Know Your Numbers: Current Ratio
There is a measure you can use to determine how financially solid your company is at any given point in time. It’s called the current ratio, and it’s a good idea to check it regularly.
Handyman vs Service Agreement
Is it a good idea to have a service agreement to cover small jobs under a certain amount?
Estimating, Labor Burden, Cost of Goods Sold
When you own a small business you wear a lot of hats. Understanding the numbers might not be your favorite hat, but numbers are important because they show where you stand financially.
How to Calculate Markup
When I teach a class or webinar, sometimes I wonder if my listeners understand what I’m trying to say. After reading some of the questions that came in during a recent webinar, I realized I missed the mark.
Pricing Mistakes
Everyone, and I do mean everyone, who has ever compiled an estimate has made a math error that put knots in their stomach once it was realized.
Design Agreement Fees
The last thing I want to do is cause a family problem, but apparently I did with one family.
Liability Insurance Tangle
Some time back we received a well-written letter about liability insurance from a contractor in Washington state.
Protect Your Business – Change Work Orders
Michael discusses a ploy some building owners use to not pay for all of their change work orders. It happens in both residential and commercial projects.
Give Them What They Need to Make a Decision
Clients are changing, and if you want to stay in the game and make something more than a living, you’ll need to change with them.
Overhead and Profit on Change Orders
You shouldn’t sign a contract that stipulates what you can charge, even if it’s just on the change orders.
Protecting Design Work
A contractor who has designed projects asked how to protect his design work.
Writing a Business Plan for a Construction Business
A business plan is different than year-end planning. A business plan looks at the big picture. It’s a roadmap for the whole journey.
Training an Architect
A contractor we’ve known and worked with for many years sent us a note about his experience working with a new architect. Ideally, the architect would have been working with the contractor from the beginning so he could have educated the client as well.
Share Your Cards
Business cards are a simple, inexpensive way to provide everyone you come in contact with the information they need to reach you.
What Should You Do With Your Profit?
The best way to avoid paying taxes is to not make a profit at all, but it’s a rough way to live.
Avoiding a Potential Pain in the Assets
A good guy we know was recently working with a potential client when he ran into some concerns.