Caught in the middle again
This past week I talked to two different clients who were experiencing the same problem. They are both subcontractors who sell, but do not manufacture,...
Easy ways for subs to connect to GCs, owners
Onvia Business Builder (www.onvia.com, 800/484-3374), aimed at companies that want to do business with the government, provides vendors, contractors and...
A lousy asset or money-making machine?
Are you Convinced that qualified retirement plans such as pension plans, profitsharing plans, IRAs and 401(k) plans are great? Good for everyone? If so,...
Planning is the path to profit
It may be October, and you've got fall in full focus, but that's no reason to keep your plans for the new year on the back burner. In fact, that's why...
Save a nickel on the job now, spend $500 later
Over the course of my career, I have worked for some truly cheap employers who redefined the word "thrifty." While I was traveling, one would pay only...
One national plumbing code just makes sense
Hurricane Katrina overshadowed another news story last month that promises to have far-reaching impact on the plumbing industry. We'd be remiss if we...
The importance of a monthly P&L statement
In the first part of this series we dealt with the balance sheet ("Understand your financial statements," September, pg. 30), and now we are going to...
Calculate flywheel mass effect's influence
p>As energy contractors, we are required to perform a basic heat loss or heat gain calculation in order to properly size the heating or cooling plant...
Always quote more than the bare minimum
SOME PEOPLE ARE afraid that recommending and quoting " add-on tasks" will either make the price seem too high or make you seem like you're just trying...
Want liquid gold? Turn on your tap
WE STOPPED AT a Starbucks for a $4 cup of Mocha-something on the way to our son's first day at college. The emotional inner turmoil brought on by our...
Figure your job costs for profitability
ONE OF THE MOST common questions that I'm asked when I present the Radiant Panel Association's Radiant Basics class is: "How much should I charge for...
Real-time energy load calculations, Part 4
WE'VE BEEN TALKING for the last three months about how to properly size a heat source when replacing oversized cast-iron boilers that once used solid...
Not just a 1-pipe dream
I LOVE CHALLENGES. I love old systems. This call had both. My customer informed me that a school building was about to undergo a big renovation. The son...
Data-saving solutions to track, back up field
FOR FIELD PERSONNEL, here are a couple new cell-phone accessible software solutions from ECONZ Wireless, a developer of wireless solutions for small-to...
Shared risk/reward can be countered
I READ WITH INTEREST H. Kent Craig's column in July's issue of CONTRACTOR ("Shared risk/ reward project management hooey," pg. 44) on the subject of cost...
Are Those Guppies?
Untitled Document A number of years ago, as a consultant, I was asked by a contractor to help one of his salesmen. Lets call this fellow Jim. Jim was...
Your conservative portfolio is at risk
IT'S AMAZING HOW often the voice at the other end of the phone says something like, "Irv, I'm very conservative." Then they prove it. How? By telling...
Project management by defenestration
DEFENESTRATION, according to Dictionary.com, is defined as "an act of throwing someone or something out of a window." Project management by defenestration...
More customers are not your goal
EVERY CONTRACTING company wants more customers, right? Well, yes and no. To keep your business strong, it's certainly important to use marketing to generate...
Understand your financial statements
HOW MANY TIMES have you or one of your competitors uttered the following phrase? "I wish my business was more profitable, I want my business to be more...
The Lazy-T-Barred Ranch
WE RECENTLY returned from a dude ranch in Colorado (www.wrranch.com) that backed right up to Rocky Mountain National Park. The Colorado River begins its...
The rituals of project management
A LITTLE MORE than a year ago, I wrote a column, "Rules for creating a successful PM career" (July 2004, pg. 44). One of the rules I mentioned was, "Ritualize...
Little known strategies to save your tax dollars
STRATEGY NO. 1. Are you an S corporation? Be careful. The IRS is on the warpath. Why? Many S corporation owners take small or sometimes zero salaries...
Real-time energy load calculations, Part 3
I PROMISED AT the end of last month's column (pg. 32) to tell you what to do with all the digital information you will have obtained from monitoring one...
When all else fails, follow the instructions
IT WAS SEPT. 9, 1993. My wife said to me on a Sunday at 1 p. m.: "Honey, there is water coming out of the closet. Would you take a look at it?" I got...
Previous | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | Next
