Some say it takes a village, while Construction Executive suggests a lead singer relies on the support of the band behind them. Whichever metaphor you prefer, one thing is certain. Businesses need to surround themselves with the right team to be successful in uncertain times. Taking the comparison a step further, they suggest that much like the quality of the music, the effectiveness of a surety team depends on the network they build and how well those ‘players’ work together.
As a frequent consultant to surety bond producer, Robert Shaw, President of Skillings Shaw & Associates, ARB’s David Jean contributes to Construction Executives recent article, Getting the Band Back Together: How a Surety Team Can Hit the Right Notes, with his perspective on the impact of COVID-19 on construction businesses.
In terms of financial impact, Jean reports, COVID-19 has implications from the bidding stage to project completion, with effective communication among all pertinent advisors key to ongoing viability.
“Advisors need to be talking proactively with their contractor clients about best practices—what we’re seeing in the industry, what changes are taking place, and how they can better prepare to deal with all the uncertainty,” Jean says. One of those is the impact of job slowdowns on profit potential. “As some private work dries up, that means more contractors chasing public work,” he says. “And with more people bidding on public work, margins are tighter. What this is going to look like next year nobody knows, but contractors need to start preparing.”
-Excerpted from Construction Executive
Read the article with David’s full remarks.
By David Jean,CPA, CCIFP, CExP
