Growing your construction business is one of the most important parts of any company. Maybe you’re just starting your own construction company, or maybe you’re already part of a medium sized business but want to help it grow. Building your business in construction takes hard work and regular fine tuning.
Many people start and fail, but following the below steps you’ll find success in no time.
Network Like a Boss
Our industry is built on relationships and some of the best opportunities in my career have come from people I know who are already in the industry. Growing your construction business can be done this way. Knowing people not just in positions of influence, but, people who are up and coming in the industry can win you work. Just because someone doesn’t have work now doesn’t mean they won’t in a few years time.
For networking focus on a few areas:
Foster existing relationships – for the relationships you’ve already built continue to stay in touch with those people, keep notes on all of the people you come in touch with in order to build a more personal relationship.
Build New Relationships – construction always has people looking to meet others. To find them consider attending networking events for your local construction associations. Join a local leadership club, or take part in events which are for industries you are interested in doing work in. For example – if office fitups are your thing look for banking networking events or accounting networking events. Alternatively events for architects and interior designers can often give you the lead or heads up on upcoming projects.
Social Network Is For Construction Too – sites like Linkedin and Facebook offer valuable networking opportunities (check us out on instagram, linkedin and facebook at the links at the bottom of this page). They offer an easy way to stay in touch with people and cold call new people. Use these tools to expand your reach and make sure people know you beyond your immediate umbrella. Things such as blogging can make people see you as an expert in your field and approach you for new work.
Below are a few resources for your to check out:
- 10 Tips for People Who Hate Network
- Network Tips for People in Construction
- Why Your Company Needs A Website (cnstrctr)
Growing Your Construction Business with Bid and Project Registers
All public works must be publicly tendered in Canada and North America, as such there are extensive tender call lists available online through the government. This is a huge help in growing your construction business. In addition, often times your local construction association typically helps to facilitate tenders. These are great resources to help you find new construction work available in the industry and submit pricing for it.
While these lists aren’t always free to join, they are useful and can put you in touch with people you may not have had the chance to work with in the past. As always, when pricing this type of work, there will be a wide range of clients so risk will be hire. Make sure you do your research before taking any project.
Below are a few links to examples of bid registries:
Follow Up With Past Client
Repeat work is always the best way to help in growing your construction business. Just because someone didn’t hire you back right away doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be interested in working with you again.
A great story of mine is a client who I thought didn’t enjoy working with me. After the project was completed the client than went and worked with several other contractors. Throughout those experiences the client would constantly call me and ask me for advice or my opinion. After the projects were completed we than became someone he trusted and in turn were award much more work.
Repeat clients can give you some of the most reliable and lowest risk work. Stay in touch with people, meet up for coffee, lunch etc. If not for a business opportunity than just to see how someone is doing.
Do What You Say and Say What You’ll Do
This goes for any business but is especially true in the construction world. Our industry (like it or not) has a reputation for taking advantage of people. Part of the reason for this is because not everyone understands our industry.
[bctt tweet=”By doing exactly what you say you’re going to do and breaking down the steps to your clients in easily understandable chunks you can set yourself apart. #construction #architecture #engineering” username=”Cnstrctrdotcom”]
Noone likes a contractor or subcontractor that goes over budget or get’s behind schedule, but things change and these sorts of things happen. Be honest with individuals when these challenges creep up and you’ll find repeat clients.
Ultimately growing your construction business comes down to delivering projects, building trust with individuals around you, working hard and not being afraid to be social.
Do you have any other recommendations for building your business? Share them with us below in the comments!