Key Results
The larger the company, the more heavily the recession affected revenue growth. In the 2007 survey, 79% of companies over $5 million reported an increase in 2006 revenue compared with 2005. But in 2009, only 14.7% of companies reported an increase in 2008 compared with 2007, dropping 64.3 points in those two years. Similarly, the larger companies went from just 4% predicting a revenue decrease versus 2006 to 23.8% predicting a decrease versus 2008.
When we compared the 2007 and 2009 surveys, most of the revenue groups spent the same on subcontractors, except for this over-$5 million group. It had the biggest decrease in spending on subcontractors — dropping from 32.2% in 2007 to 25.5% in 2009.
Very few owners of companies this large are working in the field: owner billable wages are the lowest (0.8%) of any group. (This expense is highest in the under–$250,000 group at 18.9%.)
As expected, there were significant drops in field staff across most groups, but the biggest drop occurred in the over-$5 million category — a drop of more than 50% in the number of full-time field staff. However, the number of respondents in this category is typically the lowest in the survey (11% of the total in 2009), and the addition or loss of one very large company can skew these figures.
—Nina Patel
PROJECT TYPE by revenue
Top 10 project types that generate the most revenue, with percentage that chose that project type:
Bath remodeling 52.3%
Kitchen remodeling 46.2%
Whole-house remodeling 46.2%
Additions, other 38.5%
Additions, kitchen 23.1%
Handyman 23.1%
Window/door replacement 23.1%
Additions, bath 16.9%
Roofing replacement 16.9%
Siding replacement 15.4%