Every business will be born out of an idea. People have fallen into the trap of thinking you need an original idea to succeed. However, there are so many business ideas out there; it’s nearly impossible to be unique. The alternative is to look at what ideas are doing well and try to start a similar business.
One of the most successful business ideas is to start a construction company. So, today’s post will focus on some important things to consider if you want to start a business like this!
Your Business
Naturally, starting a construction business is a broad statement to make. There are lots of different businesses within the construction industry. With that being said, your first task is to define what your business will do. Are you going to be a company that focusses on steel construction? Or, will you be a more typical business that looks at local construction? You know, building houses, or extending a home, that type of thing. In fact, you might decide to be a jack of all trades and dabble in a bit of everything.
Regardless of your choice, you need to decide before you proceed with everything else. Your decision will impact everything else on this list. Plus, you can have a clear vision and path set out for what you want your company to do. Personally, I’d start a small business that focusses on general construction. I think you’re likely to get more customers as local businesses & people will often look for small construction companies to carry out any work.
Procurement Costs
Every business needs to be aware of all the procurement costs they’ll have to pay for. For a construction company, there are certain things you need to acquire in the initial startup phase. These are things you may only have to buy once, and can cost quite a bit of money. But, you need them because they’ll form an essential part of your business. I’m talking about equipment and heavy machinery/vehicles that you can use over and over again, for multiple jobs. As you’ll see on http://www.sjhallplant.com/, there is loads of second-hand construction equipment available. I recommend you try and buy second-hand as it can save you some valuable money. Just make sure everything is still in good working condition beforehand.
As well as procuring things that have a direct impact on your daily work, you’ll need other stuff too. Stuff like stationary for the office so that you can complete all the admin tasks. Smaller things that won’t cost as much, but will have to be regularly bought. It’s crucial that you do the math and work out how much of your budget needs to be devoted to procurement. The last thing you want is to spend too much of your startup money and realise you haven’t got enough for important equipment, etc. This should be right at the top of your list of priorities.
Staff
To get the most out of your construction business, you need to have some staff. It’s much easier to get things done if you have a team of people following your every move. Now, you’ll need staff to help with the main part of your business; construction. This means having to hire a load of manual laborers to do all the tough work. If you come from a manual labor background, then you may choose to do a lot of the hard work yourself as well. In fact, most people that start small construction businesses will do this. However, you may be a business person that likes this business idea and has never done construction work in their life. So, you’ll take a back seat and deal with the work behind the scenes. Either way, you’ll need a team of construction workers.
Then, you have to think about any other staff you may need. I recommend you have a small office somewhere, so you can keep track of things and get admin work done. In this case, you’ll also need a small office team. They’ll be on hand to answer phone calls and book jobs for your construction team. They can also do all the complicated stuff like managing the books and checking the finances of the business. Staff are important, so you need to know how to hire the right people. If you look here http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/234096 you can do just that.
Marketing
Starting a construction company is a very popular business idea. As such, popularity breeds competition. Loads of people do it, so it can be hard for a new company to get noticed amongst the established pack. I find that lots of new startups struggle because they don’t realise how important marketing is. Listen, the only way your company will succeed and stand out is if it’s marketed correctly. Construction companies need to know the best ways to market themselves and get into the public eye. And, it starts with deciding who will do all the marketing. You could hire marketing staff to work in your office, but I think this is too costly. It’s far more effective to outsource your marketing work to an agency. They’ll deal with everything and won’t take up space on your monthly payroll.
Of course, you can try and market your business alone if you’re up to the task. If you choose to do this, then here are a few things to consider. Firstly, find your target audience and aim your marketing efforts at them. Secondly, build a website, get online, and do some digital marketing. Thirdly, don’t discount any traditional methods, like posting leaflets through doors. Finally, make sure you create various adverts and try to get them seen in as many places as possible. These four tips are the pillars of marketing success. Follow them if you don’t want to pay for a marketing agency and would prefer to do things on your own.
Pay attention to the advice above and you’ll soon have a good construction company set up. You’ll have everything in order, and ready to make money.
