Marketing
· Do you know who your most profitable clients are?
· Do you know if they are going to remain a profitable workstream?
· Do you know how to actively find new clients?
· Are you confused by what digital marketeers have told you?
Tendering
· Do you have a bid-no-bid policy?
· Are you sure you are covering your overheads sufficiently?
· Is your mark-up calculated correctly?
· Do you need help with bid writing?
· Do you understand the contracts you are signing up to?
· Are you getting feed-back on your tenders?
· If there is no feedback, are you using the lost tender information to win the next one with the highest price possible?
Commercial
· Are the contracts you are signing up to appropriate?
· Are the contract risks being managed?
· Are you risk assessing your clients for payments?
· Do you have systems for capturing records of work done?
· Do you have processes for capturing changes to the scope of works?
· Are you able to check profitability of projects as they progress?
· Are you aware of how you would deal with an issue via the contract?
· Are there planned v actual progress reports?
· Is there a quality management system in place for managing quality?
Accounts
· Does your accountant explain your accounts to you?
· Do you have separate management accounts?
· Is your pay allocated to specific activities?
· Do you do cost verses income comparisons for projects?
· Do you know if the work in progress is correct?
· Are your overheads going up or not?
· Do you know how much you can afford to invest in new resources?
· Do you have a forecast?
· Do you have a system for chasing payments?
Staff
· Do you and all the staff have a job description?
· Are there a roles and responsibilities?
· Is their performance discussed with them?
· Are their capabilities addressed?
· Is time management an issue?
· Are duties delegated efficiently?
· Is recruitment an issue?
If you answered yes to all these questions, your business should be flying. If not, then you now have a starting place to get working on.
One of the first things which happens is a businesses accountant will recommend a software package to use. That can provide some information if it is set up correctly. Most businesses supplement this over the first few years with spreadsheets. This works until the business can afford specific software packages. However, a lot of businesses do not have a structure to the systems they set up and get into a bit of a pickle. The list of key documents in the table below is a good starting place and can be transferred to software packages as the business grows.
If you need help structuring your processes to optimise winning the most profitable contracts and executing them efficiently, then please contact me Peter.Searle@ba4cs.co.uk.
Control | Progress | Action | Review |
External H&S advisor | Yes | Monthly | |
Accounts package / project cost allocation / retentions | |||
Marketing / business development | Lead generation done separately | ||
Overhead forecast | 3 months | ||
Tender analysis | Monthly | ||
Forecast turnover (SPP) | 3 months | ||
Preconstruction | |||
Estimating package | |||
Planning package | |||
Headline contract conditions | |||
Projects | |||
Initial Information Required Schedule, IRS | Monthly | ||
Procurement schedule | Monthly | ||
Inspection Test Plan, ITP | Monthly | ||
Cost Value Reconciliation CVR | Monthly | ||
Planned v Actual, PvA progress | Monthly | ||
CoI, RFI, site instructions, Information | Monthly | ||
Snagging | |||
O&M's | Monthly | ||
Strategy review | |||
Monthly, quarterly, annual |
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