Tag: business: Page 58

Business

6 steps for passing down your construction business to your children

You’ve grown your construction firm into a thriving business, and now you’re ready to retire. Your children are waiting in the wings to take over the company they’ve been groomed to run since they were old enough to climb onto a piece of equipment. However, you know you can’t just hand over the reins and […]

December 11, 2013

Business

Sany America names Mike Rhoda its new CEO

Mike Rhoda has been named chief executive officer of Sany America, replacing Tim Frank, who resigned in October. Rhoda has a broad construction equipment industry resume, including stints as chief technology officer at Doosan Infracore Construction Equipment, president and CEO of Volvo Construction Equipment’s excavator line, and senior management positions at Ingersoll-Rand. In a statement […]

December 10, 2013

Business

The top 4 mistakes contractors make when building a website

When it comes to building, who better to seek advice from than a contractor? That is, unless you’re talking about building a website. Then the answer gets a bit more complicated. We see a lot of contractor websites, and while there are some great ones out there, a number of them fall short on some […]

December 9, 2013

Home

Website Mistake 2: You show an aversion to email contact

We get it; talking with people is important, so you naturally want to emphasize phone contact, especially in an emergency situation. Even Dunn Construction, Birmingham, Alabama, who does a great job in showcasing their people on their site, doesn’t provide individual emails. But in today’s digital world, a number of people like to reach out […]

December 9, 2013

Home

Website Mistake 1: You don’t feature your people

While pictures of completed projects tell one part of your story, you’re missing a critical element if you don’t show who’s on your team. Your people are your company. They’re the ones that make it happen, who interact with your clients on a daily basis, who make you look good. Grab a camera, take some […]

December 9, 2013

Home

Website Mistake 4: You don’t have a website

Yes, the biggest problem we see with contractor websites is their nonexistence. When people are curious about you and your capabilities, the easiest thing to do is a Google search. If all that’s there is a online directory listing, it says everything about your location and nothing about your story. “I fought it for a […]

December 9, 2013

Home

Website Mistake 3: You require people to fill out a form to contact you by email

For those who do allow for email contact on their website, many require customers to fill out a form to do so. There’s no personal touch in this; it’s anyone’s guess who receives the completed form and in what decade can a response can be expected. Get rid of it. The same is true with […]

December 9, 2013

Business

Slumping productivity, political football drive down Q4 Nonresidential Construction Index

For the first time in five months, two of which brought its highest marks ever, FMI’s Nonresidential Construction Index (NRCI) fell 2.9 points in the fourth quarter to 57.4. The good news is that despite the drop from last quarter, any mark above 50 on the index indicates growth and this quarter is still 1.9 […]

December 4, 2013

Business

Building permits up in October, but government delays housing starts data for second month due to shutdown

Though the Commerce Department won’t release data on housing starts and completions until next month, it reports that building permits saw a sizable gain in October. Placing blame on the 16-day partial shutdown of the federal government during October, the Commerce Department says it won’t have the data for home starts and completions for the […]

November 26, 2013

Business

Go With Your Instincts: Why it’s not always a good idea to separate personal and business decisions

Possessing the ability to make good decisions is obviously crucial when running your own business, but good instincts are just as critical. Take Matthew Gilligan of Magnolia Landscape, for example. Gilligan is one of our sister site Total Landscape Care’s 12 finalists for the Landscaper of the Year program, and I visited and interviewed him […]

November 20, 2013

Business

John Deere Q4 and fiscal-year profits again increase to record highs

For the third straight year and the 14th-straight quarter, John Deere has announced record earnings. And, based on the recovering economy and housing market, the manufacturer sees things pickup up for its construction equipment business in 2014. The heavy equipment manufacturer announced Wednesday that profit for the fourth quarter of the year was up 17 […]

November 20, 2013

Business

Survey says more than half of construction companies affected by skilled worker shortage, details how they’re coping

At this point, it would be quicker to list the number of cities that haven’t reported construction projects being impacted by the skilled worker shortage than the ones that have. In the past year alone we’ve reports from Houston, Minnesota, Louisiana, Phoenix, Wisconsin, Michigan and California, just to name, well, several. It’s everywhere. Back in […]

November 20, 2013