Book & CD-ROM. Starting a construction company, even a small one, can be a very profitable venture. In good times and bad construction is an industry that will always be in demand, and construction is not an industry where technology will replace or undermine it. The construction field is growing rapidly. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, construction firms are expected to be one of the fastest growing business segments in the U.S. economy. There has never been a better time to start a construction company and get ahead of the competition. This is a comprehensive, detailed study of the practical side of starting and operating a construction firm. It will take you step by step through every aspect and prepare you with everything you need including sample business forms, leases, contracts; worksheets and checklists for planning, starting, and running day-to-day operations. You will get dozens of other valuable, timesaving tools of the trade that every entrepreneur should have. While providing detailed instruction and examples, the author help you find a location and business name that will bring success, take you through the process of drawing up a winning business plan (the Companion CD-ROM has the actual business plan you can use in MS Word TM), and teach you how to start and manage your construction company. You will find guidance on obtaining licenses and permits, drawing up contracts, hiring subcontractors, meeting governmental regulations, attracting new clients and referrals, applying for financing, tracking utilities, employing basic cost control systems, dealing with pricing issues, and staying ahead of the competition. You will avoid trial by error when setting up equipment layouts, meeting legal and IRS requirements, and tapping into the best sales and marketing techniques and pricing formulas. The book will even help you set up computer systems to save time and money, teach you how to hire and keep a qualified professional staff, use the best computer software, network with publishers and associations, do your own sales planning, customer service, keep your own books, compile monthly profit and loss statements, and prepare taxes. You will become adept at media planning, pricing, and public relations. You will be able to manage and train employees, motivate workers, generate high profile public relations and publicity, and learn low cost marketing ideas and low cost ways to satisfy customers and build sales. You will learn how to keep bringing customers back and build referrals the secret of continued success as well as getting thousands of great tips and useful guidelines. The manual delivers literally hundreds of innovative demonstrated ways to operate and streamline your business. Learn new ways to make your operation run smoother and increase performance, shut down waste, reduce costs, and increase profits. The secret of continued success as well as getting thousands of great tips and useful ideas. In addition, you will appreciate the valuable CD ROM resource in your daily activities as a source of ready-to-use forms, templates, worksheets, business plan, surveys, letters, web site resources, everything you will need to get up and running. We also went the extra mile and spent an unprecedented amount of time researching, interviewing, e-mailing, and communicating with hundreds of today s most successful construction company executives. Aside from learning the basics you will be privy to their secrets and proven successful ideas. Instruction is great, but advice from experts is even better, and the construction experts chronicled in this book are earning a great deal of money for their expertise.

Take control of your construction contracting business and manage it through the natural highs and lows of the construction market. Learn from a team of construction business veterans led by Thomas C. Schleifer, who is commonly referred to as a construction business "turnaround" expert due to the number of construction companies he has rescued from financial distress. His financial acumen, combined with his practical, hands-on experience, has made him a sought-after private consultant. His experience and no-nonsense philosophy have truly given him a unique perspective. Important topics covered include: Understanding the primary areas of construction business failure in the next decade Minimizing business risk with real-world examples Developing a positive and competent management attitude and strategy Discover how to maneuver through this complicated and risky industry by using the authors' research and proven success strategies to sustain and grow your business.

Deciding to start your own construction company can be an exciting but overwhelming experience. With so much research, reporting, and paperwork to complete, it’s easy to get lost in the administrative details and forget the passion that inspired you to start your own business, to begin with. If you want to start a construction company, you need to read this book. About 90% of construction companies fail in the first year or two. Why? It’s not because they aren’t great at the construction side… But it’s because they don’t know how to run a business. I know a ton of contractors that are great on the field but don’t understand how to get more leads, win projects, and manage a team. If that sounds like you, don’t worry. If you absorb the tactics in this book, you’re almost guaranteed to build your company on solid ground and have unlimited potential to grow.

With a daunting industry-wide business failure rate, construction professionals need to manage risk and finances as effectively as they manage projects and people. The Secrets to Construction Business Success empowers contractors and other professionals to defy the long odds threatening their stability, growth, and very survival. Drawing on the authors’ more than eight decades of combined experience turning around failing firms, this book provides a masterclass in structuring, managing, and futureproofing a construction business. Chapters on measuring and responding to dips in revenue equip executives to recognize and respond to the warning signs of financial distress while chapters on succession planning ensure that organizations survive their founders’ departures. Sample documents and tools developed for the authors’ consulting practice offer field-tested solutions to organizational structure, forecasting, and accounting challenges. A steady source of guidance in an industry with few constants, The Secrets to Construction Business Success makes an invaluable addition to any industry leader’s library.

Addressing the out-of-control delays and cost overruns of construction projects across the nation, prominent construction attorney LePatner builds a powerful case for change in an industry that consumes $1.23 trillion and wastes at least $120 billion each year.

Only 43 per cent of U.S. construction firms remain in business after four years. Why? Inadequate management, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. This is surprising because most construction firms are formed by ambitious construction project managers, executives and tradesmen who have excelled at what they have been doing. But as experienced as these entrepreneurs may be, they are not likely prepared to take on the full range of responsibilities forced on them in managing the business of construction in its entirety. While this business failure rate and its causes are based on U.S. experience, available data from a number of other industrialized countries shows they are similar. This book describes in detail what the business side of the construction equation requires of the construction firm owner. The contractor who quickly learns these requirements can identify and avoid or manage around the pitfalls that cause the high failure rate in our industry and put his or her construction firm on a level playing field with the best-run companies in the business. The detailed duties of the owner, whether in the U.S., U.K., Australia or Canada, are a common theme throughout the book. The author, Nick Ganaway, speaks peer-to-peer, and the book is sprinkled with supporting examples from his own experience. He is immersed in the industry and this book is "based on the things I've learned, used, and refined as a light-commercial general contractor in the course of starting and operating my own construction firm for 25 years." The contractor doing $5 million or $50 million or more in annual sales or the equivalent amount in other countries, or the entrepreneur who is just starting up, can use the tried and proven material in this book to build a business that is profitable, enjoyable, and enduring. Additionally, the book devotes a chapter to specializing in chain-store construction.

This book is a unique collection of comprehensive cases that explore concepts and issues surrounding strategic marketing. Chapters explain what strategic marketing is, and then discuss strategic segmentation, competitive positioning, and strategies for growth, corporate branding, internal brand management, and corporate reputation management. With case studies from a broad range of global contexts and industries, including Burger King, FedEx, and Twitter, readers will gain a working knowledge of developing and applying market-driven strategy. Through case analysis, students will learn to: examine the role of corporate, business, and marketing strategy in strategic marketing; recognize the implications of markets on competitive space with an emphasis on competitive positioning and growth; interpret the various elements of marketing strategy and apply them to a particular real-world situation; apply sound decision-making strategies and analytical frameworks to specific strategic marketing problems and issues; apply ethical frameworks to strategic marketing situations. Strategic Marketing: Concepts and Cases is ideal for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as those studying for an MBA or executive courses in strategic marketing or marketing management.

This book was the first detailed and systematic account of the property and construction sectors of the British economy. Developing out of a materialist theoretical perspective, Dr Smyth provides an alternative explanation of the different characteristics of the two sectors and rejects traditional notions of the 'backwardness' of the construction sector. The specific historical experience of the Second World War and the rebuilding it necessitated, provides the basis of this analysis and it is argued that the particular divergencies of the construction sector stem from periods of wider economic crisis. Similar periods of crisis have shaped the property sector which, dependent upon the complex relationship between ground rent, the value of the building and building rent, cannot be understood in terms of 'urban rent'. Property companies and the construction industry in Britain challenges both established and radical thinking and its historical account of the development, management and production of the built environment in the years since 1939 addresses some of the central concerns of human geography today.

Biannually since 1994, the European Conference on Product and Process Modelling in the Building and Construction Industry has provided a review of research, given valuable future work outlooks, and provided a communication platform for future co-operative research and development at both European and global levels.This volume, of special interest t

A comprehensive practical manual covering all aspects of this field, this book covers everything from the pre-design stage up to, and including, the actual use (including maintenance) of the completed structures. Much attention is given to the calculation methods available for design and construction, including establishing the soil parameters required, with emphasis placed on probabilistic safety analysis. This informative book includes an inventory of: · the properties of natural types of soil, secondary materials, and light-weight materials · raising and filling construction methods · techniques and methods to speed up consolidation and limit deformation Compiled by researchers from Fugro, Delft Geotechnics and several other Dutch contractors, it includes useful appendices focusing on particular points of interest from the preceding chapters.