Map Out Your Path    As a business owner, everything you do flows from one strategic question: Where do you want to go with the business? Without a game plan, you’ll fall into the trap that most contractors find themselves in—chasing after every project that comes along and leaving it to the luck of the draw. You can’t afford to fritter away your energies and resources “barking up the wrong tree.” In addition, you face unique industry challenges on a daily basis. To insulate your business from those outside forces as much as possible, you must create a workable business structure that can adapt to change within an overall framework. The business plan is that framework. Planning isn’t something you can hand off to a professional business plan writer or plug into an off-the-shelf business plan software package. You’ve got to do the hard thinking yourself and then commit your goals, strategies, and action plans to paper. To help you get started, check out the Goals Worksheet and Business Plan Workbook in the Executive Toolbox!

Bite Off What You Can Chew  Booking and executing profitable work hinges on the quality of the opportunities brought to the table. Contractors get into trouble when they jump into projects without taking a cold hard look at what they’re bidding on. They end up winning projects that are: too big (e.g., a $5 million-a-year contractor wins a $15 million job); in a new geographic area (e.g., a Florida contractor takes a job in Virginia); in a new line of business (e.g., a mason decides to become a general contractor); a cash-flow stretch (e.g., a contractor underestimates the working capital needed to get the project off the ground). If you want to properly evaluate a bid opportunity, be realistic about your firm’s capabilities. Do you have relevant experience and expertise? Is the project in a market you know? Do you have the financial wherewithal? Do you have the right personnel? Does the type and size of the project fit in with your business goals? If you have doubts about the fit, you’re better off taking a pass on the bid. To help you make your bid decision, use the Bid Decision worksheet in Chapter 7 of the book.