Construction and Contracting Business. Entrepreneur magazine
contractors improve the safety of the community by:
Owning and managing your own business can be very rewarding—both mentally and financially. However, do not think that it is always a bed of roses. Operating your own business is much like a rose garden. The vibrant colors of the garden provide beauty and joy to passersby, but for those who get too close and do not pay attention to what they are doing, the sharp thorns can cause pain and discomfort. As you will learn later in the book, paying close attention to the details of your daily work will keep you from being stuck by the thorny issues that surround most businesses.
Do You Have What It Takes?—Part I
Contractors come in all sizes, shapes, and temperaments. But the one trait they all seem to have in common is a burning desire to start and operate their own business. If you have this burning desire to become your own boss, to work independently, to make all the important decisions required to run a successful business and you are willing to assume full responsibility for your decisions, you pass the first test on starting your own business. You also have to be willing to spend long hours and make many personal sacrifices to achieve success. There will be times when your family life will need to make sacrifices because of the demands of your business. Do you have a good partner or spouse who understands and accepts these demands? Starting a business is difficult and stressful. It’s very important to have a supportive family to get through the tough times when running your own business. Finally, you need to have enough self-confidence to stand by your decisions as well as enough self-discipline to persevere and build your new business.
tip
You can find accredited colleges in architecture, landscape architecture, and engineering. Go to the National Architectural Accrediting Board at www.naab.org. The American Society of Landscape Architects at https://asla.org/schools.aspx or the American Society of Engineering Education at www.asee.org.
One of the intangible and hard-to-define qualities found in the most effective business owners is the ability to stand back and look at the big picture. Much like the race car drivers of the past, successful business owners must be able to understand and recognize the multitude of situations that affect the daily activities of their business. The race car driver, for obvious reasons, is concerned with speed. However, pure speed is not the only factor in winning the race. While driving as fast as he can, the driver must be aware of tire pressure, engine temperature, and the front end of the car that controls steering, among many other things, such as the positions of the other cars on the track. These factors influence both the speed and the sustainability of the car. Low tire pressure will make the car more difficult to steer, which will affect speed; high engine temperature will effect engine performance and also reduce speed. The driver must be able to look at the big picture and understand how the smallest of details interact and influence the final result of the race. The best drivers are also able to look at an anomaly and realize that it may not affect the performance of their car. Today, drivers, much like modern business owners, are assisted by computer technology and a team that helps to interpret the data. But this help does not reduce the importance of understanding how the numerous bits and pieces of a business react and influence each other—and when to ignore what seems to be a problem when it is of little or no significance to the operation of the business. Today’s technology provides various tools for race car drivers and for contractors. The key is knowing how to utilize such tools to your advantage and when to use them.
Do You Have the Proper Background?
Individual skills are extremely important to succeeding in the contracting industry. Some are natural, and many can be learned. The ability to use and improve both natural and learned skills is an important factor in developing a successful business. Either way, it is important to develop your skills to the highest possible level.
Those of you who have a desire to enter the design field, such as architecture or landscape architecture, must have artistic and creative instincts. The ability to think abstractly and visualize outcomes is extremely important. Creative solutions to development challenges separate the outstanding firm from the average one. Most industry associations have annual awards competitions where companies or individuals have the opportunity to present their best projects, their best ideas, to their peers. The most creative of these projects stand out and set the standards of excellence for their respective industries.
However, natural skill and ability is not enough.
Consider professional athletes. From 1997 through 2008 Tiger Woods won 14 of the 48 major golf tournaments. But Tiger did not get to the top merely by using the talents he was born with. His father worked tirelessly with young Tiger to hone his skills; he perfected his swing and trained his mind to withstand the rigors of intense competition. Even after winning many major golf tournaments, Tiger kept working with his coaches to improve his swing so that he could continue to stay ahead of the competition. Other athletes like Michael Jordan would arrive an hour early before pre-game warm-ups to take shot after shot. This wasn’t during his early years learning the game but during his amazing NBA career. The best of the best don’t stop once they’ve made it to the top; they continue working hard to stay there, always pushing themselves. At any level, you can always work on enhancing your current skills while learning new ones.
Architects, landscape architects, engineers, and others