clear. You have plenty of money saved in the bank for construction. You’ve selected a great architect and excellent contractor. You are ready to start the building process. At your first development team meeting, you’re asked the “big” questions: “What do you want? What would make this house perfect for you and your family?” But you aren’t sure exactly what you want just yet. You can’t envision the finished house at this early stage. You figure you’ll get started and see where the project goes.

Construction Business Owner, January 2008

Dear Jayme,I keep reading that it’s possible to own a business and not be stressed out, work long hours and fight fires all day, but I don't see how that’s possible. I’ve been running my business for twenty years. It’s always been one headache after another, and it seems like it will always be. How can it really be different?          

Trent

Construction Business Owner, December 2007

Dear Jayme:

My business has been doing about $1.5 million for several years. I know there’s a lot more room to grow, but frankly, I don’t know if I’m capable of running a bigger operation. I don’t want to mess up everything I’ve built so far. Should I just sit tight or take the plunge?  

Carlos

Construction Business Owner, November 2007 

Editor's Note: Following is part six of our eight part series called "Better Next Year," by Fred Ode, CEO, chairman and founder of Foundation Software.

Construction business owners, like a ship’s captain, must be prepared to steer their companies through the stormy waters and uncharted territory called change. To sit still amid changes happening within your market, your industry, and your competition is to risk sinking. 

Construction Business Owner, August 2007 

Editor's Note: This is the eighth in our 2007 series of The Business Owner Toolbox written by our regular columnist George Hedley. Each article is written to provide you with practical, immediately applicable business management tools to assist you on your path to building a successful, growing business.

Construction Business Owner, June 2007

Rules surround us each day and drive more and more of what we do. Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, ever-changing tax codes, employment laws and local statutes--the list goes on and on, and that's before considering your own internal policies and procedures.