By Christopher Swetz, SJ Construction Consulting, LLC Executive Summary Properly planning and monitoring the work can result in a safer and more profitable activity. Here’s one way to do it in utility installation. Dig Baby Dig! In underground utility excavation, the critical driver of both productivity and the overall cost […]
Lose the Guilt – Mark it Up!
Executive Summary Contractors deserve to be profitable. It’s necessary for business survival. A perceived exorbitant markup should not be fretted over. Mark it up! The “disclaimer”. Profit is markup is fee here. Be advised this article assumes that profit and markup and fee are one in the same. There is […]
Setting the Bid Unit Price: 2 Main Reasons for Unbalancing
Executive Summary Setting of bid prices on a unit price bid can have significant effects on the financial performance of a project. Set your unit prices in your proposals to have positive impact. Be strategic. Balanced Bid PricesA balanced bid price is when each of the bid items shares equally […]
How to do a Job Cost Projection: Cutting through the Fog – Part 1
Executive summary. An accurate job cost projection is vital to Company survival. And it’s not too complicated if you know the budget, the timing of your costs, and can do a little bit of estimating. It’s NOT about blindly relying on quantities completed! What’s a projection? It also carries different […]
“Boosting” Job Profits on Equipment Purchase – on Paper
Executive summary. Whether in a bid situation or a change order negotiation, there is a way to boost your profit on paper by not “job costing” your equipment. Let’s talk depreciation. And whatever you do, make sure to talk to your CPA after reading this. It’s much more complicated than […]
Training: Now I see the Value
The benefits of training can be great for numerous reasons. You’re making capitalinvestments, you should also treat your employeesas an asset worthy of investment too.
Cost versus Price
Executive Summary: Cost and price are two different measures of money in a construction bid. Knowing the difference is fundamental and can improve profit. What is cost? Cost is the expense associated with an activity or item. It is just cost. It has nothing to do with price. In construction […]