Mike's Tips

07/22/08 – Silver Bullets

About a half-century ago, when I was four years old, The Lone Ranger was my hero. You may remember, he did not fire his gun all that often; but when he did, he shot hand-crafted silver bullets.

Today, many wall and ceiling contractors still seek silver bullets; many contractors still wait for the day when “magic” estimating software arrives.  This software will automatically read the plans for them, and then produce their bid, all with just the touch of a button.

The advent of the digital electronic drawing has actually enabled this technology for decades; yet, a large stumbling block has impeded further progress: the next advancement would oblige architects to electronically encode their drawings; in doing so, architects would expose themselves to liability for both the accuracy and the viability of the automatically generated estimates derived from their drawings.  When do you think architects will be ready to accept that liability?  I'm not holding my breath.

Excellent progress has been made with takeoff and estimating software; however, both knowledge and skill remain prerequisite to producing excellent takeoffs and estimates. Although I do not have silver bullets to offer you, I do have an arsenal of knowledge and hand-crafted construction data that I am both willing and able to share with you.

Today, you can start using your takeoff & estimating resources more effectively.

You can bid faster… and more accurately.

NOW.