A great article on mobile apps and their impact on the construction industry. Definitely worth every contractor’s time!
Developers of construction applications for mobile devices recommend ways to rethink paperwork headaches to gain project profit with smartphones and tablets
Source: How Mobile Apps are Changing Construction Profitability
The article originally appeared on ForConstructionPros.com.
Buying other companies to expand one’s marketplace is not new to contractors, suppliers, or equipment dealers. It’s just that with today’s two primary “indicators” the opportunity might be more easily accessed.
Before we jump to too many assumptions, let’s first explore why you might want to consider buying another business.
Market dominance — There’s no doubt that getting more of the market is every contractor’s goal. Adding a broader presence of the same type of work performed might be all you need to do to shore up more work. So purchasing another “like” company could be your answer.
Geographical expansion — Wanting to take your company’s strengths to other towns and cities might be better attained by buying a similar company who already has a presence in the new town. They might also already have the needed equipment and “boots on the ground” to support fulfilling the work.
New service or product application — Wanting to expand into a service or the use of a specialized product might bring you a great return. Thus, finding another company that provides such a service or product could easily add to your company’s resume of total services and products supporting the market.
Let’s now look at the pros and cons associated with making such a monumental decision.
The company you are considering to purchase:
As you can see already, there are a lot of good reasons that might work in your favor should you determine to buy another contractor, supplier or dealer. Just like purchasing a home in today’s market, you might be able to get more for your investment than a few years ago. However, while there appear to be several very compelling reasons to consider expanding your company through making an acquisition, you must also consider the Cons that could be involved.
The company you are considering to purchase might have:
The cons listed above tend to put a wet blanket over the benefits of the pros, right? But, hey, this is what’s needed when considering making an acquisition. You need some honest and tough reality checks as to “what could happen.”
This current economic climate could be a great time to look at enlarging your market dominance through an acquisition. If you are confident about your firm’s strengths and have addressed the eight questions above, buying another construction company may make sense.
As we all know the only two things for sure in life are taxes and death. (We have Ben Franklin to thank for that quip.) We can see what our politicians are trying to do about our taxes but more importantly, don’t allow all of this deciding to acquire or not lead to an early death!
Stay in the hunt!
This article originally appeared in The Contractor’s Best Friend at ForConstructionPros.com.
Overproduction is:
Waste that provides more services, effort or energy either before it is needed or in addition to what is needed.
Examples of overproduction could be putting extra laborers on a project, assigning extra tools or equipment that the budget doesn’t allow, or purchasing extra material because it is “better be safe than sorry!”
I’ve witnessed this many times with contractors who allow their crew leaders to determine how many men they need on a crew. For the foreman who always had a six-man crew, this same foreman will have a difficult time taking less crew members when sent to a job that needs only four workers.
Overproduction is also a tempting treat for the contractor who realizes that completing the project on time will be difficult to do. The solution used too many times is simply just putting more workers on the project to finish. Sadly, had the project had better planning, preparation and a lean approach to begin with the project would not have needed an overproduction solution.
Overproduction takes place in the office as well. In the pulling together of an estimate the number of hands that “touch” the estimate can be mind-boggling. The larger the contractor, the more hands are likely to touch the estimate if there is no sure process in place.
Even something as simple as the contractor calling his or her office asking for some information, the office administrative staff can all drop what they are doing to get the boss what they need. And if the request is viewed as important enough, all available leaders in the office during this call can stop what they are working on to contribute to the overproduction time and costs.
A real-life example: I was working with a contractor who called from his truck about making sure lunch was delivered to his office by the time he arrived. When I informed him that five individuals were all engaged with carrying out his request, he finally admitted that his leadership style contributed to such a wasteful response.
So, what are some solutions to prevent overproduction?
A contractor or construction leader who experiences overproduction as the norm is simply not organized. Whether you are leading your company, leading a project or leading a crew, look to eliminate “over-” anything that you do or cause others to do. Valuable labor is wasted as a result of poor planning, organizing or communicating.
