Your Construction Business Isn’t What You Expected

Now What Are You Going to Do About It?

If you had known how hard it was going to be to own and operate your own construction business…you probably wouldn’t have done it.

It’s hard work, time-consuming, and risky.

The problem is that no one told you how hard it was going to be. Or, if they did, you didn’t believe them.

This isn’t to say that it’s not worth it…because it can be.

The problem is being faced with things like –

  • Finding the time to do the physical construction and the paperwork
  • Constantly feeling like your life is out of control
  • Construction projects behind schedule
  • Not having enough money to pay the bills
  • Construction projects going over budget
  • Disappointed and upset customers
  • Misunderstandings with customers and production teams

And not knowing what to do about these problems.

If you work in the construction industry, you’ve probably experienced some or all of these things.

So, what are you going to do?

Are you going to just keep plodding along, hoping that something is going to change? You know the definition of insanity is “Doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.”

If you want different results, you’re going to have to do something different.

The question is…what are YOU going to do? Are you going to continue living in the current insanity or are you going to do something different? What you know about the crazy mess that you find yourself going through daily seems less scary than the unknown.

New and different is scary.

Deciding to do something different is the first and hardest step in a series of hard steps.

If you want to stay in business you need to take this hard step. You need to DO SOMETHING. Otherwise, you will eventually go out of business.

You need a change of perspective. Some new and different ways of doing things.

As scary as this is, it can be less scary than going out of business.

What you need is someone to help you with this. You need someone who has been there and done that to guide you through finding the solutions you need.

This doesn’t mean that it’s going to be simple or easy. Building a new building isn’t simple and easy.

When you started working in the construction industry you didn’t know what you know now. Building a business is the same way.

Someone taught, trained, and helped you to learn your construction trade. What you need now is someone to teach, train, and help you to learn how to build a construction company. This teaching, training, and help is available for you at Solution Building. We’ve been where you are and would love to help you with our forty plus years of experience. If you have questions about how we can help, you can set up a free, 30-minute construction company consultation.

Keep Your Business Balanced and Supported

An Out-Of-Balance Business is Like a Short-Legged Table

Have you ever felt like your business and/or your life were out-of-balance? This is a common situation with self-employed companies. It’s like a three-legged table with one short leg…kind of wobbly.  

I know I’ve felt this way and sometimes still do. You’ve probably heard the saying feast or famine. This saying is used quite often in the building industry.  

Balance time and money

It refers to the common problem of having too much to do. Or worrying about how you are going to pay the bills if you don’t get some work soon.  

Sometimes this is caused by situations beyond our control. The economy, the weather, or some other external force. More often than not it is an out-of-balance business. It’s wobbly like a table with one short leg.  

Most of us that are self-employed started out by learning our trade as an apprentice, working for someone else. I know this is how I got started.  

The problem with this is that while I learned how to build a building, I wasn’t taught how to build a company.  

After years of struggling and learning things the hard way—paying the expensive tuition to the school of hard knocks—I’m still not close to graduating yet. 

This became apparent this past week. I realized that I was not maintaining balance in the business. I was letting things distract me and not being intentional about what I was doing. 

One of the things that I implemented years ago was having a different focus for each day of the week. I had been neglecting this. So, I was intentional this week to focus on the specific focus for that day. It was a productive week. 

Keeping the business balanced and supported is an ongoing process. 

I was reminded that my business is like a three-legged table.  When all the legs are the same length, it helps provide a level, sturdy platform for my company to sit on.  

When any one or two of them are short, the table starts leaning. If it leans too far the company will slide off.  

It’s never good when a company crashes to the floor. 

The three legs of the table are: 

1 – Sales/Marketing – Searching for and finding customers that you can help. Sharing about your service and/or product through word-of-mouth, advertising and awareness. Meeting with potential customers, determining what they want/need and preparation of estimates, proposals, and contracts. 

2 – Production – Organizing, scheduling and maintaining projects or products. Determining who the right people are to perform specific tasks. Knowing the parts that are needed and making sure they fit. Maintaining communication between all parties involved. 

3 – Administration/finance – The preparation of documents needed to communicate, track, and record all aspects of the business. The filling out and filing of income, expense, banking, and tax papers. This leg is one of the easiest for ‘tradespeople’ to neglect.  

When any one of these legs get short, it can really cause the whole table to lean. 

The tabletop is the big picture: planning and organizing. It’s what connects the three separate legs. It’s easy to give too much attention to one or two legs and forget the other.  

Getting so focused on the production of a project that we forget to follow-up with a new customer. Or working so hard on preparing proposals that we forget to invoice. Or even working so diligently on tracking expenses that we don’t leave enough time to work on the construction project.  

There is no perfect answer to keep the table from ever leaning.  

The most important thing is to realize that it can happen and to continually work to keep the table balanced.  

Updated from a previous post 4/30/16 

Riding on a Runaway Train

Getting Control of Your Busy Life

For years I’ve used the example of a runaway train as a comparison to my busy, on-the-go, overscheduled, out-of-control life. It’s like I am riding on a speeding train of which I’m supposed to be in control.

The problem is, instead of being seated comfortably in the engine car at the front, I am barely hanging onto the ladder on the back of the caboose, trying to not fall off. The train keeps speeding along, with no way for me to get control from the caboose.

I start pulling my way forward, one train car at a time. First through one, then another, then even a third. Look at me, I’m making some real progress here. It won’t be long now and I will have this train back under control.

Then—wouldn’t you know it—the train hits a bump. I lose my grip and catch the caboose as it goes by. Now I get to start clawing my way back toward the front all over again.

How am I ever going to get this crazy train called life under control?

Runaway train

If you’ve ever felt like this, then here are some ideas that might help:

            Have a plan – This is where gaining control starts. How are you going to make it to the engine? The key is to not quit. Don’t ever let go of your train unless you’re dead. As long as you are still alive, you can do something about your situation. You need to be intentional about how you want your train to operate.

            Review the past – Look back at what has worked and what hasn’t. What was it that caused you to lose your grip from the train? Determining this will help you to know how to hold on as you move forward next time.

            Find your purpose – God has given each of us specific talents that fit who we are created to be. It is up to us to find out what they are and put them to good use. This determines who we are and what kind of train we have. Is it a freight train? A passenger train? Or maybe something different?

            Don’t overload your train – Once you have determined what kind of train you’re on, you can decide what kind of cars it should have. Most likely there are some that will need to be disconnected and left behind. Overloading your train is a very common problem. Most of us think we have a ‘super train’ that can pull as many cars as we hook onto it. It’s okay if we don’t pull them all. They might fit in someone else’s train better or are just a waste of good fuel. Who knows, maybe you will need to add some different cars. The important thing is to know how many are too many and which ones don’t belong.

            Get help from other trains – Sometimes when our trains are overloaded there are others that can help us with our load. Maybe they can give us a push, a pull, or take some of our cars. It’s okay to get help. Our train isn’t the only one. If we get our load right, then we are better prepared to help other trains when they need help.

In this world, there is no such thing as a perfect train. We will never have complete control or a ride without any bumps. What is important is to not give up or quit. Keep working to make your train better. Be aware and understand what your train should be.

Work every day to make your train the best train it can be and remember, ENJOY THE RIDE!

This post is reworked from my previous post on June 16, 2016.

I Want To Be More Accountable

How Can I Do This?

As it seems to happen fairly regularly, the business mastermind that I’m a part of discussed accountability. This topic came up regarding things we need to accomplish in the last quarter of this year to be prepared to reach our 2025 goals.

Accountability is not a new topic for me to discuss. Back in June of 2021, I wrote about how being accountable is up to me. This post was also generated from that same mastermind.

Accountability is a hard thing to do.

Being accountable is taking responsibility for what you do or have done. Accountability is the quality of being accountable.

In the previous post, there were some examples of some subcontractors taking responsibility for problems and doing the right thing.

A couple more cases have come up just this past week.

One of my subs had an employee drill some holes through floor joists that they weren’t supposed to drill. The owner of the company is going to install some supports that are code approved. This is accountability!

The other situation was a breaker that tripped. This led to the food in the customer’s refrigerator going bad. The electrician offered to pay for the food, even though they weren’t sure if they were responsible for tripping it. This is accountability!

Being Accountable, take 100% accountability

Being accountable is good business.

Why do we avoid doing things we know we should do?

For me, there are a few different reasons, all of which are within my control.

There’s fear – being afraid that we’re going to fail, afraid we aren’t good enough, or afraid it’ll cost too much.

What about busy – I don’t have time to do that, it takes too long, and I already have too many other things to do.

Don’t forget uncertainty – I don’t know how to do that thing and it’s going to require me to learn something new.

I previously wrote about filtering my life using my core values. One of those is being accountable.

Ultimately, accountability is up to me. It is a choice.

One of the struggles with accountability is trying to do too many things. Overpromising and underdelivering is not very accountable. Scheduling better will help.

Five things that will help with scheduling:

  1. Find the balance of accuracy and urgency – This is a big struggle that I have when scheduling. I know that I’m deadline-oriented. If I allow two hours to do something it will most likely take twice that long. If I allow four hours, it reduces the level of urgency, and I will procrastinate. Something else will take its place. I’ve figured out that if I schedule myself short on time, I focus better, and the increased urgency will get it done faster. Figuring out your balance of accuracy and urgency can be tricky, but is critical.
  2. Give as much importance to my schedule with myself as to others – When I put things on the calendar that are for myself, I tend to be more lenient. This is different than when I have a meeting scheduled with someone else. If I am going to honor God and others, I need to also honor myself. This is hard for me but is one of those areas where I need to be more accountable. If I hope to spend my time efficiently, I need to be realistic when scheduling with myself and honor it.
  3. Stop trying to do too many things – But there are so many important things that need to be done. If I don’t do them, they won’t get done or they won’t be done right. This tendency of trying to do too many things has always been a characteristic that I have been proud of. This is what movers and shakers do, right? Being a micro-manager doesn’t help either. There are just too many pieces to put together by myself.  I need some clarity of focus on what my time is best spent on and to stop trying to do everything if I want to be the best steward of my time.
  4. Take into account the number of things out of my control – The bigger the project being scheduled, the more things there are to schedule. One small delay can have a snowball effect by pushing things farther and farther back. There needs to be some margin scheduled in to cover these delays. The important thing is to not let the margins become areas of wasted time. It is critical to communicate clearly to those involved the importance of being on schedule. I use two different schedules with projects. One with the customer and one with the subcontractors.
  5. Plan for unforeseen things that interrupt the plan – There are always things that can’t be planned for. It doesn’t matter how well you plan, if something breaks down or there’s an accident, the priority and focus can change quickly. This is out of my control. The difference between this point and the previous one is in the frequency and the level of disruption. We can only plan for these things to a certain point. It is more about being aware that it can happen and being ready to deal with it the best we can when it does. This is flexible rigidity.

Being accountable is being aware of these things. Understanding them. Taking intentional action to do something about it. And continually learning.

As a construction contractor adding coaching and consulting to my list, it seems that construction projects are more important than coaching and consulting…or is it?

The question is, how many more people would benefit from construction companies knowing how to do business?

Being accountable is up to me. Ultimately, it comes down to this…

I’m accountable to God.

What am I going to do about it?

There’s Not Enough Help for Construction

What Does This Mean for the Construction Industry?

As part of my morning routine, I listen to Albert Mohler’s podcast: The Briefing. This past Friday’s episode started out talking about the falling birth rate and the effect this will have on the world.

We’ve heard how extreme this situation is in some countries like South Korea, China, and Japan. Dr. Mohler pointed out that this is not just happening in these countries, but around the world.

This is a problem because ultimately, if we continue down this path, there’s not a future for civilization if you’re not having babies.

A falling birthrate means you’re not going to have enough workers.

Not enough help

You’re going to have more aging people leaving the workplace than younger people joining it.

Just look at what’s happening in Japan, where they are using robots to take care of people in nursing homes. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want a robot taking care of one of my family members.

The Communist Party of China enforced a one-child-only policy to prevent a future threat where they had too many babies. It turns out, the threat is too few.

They’ve ended up with an imbalance of males to females because of the preference for male babies. Now, there are millions of Chinese men who aren’t able to marry anyone because there aren’t enough women.

That’s a shortage in the tens of millions.

This got me to thinking about how the struggle of finding good, qualified help in the construction industry.

This is not a new problem but seems to be a growing one.

I think this is due to more than just the decreasing population. I think it’s a combination of a society that has gotten spoiled and untrained.

A lot of young people see life as something owed to them. They’ve not had to learn to work. Then, you have those of us who’ve been doing construction for a long time. We’ve been too focused on our work and never bothered to share our experiences and knowledge.

It doesn’t matter if the shrinking number of qualified people is due to a shrinking or an untrained work force.

What matters is getting the ones that are out there, trained.

That’s why I’m working to find ways to coach and consult people in the construction industry that need some mentoring and guidance.

The Next Step in My Business Journey

Doing the Things Only I Can Do

Over the past several weeks we’ve talked about having too much to do and not enough time to do it. Of how I need to delegate more of my business, but how hard delegating is for me. The only way that I can help more people is by sharing the load.

business planning

This issue has been brought to the surface after reading the book The Highest Calling by Lawrence Janesky. This book resonated with me because I see how construction businesses struggle with the business side of things. After reading this book it confirmed what I already knew…

Businesses need help building their business.

For several years, I’ve been working on ways to help construction companies with business building tools and processes. The problem is this takes time and energy away from construction projects.

So, then I shift my focus back to construction proposals and keeping those projects moving forward. And then the problem is I don’t have time to work on coaching and consulting to help people in the construction industry.

This past week is a good example of the construction part of the business not leaving any time for coaching and consulting.

It started out with Monday being a holiday. This means we started out the busy week with one day less to get everything done. There are ten different projects in varying stages. Some are almost finished, some are halfway done, and some haven’t been started.

To add to this list, I need to be doing proposals so that we will have work to do in the future.

I spent the majority of my time this week doing things that someone else could have…SHOULD HAVE…done.

If I keep doing what I’ve always done, I’ll keep getting what I’ve always got. Something has got to change. It’s up to me to do something different if I want to get past this mountain. The mountain will be easier to move, if I’m not the only one with a shovel.

One of the shovels that I’m working on giving to someone else is production coordination.

What exactly is production coordination?

It’s just what it sounds like. It’s the organizing and overseeing of the production and operation of multiple construction projects to maintain production schedules, complete projects within budget and achieve the quality of workmanship expected.

That sounds easy enough, right?

Trust me. To organize and oversee the production of multiple projects is a lot.

  • Project Coordination
    • Productivity Monitoring and Control
      • Coordinate schedules
      • Coordinate materials
      • Coordinate tools
    • Quality Control and Documentation
      • Periodic site visits and verify that quality is being achieved and maintained
      • Document with pictures and reports
    • Communicate with teams
      • Regularly review, follow-up and verify schedules
      • Determine materials and tools that are needed
    • Project Troubleshooting
      • Listen to customer concerns and document them
      • Communicate concerns with management
  • Planning and Control of Material and Tools
    • Coordinate gathering and delivery of materials and tools
    • Coordinate moving the balance of material to shop or return to supplier
    • Coordinate collection of tools from projects and/or production teams
  • Customer Service
    • Communicate schedules with customers and subcontractors
    • Assure that site organization is maintained
    • Coordinate and document finalization of punch list

So, where do I go from here?

I’m just one person and I can only do so much. If I’m going to build the business that God has called me to do…I’m going to need more help.

This means that I must be intentional and take action. Otherwise, I’m going to be limited to the number of people that I can help. That’s why this past week, I started the process of adding a PRODUCTION COORDINATOR to the team.

Stay tuned and we’ll keep you posted as to how it’s going.

What are Your Core Values?

They are the Foundation of Your Business

I was having a discussion with a sub-contractor. They were venting their frustrations with a general contractor they had worked for. This GC bid the project low to get it. Then after getting it, continued raising the price through change orders.

The sub-contractor felt this was dishonest and unethical.

Core values are the building blocks that make up the foundation your business is built on.

Core values are fundamental beliefs. They are your guiding principles. The definition of CORE is the central or most important part of something. This is the most inner part of who you are. This is also the most inner part of your business.

It’s like your conscience. Deep down, on the inside, who God made you to be. VALUES are the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something; a person’s principles or standards of behavior; one’s judgment of what is important in life and business.

You choose these values. How you want to be, how you will treat others, etc. This doesn’t mean they have to be good. Some people’s values may be selfish or greedy, but regardless, we choose what values we will live by.

A wise person builds their business on a solid foundation. The rain can pour down, rivers flood, and the winds beat against the business. But if it’s built on a solid foundation, it will not fall. (Matthew 7:24-25)

Bad core values will not support the business in the long term.

The foolish person builds their business on the sand. The rain can pour down, rivers flood, and the winds beat against the business. It will fall with a crash. (Matthew 7:26-27)

The core values that my business is built on are a collection of some things that I’m naturally good at and some things…not so much. I’m constantly working to get better at all of them.

These things are in alignment with what I believe God wants from me and my business.

These core values, other than the first one, are in no specific order. Some you may recognize as quotes or common sayings. Others derived from things I’ve heard or experienced. All of them are values I hold high and am striving to live out daily. Here they are:

  1. Honor God in all that I do
  2. Pay attention to detail
  3. Spend time wisely, there is a limited amount
  4. Never be satisfied with mediocrity
  5. Find and maintain the balance in everything
  6. Build the wall one brick at a time
  7. Remember that I have two ears and one mouth
  8. Avoid drama
  9. Be accountable
  10. Take off the blinders, be more observant
  11. Make all I can, Save all I can, Give all I can
  12. Intentional action

You can find out more details about these core values by following the links above.

Build your business on a solid foundation!

This post includes excerpts from my previous post, Using Core Values as My Life Filter.

Delegating is a Part of Building That I’m Not Very Good At

Working on the Business is Not The Same as Working In It

Even after being in business for more than forty years and all that I’ve learned over that time…there is still more to learn. Delegating is one of those areas where I need to do better.

I’ve just recently finished reading the book The Highest Calling by Lawrence Janesky. This novel is about business struggles and success. It’s a story of helping others and learning how to do the right things in order to succeed. It shares important and powerful business principles.

It reminded me of things that I know but haven’t done well.

One of those things was delegating. After years of doing everything, I forget to share the load. And, as a recovering perfectionist, I have a high level of expectation. This makes it hard to delegate.

Last week, we discussed the need to find a different electrician. We looked at how this is possible through connections.

As hard as it is to just find subcontractors, it’s even harder to find good ones.

Too often when we get to a point where we desperately need help. The situation is serious enough that we hire the first warm body(s) that shows up.

We all know how this turns out.

We assume that everybody has the same values and understanding that we do.

Surprise…not so.

I’ve found over the years that hiring people who grew up working on a farm, have military service, or were serious athletes increases your odds of getting good help.

In addition to finding subcontractors, it’s hard to get them to perform at the level I expect. Of course, it’s not fair to them if they don’t know what I expect.

Add to this that I tend to be meek. This leads to me letting things slide and not calling people out on things. I need to be bolder. One of the twelve life principles in the book The Legend of the Monk and the Merchant is…

Be meek before God, but bold before men.

I’ve worked to do something about this problem several different times over the years without success. The last attempt was in February of 2023. We worked on a process for explaining what we expected from our subcontractors and a way to evaluate them on their performance.

At that time, I wrote a series of blog posts about raising the bar of expectations:

I can’t expect contractors to work toward the level of excellence that I expect if they don’t know what that is. The question is…what am I going to do about it?

Connections Can Help You BUILD Your Business

And You Never Know Where Those Connections Will Come From

The first couple of years as a self-employed construction contractor were a lot different than Gene expected. He’s beginning to wonder if owning his own business is worth it. It certainly isn’t what he expected.

All the headaches and problems that he’s encountered are causing him to have second thoughts about his construction job and going into business.

Working long days doing construction and late nights doing paperwork feels like being stuck in a rut. With help not showing up and Gene having to do more work, the rut just gets deeper.

Add to this the truck transmission going out. Having to borrow money to fix it. The disagreement with the customer that cost Gene $1,000 and the bottom of the rut has now turned to mud.

Then, the bottom of the rut falls out when Gene finds out he owes more than $17,000 in income tax and he doesn’t have the money to pay it.

At the end of the day, Gene could make more and work less flipping burgers.

It’s been a rough couple of years for Gene, but this isn’t to say that everything has been bad.

At the end of the day, it’s rewarding to look at what he’s built. There are customers whose lives have been improved by the construction projects he’s done for them. The freedom of having control is nice. Not to mention that Gene did have a profitable year…otherwise he wouldn’t have owed the income tax.

As another week winds down, Gene decided to do something that is nearly unheard of…he’s going to take a day off work.

Some of Gene’s friends have been pestering him to come hang out with them like he used to.

One of these friends, Dave, has a lifted 4×4 truck project that he’s been working on. Some of these guys have been hanging out on Saturdays and helping.

This past week, Gene ran into Dave at the lumber yard. They got started talking about the project and how it was going. Once again, Dave threw out the invitation to join them.

“I know how much you love working on truck projects,” Dave says, “We’re going to be dropping the motor in Saturday and could use some extra hands. You know you’d have fun…not mention how cool it is to hear a new motor fire up that first time with open headers.”

So, after Gene gets done on Friday, he calls Dave, “Hey, are you still planning to put that motor in your truck tomorrow?”

“That’s the plan,” Dave responds.

“Would it still be okay if I came over and helped?” asks Gene.

“Sure, we plan to start at 9:00. Bring the coffee and donuts,” he says with a laugh.

The next morning Gene shows up at Dave’s shop with a dozen fresh donuts and a thermos of hot coffee.

A couple of guys are already there. When Gene comes in with the donuts and coffee, they all act like they’re fainting.

After some jousting and poking fun at Gene for not coming around for so long, they dig into the donuts. As they catch up, a couple of others show up and join in on the ribbing of Gene.

After the tormenting slows down a little, Dave asked Gene, “So, why have you been avoiding us?”

His question catches Gene off guard, and he replies, “I haven’t been avoiding you.

I’ve just been trying to run my business. It’s a lot more work than I expected.”

As they began working on the truck and getting ready to drop the motor in, there was a lot of discussion about the construction industry and what it takes to run a business.

While they were talking, Dave brought up his boss who is the owner and operator of a large, successful construction company. Then Dave stopped what he was doing and looked at Gene, “Maybe I could set up a meeting with you and John. I bet he could help you understand how to BUILD a better business.”

Maybe this is just what Gene needs.

This unexpected opportunity might just be the connection that Gene needs to turn things around in his business.


We never know where connections will come from or where they will lead.

I want to share some real-life examples of some of the connections I’ve experienced in my business.

The first example is my amazing virtual assistant (VA), Emily.

Back in 2010 or so, my wife and I were struggling financially. We were tired of things the way they were.

We found out about Dave Ramsey, and I began listening to his radio program. Dave shared various books and people that he followed. Among them were people like Michael Hyatt. Then, from Michael I learned about Andy Andrews and Donald Miller. Then, I found out about Ray Edwards and began to follow his blog posts and podcasts.

Then in 2020, I had the opportunity to join a mastermind that Ray Edwards was starting.

This led to my meeting Becky Warner. Then through a 90 Day Launch course, I met Vickie Adair who is now in the current mastermind that I’m in.

As I was looking for a virtual assistant, Vickie told me that her daughter Katie was looking for a job as a VA. It worked out that Katie became my VA.

Then Katie had another job opportunity that was more hours. She connected me with Dori. Dori became my next VA.

Then Dori became pregnant with her second child. She felt that two small children and working was going to be too much. She connected me with Emily…my current VA.

I could never have imagined that listening to Dave Ramsey’s radio program would have connected me with Emily…but here we are.

The second example is a construction related connection.

The electrician that I’ve been using for years made a career change, which means I need to find a new electrician for a couple of residential projects.

I reached out to a couple of electricians that I have used in the past or knew. One—Mitch—called me back. He told me he was no longer doing residential projects. He gave me the name of Integrity Electric.

We’re planning to look at these jobs tomorrow.

This connection goes a lot further than it first appears. Mitch used to work for Galen. I knew Galen from high school and later when we were both on the local Trades Board.

Before Galen had his own business, he worked for Finn’s Electric. I also knew the owners of Finn’s Electric because we went to the same church.

Had I not had these connections, I wouldn’t have the wonderful VA that I now have or the opportunity to keep these construction projects moving forward.

My point of all this is that we are connected, and these connections can help us BUILD a better business.

I wonder if Gene will be intentional and take advantage of the connection that Dave is offering him?

Construction Customers Can Be Hard Work

As a Contractor What Did you Expect?

As someone who has been in construction for more than forty years, I’ve worked for my share of hard customers. This does not mean that they are bad customers. On the contrary, more often than not the opposite is true. They are the best customers because they have a high standard and expect high quality.

There are, however, those customers that are difficult. Ones that perceive the process of a construction project to be more of a battle that they need to win.

These aren’t the kind of customers that I’m referring to when I’m talking about customers being hard work.

Most of the time the problem is with the “professionals” doing the construction. For whatever reason, they expect construction projects to be simple, that everything will go just as planned.

This isn’t the way life is. Why would we expect construction projects to be any different?

As construction contractors, if we’re doing our job well…it should be hard work.

Hard work isn’t bad. Actually, I think the opposite is true. I think if we’re doing our job well as contractors…we will be working hard.

So, what is it that makes a customer hard work?

I think the number one reason is the contractor and customer approach construction projects from different perspectives. The customer sees their dream project in its completed and finished beauty. They have little or no idea of the processes and struggles that it takes to get the project there.

The contractor, on the other hand, knows that there will be bumps and detours along the way.

The problems arise when there is a breakdown in communication.

Often the contractor isn’t hearing what it is that the customer wants. Or he’s more interested in making money than fulfilling the customer’s dream.

As contractors, even when we have a clear idea of what the customer wants, sometimes isn’t obvious to the customer until they see it.

When faced with these situations we can say, “This is what they said they wanted. It’s what they agreed to in the scope of work that they signed.” This answer is the easy way out for the contractor.

Or we can put in the hard work and find a solution.

We’re currently working on a hundred-year-old tongue and groove wood floor that had never been finished. The customer liked the way the floor looked as it is. The plan was to sand it down and put a low sheen clear finish on it.

The problem arose when the clear finish brought out a red tint that was unexpected. Now what are we going to do?

Some contractors would tell the customer that it looks good, and they’ll get used to it. And wouldn’t that be the easy way to handle it?

The other option would be to listen to the customer. Make solving this issue as important to you as if it were your own project and you didn’t like the way it looked.

We’re going to sand it down again and work on different options. This might mean applying a stain to cover the red tint of the wood. Or maybe we’ll apply an oil finish to it. Or…maybe we’ll just leave it unfinished.

Ultimately…we’re going to work hard because this customer is worth it.

We’ll keep you up to date on how the project’s going and what we do with the floor in future posts.