Building a Successful Construction Company [Paperback]

Patricia Atallah (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 28, 2006 | ISBN-10: 1419528114 | ISBN-13: 978-1419528118 | Edition: Original

Building a Successful Construction Company by Patricia W. Atallah is a straightforward, conversational guide that emphasizes how strategic thinking is essential for starting and running a construction company today.  With over 10 years of experience consulting on construction business practices, Atallah has worked with hundreds of companies and knows the tricks of the trade that continually prove successful.

 

In Building a Successful Construction Company, the 2.7 million new and experienced contractors in the U.S. alone will welcome a practical, easy-to-read book that lays out the facts needed to get started, provides valuable resources and interactive tools, offers insightful anecdotes from top experts in the field, and helps them incorporate much-needed strategy and structure into their businesses.

 

Armed with a real appreciation for the challenges that contractors face every day, Atallah has developed practical tools and advisory services aimed at helping contractors avoid the pitfalls and build a solid, stable, and profitable business. And, unlike other books, Building a Successful Construction Company is written to all commercial, institutional and residential contractors.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Patricia W. Atallah has over 22 years of business and consulting experience. As Founder and President of SoundBuild, Inc., a construction consulting firm since 1994, she leads the firm’s efforts to provide comprehensive project planning, oversight and troubleshooting services primarily to public and private sector building owners. Tricia also provides management advisory services to construction firms, focusing on operational, organizational, management and strategic issues that can impinge on project and company success. She develops approaches and methodologies to assist clients to resolve pressing issues and improve management procedures and controls. Tricia also conducts seminars and publishes articles on effective project and company management and construction industry trends. She is a former corporate banker and holds an M.B.A. in Finance from The Stern School, New York University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Kaplan Publishing; Original edition (August 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1419528114
• ISBN-13: 978-1419528118
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #651,663 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Patricia W. Atallah is an entrepreneur, consultant and author with expertise in the construction industry. She is founder and Principal of VantagePoint Strategy Group, a management advisory firm providing strategic, management, operations and turnaround advisory services to property owners, developers and constructors. Her work includes helping clients to create and implement business strategies to strengthen their competitive advantage and maximize profitability.

She is author of Building a Successful Construction Company (visit www.ConstructBiz.com for more information, an ongoing blog on McGraw-Hill's www.ENR.com, and numerous articles in industry publications.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading, October 12, 2006

By 

L. Tukell "ArgyleRoad" (Brooklyn, N.Y.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Building a Successful Construction Company (Paperback)

If you are considering starting a construction business or trying to grow an existing contracting firm, this book offers hard won experience in a well written format. It is like having a conversation with a personal construction industry business coach.

The book lays out the numerous details you must be mindful and does not sugar coat the potential pitfalls you will probably come across. The appendices alone are a valuable compilation of resources that include a Strategic Business Plan Workbook, useful industry government website addresses, and sample forms and templates.

I previously worked with some of the top construction industry leaders in the New York City region developing courses for small contractors. I am confident that the instructors I retained from both the public and private sectors would be impressed with this comprehensive document. The book deserves to be incorporated into any construction and business management course curriculum directed to small contractors.

Robert Seidel

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderfully Informative Read, November 18, 2006

By 

Joe H. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Building a Successful Construction Company (Paperback)

Building a Successful Construction Company contains very valuable advice; advice that people pay consultants dearly for when they need it. The writing style is very direct and user friendly. The depth of knowledge and the sophisticated writing style make this book fun to read. Despite its size, the book reads like a crash course in economics, marketing, finance, accounting, and entrepreneurship. The author displays a brilliant command of these disciplines and more, in addition to her thorough knowledge of the construction industry. The book is very detailed for its size and includes a wealth of informational resources that should prove very useful for the busy CEO. What makes this book extremely useful is that it applies to any geographical area and to all types of construction.

This book should find its place on the SBA's list of reference books and be placed on the book shelf of every chamber of commerce and trade association in every major city. It should be required reading for anyone studying to obtain a contractor's license as well as for those who are already managing their construction businesses.

Joe Halim,
Senior Professor,
Devry University

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My "Go-to" book, June 19, 2011

By 

Stephen C. Smith (Colorado Springs, Colorado United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Building a Successful Construction Company (Paperback)

As an aspiring construction business entrepeneur, I've purchased several books to educate myself on starting a construction business. While most of the books I've purchased are very good, this book in particular stands head and shoulders above all the others. The construction business is very risky and the author addresses that issue right out of the starting blocks in Chapter 1 "Look before you Leap". Anyone who skims over that chapter is in for a bumpy ride. The emphasis on planning, organization, team building, company efficiency, legal risks and financials in subsequent chapters are what I would consider the essential nuts and bolts of successfully building a construction business. If I could point to a single quote that epitimizes the book it would be "You've got to do the hard thinking yourself and then commit your goals, strategies and action plans to paper. You probably just need a push and some guidance to get you started". I was just such a person. My only regret is that I did not have this book 30 years ago. Very highly recommended.