
Working With George – Meet George Hedley!

Go Small & Make It Big!
I have a loyal customer we build several commercial and industrial projects for every year. We have project meetings every week during the construction phase. After leaving his conference room one day, I noticed several of my competitors sitting in his lobby. This...

Negotiate More Contracts
Every year, the successful construction companies stop and take a look at their last 12 months and then make decisions and commit to next year's contract and sales goals. Our company's estimating and bidding strategy is to negotiate most of our construction work. We...

Start Every Project On-Target
Walk through the mud, kick the dirt, smell the air and get excited! Start every construction project right by holding a pre-job start-up meeting, on the jobsite, with every team member in attendance. Get everyone focused, outline the goals and objectives, make...

Is Your Bid Only An Estimate?
You know what I would really hate as a general building contractor? You negotiate an easy project to build with a great repeat customer. They trust you, don't question your costs and then award the job at your price. Then, seven months later, you discover your...

Submit Better Bids & Get More Work!
"It's impossible to compete in this tight construction market." "There's always too much competition." "I can't find any profitable jobs to bid." "The only way I get any jobs is when we leave too much money on the table." "I get tired of cutting our bids to beat the...

Is Your Goal To Retire Before You Learn The Computer?
What do you think it costs to open a donut store? I'll bet it costs at least $100,000 including equipment, ovens, refrigerators, display cases, utensils, cash registers, accounting software and computers. Every business has a minimum start-up cost. Every business must...

Field Change Memos Work!
On the jobsite, your crew hits an underground water line not shown on the plans. With water now spraying over excavated and open footings, should you wait for a signed change order to fix the broken line or take immediate steps to mitigate the damages? My List Of...

If It’s Not In Writing, It Didn’t Happen!
The truths of construction: 1. Every set of plans is perfect. 2. Every project is over budget 3. Every project is too slow 4. No change orders are legitimate 5. The contractor is always wrong! Right? No, but it often seems so. Nothing's...

Are You A Wimp?
Have you ever completed additional work and didn't get paid for it? Have you ever swallowed extra costs because they weren't approved before you did the work? Contractors know they are required to get change orders signed and approved prior to doing the work.but why...