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Some dangers

While bringing better business habits to small companies (the foundation contractor) is good for everyone, including the home-owner who benefits from stable pricing, some danger exists to our individual businesses and potentially the industry. Relentless cost-cutting mandates have a diminishing return in our business. We cannot control the price of our commodity (cement and aggregates), nor can we push labor costs down by outsourcing or offshoring. As the mega-builder increasingly dictates price levels (and thereby margin), qualified, professional foundation contractors may begin to wonder if the intense capital requirements, high labor costs and overall risk are adequately balanced by potential return.

Of course, all contractors are free agents. The builder can accurately claim that we come to them of our own volition. However, it is also a fact that as fewer customers make up a larger part of the foundation contractor's portfolio, each one is more important to the contractor's business. The mega-builder becomes exceedingly important to the contractor over time.

Changes are most definitely occurring in our industry, but change is not synonymous with bad. Foundation contractors should seize this opportunity to improve their business processes and diversify their offering to grow their client base. By improving our systems and processes we may solidify our futures and open new doors of opportunity.

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