As a successful contractor and business owner, you know how competitive the construction industry is due to the economy. However, some companies have survived the economic downturn and even flourished during these hard times. What are the secrets of these construction businesses, and what can your company do to replicate their success.
Hiring Practices
Being a contractor, you need to be on the lookout for people to hire that are skilled professionals and meet the needs of your company. If you’re relying solely on newspaper and computer ads, you may not attract the type of person you want. A better method for finding the talent that you desire is to use word of mouth. Find out if there are any employees, who are planning to leave another company or are being laid off and fit the bill for your employment needs.
Benefits
You know as a contractor that good benefits help attract skilled employees and keep them. The construction industry has a high level of turnover and obstacles to recruiting new employees. One way to remove the recruiting obstacles and reduce turnovers is to have in place good benefits. Good benefits include health insurance, vacation, good salaries, upward mobility and a company culture that encourages workers to have input into the decision-making process.
Workmanship
A contractor’s workmanship is a reflection of his ability. If your work has been excellent, you probably have gone the extra mile to complete your project. If you don’t go above and beyond to complete your work, you probably won’t be successful because your professional reputation rests on your workmanship. It’s that reputation that garners new customers for you and repeat business.
Technology
The statistics on how much a contractor uses technology range from 10% to 50%, depending on how technically savvy a business owner is. If your not using the cutting edge technology you’re losing the chance to do tasks more efficiently like bidding. You are also hurting your chances to attract the younger generation, who were brought up on technology and like to work in a technically savvy environment.
Money
Keeping track of the money spent, which is predominantly on salaries and materials and the money coming in from jobs, can be a taunting for a contractor.If you don’t excel at doing financial tasks, you may want to hire a professional to do this task. Otherwise, you need to keep a running total to understand to the penny your expenditures and profits to make accurate bids and do hiring.
Leadership
A contractor needs to be an exceptional leader to get the best out of his workers. Exceptional leadership is comprised of not only good supervision, but it also consists of the ability to create rapport with your workers, to mentor workers and show to them that you genuinely care about their welfare. Being an exceptional leader is a tall order, However, if you strive to be this kind of leader, you’ll be rewarded with more success.
