Hey – Walker and Davis here.
Happy Saturday morning to the Laying Foundations community!
When you start your career in construction, it’s like drinking from a fire hose, especially anything financially related. So, how can you start your career with a basic financial foundation?
Today’s issue takes about 5 minutes to read and was written for you by Walker Lott.
Enjoy.
Meme Of The Week
Learning how to properly manage a job financially takes a few years of training and lots of mistakes, but how can you get a leg up when you first arrive at the job site?
Way #1: Leverage Others Experience
There are many project managers (current and ex) who would love to share their knowledge with the younger generation.
If you are new to the industry, don’t hesitate to leverage others’ experience to learn new things. LinkedIn is a fantastic tool that allows you to connect with men and women who are incredible in their field.
Managing a project budget takes a lot of practice, but you can drastically improve your knowledge by asking lots of questions and leaning on those who have done it before.
Way #2: YouTube
YouTube is an incredible learning tool. It is a free resource for almost anything you want to learn.
Start with the basics; what is a balance sheet and income statement? How do you bill for work done? What are different contract terms, etc.?
Get familiar with the basics of financial management, and from there, once you have foundational knowledge, you can begin to understand the more complicated concepts.
Google, research, listen, and watch, and you will be amazed at how quickly your learning accelerates.
Way #3: Try and Fail
For most, understanding basic project budgets and how they work will take time and trial and error.
You cannot jump into financial management on day one on a job site. It takes weeks to months (depending on the size and complexity of the project) to learn the details of the building and then even longer to understand the backstory of different scopes and contracts.
It will take you trying things, getting them wrong, and learning from your mistakes to lay your financial foundation.
Quality of the Week: Inquisitive– Being willing to ask questions, especially when you don’t know the answer.
20 Year Old Self Advice: Don’t Be Afraid To Ask Questions – If you aren’t learning, you aren’t growing. Be willing to ask those around you any and all questions to propel your learning forward!
Coming into construction, I thought the financials would be a piece of cake, but man I was wrong.
A project budget is a complicated machine full of many scopes, allowances, contingencies, change orders (in scope or out of scope), unknown costs, and much more.
I am only a couple of years in and still learning something new about the financials of a project.
So don’t get frustrated when it’s day one and you think you should know more than you do. It will take practice and grit to grow 1% better every day.
Check out episode 105 on The Laying Foundations Podcast!
Join us for a mental health conversation with Jason Schroeder, Founder & President of Elevate Construction based out of Phoenix, AZ. Jason is an industry leader and change-maker that values all people. For too long in the construction industry, people have felt that talking about their current life conditions is taboo. We as an industry need to create places where anyone can talk about the hurt they are going through. Join us each month as we continue our conversation and discuss failures in our own life’s with the intent to show others how to be vulnerable and have real conversations.
