As it seems to happen fairly regularly, the business mastermind that I’m a part of discussed accountability. This topic came up regarding things we need to accomplish in the last quarter of this year to be prepared to reach our 2025 goals.

Accountability is not a new topic for me to discuss. Back in June of 2021, I wrote about how being accountable is up to me. This post was also generated from that same mastermind.

Accountability is a hard thing to do.

It can be a struggle to find good, qualified help in the construction industry.

This is not a new problem but seems to be a growing one.

Is this because of the decreasing population? Or could it be something else?

Over the past several weeks we’ve talked about having too much to do and not enough time to do it. Of how I need to delegate more of my business, but how hard delegating is for me. The only way that I can help more people is by sharing the load.

This issue has been brought to the surface after reading the book The Highest Calling by Lawrence Janesky. This book resonated with me because I see how construction businesses struggle with the business side of things. After reading this book it confirmed what I already knew…

Businesses need help building their business.

The Difference of Labor and Work

Labor Day is one of my three favorite holidays each year. Christmas being my favorite. (This is no big surprise). Labor Day and New Year’s Day are tied for the second spot. These two are not typically ranked in most people’s top three.

As I was looking forward to the upcoming holiday, I began thinking about the reason behind the celebration. Labor Day was started to show appreciation for the hard-working labor force in America in the late 1800’s.

We often forget the reasons behind holidays.

I was having a discussion with a sub-contractor. They were venting their frustrations with a general contractor they had worked for. This GC bid the project low to get it. Then after getting it, continued raising the price through change orders.

The sub-contractor felt this was dishonest and unethical.

Core values are the building blocks that make up the foundation your business is built on.

Even after being in business for more than forty years and all that I’ve learned over that time…there is still more to learn. Delegating is one of those areas where I need to do better.

I’ve just recently finished reading the book The Highest Calling by Lawrence Janesky. This novel is about business struggles and success. It’s a story of helping others and learning how to do the right things in order to succeed. It shares important and powerful business principles.

It reminded me of things that I know but haven’t done well.

The first couple of years as a self-employed construction contractor were a lot different than Gene expected. He’s beginning to wonder if owning his own business is worth it. It certainly isn’t what he expected.

All the headaches and problems that he’s encountered are causing him to have second thoughts about his construction job and going into business.

Working long days doing construction and late nights doing paperwork feels like being stuck in a rut. With help not showing up and Gene having to do more work, the rut just gets deeper.

As someone who has been in construction for more than forty years, I’ve worked for my share of hard customers. This does not mean that they are bad customers. On the contrary, more often than not the opposite is true. They are the best customers because they have a high standard and expect high quality.

There are, however, those customers that are difficult. Ones that perceive the process of a construction project to be more of a battle that they need to win.

These aren’t the kind of customers that I’m referring to when I’m talking about customers being hard work.

Today (7/26/24) was one of those days. You know the ones. You have it all planned and then…everything gets turned upside down.

Here’s how my day was planned:

Recurring 9:00 daily virtual meeting with my assistant, Emily. Writing this week’s solution. Follow up on construction projects. Friday’s week ending deposits. Pay some bills. Weekly review meeting. Shopping before going home. Family coming over for a movie marathon.

This is not how my day actually went.

It means treating others the way you want to be treated.

I had a conversation with a friend once about an experience they had with a plumber. While they were standing in the kitchen talking about the project…

The plumber spit tobacco juice in the kitchen sink.

Not once mind you, but 3-4 times! At least he had the courtesy to turn the water on and rinse out the sink.

I wonder if his wife let’s him spit tobacco juice in the sink at home.

While I was talking with this friend, I thought out loud, ‘What has happened to contractor etiquette?’ The more I’ve thought about it, more examples of this kind of ‘bad contractor behavior’ have come to mind.