Bid to win - it's easier said than done. On the other hand, no wins means no work. No work and you're out of business - not a viable option. No matter what contracting business you are in, you must generate bids that are realistic, doable and provide cash flow to fund not only operating costs but debt service, as well. That means the records you use to formulate bids need to be both timely and accurate. Your system has to be working and the people operating it must be competent. Again, this is easier said than done. Bids are competitive by nature and can either be fixed, cost-plus or some combination. In most cases, they will deal with materials, labor, overhead and equipment. Obviously, these estimates move around from job to job depending on working conditions, weather, available work and general timing. It is an art to properly bid and administer a workforce to bring a job to a timely and profitable conclusion. So if it takes "good" data to properly prepare reasonable bids, it makes sense to keep variables to a minimum when your records are less than stellar. In those cases, you bid what you can control and use other sources to get prices for other materials and services. This is especially true regarding equipment. Equipment has a high value, and therefore high maintenance costs. Where the record keeping isn't very good, it stands to reason the equipment "rates" may also be lacking.
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