Businesses do not create wealth and freedom by accident. They happen because its owner creates systems that turned the business into a well-oiled machine. Have you systematized the six primary functions your business needs to succeed?

• Marketing
• Selling
• Staffing
• Planning
• Tracking
• Financial Control

After looking at the six, you may think you have systematized your construction business, but a better test is to look at the subsystems that make up the six systems. To help you develop a clearer picture of the activities your company should be performing, here’s a look under the hood of these six essential business systems at the subsystems that make them go.

MARKETING

The purpose of your marketing system is to produce a flood of qualified sales leads. You need systems for:

-Generating leads from new customers.
-Generating leads from existing customers.
-Prodding referrals from existing customers.
-Collecting testimonials.
-Staying in touch with your customers.
-Publicizing your business.
-Developing new advertising pieces.

SELLING

The purpose of your selling system (and you need to think of selling as a system) is to get commitments from buyers to hire you. The selling subsystems are a combination of sales tasks, motivation, and development. You need systems for:

-Assigning and prioritizing leads.
-Qualifying leads.
-Following up with prospects.
-Creating proposals and presentations.
-Processing orders.
-Following up with customers after their project is finished.
-Motivating the pursuit and procurement of profitable sales.
-Improving selling skills.
-Networking.
-Strengthening your customer relationships.

STAFFING

The purpose of your staffing system is to get the right people in your company and get them placed in the right jobs so that they are successful individually and as a group. You need systems for:

-Advertising openings.
-Interviewing.
-Creating and updating job descriptions.
-Communicating performance expectations.
-Monitoring market wage rates.
-Dismissing non-performers.
-Developing employees’ skills.
-Rewarding good performance.
-Selecting the right people for promotion.

PLANNING

The purpose of your planning systems is to eliminate negative surprises by solving problems before they arise. You need systems for:

-Determining which markets you are going to pursue.
-Creating your annual budget.
-Creating a cash flow budget.
-Increasing your bonding capacity.
-Planning project completion.
-Scheduling your work crews.
-Determining when to buy equipment.

TRACKING

The purpose of tracking systems is to make sure your business is performing as you need it to. Your tracking system should be monitoring the following items:

-Expenses vs. budget (job and company).
-Revenue vs. budget.
-Gross profit vs. budget (job and company).
-Labor productivity (job and company).
-Advertising effectiveness.
-Selling effectiveness.
-On-time completion.
-Employee performance.
-Equipment costs.
-Labor time by primary tasks.
-Receivables outstanding.
-Sales backlog.
-Safety efforts and lost time injuries.
-Estimating accuracy.
-Mark-up success.
-Re-work.

FINANCIAL CONTROL

The purpose of financial control systems is to make sure that your business is on solid financial ground. You need systems for:

-Developing relationships with bankers.
-Developing relationships with bond and insurance agents.
-Qualifying and evaluating your CPA.
-Getting the proper business licenses.
-Processing payroll.
-Making scheduled federal and state tax payments.
-Managing your cash.
-Verifying money is not being improperly removed from the company.
-Verifying suppliers’ bills are legitimate.
-Collecting late receivables.
-Paying bills are on time.
-Paying employees properly.
-Filing liens and claims.
-Collecting employee information.
-Sending out 1099s.
-Getting proper insurance coverage.
-Verifying lease terms and payments are proper.
-Building and managing your credit line.

Until you get all of these subsystems in place and your people trained on how to perform them properly, you will be a slave to your business and your personal wealth will be severely limited.

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Scaffolds are simply elevated temporary work platforms constructed to hold materials, workers or in some case both. Scaffold types can be said to include tubular frame, bracket, and outrigger, lean to, ladder jacks as well as mobile or single pole scaffold types. Each of these types of scaffolds are suited to a particular type of work activity, has a rated capacity for the amount of load that it can safely carry. All in all it can be said that the best polices are to follow the manufacture’s specifications in terms of the erection of these scaffold products, their use, maintenance and finally dismantling.

There are a number of standard safety points to consider when it comes to scaffolds and their safety.

First of all scaffolds should be erected by a trained crew under the supervision of competent supervisory staff. The supervisory, or in some cases a most competent worker, should possess the knowledge experience and training to perform this vital task. Safety first. In addition a competent worker should also inspect the scaffold and its components before each shift uses the scaffold.

Scaffolds must be installed plumb (level) and stabilized to prevent movements. Scaffolds more than three sections high should be secured against movement by tie-backs or guy wires. Next the sills on which the base plates of the scaffolds must be able to support the load it will be placed under. To accomplish this, the mud or soft ground may have to be replaced with gravel: loose back fill may have to be compacted and the area stabilized to prevent movement. To be effective mudsills must have full contact with their supporting surface. Therefore, things like holes, high spots (unleveled ground) etc. must be corrected before the sills are put in place.

The next concern is that there must be procedures and mechanics in place so that scaffolds have a means of “leveling” themselves. Screw jacks are often recommended and stated as the only really proper means of accomplishing this procedure. The use of blocks (built up under the base plates) is just plain and downright dangerous and prone to serious mishaps. If the scaffold has open access and is placed greatly in height then it may be more than a serious concern to have these scaffolds designed and even installed under the supervision of competent, experienced professional engineers.

Lastly all parts of the scaffold must be properly connected and the appropriate components used. Believe it or not it is not all that uncommon for inspectors to report that find missing pins or objects on routine scaffold inspections and as well find odd parts such as screws or ordinary nails used as replacement parts on some scaffold setups. In a similar vein it is not a good or wise idea to mix and match components from different types of scaffolds or even from different scaffold manufacturers or suppliers.

All in all when dealing with scaffolds in the construction trades it always a case of safety first on the job. An ounce of prevention is worth more than a ton of cure.

Prevention and safety are key. Safety first on the job site.

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There are well-defined pre-action protocol obligations that are in place for nine areas, the better known of which are:

• Personal Injury
• Clinical Disputes
• Construction and Engineering Disputes
• Professional Negligence

The CJC, which wishes to introduce further pre-action protocols, has been concerned not to tamper with those established protocols. As a result of this, the CJC proposes that a ‘general pre-action protocol’ be introduced. The rules of the ‘general pre-action protocol’ will be both applicable and obligatory, unless the dispute falls within one of the nine pre-existing pre-action protocols currently in force.

The idea behind pre-action protocols is to encourage potential litigants to make every effort to resolve their dispute prior to actually starting a claim. The new general protocol will require disclosure of documents and consideration of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), including arbitration.

In debt claims, the general pre-action protocol will require business claimants with potential claims against an unrepresented individual to provide a series of particular pieces of information. Firstly, they must ensure that details are made available as to how the money owed can be paid. Secondly, details of who the Defendant should contact to discuss the repayment, such as instalments or deferment, must also be made available. In addition to these, information about sources of fee debt advice must be included as well.

This information will not have to be part of the initial pre-action protocol letter, but must be drawn to the individual’s attention at some stage. This proposed inclusion follows HM Court Service consultation which identified that many debtors, instead of being encouraged to engage with creditors at an early stage, tend to ignore demands until Court proceedings are issued. The general pre-action protocol requirements are aimed at encouraging engagement. Early engagement in such matters often leads to a far more straightforward resolution, with a quicker conclusion of the issue reached for both parties as a result.

It is therefore intended to roll out pre-action protocols across the board, by expanding the requirements for parties to attempt to resolve matters without the Court’s assistance. The message for all potential litigants, therefore, will be to engage with each other at an early stage, as opposed potentially to letting matters worsen, making productive engagement between the parties more difficult later. To encourage this process, of the principle in the current pre-action protocol rules that “it is expressly recognised that no party can or should be forced to mediate or enter into any form of ADR” will not feature under in the proposed general pre-action protocol.

Finally, it should be noted that the current sanctions for non-compliance with pre-action protocols are likely to be adopted into the general pre-action protocol rules.

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