How would it be to coach a team and know your team’s score but not your opponent’s? Most companies prepare their financials on a regular basis so they know their own score, but how do they compare to others in their industry? Benchmarking is an important tool to help you see how you stack up against your competition. Just like a coach will review their stats and see where they have strengths and weaknesses, a business owner should regularly do the same. Continue reading “Benchmarking: What’s the Score?”
Industry Category: Construction, Real Estate & Minerals
Posted on August 29, 2014
Increasing Profitability Through Efficiency
(Published in Construction Executive, May 2014)
Tight margins and operating profits have made it difficult for most contractors to increase the cash level on their balance sheet and build up the strong working capital and equity position that banks and bonding companies hold in high regard. To win bids in this environment, contractors must look for ways to gain efficiencies on projects as well as in the office.
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Risk Sharing Through Joint Ventures
Contractors live in a world full of risk. Around almost every corner, risk is waiting to unhinge a project and bulldoze profits. While contractors accept risk as part of working in the industry, their challenge is to identify how much risk to accept in order to become a profitable entity. Continue reading “Risk Sharing Through Joint Ventures” →
An Inside Look at the Construction Project Management Life Cycle
(Published in CFMA Building Profits, March/April 2014)
The basics of project management build on one another throughout a project and make up what is known as the construction project management cycle.
Taken from nearly two decades of working with some of the most profitable and successful contractors and their PMs, this article identifies best practices within each phase of the project management life cycle – initiation (or pre-bid), project planning, controlling the project, executing the project, and closeout.
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Maximize Cash Flow: Minimize Taxes: Twelve Commonly Overlooked Tax Strategies
Posted on April 1, 2009 by Scott Olinger, CPA, CGMA
(Published in the April 2009 issue of Continuous Improvement Institute’s “Lean Business”)
As a decision maker in today’s difficult business environment, you have to take advantage of every available opportunity to create a competitive advantage. And sometimes those opportunities can be found in unexpected places – including your tax returns.