Seven top topics and tips for contractors

Another year is almost behind us. And what a year it has been! Construction is stronger than ever and overall optimism has remained high despite some industry challenges. We hope this Sage blog has and will continue to provide you with helpful tips to address both the opportunities and hurdles you encounter.

Taking a look back at 2016, here are the top topics our readers found of most interest:

1. Filling job openings.
   No surprise here, with the labor shortage still hampering the industry, most contractors are looking for new ways to recruit talent. We provide some tips in these four posts that top the list of our reader’s favorites:
   • Five ways to use LinkedIn for your construction recruiting
   • How to fill your company’s job openings
   • Is your company’s job application process a black hole?
   • Looking for the right job candidate? How recruiting software can help
2. Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirements.
   2016 was a pivotal year for enforcement of the Affordable Care Act. In one of our most highly read posts, we delve into the numbers you need to know to assure you are in compliance.
3. How to start a construction company.
   Construction is one of the most popular segments for start-up companies. Many of our readers were interested in our post on the five essentials needed to get a construction company started on the right foot.
4. Job cost management.
   Especially for growing contractors who still track job costs with spreadsheets or by hand, understanding if you are making or losing money on a project is difficult. In our top post “Yes there is a better way to manage job costs,” we cover seven things construction software can help you do—from knowing your committed cost to creating more accurate estimates.
5. Liens.
   It’s important to protect your lien rights to assure you are paid for the materials, services, and labor you provide as a construction contractor. We are fortunate to have construction attorney and lien expert Alexander Barthet share his knowledge with our readers through his guest blog posts. In his popular post about navigating the lien process, he answers common lien questions to help you understand the ins and outs of liens.
6. Construction computing trends.
   Each year the Associated General Contractors (AGC) releases its “Construction hiring and business outlook” report. In 2016, Sage joined the AGC in sponsoring the report. Our readers were interested in the four technology trends revealed in the report, including greater adoption of cloud computing.
7. BIM and estimating.
   Many estimators are now using BIM to do model-based estimating. Another popular post describes three reasons why adoption of BIM for estimating is growing.

Haven’t had a chance to read these post?  Check them out for some helpful tips.