Preparing for a Looming Recession - Lakewood Construction

Preparing for a Looming Recession

BY: Todd Miller

In my lifetime, I have lived through eight recessions, six of which I can clearly remember and the memories and lessons that came along with them. In my working career I have had the privilege of navigating companies through the financial challenges of four recessions. As we watch the rate of inflation continuing to rise, indications are showing that I will be able to add another recession to the list shortly.

In each recession, there have been commonalities among the companies that have fared better than most. Rather than reacting to an economic climate change, these companies are proactive in their approach to financial security during the good times. They are the ones who consistently and intentionally focus time and effort towards building their balance sheet, protecting working capital, and focusing on delivering value to customers.

In order to be better prepared for the future, I believe it is important to learn from the past. What we do with this learned information as a company will dictate how well we weather an economic downturn.

At Lakewood, we are focused on being as proactive as possible in our approach. Through intentional work during these good times, we are prepared so if we do find ourselves in the middle of a recession, we are able to build a bridge over the low times and make it to the other side even stronger. Our proactive efforts help ensure that we can support our company, employees, clients, and partners through whatever is to come.

These are a few of the things we have intentionally focused on and continue to do to prepare:

  • Diligently maintain a strong balance sheet.
  • Protect our working capital.
  • Secure a strong backlog of projects in which we can provide the best value to the client.
  • Maintain a workforce of the industry’s best professionals.
  • Provide lasting value by being the best to work with and for.

You may be asking, what does this mean for you?

What this means for our clients.

With the measures that we have in place now, we will continue to pay our suppliers on time, regardless of an economic downturn. This means you can rest assured that your project will not have any pauses due to any claims of unpaid expenses. On-time payment also builds a strong foundation for our relationships with our trade contractors, ensuring we can continue to work with the best in the area.

What this means for our trade contractors and partners.

We know the importance of being paid on time. Through upfront planning during the good times, we set ourselves up for success for projects taking place during an economic recession. This means you can continue to expect your payments to be on time and in full. We could not do what we do without all of our trade contractors and partners, so we want to ensure that we are continuing to build that relationship and create success for all parties involved.

 

While I remain hopeful that we can avoid a recession that causes companies, and thus individuals, to undergo financial hardship, I take some comfort in knowing Lakewood has prepared for such a potential downturn.

As a company who has been blessed with a strong financial standing, we feel it is our duty to be active in our community for those less fortunate. Even now, many around us find themselves experiencing hardships. I am grateful to live in such a generous community where many of you lead by example by responding to the call to provide support for our local charities, particularly during this time of year.

If you are looking for ways you can further support those in our community, here are a few great resources you can reach out to:

If you are interested in learning about what a construction project might look like for your company amid a recession, I would be more than happy to talk through that with you. Please feel free to reach out to me by email at tmiller@lakewoodinc.com or by phone at 616.546.8081.