How’s Business?
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How’s Business?
As we’ve grown, Well Built now has clients all over North America. In the morning, we may be helping a multi-family contractor in Maryland develop strategies to win a vital project to remain healthy. In the afternoon, we may be speaking with a contractor in Georgia building mission-critical facilities about tactfully turning away work they don’t have the capacity to handle, as they cap off a banner year. And so it goes in the building industry. Contractors serve the broader economy, which means they are a mirror of market trends. Therefore, the answer to “how’s business?” often strikes very similar notes in common geographies and market sectors, and dramatically different ones in contrasting markets.
For example, the whole world is talking about the transformative impact of AI. As if we weren’t building enough data centers already, there is a nearly insatiable demand for new construction and renovation in that sector. By the way, perhaps the largest impediment to meeting data center demand is the energy grid. Plenty of contractors are now working on solving that problem in short order as well.
Pay Attention
One of the most crucial habits for construction executives to embrace is staying plugged into economics and politics. These two outside elements drive the building industry more than any other input, and a failure to monitor the realities therein can land your business on the outside looking in. From what I’ve observed, it is important to maintain as objective a view of the facts as possible, recognizing your own political and economic leanings and taking care not to see what you want to see, but simply what is. So, by all means, watch and read the news, but be sure not to give too much weight to a single headline or get caught up in rooting for a particular outcome such that you lose objectivity and begin chasing shadows.
Hindsight into historical trends shows that many significant market shifts could have been foreseen, and they were by many. You don’t have to be Jim Rickards, devouring economic indicators and becoming an economist yourself, though it wouldn’t hurt. Instead, make a point of following economists representing various political leanings. Read their perspectives regularly and develop your own view based on the facts and their interpretations of them. They’re often wrong, especially in pursuit of headlines, but their perspectives are useful for informing your business strategy.
Stay the Course, but Develop Options
One of our excellent consultants, Josh LaSharr, has served in the US Army and continues to do so as a reservist. He introduced me to a concept called PACE planning. It’s the Army, so of course it’s an acronym standing for Primary, Alternative, Contingency, and Emergency. He’s got all kinds of cool military examples of the model in action. Talk to him sometime, it’s a lot of fun for military history fans. Anyway, the idea is that teams need to develop plans at multiple layers. History clearly shows that economic trends, and therefore, the construction economy, are cyclical. Changing your entire focus and becoming an entirely new kind of contractor is likely not the best approach for most readers. “It’ll come back.” There’s wisdom in those words. Look at the multifamily market of 2014-22 in contrast to the doldrums of 2008-11.
Still, what if it doesn’t come back? What’s an alternative source of business for your company in the meantime? What’s the contingency plan if the comeback is significantly delayed? What’s your emergency plan to maintain your health if the sector or geography you’re serving doesn’t come back?
Options, my friends. Options. Using what information you can gather from credible sources about the direction of the economy, place some small bets and create some options. Explore adding that service line, pursuing travel work, or a new sector. Diversification is key to survival in construction. Just be sure you can deliver excellence in whatever you do. Your reputation may be the only thing you can rely on when things come back.
The Spark Notes:
Business is booming across North America, with Well Built helping contractors navigate both surging demand and strategic restraint in an ever-shifting construction market.
AI’s explosive growth is fueling an unprecedented wave of data center projects, while the energy grid struggles to keep pace—creating both opportunity and urgency.
Construction leaders must stay grounded in economic and political realities, seeking diverse perspectives and objective insights to guide strategy amid uncertainty.
Success depends on developing layered options—Primary, Alternative, Contingency, and Emergency—so your company can adapt, diversify, and deliver excellence no matter where the market turns.
