Are you a positive thinker or a negative one? A glass half full, or a glass half empty, type of guy? Consider the following quotes: A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes. – Mahatma Gandhi, Indian leader Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking…
This week I went along to the latest CBANZ Toolbox Talk for builders. The current topic is about the changes to the LBP rules around skills maintenance. No longer will merchant sausage sizzles and clipping coupons from the back of trade magazines do to earn points. More specific, on-the-job learning is required and keeping up…
After months of anticipation, it’s finally here. The Rugby World Cup! Heaven for me, albeit with some early starts to the day. One week into it and the most dramatic result in test match rugby history that I can remember has happened. Japan defeats the (supposedly) mighty Boks! How could this happen? Japan have only…
The Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment has just released it’s 3rd Construction Pipeline report for the next five years in New Zealand. Have you read it and considered what it means for your company? There is no doubt that the value of construction is set to stay at high levels over the next few…
It is normal to have to work hard and put in the hours when starting out on your business ownership journey. What is often also normal, but unnecessary, is for the long hours to continue after years of business ownership. It almost becomes a habit. One becomes conditioned to long hours in the office at…
Having the right culture in your company is vital to its success. The culture that exists in a company can make or break it, so it is important to make sure the right culture is proactively developed. By not taking a proactive approach the culture will simply evolve in a random way by usually drifting…
Business Plan by Post-it Note Business plans are a good thing thing to do for your business, but the majority end up to be just a bunch of wishes and dreams because they lack the most important ingredient; ACTION. Here is something that costs 2 cents and will help you put your plan into action:…
In your salesperson role, your objective is to serve, not to sell. Whenever you go in to see a client or prospective client, and especially when you meet someone for the very first time, you have to go in wearing your problem-solving hat. Your objective is to help your prospective client find solutions to their…
This week I am borrowing a blog post from Grocorp.co in the US who produce an app to measure labour productivity on a construction project. Whether you use technology like this or pencil and paper, the principles are the same. What you can measure you can manage. What you can manage you can change (for the…
Research out of Stamford University earlier this year showed that productivity declines quickly after working for more than 50 hours per week and declines even faster after the 55 hour mark. I suspect that they just tested office workers in big companies, rather than owners of small businesses. Long hours seem to come with the…