It was 1975 and the flight surgeon in our U.S. Marine Corps F-4 Phantom fighter squadron convinced me to get a septoplasty to correct my deviated nasal septum – that’s the center part of your nose dividing the two nasal passages. Mine was so crooked that I could only breathe through one nostril. After a brutal operation, the doctor asked me when I had broken my nose. I responded that I didn’t realize that it had been broken. He then told me … [Read more...]

Just last week in an estimating workshop I was conducting, I was asked one of the most frequent questions that I get. It goes like this: “Given the size of my company, how much money should I be taking out of my business?” We need to recognize that there are two competing realities when addressing the issue of owner’s pay. First is the federal tax code and its regulations. Second is market reality with its concept of fair market value (FMV) … [Read more...]

A mistake many contractors make is to charge the same man-hour rate for maintenance and construction work. Their maintenance rates could be more competitive and their construction ones could contain more profit. CPAs often help clients calculate average rates without understanding some of the subtle reasons why they shouldn’t be the same. Your construction hourly rate should be 20-25 percent higher than your maintenance hourly rate. I’ll … [Read more...]

Just about all of my clients and all market segments are seeing growth that they haven’t seen since 2007. It looks like the recent recession is finally subsiding. It’s understandable that you and your team are a bit burned out but it’s imperative that you finish on a good note. Here are a few reasons why. The break-even point (BEP). Around September is when a company usually hits its BEP. This means you’ve accumulated enough gross profit margin … [Read more...]

Before we conduct our mid-year review, let me tell you what I’ve seen around the country these last six months. I’ve been in the offices of more than 50 green industry contractors in 30-plus states preparing budgets, checking pricing, setting goals, etc. Virtually every contractor told me their leads and sales have significantly increased over the trend of the past five years. Their biggest problem? The same as your biggest problem – labor! There … [Read more...]