Fundamentals of Good Business
E Contractors USA leverages collaboration and communication to build connections
Listening to Irfan Abji speak about his career and of his business and life partner, Alejandra Cobas, both of whom are principals of E Contractors USA, LLC (E Contractors), it’s clear they thrive on helping others succeed. “As a consultant, I leverage my financial and international business skills to help small- to mid-tier businesses in the Houston area manage their finances and risk, while Alejandra develops the quality and risk mitigation of those businesses,” he says. “Over the years, we’ve worked with numerous companies and entrepreneurs and have had the privilege of seeing many of them grow and succeed.”
When Abji’s marketing consultant challenged him to write a book about his success in helping other companies, they approached Abji’s clients to see if any of them would be willing to be profiled in it. “We went to all our clients at the time and asked for their permission to use their financials as part of our case study,” Abji explains. “Not surprisingly, nobody agreed.”
He continues, “My marketing consultant then suggested that we buy a company, which would become the basis for the book. As Alejandra and I pondered the brilliant suggestion, a few weeks later we learned of an opportunity to purchase E Contractors, and we jumped at the chance. I took a yellow Post-it Note on which I wrote ‘IOU’ and a dollar amount, signed it, gave it to the previous owner and later purchased the company on March 1, 2013. At the time of the purchase, E Contractors had $400,000 in sales and one employee. In 2019, we closed our books with $35 million in sales and a stellar team of 32.”
When asked about the status of the book, Abji laughs. He admits that the book has not yet been written. “But when I do sit down to write it, I think I’ll have a good story to tell,” he says.
Delivering Client-Focused Solutions
Abji prides himself on seeing things differently, which is the catalyst for how E Contractors is run. “I’m a finance guy so I always look at the source of money rather than the bricks and mortar of a business,” he says. “As a taxpayer, I recognize that my money is going into a school or municipality project. It’s also my money that the company is using to do the work. So, as both a company owner and a taxpayer, I want to be sure that we are being good stewards of everybody’s money.”
“The fundamentals of any business go back to credit and character, honesty and integrity,” he continues. “We don’t say that as a cliché. If any of our team members makes a commitment on behalf of the company, we have to deliver on what they’ve promised—no ifs, ands or buts. For me, that’s paramount. And that’s been the catalyst of our company’s growth, especially in an industry where trust is an issue.”
Building the company’s foundation on honesty and integrity has served it well. E Contractors provides design, construction management and maintenance services to a varied client roster, which includes municipalities, state and local agencies, federal agencies (e.g., NASA), independent school districts, colleges and universities.
“While most of our work is in Houston and the surrounding areas, we’ll travel as far away as two hours if it’s a project that falls within our wheelhouse,” Abji says. “We’d rather do it right in fewer places then do it wrong in a lot of places.”
A perfect example of this philosophy occurred soon after Abji and Cobas took over the company. “We were hired by a local school district, but because of the project’s schedule, the school district scaled back our original scope of work, even though it was a lump sum contract,” Abji recalls. “When the job was finished, I asked our accounting department to cut a check for $13,000 and I took it to the school district. When I explained that the amount of the check was for the work that they didn’t allow us to finish, the director of construction for the school district was shocked. He said in his 15 years of doing business, nobody had ever come back with a check in that way.”
“Working for that school district has kept us going for the last six years,” Abji continues. “They consider us to be one of their preferred contractors, because we see things differently. They know they can trust us with their money because we view ourselves as stakeholders. It’s a very different way of doing business.”
Strategic Development
Based on the company’s success in the commercial and public market sectors, coupled with Abji’s financial background and Cobas’ development and design background, E Contractors has recently expanded into the development market.
“The building in which we have our offices was our first development venture,” Abji explains. “We like to see uniqueness in design, so, as a result, this building is very different from the red-brick design that’s prominent throughout Sugar Land. Since the building’s completion in 2018, others have followed our lead and are now designing buildings with more modern lines. We believe that key development through design makes a difference in the neighborhoods and communities.”
Abji is quick to credit Cobas as the brains behind the designs. “Alejandra started her career in design in Argentina and has been a successful industrial designer,” he explains. “She is the person responsible for making our buildings look the way they do…immaculate.”
The company has recently partnered with several doctors in The Woodlands, a master-planned community north of Houston, in acquiring land for a 53,000-square-foot medical office building. “The project is in the design phase and we should break ground in June 2020,” Abji says. “We’re very picky about where we build because we’re building for ourselves, also.”
Helping Others Help Themselves
“Since my career has been spent working as a consultant, I’m used to helping other businesses,” Abji says. “We apply that same model to our subcontractors by helping them look at their financials, their insurance policies and their risks. We then guide them through all the different channels. This has opened what I call ‘avenues of loyalty.’ When a subcontractor gets a contract with any other general contractor, it’s just a business relationship. In our case, we take a vested approach in their business to make sure it’s not only about giving them a contract, but also helping them to grow. We’re helping other companies become their own success stories.”
According to Abji, E Contractors doesn’t limit itself to working with a select few subcontractors. “The door is always open for any company that wants to work with us,” he says. “A lot of the smaller subcontractors that we have helped over the years have grown larger and are now handling more work. They see us as a partner even though we’re not financially benefiting from them. As their mentor, we are a resource that’s available whenever they need it.”
Outside of the company, Abji participates in the Interagency Mentor Protégé Program (IMPP), a joint venture between the City of Houston, Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Houston Independent School District, Port Houston, Houston Community College and Houston First Corporation. The goal of IMPP is to strengthen effective working relationships and foster long-term stability between established companies with emerging, historically underutilized businesses. “Through IMPP, a subcontractor gets assigned to work with me over the course of a year,” Abji says. “It’s another great way to help smaller firms become successful.”
However, E Contractors doesn’t just focus on mentoring subcontractors. The firm also offers an internship program for college students entering the construction trades. “I think it’s really important not only to help those already working in our industry but also to help those who are just starting out,” Abji says.
“Between the way we run our company and the way we help others in the industry, I’m hoping we can be a catalyst for making positive change. Sometimes it just takes a small splash to create a ripple effect that goes much further than anybody could ever imagine,” he concludes.