Most builders never really
know why their construction
businesses fail. The
demise is often so sudden
and unexpected that the
natural tendency, both for
the builder and for all of us
who lend a sympathetic ear
to his story, is to blame a
particular project that
turned sour or a competitor who
took work away with low-ball bids.
But the real reasons are much
closer to home, according to
Thomas Schleifer, a longtime contractor
who has made a career out
of exploring how and why construction
companies fail.
In Construction Contractor's Survival
Guide, Schleifer draws upon
his 30 years of experience in construction
to present an analysis of
the causes of contractor failure
that is both familiar and unexpected.
Schleifer contends that
most contractor failures