Solution Building
Mark Eastman
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Helping construction contractors and customers FIND SOLUTIONS for building dreams with better business systems, quality construction projects and life lessons through coaching, consulting and constructing.
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Sep 19, 2023
Poor Communication is the Number One Reason for Disagreements, Part 2
Written communication is really the only way to avoid this problem.
Whether it’s subcontractors or customers, the communication responsibility lies with the general contractor.
Verbal communication leaves too many things open to interpretation.
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Sep 12, 2023
What is it About TOOLS That Building Contractors Love So Much?
Wielding a power tool gives us a sense of control and respect. The feeling of that power in our hands is amazing. We are in control, but the machine can never be tamed. We have to respect it, or we will regret it. We pretend to be in charge of the “power tool beast”, but we know better.
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Sep 5, 2023
How to Build the Construction Company of Your Dreams
Change can be scary; it might not work. We know our routines, and we like them. “We’ve always done it this way”, isn’t a very good plan for building a better business. Too many construction companies find themselves in a rut, and “rut thinking” doesn’t allow for building your dream business.
So how do you get out of that rut and build the business you always dreamed of?
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Aug 29, 2023
How Do I Decide What’s Most Important on My "To Do List”?
Knowing this could be the difference of life and death for your business.
There are so many things trying to get on the “to do” list and each one is competing for the top position. Deciding which one should get that spot is tough.
It’s easy to say that we have limited time but hard to actually spend it that way.
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Aug 21, 2023
How Can You Protect that Big Investment in Your Home?
The best way is to have a Home Maintenance Plan! It’s easy for the busy activities of everyday life to consume us, and home maintenance gets overlooked. This is why I prepared a Home Maintenance Plan and Check List. It’s available for free at our Solution Building website. Just follow the links and download it for free.
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Aug 15, 2023
Big Projects Are Made Up of Thousands of Small Pieces
How can I sort through all of them and get them in the right order?
Over the past several weeks we’ve discussed the importance of having a plan when it comes to building anything successfully. Part of that discussion was focused on having a clear and implementable business operating plan.
It became pretty evident that designing, building, and implementing an SOP is a pretty big project. It’s a lot like building a big construction project, if you don’t start, it will never get built.
The same thing is true for your business…if you don’t start, it will never get built.
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Aug 8, 2023
Clarity of the Plan is Key to Knowing What to do and How to do it
How an operating system can help your construction company navigate the business fog.It takes thousands of pieces to construct a building. If these pieces aren’t put together in the right place and in the right order, the end project is not what was expected. It might even lead to the building collapsing. This can be avoided with a clear plan and good communication.The same is true for a business. There are thousands of pieces that need to be put together in the right place and in the right order if the company is going to survive and become successful.
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Jul 31, 2023
What Should be Included in Your Company’s Standard Operating Procedure?
Like everything else in your business, the answer to that question is up to you. This week we'll be taking a closer look at SOPs and discussing the specifics of what you could choose to include in your company's standard operating procedures.
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Jul 25, 2023
How Can I Prepare a Standard Operating System for My Company?
Why building a successful construction business requires having a plan. Over the past few weeks, we’ve discussed how building your business is critical to the success of your business and the importance of keeping your business in balance. After more than forty years of construction experience, I tend to view most things from a “building perspective". Today we’re going to compare once again building a business and a construction project. One of the most important parts of the plan for building a good building has nothing to do with physical construction. It has to do with processes and systems.
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Jul 18, 2023
The Time Spent on Clear Communication is Worth Every Second
So, if it’s worth it…why is it not done?
You probably guessed it already; this week’s topic is COMMUNICATION and the all-too-common lack of it. Because poor communication is such a big issue, I’ve written about it a lot.
In a production meeting with a customer yesterday I was once again reminded of the importance of clear communication and…the lack of it.
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Jul 11, 2023
How Can I Determine Which Thing on the List Should Be Done First?
It’s amazing how things become clear with a limited amount of time. What is productivity? Now there’s a question for you to answer. We have a limited amount of time in a day, a year, or a life. Productivity generally refers to the ability of an individual, team, or organization to work efficiently within that time in order to maximize output.
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Jul 3, 2023
How a Business Plan Can Help You Keep Your Business from Crashing
It’s hard to keep your business in balance without a plan. Most of us who are self-employed spend way too much time feeling like our businesses are out of control. We started our businesses with grand ideas and dreams. Then one day we woke up and wondered what in the world we were thinking. I recently finished reading the E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber. As I read through the book I was reminded and encouraged to review and improve our business and the operating procedures. If we don’t have a plan and aren’t intentional about implementing it, we are doomed to failure. Business is like a three-legged table. If one leg is short, it gets kind of wobbly.
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Jun 27, 2023
How Building Your Business Is Critical to The Success of Your Business
Like the construction of a building – you need a plan for your company.
If you own your own business and aren’t being intentional about the organizational operation of your company, it is likely that you won’t make it past your 5th year. This is according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Starting a business without a plan is not a very good plan.
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Jun 20, 2023
How Using the Payment Application Tool Communicates Clearly with Construction Customers
Learning about business tools isn’t necessarily fun, but it is necessary for business success. I found that out the hard way! Last week we went through the process of getting started with a blank Payment Application and getting it filled out so that it is ready for the customer’s first payment. Now let’s look at preparing the Payment Application for recurring progress payments so that our customers know exactly what they are paying for with each invoice we hand them.
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Jun 13, 2023
How Our Payment Application Tool Works to Help Build a Better Business
This is one of the most important tools in the construction Business BUILDing Toolbox. Communication between construction companies and customers is one of the biggest problems in the construction industry. The Payment Application is a business tool used for tracking project progress payments. It’s a way to communicate the financial expectations to the customer…and it’s only fair to let them know what to expect, when they’re the ones writing the check. Construction customers don’t like surprises.
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Jun 6, 2023
The Payment Application is Another Important Tool in the Business BUILDing Toolbox
This tool helps the construction companies see their cash flow ahead of time. Concerns about cash flow is one of the biggest struggles construction companies and contractors face — and for good reason. These businesses typically lay out large amounts of money for project-related expenses. Waiting to get paid until the job is complete is a sure way for a company to go out of business. An alternative approach is for businesses to be paid when predefined stages or percentages of a project are complete, a model called “progress payments.” Progress payments benefit all parties involved.
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May 31, 2023
A Proposed Change Order for a Construction Project is as Important as a Proposal
If so many issues come from not doing change orders, why are they not done?
A Proposed Change Order is another very important tool that should be in the business toolbox of every construction company. However, it’s probably used less than almost any other business tool. Its lack of use causes as many, or even more, problems than any other tool.
If it’s that important, why is it not used?
We’ve discussed multiple times the reasons for doing Proposals for construction projects and the importance of communication with construction customers.
Proposed Change Orders are just as important.
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May 31, 2023
How to Bring a Construction Proposal to a Conclusion with a Contract
Putting a period at the end of the construction proposal.
The discussion of “Building a Better Proposal” began with the problems that arise from poor communication. We talked about this being the responsibility of the contractor and some of the reasons this is a problem. Previously we laid out the “Blueprint for Building a Better Proposal” going over the different parts of the system, and putting all of the pieces together into a proposal so that it's ready to be presented to the customer.
Once you have a signed Proposal, you should conclude with a Contract.
The Contract completes the Proposal process and covers things beyond construction. Things like funding, additional documents, property boundaries, time within which the project will be started, and terms and conditions.
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May 17, 2023
Having the Right Tool and Knowing How to Use It Can Make Things Much Better
The thing to remember about tools Is…they’re only good if you use them.
Over the last couple of weeks, we have discussed why it’s critical to save money for those big irregular expenses and unexpected emergencies. Next, we began the process needed to start building a “Rainy Day” fund by determining how much and for what. The Savings Transfer Sheet is like any other tool, it doesn’t do you any good if you don’t use it.
As is the case with everything that’s worth doing, starting is the hard part. Saving money is no different. It’s like digging a hole.
A shovel is a simple tool that’s easy to use. It can fix a problem before it gets too big, but only if you use it. If you don’t, the outcome can be devastating.
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May 9, 2023
How to Build A “Rainy Day” Fund for Your Business
This is one of the tools you should have in your Business BUILDing Toolbox. Last week I wrote about the importance of having savings, both individually and in business, and the high percentage of people who don’t. The tendency to spend everything you have is a problem when the unexpected happens. I’m not saying that after you pay the bills every dollar should be saved. What I’m talking about is having money ready for big, planned purchases or unexpected emergencies. This way you can use your own money and don’t have to pay someone else to use theirs.
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May 2, 2023
Why It’s Critical to Save Money in Business and How to Do It
Setting up a “Rainy Day Fund” for your business can help keep it afloat.
We’ve just passed a painful time of the year…INCOME TAX SEASON. This can be stressful but doesn’t have to be if you’re prepared.
It’s common for people to spend everything they earn and not save anything for future investments or emergencies. For the most part, as a society here in America we have become comfortable.
We have forgotten how important it is to save money.
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Apr 24, 2023
Having the Right Builder Can Help Protect Your Home Investment
The question is, how do you know if you have the right one or not?
If you’re not careful, building the home of your dreams can become a nightmare.
The number of times I’ve heard people say that building their new home was the worst experience of their life is too many. This is not how construction projects should be remembered.
So, as a construction customer, how can you avoid this from happening to you?
I recommend using the 5-step BUILD process.
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Apr 24, 2023
Your Home is One of Your Biggest Investments
That’s why it’s important to know who your builder is. Building a new home is expensive, but the same is true for remodeling. Let’s face it…construction of any kind costs a lot. The final price comes down to what you want in your home.
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Apr 11, 2023
Learn How to BUILD the Construction Business of Your Dreams
The final building blocks in the 5-step foundation of your business.
Learning to build a building isn’t instantaneous. You don’t show up on a job site your first day knowing everything about building. You come back the second day and learn more and the third and the fourth. And years later you have learned how to build.
Building a business is the same. You can’t just wave a magic wand and have your business running like a well-oiled machine. It takes time and effort just like building a building does. This also becomes a part of who you are.
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Apr 4, 2023
You Need the Right INFORMATION to BUILD the Construction Company of Your Dreams
After Becoming aware of and Understanding your problems, next you’ll need some INSTRUCTION on how to IMPLEMENT this INFORMATION.
The amount of information it takes to run a successful construction business can be overwhelming. Asking someone for help can be scary, not to mention time-consuming. Ultimately, it comes down to you making a decision. You can decide to keep doing things the way you’ve always done them or…
You can decide to do something different and change things.
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Mar 28, 2023
Wouldn’t You Like to BUILD Your Construction Company into Your Dream Business?
This Requires an UNDERSTANDING of your Problems and Having Solutions to Fix Them. Last week we talked about the high number of construction companies that fail and some of the reasons this happens. So why is it that construction companies fail so often? We discussed some of those reasons last week. They included things like – a lack of funding or poor cash flow, poor production performance on projects and not having a good business plan. If you want to BUILD your dream construction company, you need a plan…a Blueprint for BUILDing a Better Business.
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Mar 22, 2023
What Do You Need to Know to Run a Successful Construction Business?
It Has More to do With Business and Less to do With Construction. We’ve all seen construction companies get started and then go out of business. The real factors that brought about construction company failures are internal and within the owner’s control. The good news is, that the next generation of construction businesses can learn from their forefathers’ mistakes and avoid failing for the same reasons. Owning or managing a construction business is a hard thing to do. And to do so successfully is especially hard. The solutions to problems that can put construction companies out of business may not be easy. It takes a lot of planning, production management, hard work, and discipline to keep the business running successfully.
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Mar 13, 2023
How Implementing a Plan Can Help Us Build a Successful Business
Back in December we started discussing the importance of building your business on a solid foundation and why people in the construction industry avoid doing it. Then we talked about how a reporting process like the “Job List” can be an important building block in a construction business foundation. Last week we looked at how the “Job List” can help us plan for the future. Today we will focus on how a business won't stand long if it's not built on a solid foundation by looking at the final five areas of the job list.
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Mar 7, 2023
How Does the “Job List” Help Us See the Future of Our Construction Company?
That’s a question we’re going to continue answering in this week’s solution. The Job List provides us with financial information that helps us gauge how we are doing campared to our annual financial goals. When we look at the total project bid amount and the total signed amount we can see where we are in relation to our financial goals for the year.
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Feb 27, 2023
The Final Step in Raising the Construction Contractor Accountability Bar
This is How the Construction Contractor Evaluation Works in the Real World.
It’s time to bring this process of evaluating construction contractors to a conclusion. Like most things needed to run a successful business, this process of evaluating and holding the construction industry to a level of excellence isn't as simple as we’d like it to be.
This evaluation system will give us some clear and concrete information to help us make better decisions regarding construction projects.
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Feb 21, 2023
Why We Need Numbers to Help Construction Contractors Achieve Excellence, Part 4
How else are we going to know how high the bar actually is? This week we're going to look at the hard part of the process…putting numbers to performance. The number of goals made or correct answers given provide a numerical value of a person’s accomplishments. Evaluating performance is harder, it's about expectation and perception. The variation of perception is one of the main reasons this process gets left undone. What's acceptable to me, may not be acceptable to you and vice versa. This is why a system for giving a fair evaluation is important.
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Feb 15, 2023
The Next Step in Raising the Bar of Construction Contractor Accountability, Part 3
How Do We Get the Bar Raised to the Level of Excellence?
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve talked about the need to raise the bar of what is expected of construction contractors and how at Timber Creek Construction we’re working on a process to accomplish that. I used to believe the ultimate goal was achieving perfection. Then I was informed by my wife that striving for perfection was a bad thing because perfection is impossible. The fact that perfection is unattainable leads to disappointment. I struggled with this for a while before determining that... EXCELLENCE is the goal, not perfection.
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Feb 6, 2023
An Eye-opening Process to Hold Contractors to a Higher Standard, Part 2
The First Step is Raising the Bar High Enough So an Earth Worm Can Get Under It
I talked last week about how poorly the construction industry is viewed and the contractor’s unawareness of how low construction standards are. It’s pretty sad when the bar is so low that an earth worm can’t get under it.
As a general contractor I’ve allowed myself, sub-contractors and laborers the latitude to leave the bar where it is. When this is permitted as acceptable, it leaves the bar laying in the dirt.
Standard is just average. Average should not be what we’re striving for. Currently the industry average needs to be raised. Let’s work together to get the bar out of the dirt. We need to determine what acceptable standards are and then incorporate a process to evaluate performance as compared to the standard.
We should be working to achieve more than average. We should be striving for excellence.
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Jan 31, 2023
How Can We Raise the Bar of Construction Contractor Expectations?
Construction Contractors need to prioritize their customers, and in order to do this in every aspect of their construction work, their expecations of themselves need to change.
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Jan 23, 2023
Now I’m Beginning to See What Virtual Construction Consulting Looks Like
The topic of virtual construction consulting came up several months ago when I was talking with a friend, who lives more than a thousand miles away, about his construction project. He and his wife bought some property that belonged to an older lady and the buildings had fallen into disarray. As we talked, I found myself wanting to go help him fix things.
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Jan 17, 2023
What if the Rafters Aren’t Long Enough to Reach the Ridge Beam?
A couple of weeks ago we talked about a construction problem and what to do about it. This problem involved rafters not being attached to the ridge beam properly and a possible solution. That solution required the rafters to be long enough…which they aren’t.
So, now what do we do?
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Jan 9, 2023
The “Job List” Is One of the Foundational Building Blocks of a Successful Construction Company
Link to the blog post that has helpful photos to go along with the podcast: https://www.solutionbuilding.net/the-job-list-is-one-of-the-foundational-building-blocks-of-a-successful-construction-company/
Now, What’s the Purpose of This Building Block and Why Does it Matter?
Recently we discussed the importance of building your construction business on a solid foundation and how paperwork is outside of most contractor’s comfort zones. I know, I know paperwork is not a very exciting topic, but neither is concrete. And we all know how important concrete is in supporting a building. The same is true for paperwork and your business.
As we discussed previously, one of the three foundational piers is administration and finance. One of the building blocks in that pier is a Job List which offers valuable information for forecasting the company’s financial needs and production plans.
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Jan 9, 2023
I Know That I Have a Construction Problem…Now What Do I Do?
Just Knowing That There’s a Problem is More Than Half the BattleAs we go through the daily actions of living our lives, we become oblivious to things on the periphery. This is especially true of things outside of our expertise. This lack of awareness includes things like construction if you’re not actively involved in the building industry. When there is a situation that catches the attention of someone who is not a construction professional, it begs the question of…what do I do?
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Jan 3, 2023
Why is One of the Most Important Parts of a Construction Business Avoided So Much?
Because Admin and Finance are Out of the Contractor’s Comfort Zone
Most trades people like doing physical work, not paperwork. They like building things, not sitting at a desk making proposals or putting numbers in spreadsheets. Avoiding paperwork is one of the biggest reasons construction companies struggle to stay in business.
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Dec 17, 2022
Why It’s Critical to Build Your Business on a Solid Foundation
Because If You Don’t…It’s Likely to Come Crashing Down Around You
If you own or operate a business, I’m sure you’ve experienced the feeling of your world crashing down around you. There are a variety of different reasons this happens. A few of them may be due to things out of your control. But, more often than not…it’s because of bad decisions we made.
Most of us that are self-employed started out learning our trade as an apprentice working for someone else. 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 business. This is a critical part of why so many businesses don’t survive.
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Dec 5, 2022
An Update of Our Progress on the Blog Post to Podcasting Journey
Like Any Project That Has Some Size…It Takes Some Time to Build
A few weeks back I told you about my plans to convert my blog posts into podcasts. We started by discussing the why question. We came up with the answer of – being able to help more busy people find solutions for building their dreams.
Next, we talked about how we would ever get blog posts turned into podcasts. It was determined that if I was going to do this…I was going to need some help, i.e., Nic at AdWise Creative. Nic’s help has made a huge difference in what we were able to accomplish.
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Nov 30, 2022
The Benefits of Combining Your Calendar and To Do List
As business owners, entrepreneurs, hardworking employees of companies, and active people, we find ourselves busier than ever during this time of the year. As we approach the end of one year and begin preparing for next, there just isn’t enough time to get everything done. Add to this the Holiday season and everything that goes with this…it can get overwhelming.
As busy people we struggle trying to get everything done. The thing we need to remember is…We don’t have to get EVERYTHING done.
Instead, we should prioritize our actions and focus on the first next thing. What is the most important thing currently on the list? At the same time we need to remember there is a limited amount of time available.
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Nov 23, 2022
Goal Achieving is a Better Plan than Goal Setting
Too Often Once the Goals Are Planned…We Forget the Achieving Part. This is like having plans to build a building and once you get the blueprint drawn…you stop. You have a picture you can hang on the wall, but the building never gets built. Having a plan before you start is good, but it’s not enough. If you don’t dig some dirt and drive some nails, nothing is accomplished.
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Nov 10, 2022
It’s Time for the First Meeting
The third part of a Construction Contractor Story. Applying the tools of Building a Better Buisness Proposal System.
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Nov 10, 2022
Learning How to Get a Construction Project Started Out Right
The second part of a Construction Contractor Story. Applying the tools of Building a Better Buisness Proposal System.
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Nov 10, 2022
What is “Business Clarity” and How Do You Find It?
The first part of a Construction Contractor Story. Applying the tools of Building a Better Buisness Proposal System.
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Nov 10, 2022
The Conclusion of The Construction Proposal Is the Contract
The eighth lesson in the Building A Better Buisness Propsal series. Once you have a signed Proposal, conclude with a Contract. The Contract completes the Proposal process and covers things beyond construction. Things like funding, additional documents, property boundaries, time within which the project will be started and terms and conditions.
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Nov 10, 2022
How To Put The Pieces Of The Construction Proposal Together
The seventh lesson in the Building A Better Buisness Propsal series. If you’ve ever done a jigsaw puzzle, you know how frustrating it is to get to the last piece…and you can’t find it anywhere. This is the same frustration a customer feels when they don’t have the full picture of what is to be included in their construction project. Giving the customer a complete and thorough proposal gives them the full picture.
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Nov 10, 2022
How To Price A Construction Project Proposal
The sixth lesson in the Building A Better Buisness Propsal series. The next step in the “Blueprint for Building a Better Proposal” is to determine the price for the project. We’ve talked a lot about the importance of communication to provide a clear description of the work to be performed. Now we’ll go through the process of determining consistent and accurate prices.
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Nov 10, 2022
How To Prepare a Scope of Work for A Construction Proposal
The fifth lesson in the Building A Better Buisness Propsal series. What is a Scope of Work? A Scope of Work "clearly defines the project requirements, milestones, deliverables, end products, documents and reports that are expected to be provided by the vendor. It helps in the smooth functioning of a project/work contract wherein both parties can avoid ambiguities and situations leading to dispute. It is the first step to building a mutually beneficial collaboration between a vendor and his customer."
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Nov 10, 2022
How to Be Sure You Don’t Overlook Something
The fourth lesson in the Building A Better Buisness Propsal series. Gathering important information as you begin the proposal process.
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Nov 10, 2022
An Overview of the “Blueprint for Building A Better Proposal"
The third lesson in the Building A Better Buisness Propsal series. This is the third post in the Blueprint for Building A Better Proposal series. The first focused on the importance of communication between contractor and customer and the problems that can happen without it. The second listed the foundational pieces of the proposal system. In this post we’ll take an overview of the process and how the different pieces fit together.
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Nov 10, 2022
How To Build a Better Proposal
The second lesson in the Building A Better Buisness Propsal series. Small and medium size construction companies struggle with preparing detailed and arcuate proposals. This problem isn’t restricted only to small companies. It begins there, but only gets worse until they either get big enough to absorb the costs of guessing at project costs or give up trying and quit. Preparing accurate proposals that communicate clearly doesn’t have to be a roll of the dice.
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Nov 2, 2022
The Bulk of The Communication Responsibility Lies on The Contractor
The first lesson in the Building A Better Buisness Propsal series. Every contractor, at some time, has had an unhappy customer. This is almost always due to poor communication and/or a lack of understanding. It may have been some small misunderstanding or might have been major enough to result in being fired or going to court.
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