He Doesn't Even Know if He's Making any Money

In the constructin industry, and I imagine many others, the statement that someone doesn't know if they are making money is a substantial insult. The implication is that, the job or the business is too complex for the individuals understanding, and therefore, because of his or her mental simplicity, they couldn't even tell you if they were in the money, or in the red.

My job is to know where my company is, and I would hope that this would translate into my private life, but it doesn't. I'm trying to design and build a house for my family, and I couldn't tell you where I am right now. It's not that it's costing me money. We've not spent too much yet. It's that I've taken a gamble with time. A friend and myself are trying to produce the drawings using CAD. My buddy uses CAD everyday to design water systems and site plans, and I design structures everyday, but can't use CAD. So, we figured we'd join forces and save some time for me in the long run. The thinking is that drawing in CAD is not faster than drawing on paper, but that revisions are much faster.

The problem is the learnign curve, the variables. I've already made so many changes that I'd have gone broke buying eraser pencils. And the tedium of 3D conventions on a one dimensional screen are mounting. And right now, I can say I feel for the framer in over his head trying to make a job pay and not knowing if it will.

I know these drawings will look top notch. I know we will get them done, and I know altering them will be immensely easier than hand drawn revisions. But I can't tell you if in the end I'll break even on the time equation. And though I know my buddy and I will survive this, it might have been better to use up my friend credits on some issue of greater gravity.

So, we'll keep working. Will we come out ahead? Only time will tell. Even then, it would take a pretty creative accountant to evaluate whether it was the most efficient course of action or not.

One thing is for sure, and I'll take this into account the next time I'm observiong someone else that isn't sure what's up or down, ther is no other option than to press on. And because of that, the result will be the same, regardless of the method. And because of that, this could happen again, and these questions will persist.

I guess in construction that's why everyone wants a fixed price rather than a cheaper price. Very Few are willing to share the risk. "Mark it up if you've gotta, but give me a price." In many ways, I'm selling certainty, it really has little to do with product or price.