Georgia Construction Today - First Quarter 2009 - (Page 11)

Sharpen and streamline your operational strategies Open up communications with your creditors to insure no surprises. Consider preparing a rolling 12-month forecast. Know the contract owner’s ﬁnancing situation. Know your contract rights for ceasing work and implement zero-tolerance policies. General contractors need to qualify specialty contractors very carefully. Specialty contractors need to be proactive in helping general contractors win work and minimize risk. Closely analyze and tighten your internal controls. Manage your overhead costs tightly. Manage equity carefully. Safeguard precious working capital. Tighten receivables management and develop zero-tolerance practices for lien ﬁlings. Strengthen existing company infrastructure to insure the systems and processes are in place to support a growing business when times get better. Be diligent in managing your resources, making sure everyone is spending their time and energy on agreed to priorities. Hold everyone, including you, accountable for what gets done and how it gets done. Conduct a “barriers to productivity” survey to ﬁnd out what’s keeping your employees from working as productively as they can. Tap into new ways to build projects and deliver your services and products better, cheaper and faster. Some comfort can be found in the article “Marketing Strategies for Tough Economic Times” by Brian Clark, where he cites the example of the entire cosmetics industry born in the depths of the Great Depression. It seems that offering women a little inexpensive luxury during difﬁcult times made the people who sold lipstick, rouge and eye makeup extremely wealthy. While this example doesn’t provide a solution to those of us trying to survive today, it does offer up the possibility that if we are willing to dig deep within ourselves, take the time to plan and spend time with our customers and employees to generate new ideas, we might ﬁnd an opportunity we wouldn’t have found otherwise. Your employees and customers are counting on you to lead them wisely in the months and years ahead. Turbulent, tough economic times call for great leadership! This is your opportunity to rise to the occasion. ■ The National Advantage Stites & Harbison is a business and litigation law firm providing advocacy and counsel to the nation’s leading businesses and institutions. The firm focuses on sophisticated business transactions, difficult litigation and complex regulatory matters . . . and is a proud member of the Georgia Branch, AGC! It’s the service! Temporary Fence • Portable Restrooms Mobile Storage Containers Serving all of Georgia 3242 Bankhead Highway • Lithia Springs, GA 30122 303 Peachtree Street, N.E., Suite 2800 Atlanta, Georgia 30308 [404] 739-8800 • [404] 739-8870 Fax www.stites.com • general@stites.com Recipient of the Call 770-819-7787 or visit rentnational.com Hammer of Hope Award Georgia CONSTRUCTION TODAY FIRST QUARTER 2009 11 http://www.stites.com http://www.rentnational.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Georgia Construction Today - First Quarter 2009

Georgia Construction Today - First Quarter 2009 Contents Message from the President Leading in Tough Economic Times Breaking the Cycle of Workforce Insanity Chapter’s Workers’ Compensation Program Delivers Greater Value with Multi-State Coverage Am I Getting Enough from My Insurance Broker? Change Has Arrived: Georgia’s New Lien Law Index to Advertisers

Georgia Construction Today - First Quarter 2009

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