Contractor's Survival Manual, Revised Edition, explains what it really takes to survive hard times in the construction industry and how to take full advantage of the profit cycle in good economic times.
Whether you're just getting started or have been bidding jobs and meeting payroll for years, this practical manual will suggest unique ways to overcome your most persistent problems - getting through a debt crisis: what to do when bills can't be paid, finding money and buying time, conserving income, transferring debt, handling creditors, choosing assets to liquidate, setting payment priorities, cash float techniques, alternatives to bankruptcy, dealing with lawsuits, judgments and liens and laying the foundation for recovery.
Then there's building sales and profits - using other people's cash, becoming a great salesman, setting goals, using limited partnerships, building financial reserves, accurate estimating, calculating overhead, contingency and profit margins. Completely updated, including major new sections on the use of personal computers for bookkeeping, estimating and scheduling, and Web addresses that have additional useful information.
You won't find conventional advice in this book. Instead, expect to learn what's really needed to survive, stabilize and thrive as a construction contractor.
Explains what it really takes to survive hard times in construction and how to take full advantage of the profit cycle. Whether you're just getting started or have been bidding jobs and meeting payroll for years, this practical manual will suggest the best ways to overcome a contractor's most persistent problems.
This book is based on the author's experience as a self-employed general contractor, developer and architect. It describes how to build a prosperous construction contracting or subcontracting company of your own, and how to avoid many of the pitfalls along the way. Survival comes first. You're never going to thrive in construction if you can't get through a debt crisis: what to do when bills can't be paid, finding money and buying time, conserving income, transferring debt, handling angry creditors, assets to protect and assets to liquidate, setting payment priorities, "cash float techniques," alternatives to bankruptcy, lawsuits, judgements, liens, laying the foundation for recovery, and deciding who should stay as your team climbs back to prosperity.
But getting back on your feet is only the start. Building profits comes next. This book explains:
- Setting goals
- Building financial reserves
- Spotting the flakes and con artists
- Design and build contracts
- Employee incentives
- How to avoid tax, accounting and payroll problems
- Using other people's cash
- Setting up to handle profitable jobs
- Zoning and permit problems
- The art of estimating
- Collections and lien releases
- Using limited partnerships
An important chapter shows how to invest in inflation:
- Trading and postponing income
- Selling the sizzle
- Acquiring interests
- Deal structuring and financing
You won't find conventional advice in this book. Instead, expect to learn what's really needed to survive as a construction contractor.
Excerpt from the Introduction
The Basics of Construction Contracting
This book is written for general contractors, builders and subcontractors, the self-employed entrepreneurs who handle most of the construction work in this country. Whether you're just getting started in construction or have been bidding jobs and meeting a payroll for years, you should find plenty of useful information between the covers of this book. Whether construction is your full-time occupation or your "other job" while you draw a salary on someone else's payroll, this book should help you make a better living in your chosen profession.
Construction contracting may be the quickest legal way I know to make money. Many contractors have doubled and redoubled their assets in a short period of time. It takes skill, luck, hard work and long hours, but the rewards are consistent with the risk and effort. Where else can you start out with a few tools, a truck and no special skills and build a multi-million dollar business in three or four years? It's been done many times in construction.
Even if you don't make a mint, construction contracting is satisfying work. You work outside, have only yourself for a boss, and can take pride in providing durable and attractive shelter, one of the most basic human needs.
But construction contracting is also complex and demanding work. Even a simple project requires coordination of many tradesmen and many different types of materials. Running that project (or a construction company) is like driving a team of spirited horses that wants to go off in all directions at once. Anyone successful at construction contracting is likely to be a jack-of-all-trades and the master of most, sort of a man for all seasons. A builder has to be a salesman, accountant, collection agent, labor negotiator, planner, plumber, laborer, estimator, marriage counselor and carpenter all rolled into one. If you come home tired at night, it's no wonder. Just one or two of these jobs would be enough for most people.
This Book Can Help
Because you're taking the trouble to read these pages, it's safe to assume that you have the problems that plague many contractors: You're not making enough money as a builder and you're frequently knee-deep in unpaid bills. Taking the time to read this book shows that you're one step ahead of the competition. You recognize the problem and are looking for a solution. That's an important step in the right direction.
This book is intended to help you sort out the complexity of running a contracting company. It's a guide, a road map to operating a successful construction business. It will suggest ways to get out of trouble, if that's where you are now, and explain how to build the more profitable construction company that you would like to have.
The first part of this book explains how to hang in there with what you've got. Survival comes first.
There's no point discussing profits if your carpenters didn't get paid last week.
If your business is already doing reasonably well but isn't making enough money, concentrate on the second part of this book - thriving in the construction industry.
But in either case, I recommend that you read this book from cover to cover. It should help you maintain composure while making plans for the business you want to have.
Every bit of information in this book comes from my experience and personal observation. I know first-hand that the methods here work. But only you can judge if they will work for you.
About the Author
William D Mitchell has survived over two decades in the building industry, designing and building everything from single family homes throughout the Western states to multi-million dollar projects such as reconstruction of the City of Paris Rotunda, now the Neiman-Marcus store in San Francisco, and the San Bernardino County Museum. He's a licensed architect, as well as a general contractor.
Mr Mitchell knows about digging out of debt and dealing with creditors. About 10 years before writing this book, mistakes and some bad luck nearly sunk his construction business. But he survived and learned to avoid the classic errors that push so many contractors and subs to the financial brink. If you're tired of learning what not to do by doing it, spend a few hours digesting the practical wisdom contained in this book.
Table of Contents
Part One: Surviving. Chapter 1: The Basics of Construction Contracting. Chapter 2: Which Way Is Up? Chapter 3: Finding Money and Finding Time. Chapter 4: Got That Sinking Feeling? Chapter 5: Who's Minding the Store? Chapter 6: Who Me Work? Chapter 7: The Equipment Payment's Past Due. Chapter 8: One Problem at a Time. Part Two: Thriving. Chapter 9: Your Purpose and Goals. Chapter 10: Going Where the Money Is. Chapter 11: So You Can't Find a Job? Chapter 12: Over-Design Under-Design and No Design. Chapter 13: Second for the Third Time. Chapter 14: Investing in Inflation. Index. |
