Nine effective ways to run your construction company
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that the number of construction firms in Great Britain rose to 325,736 in 2018, the highest amount on record.
There is a constant demand for some kind of construction work, so your company will likely never run out of potential clients to serve.
Still, it is prudent to run your entire enterprise as effectively as possible to guarantee maximum success. Here are some tips worth following to run your construction company effectively.
1. Implement a solid workplace safety culture
The Health and Safety Executive's statistics reveal that there were 40 fatal injuries in the UK's construction industry in 2019/20. Consequently, consider making safety the pivot of your company's entire operations to secure your workforce and reputation simultaneously.
Many prospective clients will check your safety record when considering working with you, so work on reducing the frequency of workplace or job-related accidents as much as possible.
Fortunately, you can readily improve workplace safety by conducting daily site inspections and safety meetings, holding everyone accountable, training your workers properly, and regularly rewarding employees who uphold excellent safety practices.
2. Embrace construction technology
Construction technology is the collection of innovative software, machinery and tools used during the construction phase of any project that promotes advancement in field construction methods.
Nowadays, mobile apps, software solutions, autonomous heavy equipment, 3D printed buildings, virtual reality, drones, telematics, robots, and mobile apps are being deployed and leveraged on job sites worldwide.
Therefore, adopt these helpful technologies to ensure that your business can remain competitive presently. These innovations will undoubtedly shape the construction industry in the not so distant future, so adopting them now is also an excellent way to future-proof your business.
You can adopt fundamental technological advancements like cloud computing for increased access to information. Visual Planning for construction scheduling software can also help you run your construction business more effectively, so keep this in mind.
Visual planning provides effective construction planning and scheduling software to track projects, equipment and staff. Your project managers can use this solution to create and maintain databases of suppliers, subcontractors, and clients.
Furthermore, they can also manage and know the availability of teams, equipment, and machinery allocated to each construction site. In addition, they can use it to plan and monitor your projects irrespective of the level of detail required.
On the other hand, your on-site team can use Visual Planning's tool to share information, access their schedules, update tasks in real-time, and receive notifications for any schedule changes.
Your employees can also use it to generate accurate reports for optimum tracking of their working hours and expenses, ensuring the smooth running of your construction company.
3. Assemble a reliable team
The construction business is as strong as its team because it is one of the few businesses you cannot execute independently. Consequently, it is critical to hire knowledgeable, skilled, and dependable employees to ensure that your company runs well.
Generally, you can search for workers who have been in the industry for a long time and have the proper knowledge and experience to advance your company. Similarly, choose people who are passionate and more likely to put more effort into their job since such workers are the holy grail of the construction industry.
In addition, make great efforts to retain your top employees by promoting and rewarding them for their reliability and hard work. Furthermore, get your workers to commit and work hard after hiring them by creating specific goals and sharing these goals with them.
These targets will make them better comprehend your company's aim and boost their accountability, so keep this in mind.
4. Be available
There is no denying that client satisfaction is the ultimate priority for any construction company.
Executing construction projects professionally, on time, and according to requirements are typically the way for a construction company to guarantee customer satisfaction, obtain references, and expand operations.
Availability is also key to attaining your construction company's success. For starters, you must always be available to your patrons.
Construction is a complicated process for those who are unfamiliar with it. Therefore, it isn't uncommon for clients to have numerous questions or want regular updates about progress.
As such, the more time you set aside to listen to them and ease their concerns, the higher the odds of them hiring you in the future and even recommending you to someone else. Similarly, it would be best if you always remained involved in the process of satisfying your patrons.
This involvement may mean frequenting sites to supervise progress regularly or having an on-site builder monitor projects and give you regular updates. You can't always be present, but your clients and workers must know you will be available to them as often as you can.
This way, your customers will understand that they are a priority, and your employees will constantly be reminded of the need to do their best.
Another way to achieve this is through the use of work estimate templates.
5. Use The Right Suppliers
You’ll have quite a few suppliers when you run a construction company. From the materials you use to the equipment, there are more than a few other companies to work with. You might even need to work with SSTC’s Traffic Control Services at some point or another.
The one common denominator with all of these is you’ll need to make sure they’re the right ones for you. Make sure they actually fit your needs. Finding out whether they can do this is relatively simple and avoids a lot of stress and hassle in the future, so it’s worth putting the effort in.
At a minimum, you’ll avoid any headaches and delays when you’re on a project.
6. Decide on a niche or speciality
Finding the right niche is an essential aspect of business in every sector, including the competitive construction industry. Therefore, prioritise being an expert in a particular type of construction over being a Jack of all trades. A niche will help you be specific and focused on a particular type of service.
This specialisation in one aspect of construction can boost your efficiency and help your employees attain mastery in your niche industry. As such, you can deliver more consistent top notch results and even raise how much you charge for works carried out more quickly compared to operating as a Jack of all trades.
You can also better define your operational, administrative, and networking efforts if you know your speciality. Furthermore, knowing your niche simplifies your marketing efforts since it positions you before a defined target who will come to you anytime they require that specific service.
For instance, if you are an office construction specialist, you can direct your marketing efforts towards entrepreneurs launching new enterprises or business owners in general since office renovations are pretty standard.
Similarly, if you specialise in restaurant construction, you can focus your efforts on finding restaurant owners that need to build or remodel their restaurants. Thankfully, settling on a niche for your construction company is not so difficult.
You can simply consider what your business is already good at and what type of projects bring out the best in your company. Furthermore, consider the aspect of construction that your employees are naturally skilled in to perform their tasks with ease.
7. Have a unique marketing plan
Effective marketing is undoubtedly essential to running a successful company nowadays. It is safe to assume that all enterprises in the UK spend money on some form of marketing, with Gartner’s 2019-2020 CMO Spend Survey revealing that marketing budgets account for 9.3% of total company revenue in the UK.
However, you will need a robust and unique plan and may need to spend more money on marketing to ensure that your company is positioned well for success. Generally, many experts agree that you should hone your marketing strategy based on the internet, advertising, PR, and active marketing.
For instance, you can set up social media profiles for your business and promote your services on these platforms. Also, do not hold back when talking to existing clients or potential ones about your business offerings.
8. Never cut corners
It might be tempting to cut corners as a construction business to save time and money. However, many experts advise against this practice for many good reasons.
For starters, saving now often means spending later in construction, so your seemingly cost-saving measures can eventually lead to more significant losses. Also, cutting corners in construction can lead to client dissatisfaction, affecting your company's chances of sustained success in the long run.
For instance, if you invest in cheaper screws instead of stainless steel screws when working in an area vulnerable to wet weather conditions, it might seem like a great way to cut costs.
Although your patrons may not have enough construction knowledge to spot the difference in quality between these two screw types, they will undoubtedly notice if things begin to break down and rust, leading to dissatisfaction.
Therefore, even if you get away with cutting a corner or two in the short term, you will likely pay a much higher price in the long run due to word of mouth.
Past clients who discover massive flaws with your work will be more than eager to spread the word about your subpar services and may even file formal complaints against you.
Therefore, always prioritise your reputation by doing honest work instead of cutting corners which almost always never pays in the long run.
9. Stay updated on industry knowledge
Construction is an ever evolving sector, so you will need to keep up with it to manage your projects most efficiently and effectively possible.
Therefore, keep yourself informed on the latest in your sector, including new materials, safety requirements, equipment and technology advancements, trends, and best practices. For this, you can check industry news websites regularly and hold open discussions with colleagues.
Also, please don't shy away from teaching your employees what you have learned so they can grow with you since this would make you an elite construction business owner.
