The construction industry is rapidly expanding, with thousands of new contractors entering the trade every year to accommodate the growing national demand for development and restoration. With the profession becoming increasingly competitive, it makes sense that contractors and builders are now savvier and more knowledgeable than ever. Unfortunately, that also means it’s harder for newer contractors to compete in terms of the quality and pricing they’re able to offer.
Every construction company should aim to be progressive and evolve alongside the latest advancements in technology and architecture. While that might seem like a tall and complicated order for novices or more established contractors who either just started or have been doing business the same way for a long time, the process can be made easier by heeding the following tips.
1. Use Premium Protective Coatings
No matter how well you do a job, surfaces are guaranteed to deteriorate over time as they’re exposed to the elements and general wear and tear. Using state-of-the-art coatings can prolong the look and efficacy of a wide range of materials, letting your work stand the test of time and hold onto its brilliant look for years to come.
Most contractors are familiar with a urethane coating for roofs, but in general, coatings are surprisingly underused by smaller contractors who often overlook the plethora of applications that exist. Studying the various options and upgrading your coating arsenal will noticeably improve the durability and aesthetic appeal of your work.
2. Compare Materials and Equipment
Many construction companies are highly profit-motivated, so it’s fairly common for contractors to select and purchase materials and equipment based solely on price or preconceived notions, without actually comparing the alternatives prior to making their budgetary commitments.
Considering you may be constructing an entire building from the materials, it makes sense to physically hold and inspect all the options before you make your choice. Likewise, by comparing different machines and tools, you can optimize your equipment arsenal for ideal productivity and efficiency.
3. Stay Up-to-Date with Industry Advancements
When you’ve built a system that works, it can be difficult to deviate from that game plan and try new things within the context of business. However, stagnating and becoming stuck in your ways isn’t a sustainable approach in today’s fast-changing construction industry. Instead, you need to keep up with the latest products, services, inventions, brands, and trends to ensure your company stays ahead of the innovation adoption curve.
You can do this by subscribing to magazines, blogs and eMagazines, newsletters, social media groups, and even YouTube channels related to the construction industry, economics, manufacturing, and entrepreneurship. By following all of these topics closely, you’ll stay in-tune with all the information and components needed to remain competitive as we continue to move towards a hyper-competitive future economy.
4. Work with Reputable and Reliable Managers
The managers and supervisors of a construction company are essentially the buffer between the owner and the actual work being done. If your managers aren’t providing effective leadership and are allowing sub-par work to be done on your job sites, there won’t be much you can do to stop that kind of poor performance from affecting your portfolio.
To avoid unnecessary mishaps and shoddy work, you need to make sure the work is being overseen by an experienced manager who will enforce stringent quality standards. Additionally, it’s always wise to have a quality assurance crew double-check everything, even the manager’s work. Going the extra mile can make a huge difference in cost and customer satisfaction.
5. Allocate Generous Budgets
Restricted budgets will almost always have a negative impact on the quality of the materials and labor that can be obtained. If quality is your primary concern, spare no expense on your way to achieving the goal and you’ll find that positive reviews and referrals will be the reward.
Being able to allocate a generous budget typically means that your company is receiving a desirable payment from the client, so this step mainly involves setting your prices high enough to allow for optimal purchasing power during the material-buying and hiring phase of the project.
6. Implement Ongoing Training
Just as it’s good to stay on top of industry developments, it’s also important to make sure your employees are being continually educated. Improving your team’s capabilities on an ongoing basis allows you to incorporate new building techniques, materials, and tools into your overall strategy while keeping everyone on the same page.
You do not necessarily have to pay for additional training if you are willing to take a more hands-on approach in collaboration with your managers or chief staff members. Video training and online courses are also affordable options worth considering.
7. Carry Out Occasional Practice Projects
Although early adoption is recommended, practicing on a client-funded job site is never a good idea. Instead, you should order surplus materials and schedule a time for your team to practice by building temporary concept projects on a property that you own or rent.
It might seem like an amateur approach, but “practice really does make perfect” because it allows you to refine your processes and gain experience without the risk of messing up on an actual job. Ideally, you should try to run a practice project any time you introduce a new material, equipment type, or process into the company’s workflow.
Cutting Corners Isn’t a Structurally Sound Technique
Many contractors try to save money and skim profit off the top by lowballing laborers and suppliers, or by purchasing cheaper materials and equipment. Keep in mind that you’ll usually get what you pay for, so if you want impressive results that can live up to the highest quality standards, you’ll need to be somewhat generous with your payroll and supply budgets.
To put it analogically, while it might seem that cutting corners is an easy way to trim down the cost of a project, you wouldn’t ever cut the physical corners of a building because it could become structurally unstable, so why would you make your company vulnerable to similar instability by cutting corners financially?
