While describing the type of business he didn’t want to be,  my client threw out an abbreviation that I thought was golden: AFAB

Anything For A Buck

He understood that his recent pattern of doing anything for a buck (AFAB) was re-enforcing several poor habits among his team – himself included. It was teaching them to act like typical me-too contractors who fight clients and designers every step of the way over every little cost add as he had no other choice due to the manner in which the jobs ended up in their hands (by being the low bidder).

All the result of AFAB.

Companies that grow do not pursue AFAB. They identify profitable niches and customers they can excel with and build their businesses around those customers.

That’s what my client is working towards and that’s what you should be working towards too!

In a future  newsletter we are going to address three phases of business. Every day tasks, crisis management and strategy. You probably spend most of your time on the first two.  Don’t neglect strategy! It is the important road map of where you want your business to be in the future. It is often underrated. Just ask contractors who have plans for good times and not so good times.

We are interested in hearing from all of you contractors out in there in cyber world about how you use strategy to create advantages in your marketplace. What works best for you? How do you monitor and revise your strategic direction? Share some success stories.

For those of you who have not really done much planning we’d like to hear from you too. Why haven’t you created a strategic plan? What would you need help with if you decided to create one? Let us know so we can help you!

Don’t hold back!!! I expect a lot of feed back over the next few weeks. Let’s hear from everyone!

Guy and Ron

I thought about posting this blog before the election took place but I just was unable to find the time to accomplish it. Let me reiterate that we do not promote or discuss any political viewpoints on our website. The purpose of this post is very direct. Don’t allow national or state election results or the state of the economy to provide an excuse as to why you or your company is not doing as well as it should.

Unless you are part of a global or national company which probably excludes most of our readers you can develop a strategic plan that will minimize the impact of what the economy and government have on your business. Don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t mean that you necessarily can continue doing things the same way you always have. Change has been and will continue to be in the making for most facets of the construction industry. The reality is you have control on what changes your company will make. We also have a choice on how we react to market conditions.

Now is the time to analyze your business according to our six critical success factors which you can navigate to by clicking on this topic from our home page. One of the points I would like to make is for you to spend less time worrying and allocate more time to planning your future successes.

Guy and Ron