PEOPLE of Construction

Business Tips for First-Time Business Owners

(Second in a series of Five)

This is the second of a series of five blogs discussing essential ingredients of a successful firm competing in the design and construction industry.  In the first blog, we discussed three business points that simply had to happen if a business owner was to find long-term sustainable success.  Those three points were visibility, administrative/office organization, and accurate and timely accounting records.

If you have not read the first blog, I suggest you access my website at www.PEOPLEofconstruction.org and click on the blog titled Business tips for First-Time Business Owners.  It is not imperative, but highly recommended, that you read these blogs in succession.  You are not going to find long-term success in this industry if you do not follow the tips in my first blog so why not stop right here, find that blog, and read and digest it.  If you cannot find or are not accustomed to tracking down websites, email me at PEOPLEofConstruction@gmail.com and I will drop a copy in your inbox.

The next three points are a bit off the beaten path, but they are important, if not essential.  In many ways all the points we will discuss in this series flow from one to the other, back and forth, so stick with me until the very end and I will attempt to tie everything together.  I want to approach this “success” concept from a different angle with these next three points.  I assume you have already prepared a well-thought-out business plan; I assume you know how to perform your trade; I assume you know how to read plans and specs; I assume you know how to estimate; and I assume you know how to manage your work responsibilities in the field.  Maybe I am being generous in those assumptions but let’s at least start with this premise.

The three points I want to discuss this week are: PASSION; RESPECT; and INTEGRITY.  You will not find these points under any spec section or on any page of the A&E plans, but these words hover over every project, every jobsite meeting, every action taken by every employee. 

Let’s look at each point separately.

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 POINT NUMBER ONE: PASSION

I have always loved the word passion.  One may immediately think of a romantic relationship when you hear this word rise to the surface, but the word carries such a powerful meaning in so many other ways.  One of the first things I ask myself when meeting with a new business owner seeking my advice is does this business owner have passion.  Passion for life, passion for their work, passion for their family, passion for their business; passion for the industry, passion for success.  Are they simply going through the motions or are they on the edge of their seat looking for answers around every corner.

I can usually tell the level of passion within the first few minutes of a discussion.  Is this person taking notes, listening with purpose and intent or are they glancing at their phone wondering if they will beat the rush hour traffic when this meeting comes to an end.

Winners and leaders have passion for everything they do in life.  They want to be the best they can be at whatever game they are playing, whatever business idea they are pursuing, whatever proposal they are preparing.  With passion, one is always searching for the right move, a move that will outsmart the competition, a move that will put their proposal in the right stack and hopefully, at the top of the heap. 

When they win and they move their trade workers on site, they are prepared and they have anticipated every move from the starting point to the end of their work responsibilities.  And they do this willingly, happily, and always in collaboration with other trades and the project manager responsible for the success of the project.  And you know what, they do this for every project, every time, without fail.  Passion is what makes them winners and leaders.

In my Guide to Better Business book, I talked about several important, meaningful, words that start with the letter “P.”  They are “plan, prepare, promote, performance, participate” and all these project activities have to be performed with patience, passion, and with purpose.

I also believe that there is a silent form of passion in addition to the highly visible form of passion.  You don’t have to take center stage every time you walk on a project or attend a jobsite meeting, but you do have to plan and you do have to participate and you do have to display a level of enthusiasm and a confidence level in the performance of your work.  This is passion, it will be noticed by all you are working with and it will be catchy and contagious.  Passion exists within all of us; it is just displayed in various ways.

Passion for completing your work to the expectations of the architect, owner, and general contractor/construction manager will get you a preferred invitation to the next project.  All teams want participants with passion for the game.

POINT NUMBER TWO: RESPECT

I use the phrase all the time that a business owner in the design and construction industry “must have respect for the process.”  You don’t have to like the process, or even agree with the process, but you must have respect for the process.

There is a ton of effort that goes into the preparation of the plans and specifications before a project enters the actual building phase.  As a part of the A&E phase, there are numerous carefully defined processes that must take place, usually in a most organized and time-sequenced manner.  There are roughly thirty major businesses involved in a major commercial project and probably another thirty or so suppliers, consultants, professionals, not counting the various representatives on the owner’s side.  Having respect for the process simply means understanding your part and doing your part when the time comes for you to enter the arena.  And more to the point, it means respecting the parts of others before you and after you.

Unless you have respect for the process and follow all the steps that have been laid out in the contract documents, you stand a good chance of missing your cue for performance, which will impact the companies before you and the companies that are waiting to follow your work.

If the process calls for submittals to be submitted by a certain date, then submit them.  If the process calls for a trade payment breakdown and applications for payment to be submitted in a certain format, understand that format and submit your payment breakdown and your application using that format.  If you are asked to attend a job site meeting, even though you are not scheduled to be on site for months, attend that meeting.

There are many parts and pieces to a successful project; some of these parts are more important to others, but they are all important.  Respect that and do your part.  Missing pieces to a puzzle can be quite aggravating to those wishing for a complete scene.

If you have respect for the process, this will lead to respect for all involved in the process.  If you treat all participants of a project with respect, including all workers of all trades, the project superintendent, the project manager, the architect, the engineer, the owner, this respect will lead to performance and respect for your work, which will lead to future projects.

Everyone loves to work with people they know, love, and trust.  Having respect for the process makes you one of those preferred business owners whose name is not forgotten after the grand opening party.

POINT NUMBER THREE: INTEGRITY

Integrity is defined as “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles, moral uprightness.”  Maybe the best compliment any business owner can ever receive is that they are a man or woman of integrity.  This word does more to elevate your status and secure your position on a bid invite list than any other word or phrase that may be said about you.

There are many ways to cut corners in design and construction.  Maybe you can save a dollar or two by using a non-specified product; by paying your employees less than a prevailing wage; by picking and choosing the rules that you feel do not apply to your company, and unfortunately, for the industry, there are firms that employ many tricks of the trade to save on time and money.  These tricks are short-term at best, detected quite easily by the professionals you will be working alongside, and will shove your business back to the starting line in a heartbeat.

If you are to succeed long-term in this industry, you must conduct your business in a way that others can trust your every word, your every move.  When you are asked a question about your work, a direct and honest response is the only acceptable option.  It is essential for the success of the project and the success of your company and the success of other companies involved in the project, that honesty prevails with every word spoken.

The most successful jobsites are managed with professionalism in the forefront of all activities.  This industry is made up of professionals.  Architects, civil engineers, structural engineers, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, interior designers, construction managers—all involved in a major project have years of education and experience and they take their training, their education, and their professional obligations seriously. 

As a business owner, regardless of your background and your level of education and experience, always conduct yourself in a professional manner.  There is no room for off-color comments, or raised voices, or uncomfortable words of any kind on a jobsite.  A successful business owner, a man or woman of integrity, will elevate their game when walking on a major site or sitting down at a jobsite meeting table.

Competing on a major site with a respected general contractor and a well-established owner is different than adding a room addition to your clubhouse by the lake with a group of friends.  The atmosphere may be the same, and the work may be quite similar, but the level of professionalism is well beyond what you may have experienced in the past.  It is your responsibility as a business owner to ensure that your employees understand this and always conduct themselves with honesty and integrity.  This may sound easy, but this will take some considerable management effort, and it will take you, as a business owner, leading the way.  Your workers will be looking at you for example.

When the project is finished and you are shaking hands with the project manager, in addition to the project manager complimenting your work you want to hear the words passion, respect, and integrity somewhere in that good-bye message.

If you conduct yourself and your business with passion, respect, and integrity, you are on the right path to success.

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This is the second in a series of blogs on tips on how to start and manage a successful business in the design and construction industry.  In future blogs, we will take on other important ingredients to a successful business, always at three points at a time.

These blogs will be posted on my website at www.PEOPLEofConstruction.org and they are available via email by request to PEOPLEofConstruction@gmail.com.