Don’t Negotiate Your Price
By Michael StoneDon’t let your clients dictate or negotiate the price of your work.
Everyone Gets Paid
By Michael StoneOver the years I’ve heard from many wives or significant others who were tired of living with no money and essentially no future for the business.
Finding Suitable Construction Employees
By Michael StoneHiring the wrong person costs money. It costs more than just the time and expense you went through before hiring, because you’ll spend time and money to fire them legally and properly.
Structuring Your Construction Company
By Michael StoneMany contractors start out building jobs on their own, but it doesn’t take long before you need to hire others to help with production.
Failing Expectations
By Michael StoneMichael shares a note from a contractor dealing with multiple mistakes he’s made in his business.
Planning for Next Year
By Michael StoneThe end of the year is a good time to look at how you’ve been doing business. What standards have you set, and are you keeping those standards?
How to Have a Profitable Construction Business
By Michael StoneYou can’t focus on being competitive if you want to be profitable. You have to focus on profitability.
Depending on Referrals
By Michael StoneTake charge of your marketing and let the leads you get by referral be the frosting on the cake.
Advice for a New Contractor
By Michael StoneMichael shares a note from a new remodeling firm, asking questions that are often asked by new business owners.
Hope is Not a Strategy
By Michael StoneMichael Stone shares thoughts on protecting your family and construction business from whatever the economy or government throws our way.
Expect the Best, Prepare for the Worst
By Michael StoneIf the worst happens, will those left behind be able to either carry on or close shop without your presence?
Design Agreement Surprises
By Michael StoneIf you want to avoid problems when selling your services, take steps to prevent problems at your first meeting.
The Same Business Principles Apply to Every Trade
By Michael StoneMost of the training available for construction focuses on production. We talk about business, and business principles don’t vary no matter what type of work you produce.
Make Jobs More Profitable
By Michael StoneMaterials, change work orders, borrowing tools, punch lists, resolving issues.
Improve Jobsite Productivity
By Michael StoneAn efficient, productive construction project makes for more profitable jobs. It’s easier when you pay attention to these details.
Selling Design Agreements
By Michael StoneWith a renovation or remodeling project, your goal from the very beginning should be to sell your services by way of a design agreement. Sell an agreement to design the project since that’s the first necessary step before the job can start.
Setting Priorities
By Michael StoneIf you’re a business owner, prioritizing how you spend your time is critical. There aren’t enough hours in a day to do everything that needs doing.
Estimating Labor, Accounting for Trash
By Michael StoneEstimating a construction project requires working through the details. The better you cover those details, the more accurate your estimate.
Building Inspectors and Your Estimate
By Michael StoneThe building inspector who shows up can increase the cost of your project. That’s why you need to add an inspector factor to your estimate.
Estimating Construction Costs
By Michael StoneEstimating errors cost money, because the purpose of a construction estimate is to know how much to price a job.
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