In construction, there is an old adage that it’s possible to be good, fast, or cheap. Pick two. This makes it particularly important to choose the right contractor, or for that matter, the right consultant, who can accommodate what’s important for success. Check these boxes: Years in business Types of work completed Quality of team …
Marketing can feel like an easy line item to skip, or in times when the project list isn’t full, cut. My gut has always told me that marketing needs to have a core spot in our business, and a recent article I came across in Harvard Business Review gave me the research to back it …
Which of these traits is more important as a leader? An article I read this week argues that while these use to be called “soft skills,” they are now a necessary part of successful leadership. While I think they are all part of the recipe for great leadership, the case for humility particularly stood out. …
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege to meet many artists, a handful of whom I’ve come to know as friends. George Jones, Jr., is a 4th generation broom maker from Florence, Ala. Jerry Brown was a pottery folk artist from Hamilton, Ala., and Bettye Kimbrell was a quilt maker who specialized in Cherokee leaf …
Over the last decade, maybe even longer, retail has been an interesting case study. We’ve written a lot about bricks and mortar vs online sales and how that will affect our industry in the future. The pandemic heightened predictions that physical stores were set to become a thing of the past. It’s true that distribution …
We’ve recently started using a 360 camera and corresponding HoloBuilder software on some of our projects, and it’s been a gamechanger for several reasons. The premise is simple. A member of our team uses the camera to capture images throughout the project–inside and outside–at established points on an architectural sheet floorplan. These are taken from …
At its roots, most of construction is a task-oriented business. To be successful, one has to always be moving from strategic to tactical thinking and back again. While tactical processes are probably more the core of our business, this also requires balancing the minute details with the “10,000 foot view.” One of the main things …
You never get a second chance to start the right conversation with strangers. Most of us will tend to lead in with a typical, “How are you doing?” or “ How was your trip in?” These predictable questions, along with comments about the weather, may be in our comfort zone, but they are not the …
All things considered, 2023 has been a volatile year. The war in Ukraine, one that we hoped would be resolved, rages on, and now there is war in Israel. We’ve gone back and forth on the state of the economy and what to expect in the future. AI has become a major topic of conversation, …
Mentorship doesn’t always have to come from the more experienced generation to younger team members. There is room for us all to learn from each other. I’ve been reading a lot lately about intergenerational prejudice, or the likelihood of being stereotyped by the generation in which you were born. I am a Baby Boomer, who …
About this time last year, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics released a study showing how likely a small business is to succeed over time. Only a quarter of businesses are still operational 15 years after they open. This article gives a few reasons, from ineffective business plans to lack of financing and trying to …
In business, there are all kinds of assets on the road to success. Cash flow is just one of them. One of the most misunderstood and undervalued resources is relationship capital, or mutual trust built over time. Just like “good will,” relationship capital is an intangible asset that doesn’t always show upon the balance sheet. …