Construction Business Management

by Nick B. Ganaway

Only 43 per cent of U.S. construction firms remain in business after four years. Why? Inadequate management, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. This is surprising because most construction firms are formed by ambitious construction project managers, executives and tradesmen who have excelled at what they have been doing. But as experienced as these entrepreneurs may be, they are not likely prepared to take on the full range of responsibilities forced on them in managing the business of construction in its entirety.

While this business failure rate and its causes are based on U.S. experience, available data from a number of other industrialized countries shows they are similar.

This book describes in detail what the business side of the construction equation requires of the construction firm owner. The contractor who quickly learns these requirements can identify and avoid or manage around the pitfalls that cause the high failure rate in our industry and put his or her construction firm on a level playing field with the best-run companies in the business. The detailed duties of the owner, whether in the U.S., U.K., Australia or Canada, are a common theme throughout the book.

The author, Nick Ganaway, speaks peer-to-peer, and the book is sprinkled with supporting examples from his own experience. He is immersed in the industry and this book is "based on the things I've learned, used, and refined as a light-commercial general contractor in the course of starting and operating my own construction firm for 25 years." The contractor doing $5 million or $50 million or more in annual sales or the equivalent amount in other countries, or the entrepreneur who is just starting up, can use the tried and proven material in this book to build a business that is profitable, enjoyable, and enduring.

Additionally, the book devotes a chapter to specializing in chain-store construction.

Genres: Construction, Business

201 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Collier Kennington · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book. It touched on a lot of topics. The book doesn't go super in depth but It give you enough to understand the business a bit more.

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nick B. Ganaway's book on Construction Business Management portrays not only a unique insight on fundamentals that can be applied to a construction job, but also reflects upon his own personal experiences with success as well as the downfalls he overcame while working a career in the construction industry. In the beginning, credit for numerous well educated people is given to build a sense of ethos for the facts Ganaway will provide. The author's thoughts are formatted into individual chapters consisting of broad construction topics that he then breaks down into several specific aspects of each topic he wishes to cover. A noticeable feature of Ganaway's writing style is that some smaller components within a chapter tend to be a couple pages long while others are merely a few brief sentences. This presentation is exceptional at providing the reader with the ability to search for key information on what they are looking to learn right away. The book's chapters could be read in any order as it reads similar to a textbook on both facts and experiences. Towards the top of every chapter there is an influential quote by a prominent person that sets the mood and outlook that will follow for the rest of the chapter. There are lists of bullet points full of ideas to contemplate, short summaries on past experiences, concise definitions to clarify construction terms, and analyses of what works versus what doesn't when it comes to hard decision making. When the author says this book can help anyone in the construction field, he really is telling the truth. Small details accompanied by descriptive reasoning convey life lessons and other determinants for advancing in any career path the construction trade takes them to. The author tends to focus on how to get ahead financially when the economy gets rough mostly because construction business cycles are heavily impacted by economic downturns. I liked his viewpoint as he explained how construction is a risky business, but "no business worth spending your time in, that I'm aware of, is risk free".