Who can we trust? An ...

Who can we trust? Another builder, another suspension

Whilst we typically stay away from fear producing articles, the fact of the matter is that shifts in the market, periods of let’s call them ‘transition’ and ‘downturn’,  give us a greater opportunity to have a really good look at our systems within the sector.

Currently, there are builders having licenses suspended, some going into liquidation with there likely to be more to come.
Many of the industry experts often referring to a shift in the market as a “clean out.” But what typically happens as we know it is that the middle man, the small business owner goes down in the fire as they are left with outstanding debt and an inability to regulate cash flow.

The question is then, how do we know who to trust and what systems are in place to allow businesses to operate within an industry that the regulators cannot regulate themselves?

Let’s take a look at licenses.

1. We know you have to meet a series of requirements to obtain a building license including financial auditing etc.
2. We know this can at times be tough if we are to see things from both sides of the coin.
3. Currently, Licenses are required and operated state by state with no overarching requirement stipulating Nation Wide terms. Great!

In a nutshell

1. Builders can go broke in one state, yet operate in another
2. You can have a series of entities, one can go broke, the other operational.
3. Your ability to effectively run a company or lack of, isn’t always held accountable as your assets are owned by one company, with expenses operating in another.

So what are we doing about this?

Clearly, regulations are not kind to us. In fact, if you have a reasonably good accountant or solicitor you continue to operate in Tweed Heads whilst owing your mates in Coolangatta hundreds of thousands of dollars. So if we call a spade, a spade – how the hell is this regulated?!

Awareness is one thing and action is another. When we are relying on governing bodies to protect your livelihood well, good luck!

But one thing that is clear is that the onerous is on our own business acumen we need to develop, the skills we need, all to effectively operate within a changing market climate.

Have an Opinion

We were inundated by your thoughts and feedback to last weeks article on a similar topic. It’s good to see so many of you with some great systems in place, however, there were too many that hadn’t taken this into consideration. Contact us today and share your experiences and thoughts.