Expenses have gone up and there is good recovery, and many contractors are busy and making good money in this area, pinching us subcs. They also have gotten used to delivering a lesser prepared product to their subs (example: lots of poor framing). In two ways we are making much less in ratio than three or four years ago. The challenge is keep these contractors and make money.
The only solution I have found is keeping really good communication with the contractors, explaining what will help me do my job most effectively. I have also spent more time checking out the jobs while their carpenters are working and tactfully suggesting way things that will make my job easier when I come in later. A few checkups on pending jobs has made a big difference in what’s delivered to me.
—Kevin, KL Drywall LLC, Minneapolis, MN
I believe our biggest challenge will be having enough work to bid on and competition getting their numbers up to try and try to make money and not lose money. We contractors are doing it to ourselves.
—Mike Miller, Miller Drywall Inc., Scott City, MO
Funding—after working for public entities that have either delayed payments or didn’t pay at all requiring us to seek expensive legal avenues. They don’t seem to have the money, which has been creating a hardship for contractors. We actually lost a project because the Township didn’t feel we had a large enough line of credit, even though we were the low bidder. They stated they only had half of the million dollars and didn’t know when they would have the rest.
—Anonymous
We all know the best hangers, finishers, suppliers and materials out there are also the most expensive. I think our biggest challenge in 2013 is going to be maintaining our high quality work with the constant increase in costs to do business against the low bids we’re forced to compete with.
—Matt Arey, Drywall Perfection Corp., West Hartford, CT
The biggest challenge for me is staying organized and on top of everything going on right now while staying focused on continued growth down the road. My client base has really taken care of me over the last year, and business from them has continued to pick up substantially helping my company to grow in new directions. I am extremely optimistic about 2013!!
—Craig Favors, Owner, Inside Expressions, Dallas, TX
Ours biggest challenge is how to be the low bidder and still make a profit. I plan on excluding more debatable items from our scope of work to get our foot in the door so that we can discuss it later at a scope meeting, especially if there’s already a GC awarded.
—Anonymous
What we’re concern with right now is our cost with Obamacare coming to life possibly in 2013 and the cost our company may incur with all the talk about “fiscal cliff” taxes on all small business. Then we have concerns if money will be cut loose from banking institutions to start new projects. Right now our company is bidding a fair amount of work but we’re not getting much of it at all, and the bottom line is I’d rather fish than lower our prices where we don’t make enough to live on. … In 2012 we experienced approximately 30 days with no work …. We try to keep our best and most loyal workers together, but honestly I don’t see the economy getting better; if it doesn’t, the results will be letting more people go, or if we keep missing days in the week, they’ll be venturing out on their own in another line of work.
—Bruce Brown, Metro Atlanta, GA
Our biggest challenge in pricing residential projects is pricing against the underground cash economy. We pay for a business license to legally perform drywall and painting services for our loyal and new customers, but many individuals think they can perform work without following the rules and laws of the land by not registering themselves or their no-name companies, so if they don’t want to do business the proper way, why not just work for free?
In Nova Scotia, Canada, you need to have a licensed carpenter to build a home. You also need a licensed plumber, electrician and air exchange technician, but there is no need for a licensed drywaller or painter—the work everyone sees! I cannot do anything about this saga, but my question is, “How can home builders provide a home warranty without a paper trail of who did the work if work is completed and there are no receipts of cash paid out especially to drywallers and painters who have no company name?” The suggestion is for governments to provide a Red Seal Certificate for well qualified drywall finishing and painting tradespersons, and register those tradesperson with the region where they live, and allow the contractors to provide to the regional building inspection office(s) a list of his trusted sub-trades who have qualified themselves to have a registered business and who can back up their business credentials with the proper paper work.
We just get frustrated when we lose so many jobs to cash only individuals. We have to eat too!
—Rob-Can Drywall Services Limited
Although we had a spike in our yearly volume prior to 2012 elections, uncertainty on future economic stability still blinds us from being able to predict upcoming jobs and secure our backlog. We are continuously tweaking and adjusting our overhead to keep it as low as possible. We continue marketing our company and follow up with our clients trying to help in any value engineering and options to help clients come up with the best solutions for the project constructability. Hopefully more negotiated jobs keep emerging and stronger bonds with GC and clients keep us above water for next year and those to come.
—Richard Huntley, WeKanDo Construction, Inc., Puerto Rico
Competing against others that disregard specifications, codes, labor laws or just plain cheat to get jobs. We’ll be keeping our eyes open and communications lines open to make sure that projects they get are done right. We’ll do our best to level the playing field and make sure that the owners are getting what they paid for.
—Pete Dittemore, Sierra Insulation, Ontario, Canada
Capital and cash flow … The plan to solve, I am still looking for. Any ideas?
—Anonymous
