Efficiency is the Holy Grail for builders and contractors. It’s the last true driver of profitability. Without efficiency, potential profits fly out the window, regardless of material purchase costs.
When we talk about efficiency, two widely seen examples in the construction industry come to mind. Pictured right are striking demonstrations of how efficiency wins over costs every time. The nail gun and the backhoe both cost substantially more than the tools they replaced, but can you imagine building a house with a hammer? How about digging a swimming pool with shovels? Everyone recognizes that the higher costs of these tools is far outweighed by the gain in efficiency they provide.
We also hear the quote, “time is money,” a lot in this industry. What most contractors can’t tell you though, is how much money is their inefficient time costing them. Let’s break it down below by looking at data from several industry sources related to the average contractor’s financial metrics:
“Time is money”
– Benjamin Franklin
The key numbers to look at are the Overhead Cost Per Day, and the Profit Per Day. In this example of the average contractor’s financial metrics, just one inefficient day could cost as much as $1,171 per day. If inefficiency plagues 25% of you work days, it’s extraordinarily expensive to the bottom line to the tune of -$76, 115 per year.
This analysis is why efficiency matters, and exactly why we developed our modular outdoor kitchen products. It’s the most efficient system on the market for building outdoor kitchens. It works, it drives profits, and if you are not using it, you are throwing money out the window!