Mountain climbing and running a business are very similar. A climber focuses on their next hand hold or step and will often lose track of how far they have climbed. Climbing the mountain face, a climber will gauge their distance traveled by looking down. As...
Over the past few weeks, multiple TV talking heads have been discussing the pros and cons of our economic recovery. It has been interesting the generalities they use to offer an opinion as to what is going on but rarely do they offer facts to...
December is when businesses take time to assess their successes and establish goals for the following year. Looking forward into 2014, business goals will include increasing revenue and adjustments to construction products and services. Price adjustments for 2014 will have an effect on your project...
Perspective can radically change what you achieve without changing anything in your existing environment. When projecting construction trends and their resulting costs, I have long been a proponent of finding leading indicators that can provide the insight and perspective related development and construction. Recently we hosted a...
Several of our projects are currently going through a bidding process. Interestingly, we are getting feedback that many subcontractors are already near or at capacity, forcing them to be more selective in the projects for which they offer proposals. We have heard reports that several...
Estimators Must Project the Future: Each time an estimator prepares an estimate he is asked to predict the future. They take a set of drawings and specifications, define work to be done, then offer, often in detail, a cost of what the project might cost...
The RISKIEST part of the Construction Cycle: Each day, I hear lots of excitement from my owner clients about how banks are interested in talking about our project. I hear lots of upbeat optimism from design firms about their proposal volume. Contractors are elated about...
Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) Certification requires members to obtain recertification credits. On February 28th, Don Boyken spoke to a group of certified members on the Change Order process. Speaking from his project management experience where he represented Owners and Contractors, Mr. Boyken shared...
In our June 2012 newsletter, we began advising readers that the commercial construction recovery was on its way. November 2012 was the second consecutive month of commercial construction growth and December numbers to continue the trend. Some clients are feeling the improvement, and depending on...
Over the last 30 plus years I have observed a number of economic recoveries and have discovered patterns that repeat themselves each time. These early economic indicators foretell the economic trends and future events. Over the last 4 months, a clear indication has surfaced as to where the...
