Most contractors will build whatever you put in front of them. That’s the job as the industry defines it: you decide, they price, they pour. We’d rather sit on your side of the table and ask whether you should build the thing at all. You know your business. What a building needs to do to serve it is our problem, and we take it seriously enough to push back.
Why before what
We start with the business plan, not the blueprint. That means the questions come before the drawings:
- What does this building have to earn to justify what it costs?
- Does the site fit the business, or does it just fit the budget?
- Is building even the right move, or would buying or leasing serve you better?
Answer those honestly and the design almost draws itself. Skip them and you’re paying to find out later.
Sometimes the answer is don’t build
We’ve told owners to sell their land instead of building on it. We’ve turned down jobs when the business case didn’t hold up. That costs us a contract and keeps a client for good, because people remember who told them the truth when it wasn’t the profitable thing to say. We’re on your executive team, not your vendor list.
