Your Business Plan Is One Competitive Advantage - For construction firms the impact is even greater because very few contractors have one and many of the ones that do rarely look at it. This is because it was something they needed to produce to get a loan, investment capital or some other external force was applied. Once the crisis or need passed they simply let it rest-in-peace on the shelf.

Why Spend Time And Effort - To develop your business plan? Because contractors use business plans all the time and they most of them do not realize it until we show them:

Business Plans And Construction Follow This General Format:

#1 Executive Summary - Reputation

In construction reputation is key because construction is a perishable commodity that does not age well and delays cost a lot of money. So construction firms establish and protect their reputations very carefully based in part on having the resources and expertise to complete the work on time and on budget.

#2 Mission Statement - Construction Type

What type of construction are we focused on? New, remodel, service and repair?

#3 Competitive Analysis - What We Do Best

Every contractor has a different mix of resources and expertise which means there are some aspects of construction that are fast and easy for them and that is their Unique Selling Proposition (USP) where they should concentrate all their energies.

#4 Marketing Strategy - Our Best Customer

Every construction company knows who their best customers are and who the worst ones are. The key is to make a list to identify each group

#5 Staff Qualifications - Journeymen vs. Cheap Labor

The journeyman costs more per hour but produces more and better results at a lower costs over the long haul than a group of cheap laborers. This is easily documented in a well setup QuickBooks file

#6 Financial Information - Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet

Contractors typically run their business with a daily print out from the online account at their bank. Some use software and most that we come in contact with use QuickBooks.

For construction companies with 1-10 employees, including the owner, and annual sales of $0-$5 Million, QuickBooks Premier Contractor Edition is in my opinion the only choice. It can produce all of the financial statements most construction companies need and much more. The most important reports for a contractor to see are the 5 Key Performance Indicators (KPI)

Success is a few simple disciplines practiced everyday

Failure is a few errors in judgment repeated everyday

Here Is What We Recommend You Do Next:

#1 Enroll - In John Erdman's and Darylene Dennon's One Page Business Plan Class at SnoKing Contractors Training Room

#2 Purchase - Business Planning Software from Palo Alto Software They offer two versions and we recommend the "Premier Version" since for the additonal $60.00 you get so many more reports and options. We can assist you with setup and maintenance of your Business Plan.

#3 Let Us - Setup or Clean Up QuickBooks and help you finalize your Business Plan

Fill out the form on the right for a FREE one-hour consultation!