Tag Archives: cornerstone masonry

We have just survived one the toughest economies in the history of our nation. Those of us that managed to work our way through, and are still standing to navigate the business world today, can attest to the fact that managing a strong model and selling it to our employees was a large part of our success. Discovering what that looks like and how you want your clients to perceive it is your first challenge. Then, doing business with your client and how you treat them during the process, is the test.

We at Cornerstone, want our clients to know that our goal is to be proactive in problem solving and carry a high level of integrity in doing so. This is the challenge we place on our employees as well as our venders and suppliers. We start with the motto that states, “We say what we do and we do what we say”. This starts with our estimating department and ends with our billings. We want to go the extra mile in every relationship we encounter during the course of the project, to be sure that each and every one of our clients knows that we will be there as part of the solution not part of the problem.

Our challenge was to build a model that would carry our name with the highest standard into every project and/or situation. When dealing with the toughest inspectors, demanding schedules, and strong competition, it was tempting to stray away from our conviction, and compromise our model to conform to other business tactics, to help us get the job. We were very fortunate to have the single mindedness needed among our company team, to have a proactive approach in upholding our standards and challenging each other in staying the course. We believed that it would pay dividends in the long run, and this has certainly proven to be the case. We have a number of clients that refer to us as “their mason of choice” when it comes to selecting a mason for their project.

We are very thankful for all the support we have gotten from our venders during this process and you can find a list of them on this web site. They are the part of our team that seldom gets praise or recognition, but certainly have been invaluable when it comes to helping us keep our commitments to our clients. I believe that their commitment to supporting our model has also allowed us to stay the course and build a successful reputation. They provide everything from creative pricing to equipment service and deliveries. I would highly recommend any one of them to do the same for you.

So in summary, I would encourage anyone reading this to evaluate your own model or start building a model, using one principle as the foundation “say what you will do and do what you say”. We at Cornerstone have found this to be a great principle and agree that our clients think so as well. I am excited what the future will bring for Cornerstone Masonry and its employees. I am sure it will be a blessing to all who are associated with it, as long as we make keeping our word the foundation of a good model.

Sincerely, Larry Bonife, President

It has been a long while since my last entry to “Cornerstone in the work zone.” This is because I have been in the field with the crews performing various tasks such as delivering and setting up scaffold, helping with grout pours and filling in where needed. In all honesty this has been a regular thing off and on for the last couple of years and has proven to be a positive in seeing how we operate in the field. I have been able to define and refine our operating model; how we approach, set up and run and finish jobs. Even though every job is different our goal is to be a “low maintenance masonry subcontractor.”

This begins with a high energy in organizing our start. We want to be well prepared, to get a clean fast start. This means getting as many brick or  block in the wall on the first day as we do on the last day. As the job progresses we insist on keeping the job site conditions clean and organized as well as keeping the promised projected schedule. When we are coming to the end of the project we want to finish well so our focus shifts to clean up, tear down and putting a lot of energy to patch and repair to minimize the punch list. This high energy approach is a formula to being a “low maintenance high performance masonry subcontractor.” We don’t want the General Superintendent to feel they have to motivate or watch over us during our scope of the project.

I have talked to several of our repeat clients and they all say the same things; you show up on time, stay clean, do what you say and finish well. We  like working with a sub that does clean work with minimum supervision. “Low maintenance high quality output.” This approach has helped us not only survive this construction holocaust, but has allowed us to continue to grow and improve on our model for performing the masonry portion of these projects.

I would like to encourage you to look at your operating model and see where you can limit high maintenance procedures that may be labeling you as a high maintenance masonry subcontractor. Look at it this way; we all know there two kinds of people, high maintenance and low maintenance. Which do you like to be around or work around? Your clients feel the same as you and we have found they choose low maintenance over high maintenance when they have a chance. So with high energy, good planning and challenging your crews to finish well, I want to encourage you to focus on being a  “Low Maintenance Subcontractor.” Start today it may change how your potential clients view you as their choice for a mason contractor. Until next time, plan your work and work your plan.

Sincerely,
Larry Bonife, President