00. Begin With YOU

There are two types of construction operations. Which one you have is defined by how you get out of bed in the morning.  If you get out of bed and your first business thought is which site you need to get to, you have a job.  

If you get out of bed and your first business thought is how you are going to make your organization more efficient or less dependent on you, you have a business.

To succeed in your business, decide what is important for you and your business to accomplish, figure out how you are going to do it, and then do only those things.

This track teaches you how to think about your business.

01. Start a Construction Business

You don't just wish a construction business into existence.

There are many steps that have to be taken, the first of which is an introspective look at your motivation for going into business.

From there, you plan, then you plan, and then you plan. The training, worksheets and lessons in this theme can set you up for success. 

02. Operating a Construction Business

Because you know how to build does not mean you know how to run a business that builds.

Learn what it takes to run a construction business well.

From "Dreaming It Up" to "Down-and-Dirty Survival Tactics", this is the theme where you can start your education.

03. Marketing Your Construction Business

It would be nice if all you had to do was build better or faster or with more value, and everyone would become your customer.

But it doesn't work that way.

You still have to do the hard work of building a brand and a reputation, of being first in your chosen market niche...and then telling your market who you are.

Being great isn't enough.

Your market has to believe in your greatness.

This theme focuses on knowing your market, selecting the right niche and planting your own flag there.

04. Estimate a Construction Project

All of the effort that you have made in developing your construction knowledge, crafting the right marketing message, setting up a client-centric business, building a knowledgeable crew of subcontractors, and a hundred other tasks will mean nothing if you can't produce a timely, comprehensive and professional estimate.

This is the first customized document you are going to provide for a prospect.

It has to be right.

This theme can teach you how to accomplish this critical goal.

07. Manage Construction Associates

Do you ever just shake your head and wonder if you and your subcontractors or other employees really are speaking the same language?

Learn what it takes to get and keep everyone on the same quality and performance track.

Learn what it means to grow yourself out of a job in this theme.

8. Manage a Construction Project

Management of the activities at the job-site is, of course, critical to construction business success.  For most of us, it is where we actually cut our construction teeth.

Believe it or not, that is a problem.

The urge to "just do it myself" constantly gets in the way of running your construction business like a business.

The business-oriented approach to job-site production is to develop a system, a method, an action plan for doing the work that must be done on a job-site, delegating that work...and then monitoring the performance.

Learn how to get out of your own way in this theme.

9. Construction Finances

Success in your Construction Business requires that you have a method to measure historical financial performance and to plan your financial future.  

Accounting is such a method.

Further, you will use the historical numbers to make your future numbers more accurate. Using reliable numbers to generate new proposals and estimates can help you avoid under-bidding a job (and losing money) or over-bidding a job (and losing work).

Neither outcome is sustainable.

In this theme, learn how to speak the language of accounting and use the accounting numbers to become a better financial manager.

10. Build a Digital Toolbox

The applications we use provide a business environment in which

• the website presence is constantly and easily reinforced
• team members share important information across multiple platforms
• professional level services are provided to the client base
• project status is constantly updated, and
• managers manage instead of react.

See what we use, and how we use it, in this theme.