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If you’re thinking about going it yourself and setting up your own construction business, you’ve probably got a lot on your mind. For a start, Coronavirus has completely changed the working landscape for so many people. More are at home right now, working there instead of the office. Multiple industries have been hit pretty hard. The travel one more than most but the hospitality one too. As such, at the moment, a lot of people aren’t thinking of getting construction work done. Yet, on the other side, people have a little bit more money. When they have more money there’s more likelihood in wanting to improve their homes or places of businesses. Usually, people who go into the construction business already know what they’re doing. They’ve worked for others, done their qualifications, and know what the business is about. But beyond this there are dozens of pitfalls. Each person is different, and following this each business is different. So the advice you read and wish to apply needs to be looked at from your own perspective. What works for one won’t work for everyone. Here are some to get you started and thinking in the right way.
Nail Down Your Suppliers
Getting the right suppliers is paramount. If you’re constantly buying building supplies it’s really important that you can get supplies at a fair rate. Of course, you bill this into your costs anyway, however you need to be careful because you should want to decrease this element as much as possible. If other builders in your area get lower cost key materials they can pass this on to their customers, making it cheaper, where you won’t. Who do you think they’ll go with when they have the choice, more or less expensive? They come in all kinds and varieties like this aluminum distributor. Once you’ve found good suppliers it’s all about building good relationships with them over time. If you buy more with them there’s more chance of a discount. You can do this with wholesalers if you don’t want to go to individual merchants but you’ll likely have a better time with the individuals in terms of reductions. You want to look for people who are reliable and who are often stocked with the key items you may need. If they don’t maintain good stock levels you could end up in a bit of bother if you need something short notice or if you’ve put in an order only for it not to be completed when you need it most. The customer won’t realize this and will blame you so pick your suppliers carefully and do some research.
You Can Do Some Of The Work From Home
Where you don’t need to actually have physical contact with people. The option will likely be appreciated by vulnerable people who simply don’t want to be too close to others at the moment. But how? Try using skype, or maybe even facetime. This way you can look at the area or the problem and see what you can do to fix it. After this, when you go to the property, you might not have to interact with the customer. Simply offering this goes a long way. Advertise you offer virtual consultations. It benefits you in that you can do more each day. Instead of having to drive out to each home or site, you can just view it from home meaning you have a bit more time in your day to actually get things done. Time really does equal money, or at least something else you can do to make your business a bit stronger going forward.
Work On Reputation
As a start out firm you won’t have an amazing reputation because you haven’t had the time to bed it in yet. It means you need to cultivate your reputation from the off. Whenever you work with someone, ask them to leave you a review. This can be on your website, or google, or one of the builder sites or blogs in your local area. It depends what kind of client you’re going for but a reputation is huge. A bad one too early in a business can sink it fast. You want to be known as fairly prices, affable, reliable and hard working. Dispel some of the myths in the industry to ensure people use you more often. If you work with other people they need to work to the same standards as you because they’re reflecting your business. Make sure you impart this on them if you’ve got people working for you. If they aren’t up to your standards, move and use someone else.
Online Presence
Every business is online these days. One of the best ways you can pull in new customers is online. But for this to be successful you need to have a good online presence. One which is maintained regularly and easy to navigate. This means using social media platforms. You need to create business pages for Facebook, Twitter, etc. Once this is done you need to ensure you create content which keeps pulling people in. Show people what work you’ve done and the high standard that you’re aiming for. If people like it and want something similar done then they’ll surely come calling. The more people who follow you or are linked with you the bigger your reach so make sure that you really amp it up across your sites to pull people in. This is especially important if you’re new to the industry and want to make an impact. You might also want to create your own website. If you do, it needs to be clean, easy to follow with logical navigation. Don’t annoy people by badly designing a website otherwise they’ll go straight to a competitor. Ensure you’re online and using all the streams you can think of to maximize your exposure to potential clients. Link this into your reputation. Reviews should be shared online. You want to maintain a good online reputation as well as a good one in person.
Be Clear And Concise
Once you’ve had the initial consultation, be clear about exactly what you’re going to offer people at your firm. Tell them what times you’ll start and finish and stick to them. Make sure you’re clear about the exact kind of work you’re going to carry out. If anyone is unclear expectations might be unrealistic. Ensure you tell them how it will look and what you’ll do to limit any disappointment. Make sure the money you initially say remains the same. Don’t keep adding more on as you go. Make sure it stays the same otherwise you’ll annoy them. Sure, things crop up sometimes. But for the main you’re going to need to invoice them the exact amount you stated at the beginning. It’ll keep them happy and mean there will be less chance on unfavorable reviews down the line.
Do Your Research At The Outset
Make sure you know exactly what it is that you’ll need to do the job. This means properly scoping out the area, knowing which tools you’ll need. If you need to rent any vehicles or power tools you need to know this in advance. Otherwise they may be fully booked out and it’ll completely skew your time scales. To get around this you need to properly plan every element of the job you possibly can. As your experience develops this will become easier. But when you order the equipment, you don’t want to have to order more towards the end prolonging the job. Know what you need at the outset so that there are no small surprises along the way. As you’re just starting out it might mean that you might need some advice on certain jobs. Don’t be prideful and take it or ask for it. People who have been in the job for years are often open to helping others out. Just keep professional and polite and remember that they’re doing you a favour.
Don’t Cut Corners
Cutting corners hurts your reputation. Use proper, quality materials and do the job as it’s meant to be done. If you’re running out of time consider speaking to the client and changing the time scales rather than cutting any corners. It also cuts back on the chance of an accident. If you cut corners people can get hurt. You don’t want that. Make sure that all aspects of work are carried out properly because if people get hurt you may end up losing more than reputation. If you get sued you may end up going bankrupt depending on how severe the accident is and who was involved. This involves wearing the proper health and safety equipment. Helmets are a must on a building site. High visibility clothing is also necessary if you’re working in darker times of the year. So are safety boots. Make sure you and your workforce are always compliant with health and safety otherwise you could end up with a lot of trouble on your hands.
