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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
EQUIPS STARTUP CONTRACTORS WITH THE TOOLS TO BUILD RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
For construction professionals starting their businesses, success depends on more than just skill and dedication. Mastering the Construction Startup provides an essential master plan for creating the foundational infrastructure every contractor needs to achieve sustainable growth and upon which every strategic decision will be made. Written by industry expert Nick B. Ganaway, this real-world guide details how to strategically align people, systems, and processes with business goals to proactively address risks, reduce errors, and build lasting operational resilience.
Grounded in decades of general contracting experience and research, each concise and accessible chapter breaks down the key components of sustainable success, such as identifying elements of a solid legal and financial base, establishing relationships with essential professionals, and creating a culture that attracts and retains the best talent. Throughout the book, Ganaway, often engaging directly with the reader, offers expert insights on everything from the role of the contractor to elements of leadership to advantages of niche contracting.
Mastering the Construction Startup empowers contractors to set up their companies for success during the challenging early years and beyond. Here is a small sample of the principles discussed:
- Why your company’s culture is critical to your success and how to ensure it will be what you want
- Billing procedures to follow to ensure that you get paid for your work
- Your essential need to hire the right lawyer and the right accountant for your business before your Day 1
- Your personal guarantee, its extreme risk for you, and what to do when it is required
- The legal and financial consequences of improper business registration and professional licensing
- How to choose the form of business structure best suited to your company
- An essential checklist for startups, and forms you can use
- The risks inherent in the Sole Proprietorship form of business
- The problems with partnerships and how to address them in advance
Mastering the Construction Startup: A Business Infrastructure Guide is perfect for trade school and college courses in construction management and entrepreneurship, and a must-have resource for contractors, project managers, and subcontractors at all levels.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025
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Table of Contents
Cover
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Author’s Disclaimer
About the Author
Preface
Introduction
Part 1: The Contractor
Chapter 1: Entrepreneurial Characteristics
It’s Not Easy
Your Dual Role as Owner and Manager of Your Company
Passion for Your New Baby Is Good, but…
Chapter 2: Company Culture
Chapter 3: Elements of Leadership
Vision and Strategic Direction
Emotional Intelligence
Communication Skills
Adaptability and Resilience
Integrity and Ethical Leadership
Team Development and Empowerment
Part 2: Regulatory Matters
Chapter 4: Business and Government Regulations
Incorporating Your Company
Registration in Other States
Registered Agent
Professional Licensing
Municipal Business Licensing and Permitting
Corporations and LLCs
The LLC
The S Corporation
The C Corporation
Sole Proprietorship
Partnership
Partnership Agreement
Establishing Your Corporate Entity
Choosing the Name for Your Company
Part 3: Getting It Done
Chapter 5: The General Contractor
The Owner–Contractor Relationship
Managing Risk
Construction Type
Union or Nonunion
Managing the Common Causes of Contractor Failure
Task Dependency Software
Construction Document Software
Construction Bookkeeping Software
Awareness of the Economy and Other Business Threats and Opportunities
Negotiation
Proactively Manage Budgets
Demand High Quality
Cultivate Relationships
Meet the Schedule
Stakeholder Communication
Human Resource Management
Trust
Marketing
Chapter 6: Subcontractor Management
Effective Subcontract Documents
Chapter 7: Construction Disputes
Design Defects
Workmanship Defects
Negligence
Changes in Scope
Changes in the Work
Contract Terms and Conditions
Payment
Methods of Dispute Resolution
Chapter 8: Project Delay
Causes for Delay
Be Prepared
Chapter 9: Contracts and Agreements
What Is a Contract?
The Value of a Written Agreement
Types of Construction Contracts
Lump-sum Contract
Unit Price Contract
Cost-plus Contract
Incentive Contract
Design–Build Contract
Getting Paid
Example Lawsuit
Part 4: Resources
Chapter 10: Lawyers
Construction Industry Lawyer
General Practice or Business Lawyer
Employment Lawyer
Workers Compensation Lawyer
Real Estate Lawyer
Mergers & Acquisitions Lawyer
Civil Litigation Lawyer
Tax Lawyer
Intellectual Property Lawyer
Personal Injury Lawyer
Immigration Lawyer
Estate Planning Lawyer
Deal Making
Chapter 11: Accounting and Taxes
Tax Preparation
Summary
Chapter 12: Hiring the Right People
So, Who Are the Right People?
Tips for Interviewing Prospective Employees
Job Benefits
Jobsite Facilities and Conveniences
Onboarding New Employees
Employee Meetings
Employee Handbook
Noncompete Agreement
Chapter 13: Banking
Loan Documentation
Personal Guarantee
Variable Rate Loans
Credit Unions
Private Lenders
Chapter 14: Construction Insurance
General/Commercial Liability Insurance
Workers’ Compensation Insurance
Employer Responsibilities Under Workers Comp Insurance
Workers’ Comp Insurance Benefits to Employers
Cost of Workers’ Comp Insurance
Builders’ Risk Insurance
Business Owner’s Policy
Product Liability Insurance
Professional Liability Insurance
Commercial Property Insurance
Fidelity Insurance
Home-based Business Insurance
Coinsurance
Making Claims
Performance and Payment Bonds
Performance Bonds
Payment Bonds
Summary
Chapter 15: Business Plan
Purpose and Evaluation
Presentation for the User
Proposal Guidelines
Part 5: Ideas
Chapter 16: Niche Contracting
Advantages of Niche Contracting
Additional Niche Advantages
Chain Store Owners and Franchisors
Chapter 17: Outside Board of Advisors
Is an Advisory Board Necessary?
Chapter 18: Case Study of an Existential Business Crisis – A Personal Account
Another Shoe Drops
A Perfect Storm
Looking Back
A Tough Decision
The Personal Effect
Success, at Last
Chapter 19: Investing in Real Estate as a Parallel Business
Owning STNL Properties – a Successful Proven Strategy
General Characteristics of STNL Properties
The STNL Marketplace
Primary Factors in Pricing an STNL Property
Replacing the Property Early
STNL Properties Versus the Stock Market
The Case for Investing in Real Estate
Dealing with Capital Gains Tax
The 1031 Tax-deferred Exchange
In Conclusion
Chapter 20: Summary Checklist for Startup Businesses
What to Do First
Chapter 21: Useful Reading
Appendix Contents
A: Partnership Agreement Example
B: Non-compete Agreement Example
C: Business Loan Proposal Form Example
D: Business Plan Example 1
Business Plan for Your Construction Company, LLC:
E: Board of Advisors Agreement Example
Purpose
Parties Involved
Term of Service
Roles and Responsibilities
Compensation
Confidentiality
Conflict of Interest
Indemnification
Termination
Miscellaneous
F: Employee Handbook Example
Your Construction Company, LLC Employee Handbook
1. Welcome Message
2. Company Overview
3. Employment Policies
4. Workplace Conduct
5. Compensation and Benefits
6. Work Hours and Attendance
7. Leave Policies
8. Health and Safety
9. Employee Performance
10. Separation of Employment
11. Additional Resources
G: Independent Contractor Agreement Form Example
H: Business Plan Example 2
1. Company Overview
2. Core Values
3. Management Team
4. Market Analysis
5. Marketing Strategy
6. Operations Plan
7. Financial Plan
8. Goals and Objectives
9. Risk Management
I: ACORD Certificate of Insurance Form Example
Index
End User License Agreement
List of Tables
Chapter 4
Table 4.1 How US businesses are legally organized.
Chapter 12
Table 12.1 Examples of strong company values.
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Author’s Disclaimer
About the Author
Preface
Introduction
Begin Reading
Appendix Contents
A: Partnership Agreement Example
B: Non-compete Agreement Example
C: Business Loan Proposal Form Example
D: Business Plan Example 1
E: Board of Advisors Agreement Example
F: Employee Handbook Example
G: Independent Contractor Agreement Form Example
H: Business Plan Example 2
I: ACORD Certificate of Insurance Form Example
Index
End User License Agreement
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Mastering the Construction Startup
A Business Infrastructure Guide
Nick B. Ganaway
Copyright © 2025 by John Wiley & Sons Inc. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining and training of artificial intelligence technologies or similar technologies.
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Published simultaneously in Canada.
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Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Further, readers should be aware that websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read. Neither the publisher nor authors shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2025906748
Print ISBN: 9781394292325
ePDF ISBN: 9781394292349
ePub ISBN: 9781394292332
oBook ISBN: 9781394292356
Cover Design: Wiley
Cover Image: Generated with AI using ChatGPT 4o
For my loyal employees past and present, who made it all possible.
Acknowledgments
I have bounced various business ideas off my friend Jim Nellis for the past 35 years, usually over a glass of wine, and I always come away wiser than before. Jim’s comments and suggestions during his reading of a couple of early drafts of this book were right on target and a vital contribution to its value. Thanks, Jim, as always.
It is only in the most positive terms that I can express my highest regard and appreciation for Tim C. Taylor. Tim, whose home is in England, is an accomplished author and editor who has been my writing guru since 2012, patiently holding my hand through every aspect of writing, editing, and publishing. Thank you, Tim. Your teaching, guidance, and friendship have been and continue to be of irreplaceable value to me.
I am forever grateful to my many friends, business associates, and employees who have traveled this road with me. Their wisdom is reflected in these pages. You know who you are. Thank you.
Finally, I want to express my love and gratitude to my children, Ginger Ganaway Smith, Julie Ganaway Blanchard, and John Ganaway, for their ear, eternal encouragement, and love in this and all of my writing and business life. Special thanks to Julie for graphics design. Love you, kiddoes.
Author’s Disclaimer
I am a businessman, not a lawyer, accountant, or insurance professional. The subject matter, advice, and recommendations provided in this book are based on my business experience and interaction with my various professionals over many years in relation to my businesses and are not intended to nor should they be construed as legal or other advice that may be obtained from licensed professionals.
About the Author
Nick B. Ganaway founded and operated Ganaway Contracting Company for 25 years, a commercial general contracting firm operating in the Southeastern US, before selling to its present owner. The infrastructure he built for his company has supported it through the best and worst of times. Ganaway Contracting Company celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2024.
Nick learned hard work from an early age on the small Texas farm where he grew up. After graduation from college, he worked for seven years in a major US company where he learned how business organizations work and their dependence on infrastructure that is built and continually nourished from their beginnings.
Nick’s business writings and articles have appeared in print and online. He is also the author of Construction Business Management: What Every Commercial Contractor, Builder & Subcontractor Needs to Know (Wiley).
He graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering. He lives in Atlanta and has three adult children and six grandchildren.
Preface
You’re Not Alone
I have written Mastering the Construction Startup: A Business Infrastructure Guide, for the man and woman optimistically starting and owning their own business but confronting the nagging uncertainties I faced decades ago – exciting, but also a little scary. It’s exciting because it is the fulfilment of our dream of owning our own business and running it the way we have imagined, of being our own boss while knowing it is not without considerable risk. Because we believe we can make our and our families’ lives become more fulfilling. And because we have a twitch that can be calmed only by making life happen for ourselves, rather than allowing it to happen to us.
Taking advantage of the principles and experiences described in this book puts you in a much better place than I was when I began. At that time I had been responsible for hiring and supervising contractors for Shell Oil’s light commercial construction projects for several years, but upon becoming a contractor I quickly learned there is a wide chasm between the requirements for a project owner’s representative and those for a general contractor in terms of knowledge, skills, resources, risk, and hard-earned experience.
There was no Amazon or Barnes & Noble nor did I find a practical book to help me prepare for the new world I was entering. I found myself caught between the fear of uncertainty and the determination for success when I was awarded the first job I bid on as a general contractor, which was a package contract to build two restaurant projects to start immediately and complete both of them simultaneously. I was prepared at best to win just one of the projects.
I had negligible personal net worth and a little US Small Business Administration money for working capital. The two jobs were separated by a 40-minute drive across the center of the Atlanta metro area. I was the project manager and superintendent for both projects as well as billpayer and materials procurer. To meet the start schedule, I had to establish credit with suppliers on the fly. I had no lawyer when I signed the contract the owner put in front of me.
Of course, I had no subcontractor relationships and the subcontractors I contacted were naturally skeptical of this newbie. In busy times, subcontractors stick with contractors from whom they’re likely to get continuing work.
At this point, I had committed just about every contractor sin that usually leads to failure. But the angels were with me.
Many of the principles described in this book are derived from my experience gained from starting and running my general contracting firm for 25 years, and they offer contractors in their startup and early years the information and tools developed and honed by my experience since those early days.
What You Can Learn
Below are just some of the empowering bits of knowledge you can learn from this book.
The elements of construction business infrastructure and why they must be in place on your first day in business
Essential characteristics of a general contractor
Duties and responsibilities of the general contractor
The failure-prone choices contractors often make
Your essential role in the development of your company’s culture
Elements of leadership
Elements of risk and how to manage them
Union vs nonunion projects
Metrics that lead to successful construction projects
Subcontractor management
Honing your communication skills
The value of integrity and ethical leadership
Managing differing conditions (contract conditions vs actual conditions)
The common causes for contractor failure
Reasons for extensive documentation
Controlling the risk posed by change orders
Managing construction disputes
Independent contractors vs payroll employees
Methods of conflict resolution
The role of negligence in construction defects
The essential role of your business plan and how to prepare it
Types of business legal structure for your company
Registering your company to do business
Professional licensing
The inherent risk of sole proprietorship
How to structure business partnerships
The elements of a partnership agreement
Choosing the name for your company
Hiring the right people for your company
Onboarding new employees
Construction jobsite facilities
The employee handbook
The controversial noncompete agreement
Record keeping
The basic components of a set of financial statements
Choosing your legal, accounting, and insurance professionals
The different legal specialties
The personal guarantee and what to do when it is required
The components of a legal contract
Types of construction contracts and agreements
Steps to ensure that you get paid for your work
Types of business insurance
The complexity of builder’s risk insurance
The risk of becoming co-insurer with your insurance carrier
Performance and payment bonds
Your business insurance carrier – whose side is it on, anyway?
Establishing banking relationships
Variable rate vs fixed rate loans
Documenting your loan application
The advantages of niche contracting
Considering a board of advisors
A case study: the author’s three-year business nightmare and recovery
Checklist for startup businesses
Essential form and checklists
Why Read This Book?
Most books written for construction business startups and entrepreneurs are written by people who sit in paneled offices, who attend construction business seminars, who read construction magazines, but who never started or ran a successful construction company of their own. Their books discuss various aspects of contractors and construction, but they rarely mention business infrastructure, which is the essential first order of business.
This is not one of those books.
And this is not one of those authors.
What Is Business Infrastructure?
Your businesses’ infrastructure interconnects your organization’s goals with the essential elements of people, systems, processes, culture, and tools required for profitable and sustainable growth. These five elements are the underpinnings upon which all of your business activities and strategies will be built.
In this book, you will learn these elements of the supportive infrastructure critical to every business organization and have them in place when you open the doors on Day 1. Like the security system in your home, your business infrastructure sits quietly in the background while you go about your business, knowing the resources you need to effectively manage your business are at your fingertips.
Left unmanaged, your infrastructure will evolve on its own but that would be like, say, letting a stranger hire your key employees for you.
If you want the elements of your organization’s infrastructure to reflect your style, your likes and dislikes, and your company’s culture, they must be identified and vetted by you and only you.
Every entrepreneur who has experienced the losses and the wins, the caveats, the mistakes, the heartaches, the sweat, the tears, the thrills… of starting and successfully guiding their own construction business to success has gotten there on the shoulders of the solid foundation underlying their organization: its infrastructure.
When I was preparing to start my construction company decades ago, I had never thought about something called business infrastructure. This lack of knowledge led to misdirection and disorganization during this riskiest time in the life of any new business. My survival marked the beginning of my decades-long study of business infrastructure.
You have dreamed of stepping into construction for yourself for a long time. Studied the competition, decided on the type of work you want to pursue, developed your growth strategies, lined up your financing, negotiated with your vendors, and fine-tuned the services you will offer. Now protect your investment by building a strong infrastructure for your organization.
Introduction
All businesses start small. Think of Ford, Dell, Amazon, and Joe’s Bicycle Repair Shop. These companies, like most general contracting and subcontracting firms, were started by men and women such as you and me who had an idea and pursued it with determination, struggle, and hardship. Strong leaders build strength and durability into their company’s infrastructure, and not one of these businesses would have survived without that in place.
Three of these examples grew into industry giants, yet most new businesses remain small like Joe’s.
Consider these statistics. According to the US Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, employer firms with fewer than 20 employees made up 89% of all US businesses, and those with fewer than 10 employees accounted for 79%. Perhaps surprisingly, small businesses accounted for about 44% of US GDP, the measure of all goods and services produced over a given period of time. Nearly half (47%) of all US employees work for a small business, yet 81% of small businesses have no employees, meaning the owner does it all.
More so than startups in many fields, choosing to become an entrepreneur in construction is a gutsy decision and career path that takes confidence, commitment, hard work and information. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the 25-year period through 2019 an average of 67.6% of new business startups survived at least two years. The five-year survival rate was 48.9%.
Adapted from 2022 Annual Business Survey, Census Bureau.
But don’t stop reading here.
Typical causes for this dismal failure rate, anecdotally reported by contractors and other business owners, include:
Insufficient working capital
Poor management decisions
Wrong or poorly researched target market
Bad partnerships
Ineffective marketing
Any combination of these
As we were told in some math class, a problem well defined is half solved. Mastering the Construction Startup: A Business Infrastructure Guide offers you the keys to convert this essential knowledge into practical application within your company, which, in turn, will increase the likelihood of your business success exponentially.
When you start your own business, you become part of an essential, highly respected, and rewarding part of the US economy. According to a 2017 study by Fidelity Investments, as reported in US News and World Report, 88% of millionaires are self-made. This of course does not mean that all self-made entrepreneurs are millionaires. On the contrary, the army of successful and fulfilled businessmen and women who are not yet millionaires by far outnumber those who are. And, the journey to achieving any goal can be as rewarding and fulfilling as the destination, if not more so. (The author Thomas J. Stanley explores this topic in depth in his book, The Millionaire Next Door, and his other well-researched books.)
Mastering the Construction Startup: A Business Infrastructure Guide will prepare you to become a successful member of the group of men and women who have chosen to be their own boss after spending time or maybe their first career in businesses or organizations with layers of management, endless meetings, shared cubicles, internal politics, union rules, and/or difficult bosses.
Or maybe you’ve just graduated from college or finished other training and know you want to do something on your own. A version of that scenario explains my first venture into owning my own business. Right out of college, I landed a rewarding job with a major corporation in which I had a high degree of autonomy and the expectation for continuing advancement. But after my seventh year, I knew corporate life was not for me. It was an invaluable experience, but I wanted to do it for myself, which is likely the reason you are taking the plunge. I have been employed solely within my own businesses for the past several decades.
Part 1The Contractor
Chapter 1Entrepreneurial Characteristics
Entrepreneurs are people who take a unique or innovative idea and run with it. Some of them are serial entrepreneurs who often move on to their next challenge.
By contrast, other businessmen and women open their own new business not to innovate but to make their way in an established field such as construction.
In this book, I use the term “entrepreneur” interchangeably with “businessperson” to describe all businessmen and women who started and ran their own businesses, including those who started as an innovator.
A study published in the Journal of Business Venturing in March 2019 compared the brain patterns of 21 entrepreneurs and 21 parents who were not entrepreneurs. The study was designed to investigate how and why company founders bond with their business creation.
As reported in the Wall Street Journal, this study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) found that when entrepreneurs think about their businesses, their brain patterns are very similar to the brain patterns of parents when they think about their children.
As parent, business founder, and operator for several decades, I am not surprised by these results. There really is nothing in your life other than your loved ones that is as dear and meaningful to you as the company you dreamed about, risked your life savings for, and worked impossible hours to finally bring to fruition and beyond.
It’s Not Easy
You are probably used to working hard and putting in a lot of hours at your present or former job, but it is likely that starting or acquiring and running your own construction business is going to require even more of you. Not only in terms of time and effort, but also in many unfamiliar challenges as you travel new avenues, all the while knowing you have a lot or maybe everything on the line.
However, you will have a lot of company, including everyone in the past, present, and future who gets that impossible-to-ignore drive to take their future into their own hands and accept the same risks you are taking.
You might have thought you’ll no longer have a boss, but you will in fact have the most demanding one you’ve ever had. He or she will be sitting right there on your shoulder asking hard questions. Judging your performance. Waking you up at 3 a.m. to question whether you put the right markup on the bid you submitted yesterday. Whether hiring Jack over Josh as your new project manager was the right decision. Demanding that you excel in every decision you make.
And you will at some point ask yourself, “What was I possibly thinking?” when you made this choice, even though you know the answer. But when those who never experienced the entrepreneurial fire in the belly or took total responsibility for their own fate notice the outward things it’s costing you now – working long hours, skipping date night too often, etc. – they won’t understand what drives you.
What you will get in return for your extraordinary sacrifices is the pride, the excitement, the freedom, the joy, and the challenge in watching your construction business grow and in knowing that you made it happen. And the expectation and determination you show will pay you and your family back in multiples at some point in the future.
Of course, things can and sometimes do go wrong, but if you master the following you’re starting from a position of strength that puts you far ahead of the pack.
Build a strong infrastructure for your company as described in this book.
Understand the type of construction you will pursue.
Know how to put a bid together.
Identify the proper market for your business.
Have access to adequate operating capital.
Know how to manage money.
Possess good judgment and managerial skills.
Starting a new business, particularly in the construction industry, involves significant risk due to factors including market fluctuations, regulatory requirements, and financial management challenges. If you are just starting out on your own, be prepared to take calculated risks and face potential setbacks with resilience and determination.
Successful entrepreneurs have a clear vision for their company, which includes setting, monitoring, and adjusting strategic goals as circumstances change. This vision drives decision-making and inspires confidence in your customers, financial professionals, and your employees.
As you know from your exposure to the construction business in some earlier capacity, starting and running a construction company demands a lot of hard work. From long hours to the hands-on management of projects, a strong work ethic ensures that you are prepared mentally and physically to handle the sometimes-extreme demands of the business, meet deadlines, and exceed customer expectations. My daily runs as a recreational runner during any particularly stressful period gave me an hour or so of sanity-preserving peace.
Comprehensive knowledge of the construction business is crucial. This includes understanding different building methods, materials, safety regulations, and staying updated on industry trends. Such knowledge is necessary for delivering quality work and also in making good business decisions. Set aside time to read construction-focused management books and magazines for helpful information and knowledge. Whatever sector of construction you pursue, there are likely numerous periodical publications that focus on your field from which you can get useful ideas. But also read general business and money magazines, such as Entrepreneur, Forbes, The Economist, and Money, to name a few.
An understanding of finance is essential for managing budgets, arranging for funding, pricing projects, and maintaining profitability. Financial knowledge also helps you manage cash flow effectively, critical for the survival of any new business. Learn how to analyze your company’s financial statements. They shine a probing light on your past performance and suggest opportunities as well as guardrails for the road ahead.
The construction industry can be unpredictable due to, for example, changing economic conditions, weather, and client dynamics. I have described elsewhere in this book a period in which some of these conditions severely rocked my company. Successful entrepreneurs adjust strategies, pivot when necessary, and remain alert to new opportunities as they arise.
Challenging situations are common in construction projects. Finely hone your problem-solving skills to address and resolve issues to keep your projects on track, even at times when you do not have all the necessary information.
Quality in construction heavily depends on attention to detail. Your and your managers’ conscientious oversight of projects is essential to reduce opportunities for mistakes, meet safety standards, and satisfy a demanding customer’s requirements.
Adopt new technologies and seek solutions to construction challenges to give your new company advantages over your established competitors.
It is the rare person who possesses all of these entrepreneurial characteristics. Hone those you possess and work toward mastering others. They will serve you well as you navigate the complex landscape of starting and running a construction company.
Your Dual Role as Owner and Manager of Your Company
As the owner and the key element in the infrastructure of your construction firm, you fulfill two separate but equally essential roles: that of owner and that of manager/chief executive officer (CEO).
As the owner, you establish the business’ objectives and vision, and you require yourself as CEO to carry them out.
In your role as the CEO, it is your responsibility to carry out these objectives by organizing, planning, controlling, directing, and facilitating the necessary elements.
Periodically throughout the year, step back and take a hard look at your performance as CEO against the predetermined business objectives you established as owner. The outcomes might meet your expectations, or they could fall short. If it’s the latter, you as CEO must delve into and analyze the reasons behind it and detail them in a report. Then you the owner need to digest that report and determine the necessary internal changes that you the CEO must now put into place.
