Whew…FIVE Months in the Making

I am THRILLED to have this project behind me.

Between staying ahead of my coaching clients, writing newsletters, working on content for the upcoming membership site (which may have finally been named), and getting organized with my business partner, Guy Gruenberg, I have been slogging forwards on this video.

Don’t let the short length fool you. A TON of effort went into it.

First off, thank you to everyone who helped my refine the list of 10 biggest mistakes contractors (commercial) make. The original list never felt just right. This list does.

Next, I had to rewrite the report.

Then, I had to figure out what type of video to make. The initial plan was to be a live video of me presenting the mistakes. After watching tons of presentation videos, I discovered that PowerPoint videos were more entertaining. After more research, it became apparent the video shouldn’t be much over three minutes in length. Like most speakers, it takes me 10 minutes to get going. So, chop-chop-chop.

Then, time to track down a professional to add sound, narration, and do the editing (thank you Bob Dusin, friend and professional voice and sound man). I simply don’t have those skills…yet.

Bob was amazing. Video is done and now on YouTube.

Click the play arrow above to watch it.

Let me know what you think.

If you’d like to make a YouTube marketing video, I’d be glad to help out. It is the future of web traffic generation.

Have a great Labor Day!

Your friend,

Ron

And the beat goes on.

Last week, I heard two more stories of woe from contractors who had taken on partners or turned over the management of their firms to individuals who turned out to not be worthy.

One of the contractors ended up in bankruptcy court and lost everything. The other is desperately digging his way out and is going to end up partnering with someone to keep himself out of bankruptcy.

This brings my 2008 total of such stories to an even dozen.  The split is about 50/50. Half turned over their business to someone who wove a grand tale, gave them near full authority in all matters, stopped paying attention to what was going on, and found themselves without work. A couple of those that did land work,  stole money (embezzled).

The other half brought on partners who turned out to be horrible salesmen and financial managers. They had track records of really poor financial performance that they inevitably blamed on someone else, couldn’t bring any money to the table to buy their share, and grew the business with complete disregard to the profitability of the work.

Moral of the Story:

Do your due diligence before joining up with someone new. Put in place monitoring systems to ensure he or she is taking care of your best interests.

Just got back from a client’s office last night. My partner and I have been working with the owners for a little while and had been struggling to get financial information on their business.  Our clients have been trying to get us their data but it just wasn’t showing up.

Now, maybe you can run your construction company without proper financial management but few can. Fortunately for our client, they’ve been able to get away with it. They’re in pretty good shape. How good of shape they’re in is still up in the air, but they’re not hurting.

Their struggle with their accounting service is common. In my mind, a professional accountant should ensure:

1. Their client understands the story told by the financial statements.

2. Their client is looking at the proper interim reports to ensure income is out running expenses.

3. Their client receives timely information.

Our client’s outsourced accounting team had not achieved any of these three objectives. To be honest, client was helping the situation any because they hadn’t set clear expectations for their accountant. We are correctly that quickly.

The owners have been focusing on work schedule, work quality, and customer satisfaction. And they have been keeping their customers exceedingly happy in doing so.

Luckily, their gross profits were big enough to keep their financial house in order.

All we have to do is set their expectations higher.  Their actually quite lucky in that their accountant can meet their needs. Often, contractors discover their accountant is just not cut out for construction accounting.

Can’t tell you how many times I recommended that my clients change CPAs. They just weren’t performing the role my clients needed.

Is yours?

Is your CPA providing the coaching and reports you need to KNOW WITHOUT A DOUBT your firm stands on solid ground?

If not, go hunt down one who understands construction, contractors, and their role in helping you become a financial management ace. If you can’t find one, get in touch with me. One or more of my contacts may be able to help you.

Until we next chat…

Ron