13 Pitfalls for Construction Business Owners

The following practices, though perhaps once common, no longer work in the construction industry. Avoid these, and you’ll have a better opportunity to keep up with and surpass the competition:

• Honoring tenure over results
• Valuing craftsmanship over the ability to follow company systems and rules
• Letting someone else manage money nstead of knowing your numbers
• Keeping foremen in the dark rather than sharing job cost goals with them
• Keeping decisions out of others’ hands instead of empowering employees
• Hiding financial results from managers versus opening your books
• Buying all field equipment instead of renting to conserve capital
• Providing only lump sum bids rather than line-item cost breakdowns and project savings information
• Buying cheap software versus investing every year in technology to stay ahead of project requirements
• Winging your company goals and strategies versus updating a written strategic business plan every year
• Hiring low-price assistants versus highly qualified, experienced performers
• Staying in your comfort zone instead of hiring managers with expertise in emerging markets
• Waiting for the economy to turn around or for old customers to call versus having written sales and marketing plans and seeking new customers and project types