In a message dated 12/21/00 5:59:54 PM Central Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< it was more that they were unable, to handle the work, for what ever
reason....   lack of capital to handle that size job, stretched too thin, not
enough people, not enough equipment, you name it.... >>

It is difficult to maintain resources as a steady stream.

We work to secure a plum restoration job to keep a good craftsman, our rising
star, employed and then he tells us he is going to Cambodia for two months on
a bycycle tour, and is not so sure if he will ever come back -- so we go into
crisis mode to show him where he can go with his career if he stays with us.
We secure a fine job taking down the stone quoins on a building, expecting to
make repairs to the steel columns behind, and the welder says he is going to
Chicago for 9 months to divinity school because what he really wants in life
is to be a reverend. We get the brightest estimator we have ever seen to work
for us for two weeks. A previous estimator we worked with for two years
before they came across with a job to pay for their salary, then they quit to
go back to engineering school. We secured a project for another foreman, and
he left to "do his own work", and left us with another guy who ended up
getting caught on a penthouse terrace naked at 1 AM. Long story. We had one
woman that we were promoting as a site supervisor, after she left we
eventually found out that she was shagging w/ the subcontractor's foreman in
the elevator bulkhead.

Though we have never had a situation where someone told us not to go after a
job, we have had situations where we have not wanted to. Customers that do
not pay their bills rate first on the list, which includes a lot of general
contractors, both large and small. Customers that do not stand up for their
relationships, which includes a lof of CMs, don't go far with us. There are
CMs we will work with, and promote, there are CMs that we absolutely do not
want anything to do with, been there, done that, won't be burned twice. We
are increasingly growing gun shy of working on townhouses as the owners
exhibit irrational behaviour most of the time -- it must have something to do
with having enough money to buy a building that needs facade work to begin
with. We have had problems with churches stiffing us for the money, or
playing other unethical games -- it is a losing battle when a church decides
to say bad things against a contractor. We have sworn off church work several
times, but they keep coming back and we are suckers for punishment. On
occasion we find a good one and we do everything we can to honor the
relationship. We never seem to find a good townhouse, meaning that we never
find with a townhouse a customer that is not irrational.

Customers, especially once the contract is signed, do not want to hear about
any of these problems. So, if I act hesitant when a potential customer calls
it is that I am weighing a whole lot of past experiences before stepping out
and saying, "Yes, I'm interested."

Best,
][<en