Contractor David Gerstel took his
first independent project 20 years
ago, and unlike 95% of those who do
the same each year, the company he
created has managed to survive. But
it was never easy, and Gerstel has
written The Builder's Guide to Running
a Successful Construction Company so
that others, as he puts it, "will not
have to cobble together a management
program from disparate sources
in reaction to their own blunders."
Books on the craft of building
abound, but nothing I have seen
addresses the management issues
facing small-volume builders better
than this book. Gerstel interviewed
over 100 builders
in the four years
he spent writing
it, and the text is
sprinkled with
anecdotal
accounts of their
varied experiences.
But it's also
a very