Making it work—through good times and bad
Continued from page 3
The Common Cause
Structured more like a law firm than a typical remodeling company, the partnership of Construct Associates consists of four independent businesses sharing an office, a labor force, and equipment. “We're all sole proprietors,” says Bob Reckman, who launched the Northampton, Mass., design/build company with Hobie Iselin and Bob Walker in 1985. “We each have our own set of books; we each sell and budget and manage our own jobs.”
The original thinking, Reckman explains, was that “we wanted to share our work experience, but we had seen many other partnerships founder on the shoals of financial messes.” He says that this structure makes it relatively easy for people to come and go over time, and insulates the corporation somewhat from the economic vagaries of the businesses of the individual owners.
Each original partner invested about $5,000 in the company. On an ongoing basis each pays the following to cover Construct's overhead:
When Construct produces a profit for the year, the partners receive “rebates” based on their individual contributions.
Stephen Ross, Bob Reckman, Bob Walker, and Hobie Iselin are the four “sole proprietors” of Construct Associates. “We share a common vision in the quality and style of work we do,” Walker says.
Photo: Daily Hampshire Gazette, Charles Abel, Photo Editor
Name recognition is a key advantage of the arrangement. “We have a much larger job base and can perform more projects under the Construct name than any of us can do individually,” Iselin notes. Collectively, they can offer outstanding benefits and delegate work if one of the partners takes an extended hiatus. And they can expand or contract their practice as desired; Iselin, for instance, does more large commercial projects.
Seven other people have been partners at various points since 1985. With Reckman planning to retire at the end of this year, new partner Stephen Ross, a longtime lead carpenter for Construct, will help bring in enough volume to maintain Construct at its current size. “They basically made it a turnkey operation for me,” he says.
