The Mathway to Success

摘要

I've always been puzzled by people who look at money as a taboo topic. Within any form of business, of course, competitors are restricted by federal anti-trust laws from getting specific in discussions of pricing, overhead and profit margins. But it's always seemed to me that understanding those factors in broad, general terms (which are legally discussable, by the way) is at the core of the success of any business - especially in the wor;d of contracting. The reason pricing, overhead and margins are so critical is that they reflect your core values and those of your company with respect to both money and overall business philosophy. It's my informed view that too many contractors severely undervalue what they do and that those who do so will invariably benefit from taking a step back to look at how they can cost and price their work from a fresh perspective. In this column, I'll set up some ground rules and touchstones for that exercise. The rest - that is, what you do with the information I'm about to offer - is up to you.