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.

So what should the architect do? He can’t design a house without the client describing what he wants. The contractor also can’t build the perfect home without a complete set of working plans or blueprints.  

Most business owners operate their business without a set of plans. They don’t know what they want so they take whatever they can get. Think about your company. What would make it perfect for you? If you could hire a business consultant to design and build the perfect business for you, what would the finished product look like? How would it work? What would it do? How big would it be? What type of products, services or projects would it be known for? What type of customers would it specialize in? How much money would it make? Would it make a difference in your industry or community? Would it be organized, systemized and in control? What would it do for the owner? Would it deliver peace of mind, security, freedom and fun for the owner and managers?

Why Are You in Business?

When entrepreneurs start their companies, they’re excited to be on their own, land some work and start making money. They do a good job for their customers as they remain intimately involved in every aspect of the business. Then, they get busier because they have more employees, more customers, more overhead and more jobs to worry about. They get unfocused after putting out the multiple fires that attack them constantly. They forget why they’re in business. They keep fighting and working to make enough money to stay alive, keep the doors open, keep their crews busy and keep the cash flow coming.

After five, ten or twenty years of this, business owners eventually wake up and start questioning their efforts and methods. Nothing seems to get better. Their repeat customers ask them to work cheaper, faster, better and accept slower pay. Their employees want more while doing less. And the government makes it tough for them to make any money. These business owners have been in business for years but don’t have much to show for their efforts except a sour attitude, more wrinkles, more aches and pains, less hair and more stress. In fact, they’ve lost their passion and have forgotten the real reason they went into business.  

Remember Your Dream?

Remember when you first started your business. You had a big dream of building the perfect business. It would deliver excellent service, great quality, repeat customers, hard working and loyal employees and stability for your future. In return, you would receive a large financial reward and plenty of free time to enjoy the benefits of owning your business.

What Do You Want Your Business to Do for You?

Do you have a personal “Business-Builder Blueprint” or written plan that will keep your business focused to deliver what you want? Do you know what you want? When will your dreams become reality? Or have you been working too hard to think about it? What happened to your dream? Why can’t you get your business to work the way you want it to? What happened to your written targets and goals? Are you too busy working to make any money? Are you waiting for the economy, your employees or your customers to change? Perhaps you’re waiting for a miracle to happen!

As I think about my perfect company, I know exactly what I want. Do you?

I Want My Business to Give Me Exactly What I Want!

I want my business to:

• Be run by the management team 100 percent
• Be organized and systemized
• Have lots of loyal repeat customers
• Have a culture of high integrity
• Make double the industry average profit margin
• Generate at least 25 percent annual return on equity
• Create wealth-building opportunities
• Build my net worth by at least 20 percent per year
• Give me time and money to contribute and give back to others
• Deliver me plenty of freedom and time to enjoy the benefits of business ownership

Answer the questions below to determine your purpose for owning your business—establish your vision, targets and action plan to achieve your dreams. 

 My Business Purpose            

1. What is my purpose for owning my business?

2. Why does my business exist? 

3. What do I want my business to do for me?

4. Describe what I want my business to give me in:

• Profits
• Equity
• Wealth
• Freedom
• Fun
• Status
• Stability
• Other

5. Describe how I want my business to give me the ability to:

• Help Others
• Give Back
• Contribute

6. Describe how my business will allow me to live my life “on-purpose and on-target!”

Once you have rediscovered why you own your company and the real purpose for your business, write out a simple and concise personal “Business Purpose Statement.” For example, my “Business Purpose Statement” is as follows:

  “The purpose for owning my business is to give me what I want! First and foremost, I want my construction company to make lots of money, build my net worth and create opportunities to own passive-income producing properties. I want my business to be organized, systemized, in control and 100 percent run by the management team. I want my company to provide excellent commercial construction and development services, deliver first-class, on-time projects and provide full value for our customers with high integrity. I want my business to create long-time loyal repeat customers who give us plenty of work at a profit margin double the industry average. This will allow our equity to grow at least 20 to 25 percent every year. I want our company to also seek wealth-building opportunities as a major part of our overall business plan.   

I want to do all of this so I can enjoy time with my family, take several annual trips with my wife, spend time with friends and enjoy the benefits of business ownership.  

My business will allow me to become wealthy, debt free, have enough passive income to avoid seeking cheap work or bad customers to stay busy, contribute to others and have time to give back to my family, industry, community and charities. And I will have the ability to live my life ‘on-purpose and on-target!’” 

Now it’s your turn to write out your personal “Business Purpose Statement.”

 

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