The 10 Most Common Causes of Construction Contractor Failures
Contractors are apt to gorge themselves like lions when work is plentiful, but beware.
This headline repeats the title of an article in an online publication called “Journal of Construction Accounting & Taxation,” by CPAs Robert Davidson and Martin Maguire. The full article can be obtained from the Web site www.davidsonandgolden.com. (Click the “publications” icon, then scroll down to “articles.”) Although aimed mainly at general contractors, it’s nonetheless a good read with many lessons for subcontractors as well. Here is an abridged version of the biggest reasons for failure.
Lions have been known to gorge themselves eating 100 pounds of meat at a sitting from a big kill, because nature has wired their brains to understand it may be a long time before they eat again. Contractors have some of that in them as well. Anyone who’s been through lean times has trouble resisting the urge to gorge when work is readily available. But this is a recipe for disaster.