Tony Annan tells Liz French that this company’s sole focus on retail construction has it on the fast track for significant but calculated growth.

When presenting his company to potential clients, CEO Tony Annan has more than a few selling points to highlight. For starters, Houston-based Warwick Construction, a general contractor for retail chains across the country since 1999, has experience and licensure in all 50 states and Puerto Rico—a claim not many contractors can make.

Between higher education requirements, licensing and bonding issues, and taxes, the complexity and cost of maintaining licenses in all 50 states can be overwhelming, and many contractors don’t see much benefit. Most remain regional companies, meaning retail chains expanding across the country need to find a new contractor every time they enter a new territory. But a national footprint enables Warwick to follow retail clients no matter where they choose to build. “Once the client is comfortable with us in one region, they’ll want to use us in other regions as well. They know they can rely on us,” Annan said.

Because the company’s 97 superintendents have experience at a national level, when business slows down in one region, Warwick can transfer them to another region without having to retrain. In addition, the company can hire superintendents from anywhere in the country, as the job is nomadic by nature.

Due to its national presence, Warwick hires local, quality subcontractors to perform the physical work. Superintendents directly oversee a project site and are on the road year-round, while general superintendents, the next rung up on the ladder, travel from site to site to ensure quality and safety. Project managers, who often have several projects to oversee, travel periodically, while senior project managers remain in the Houston office maintaining client relationships. “We have a lot of layers to make sure we don’t drop the ball.”

Annan also touts Warwick Construction’s sole focus on retail to potential clients. “The retail business is a different animal. It is all schedule based—the store has to advertise for a grand opening, have merchandise delivered, and recruit and hire staff. It’s do or die.” He added that contractors can have a difficult time switching gears to accommodate the needs of clients in different industries if their focus is too broad. For instance, certain industries require mountains of paperwork before ground can be broken, but retailers take a different stance. “They want the job done, and they don’t want to be burdened with many details, so staying focused on one type of contracting has served us well.”

While other contractors have been slow to adopt technology, Warwick’s construction sites are equipped with laptops and digital cameras to give clients real-time updates. Annan explained that because superintendents are only at a job site for a short period, stocking each site with the proper technology can be difficult, but the clients’ sense of confidence and control is well worth the investment.

Currently, 142-employee Warwick Construction is six months into its five-year business plan, which aims to grow the company’s yearly revenues from $60 million to $200 million. Although $140 million doesn’t seem like a huge leap, the company intentionally kept the bar low. “Bigger isn’t better. In fact, bigger is more complicated and prone to risk,” said Annan.

The number of contractors in the $100 million to $200 million range is shrinking as businesses continue to either shut down or grow into the billion-dollar market. As a $200 million company, Warwick Construction will have the strength and breadth to manage nationwide rollouts for its retail clients. “A contractor is in the $50 million to $60 million range is too small, and anything above $200 million is too big—clients don’t like getting lost in the numbers game.”

As a $200 million contractor, Warwick Construction will have more influence over its clients when it comes to project schedules. For instance, Annan explained, ground-up projects in the Northeast are best done in the early summer, and when the ground starts to freeze in late fall, it is time to move west or south where the climate is dry and warm.

Over the next five years, Warwick Construction will take a calculated approach to growth. “Hiring en masse and crossing our fingers that it works out is not an option. We won’t start working on the next goal until we complete the one before it,” said Annan, adding that increasing in size will not affect the company’s number one rule: for every two people in the field, there is one person in the office. Maintaining that ratio not only keeps the company from becoming top heavy, but it serves as a measuring stick. “If one side of the equation is out of whack, we either have too much or too little work, and we need to reevaluate.”

And the company certainly isn’t about to grab at any business opportunity that comes its way. Annan explained that Warwick Construction deals with two types of retailers: those who do well in a robust economy, and those who do well in a depressed economy. “We need to strike a balance between the two and treat each retailer equally. If we favor the high-end retailers while the economy is booming, we could be in trouble when it takes a turn and need low-end retailers to sustain us,” he said. “My job is to keep all clients happy so that when it is their day to shine, they will come to us.”