June 2005 Article from Ontario Construction News

Have you ever asked a homeowner, who had their home custom built for them, if they would recommend that you do the same? Just today I was explaining to someone the reason why I had called her and when I mentioned that I was in the throws of building my own house, she laughed. She immediately apologized for having reacted in such a way, but that is the reaction that most people have. She has never even been through the ordeal, herself and the reaction she had was based on all the horror stories she’s heard “out there”.

Call me stupid (many have questioned my sanity since starting this project), but out of necessity I became the General Contractor for our house. And I now know why absolutely every friend and family member, even some contractors, had advised us against building.

I’ve heard so many tales from people who had general contractors. There’s no shortage of homeowners wanting a bosom buddy to vent to, and yet I feel the aggravations I’ve had are no worse than theirs and I didn’t even have the help of a general contractor. I know it would have been easier for my contractors to have had a general, but would it have been any easier for me, the homeowner?

Forget all the complaints that the homeowners have with contractors, though. I found that it’s no picnic for you contractors either. Many of you deal with chasing down money. I’ve heard of too many subcontractors who have lost their homes and/or gone bankrupt due to bigger contractors going under and not paying the subs.

Time is always a huge issue. Clients unable to make decisions or changing their minds cause delays in payment. You still have payroll to meet and bills to pay. It also cuts away at the amount of time allocated for their house. Then the question that you have to ask yourselves is: do you rush to finish, risking the quality of work or start the next one late, risking the trust factor with the new clients?

Add to this the shortage of skilled tradesmen. You find yourself with less-than-ideal employees – slacking when unsupervised, smoking up on the job, pocketing materials. You know the list better than I. Now here arises another dilemma you have to weigh out: do you fire them, risking not getting the work finished or just tolerate them and cut your losses at the end of the job?

For many, the biggest problem of them all: When are the clients available to see the developments and talk to their contractors? The answer: evenings and weekends.

When do your families want to see and do things with you? Evenings and weekends.

Not only do you see little of your families during the busy season, but activities for yourself are almost UNHEARD OF! How many contractors do you know of who have built their dream homes on the water and haven’t even launched their boats in 2 years?! One contractor I recently spoke with told me how he’s taken back his family life. He found a young partner who is willing to sacrifice his life and work as this guy had in the past – 7 days a week from sun-up until he drops from exhaustion late at night. What a solution!

I work with owners of small businesses and managers who want to do things more easily and more productively. I help them overcome their challenges and build championship support teams. We work a lot on “limiting beliefs” – the belief, for example, that one has to work this hard, be available for clients at all hours, tolerate the staffing problems, etc. Many feel that if they don’t accept all these problems they won’t succeed. On a scale of 1-10 how successful are you and your business with tolerating them? What is success to you?

As a result of this ”general contractor” experience, I have built a training and coaching program, working on 8 key strategies to build businesses. It helps contractors get back to doing more of what they love to do, while at the same time successfully dealing with those many other necessary tasks.

We start with building a solid foundation. Then we create blueprints to turn your self-employed job into a real business. This is what you wanted in the first place, isn’t it? Then step-by-step we follow the blueprint. Your business will not only work even when you don't, but when you're ready to retire you will actually have more to sell than a few tools and a couple of trucks with your name on them – you will have valuable goodwill with a long list of clients who are singing your praises rather than sharing horror stories with anyone who will listen.

In fact, there’s a great book out which is a must-read for every contractor. I promise you that it will be the best $25.00 investment you’ll ever make. It’s The E-Myth Contractor, by Michael Gerber. It addresses the problems of all contractors in a very easy-to-read 116-page “straightforward blueprint for success” explaining why most contractors’ businesses don’t work and what to do about it. Then when you’re ready to make the changes suggested by Gerber, call me.

Isn’t it time you did something to finally build the business you envisioned when you started? Are you finished listening to those excuses? Doesn’t it feel good to know there’s a solution available to you?