Definition of Sustainability

How sustainable is your construction business?

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Leadership Tools: Definition of Sustainability: The ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level.

Not your ability to build sustainable buildings, but the true sustainability of your business.

  • Are the market(s) that you are in stable or at least counter-cyclical to each other throughout various economic cycles?

  • Are those market(s) growing, stacking the cards in your favor that your company will continue growing?

  • Do your customers love you to the point where they keep coming back to you for projects?

  • Do you have good business development capabilities that will create predictable revenue growth?

  • Do you have good talent development systems, ensuring that your revenue growth does not exceed your ability to grow and retain leadership talent?  

  • Are you generating enough free cash flow to support your growth?

Sometimes, an outside perspective can be invaluable for helping assess and improve your sustainability. 

What does your scoreboard say?  




Collections and Retention Trend Metric
Assuming that a contractor’s project team has done an effective job of aggressively billing the project, the biggest variable that remains for cash flow is the effectiveness of collections.
Different Heights Require Different Skills and Gear
As contracting businesses grow the leadership focus, strategy, org structure and processes must change. Think about building a business the same as you would hiking up a mountain with each different phase requiring different skills and different gear.
Definition - Decision Rights
Decision Rights define the business decisions that need to be made, who is involved in making them, and how they will be made through processes, tools, and operating rhythms.