Running a construction company is full of challenges. There’s tough competition and bidding wars, lots of operational expenses, so many rules and regulations to keep up with, the ups and downs of housing and development markets, constantly evolving machinery and technology, an increasing skilled labor shortage, and so on.
This all can make growth hard to achieve. Sometimes, it feels like you’re just treading water, never really making any progress. Let these tips to grow your construction business help change that.
How to Increase Construction Business
- Be proactive. Don’t be passive. Waiting for more business to show up at your door isn’t an effective way to grow your company.
- Market your brand. It’s an important part of being proactive. Read over these tips for marketing a construction business and get your name out there.
- Encourage clients to recommend you. Word of mouth, testimonials, and positive reviews are the most powerful marketing. Simply asking happy clients for any of these often gets you some.
- Ask clients for feedback. They aren’t just helpful when they recommend you; clients can also help improve your process and service by identifying problems you might not see from your side. Ask what you did right and what you could have done better.
- Do great work. There’s no better way to encourage repeat business, word of mouth, and growth than to delight your clients. Deliver unmatched customer service, be honest and communicative, finish projects on schedule and on budget, and do an excellent job. Never cut corners and sacrifice quality.
- Assemble a great team. It’s impossible to do great work without a great team. This means from the top of the company down to every crew member. Here are some tips for hiring the best talent, even in the face of today’s skilled labor shortage.
- Develop one or two specialties. Cultivate a reputation for expertise and experience in a particular niche. Becoming the go-to firm in a niche brings in more business and lets you charge more, which is a promising path to growth.
- Invest in your success. Put money toward tools and equipment that let you run a more streamlined organization, maximize productivity (on the job and in the office), increase safety, and otherwise do things better.
- Keep a close eye on profitability. Pursue jobs that net enough to make sense. Be careful about bidding too low and accepting contracts just because you want more jobs. It’s hard to grow when resources are tied up by unprofitable work.
- Network. Join local and industry business and trade associations. Go to regional commerce events. Contribute to local projects and causes. Develop relationships with area businesses. Use LinkedIn actively, as it’s an effective online B2B marketing tool.
- Grow cautiously. Growth for the sake of growth isn’t always good. With growth comes increased overhead, operational challenges, and stress. Take small steps when growing, and be sure you’re heading in a direction you want to go.
