The Case for a Clear Process
Part of our “Building Business” series appearing in Fine Homebuilding magazine.
By Paul Eldrenkamp
In my various roles over the course of a 40-plus-year career in design and construction, I’ve seen many contractor-architect relationships go bad. In my experience, the root cause is always either the lack of an agreed-upon project development process, or the failure to follow one.
I came to understand the power of a good process in 2014, when I began a 10-year plan to transfer ownership of my design-build remodeling company to my employees. As the owner, I had primary responsibility for project development—evaluating projects, getting a commitment from prospective clients, and shepherding projects through design and into construction. It had taken me 30 years to learn to do the role well, and now I needed to train someone else to do it on a much shorter timeline.
To do that, I had to document what I actually did—map out the process.
Continue reading at Fine Homebuilding Magazine (June 2026, Issue 339)