Sundt and Growth of Wealth

One of the most common and dangerous misconceptions we hear about ownership in a construction company is that it’s all about perks owners get.

D. Brown Management Profile Picture
Share

Perk (/pərk/) noun:  Abbreviation of perquisite - money, goods, or other benefit to which one is ENTITLED as an employee or as a SHAREHOLDER of a company.

Succession: Investing in a Construction Business. Book: Level Headed, Inside the Walls of One of the Greatest Turnaround Stories of the 21st Century by J. Doug Pruitt and Richard Condit.

  • What kind of vehicle can I get?
  • What kind of expenses can I get reimbursed?
  • What memberships can I get paid for?
  • What travel and entertainment can I get as benefits?
  • How much time can I take off?
  • How big will my office be?  

If these are the questions that come up, they are 100% the wrong level of questions.  

The biggest “perk” to being an owner of a construction company is the opportunity for your money get a 20-35% annual rate of return versus the 8% or so that the market provides.  

Owners who are focused on exploiting that single “perk,” viewing it more as a privilege, are the ones who will truly outperform in the long run.

Sundt is a great example of this alignment




Increased Value by Lowering Variability
A construction business is capable of providing a very high return to the owners who have their capital at risk as well as the team members that work there. Contractors with lower variability in profitability are both more valuable and more sustainable.
CMAR - Strategic Market Choices and a 3-Part Approach
Being truly competitive (or not having to compete at all) with the Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) project delivery method requires advanced business development and preconstruction capabilities.
Selling an Efficient Project
Doubling the pretax net margin for contractors requires both effective selling AND operational excellence. The majority of of people in construction contracting businesses are operationally focused on building the work.