In an industry as competitive as construction, it can be challenging to set yourself apart from similar businesses. Whether you’re well established or just starting out, growing your construction company and attracting new clients requires strategic planning. While there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to scaling your business, we do have five tips outlined below to help.
1. Find Your Niche
Identifying a specialty field or a niche market that your business can excel at is one of the best ways to gain a competitive edge. Rather than doing many things well, why not focus on doing one thing exceptionally? People are typically willing to pay more for specialists, and this gives you the opportunity to brand yourself and position your construction company as the superior choice for meeting certain needs.
If roof repair is your specialty, make sure your marketing and advertising reflects that so when a potential client’s roof is damaged or starts to leak, they know to call you—the expert. Even as a general contractor who offers a broad range of services, you can still position your company as “the best” at something.
Once you’ve identified your niche or specialty area, make sure to update your website, Google Business Profile and other online listings to include specific and identifying keywords to boost your SEO and increase the likelihood of being found in online searches.
2. Invest in Your Team
It’s no secret that the key to any successful business is its people—and yet, so many times, employers forego premium talent for a less expensive candidate. The hiring process takes time and money—but, in the end, you’ll save money by hiring the best fit for the job who can help take your business to where you envision it (even if they come at a slightly higher cost) than by hiring someone less expensive who doesn’t meet all the qualifications or successfully contribute to your company’s long-term vision.
The construction industry is competitive, and the demand for skilled workers is high—so once you’ve built your dream team, you need to also make sure you have retention strategies in place to help keep them. Make sure your team knows what they do matters, and explain how their individual efforts contribute to overall company success. Celebrate achievements and milestones together. Not only does this make them feel important and valued, it builds loyalty and trust and reduces the likelihood of churn.
As your business grows, remember that you need to have sufficient staff to support that growth, which will likely mean investing in additional team members.
3. Get the Word Out
You may have the best product or service in the world, but if no one knows about it, your business won’t succeed. If you want to grow your construction company and attract new business, people need to know you exist—and the way to achieve this is through marketing. For your marketing efforts to be successful, you should develop a marketing plan that clearly outlines what you offer and how you plan to communicate that to target audiences.
A marketing plan should include specific strategies for how to deliver your message to various audiences across different channels. Ideally your marketing mix should include a combination of word-of-mouth marketing and networking tactics, printed marketing materials, a strong online presence, and a budget for advertising.
Since most people will do research online before ever picking up the phone, you’ll want to pay close attention to your digital presence (e.g., your website, social channels, Google Business Profile, etc.) and consider investing in paid online ads.
4. Proactively Seek Opportunities
To grow your construction business, you need to proactively seek out new opportunities. In addition to marketing and advertising efforts, networking is a great way to identify new leads and develop strategic partnerships. Networking is a vital component to building strong and lasting business relationships, which can easily translate into new business opportunities for you.
Consider joining your local chamber of commerce to meet business leaders, or join a trade association to meet other industry professionals and learn new ways to grow your skills. Trade shows are another great opportunity to network and to learn what new industry trends are on the horizon.
When you make new connections, don’t underestimate the importance of a quick follow-up email or invitation to connect on LinkedIn. Maintaining business relationships will help keep you and your business top-of-mind, and increase the likelihood of new business referrals.
5. Utilize Technology to Improve Efficiency
As a construction business owner, it’s crucial to stay aware of what new technology is on the horizon and how it will transform the industry landscape. Equally as important, you must be willing to adapt and invest in technology to improve your business operations.
For example, an all-in-one construction management software solution to fulfill your project management and accounting needs offers a number of benefits that will save you money in the long run. This type of software makes it possible to automate your most complex processes, thereby saving you time (which equals money) and reduces the margin of error that comes with manual data entry (which also saves you time and money).
Final Thoughts
To sum it all up, growing your construction business requires strategic planning and an investment of time, money and resources—but there’s no better investment to make than in yourself and your business.
To learn how our software solution can help streamline operations so you’ll have more time to focus on your growth strategy, click here to schedule a personalized product tour.
Author Biography:
Kathryn Dressler is a content strategist with more than 10 years of experience across the spectrum of marketing services, including blogging, social media, public relations, copywriting and editorial services.
