Solution Building

How else are we going to know how high the bar actually is? This week we're going to look at the hard part of the process…putting numbers to performance. The number of goals made or correct answers given provide a numerical value of a person’s accomplishments. Evaluating performance is harder, it's about expectation and perception. The variation of perception is one of the main reasons this proces...

How Do We Get the Bar Raised to the Level of Excellence? Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve talked about the need to raise the bar of what is expected of construction contractors and how at Timber Creek Construction we’re working on a process to accomplish that . I used to believe the ultimate goal was achieving perfection. Then I was informed by my wife that striving for perfection was a bad thi...

The First Step is Raising the Bar High Enough So an Earth Worm Can Get Under It I talked last week about how poorly the construction industry is viewed and the contractor’s unawareness of how low construction standards are. It’s pretty sad when the bar is so low that an earth worm can’t get under it. As a general contractor I’ve allowed myself, sub-contractors and laborers the latitude to leave th...

Construction Contractors need to prioritize their customers, and in order to do this in every aspect of their construction work, their expecations of themselves need to change.

The topic of virtual construction consulting came up several months ago when I was talking with a friend, who lives more than a thousand miles away, about his construction project. He and his wife bought some property that belonged to an older lady and the buildings had fallen into disarray. As we talked, I found myself wanting to go help him fix things.

A couple of weeks ago we talked about a  construction problem  and what to do about it. This problem involved rafters not being attached to the ridge beam properly and a possible solution. That solution required the rafters to be long enough…which they aren’t. So, now what do we do?

Link to the blog post that has helpful photos to go along with the podcast:  https://www.solutionbuilding.net/the-job-list-is-one-of-the-foundational-building-blocks-of-a-successful-construction-company/ 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 outsid...

Just Knowing That There’s a Problem is More Than Half the BattleAs we go through the daily actions of living our lives, we become oblivious to things on the periphery. This is especially true of things outside of our expertise. This lack of awareness includes things like construction if you’re not actively involved in the building industry. When there is a situation that catches the attention of s...

Because Admin and Finance are Out of the Contractor’s Comfort Zone Most trades people like doing physical work, not paperwork. They like building things, not sitting at a desk making proposals or putting numbers in spreadsheets. Avoiding paperwork is one of the biggest reasons construction companies struggle to stay in business.

Because If You Don’t…It’s Likely to Come Crashing Down Around You If you own or operate a business, I’m sure you’ve experienced the feeling of your world crashing down around you. There are a variety of different reasons this happens. A few of them may be due to things out of your control. But, more often than not…it’s because of bad decisions we made . Most of us that are self-employed started ou...

Like Any Project That Has Some Size…It Takes Some Time to Build A few weeks back I told you about my plans to convert my blog posts into podcasts. We started by discussing the why question. We came up with the answer of – being able to help more busy people find solutions for building their dreams. Next, we talked about how we would ever get blog posts turned into podcasts. It was determined that...

As business owners, entrepreneurs, hardworking employees of companies, and active people, we find ourselves busier than ever during this time of the year. As we approach the end of one year and begin preparing for next, there just isn’t enough time to get everything done. Add to this the Holiday season and everything that goes with this…it can get overwhelming. As busy people we struggle trying to...

Too Often Once the Goals Are Planned…We Forget the Achieving Part. This is like having plans to build a building and once you get the blueprint drawn…you stop. You have a picture you can hang on the wall, but the building never gets built. Having a plan before you start is good, but it’s not enough. If you don’t dig some dirt and drive some nails, nothing is accomplished.

The third part of a Construction Contractor Story. Applying the tools of Building a Better Buisness Proposal System.

The second part of a Construction Contractor Story. Applying the tools of Building a Better Buisness Proposal System.

The first part of a Construction Contractor Story. Applying the tools of Building a Better Buisness Proposal System.

The eighth lesson in the Building A Better Buisness Propsal series. Once you have a signed Proposal, conclude with a Contract. The Contract completes the Proposal process and covers things beyond construction. Things like funding, additional documents, property boundaries, time within which the project will be started and terms and conditions. 

The seventh lesson in the Building A Better Buisness Propsal series. If you’ve ever done a jigsaw puzzle, you know how frustrating it is to get to the last piece…and you can’t find it anywhere. This is the same frustration a customer feels when they don’t have the full picture of what is to be included in their construction project.  Giving the customer a complete and thorough proposal gives them...

The sixth lesson in the Building A Better Buisness Propsal series. The next step in the “Blueprint for Building a Better Proposal” is to determine the price for the project. We ’ve talked a lot about the importance of communication to provide a clear description of the work to be performed . Now w e’ ll go through the process of determining consistent and accurate prices .  

The fifth lesson in the Building A Better Buisness Propsal series. What is a Scope of Work?    A Scope of Work " clearly defines the project requirements, milestones, deliverables, end products, documents and reports that are expected to be provided by the vendor. It helps in the smooth functioning of a project/work contract wherein both parties can avoid ambiguities and situations leading to disp...

The fourth lesson in the Building A Better Buisness Propsal series. Gathering important information as you begin the proposal process.

The third lesson in the Building A Better Buisness Propsal series. This is the third post in the Blueprint for Building A Better Proposal series. The first focused on the importance of communication between contractor and customer and the problems that can happen without it. The second listed the foundational pieces of the proposal system. In this post we’ll take an overview of the process and how...

The second lesson in the Building A Better Buisness Propsal series. Small and medium size construction companies struggle with preparing detailed and arcuate proposals. This problem isn’t restricted only to small companies. It begins there, but only gets worse until they either get big enough to absorb the costs of guessing at project costs or give up trying and quit.  Preparing accurate proposals...

The first lesson in the Building A Better Buisness Propsal series. Every contractor, at some time, has had an unhappy customer. This is almost always due to poor communication and/or a lack of understanding. It may have been some small misunderstanding or might have been major enough to result in being fired or going to court.