This Podcast Is Episode 545, And It's About The Implications Of Rising Interest Rates For Construction Contractors In the construction business world, one constant factor you are likely to encounter is change, particularly in the financial landscape. One such change that can bear significant implications for small businesses is rising interest rates.    Understanding how this impacts your construction business and identifying solutions to counteract these effects can be vital to sustaining and growing your company.   When interest rates go up, borrowing money becomes more expensive. This can impact your ability to make a profit on construction projects. You might have a more challenging time getting financing for new projects and have to pay more for the funding you get. Fewer people may be looking for your construction services when the economy slows due to rising rates.   Interest rates have a ripple effect on various aspects of business; let's dive deeper: Decreased consumer spending A crucial repercussion of rising interest rates is that homeowners invariably allocate more of their income to repay the increased mortgage rates and other loans. As a result, there's less disposable income for them to spend — this isn't great news if you are in an industry deemed non-essential or not a priority by the consumer. Difficulty in accessing credit Lenders may enforce stricter requirements, such as more equity or personal guarantees, in response to high business loan rates. This makes long-term and short-term debt more expensive and more complex to obtain. Increased operational costs The ripple effect of interest rates can also increase your operational costs. Your employees (if you have any) might demand a pay rise to cope with their increased living costs, and essential business partners might pass on their increased costs to you, raising the price of your whole supply chain. Uncertainty in predicting future costs Rising interest rates can make it difficult to predict the cost of future borrowing or the cost of existing business loan rates, making it harder to plan your finances and future investments. If lenders are not confident of your business viability or see your construction business as high risk, funding debt will cost more, and interest payments will be higher. Because high interest can put added pressure on your cash flow, this will likely worsen your situation. Your next steps Regardless of your business's financial challenges, strategies, and resources are always available to help you overcome them. If you're worried about the rising interest rates, don't stress - plenty of options are available. For instance, you can check out financing options with great rates and terms. It's also always a good idea to have a solid financial plan to help manage any potential impact of rising interest rates. There are also several strategies you can employ to mitigate its impact: 1. Refinance your debt: If you have an outstanding debt with a high interest rate, consider refinancing it to a lower rate. This can help you save money on interest payments over time. Refinance high-interest products like credit cards. 2. Negotiate with lenders: If you want to take out a new loan, try negotiating with lenders to get a better interest rate. You may get a better deal with a good credit score or a strong business history. Secure new loans with a longer fixed term to protect against further unexpected increases. 3. Increase revenue: One of the best ways to combat rising interest rates is to increase your income. This can help you cover the cost of higher interest payments and keep your business profitable.  4. Cut costs: Look for ways to cut costs in your business to free up cash flow. Delay major purchases that could drain your cash reserves. This can help you pay down debt and reduce the impact of rising interest rates. Discuss with your suppliers how to work together to offset interest rate increases. 5....

This Podcast Is Episode 544, And It's About Why Banks Won't Lend Money To Your Construction Business Getting approved for a business loan or line of credit is more complicated than qualifying for a personal loan. Small construction business owners must be adequately prepared to meet with a lender to present their business in the best possible light and ready for the money they need. Think of all the times: You loaned money to a friend or relative Provided labor and materials for somebody's home or business without a deposit check Did change order work that you never got paid for doing and never will Gave a subcontractor/employee an advance on their paycheck, and you never got paid back Multiply that by 100,000, and you will understand why banks seem so tight-fisted about loaning money. Banks stay in business by loaning money and earning interest. They work hard to find people, companies, and contractors with reasonable credit risks they can lend money to and get paid back promptly, with all of the interest due to them. Do your best to avoid raising any of these red flags. #1 Your Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet Reports do not conform to financial industry standards #2 The financials tell the banker your bookkeeper doesn't understand Construction Accounting #3 The preparer's signature on the annual tax returns is not from a qualified tax specialist #4 You have no access to a Construction Accountant, not even for quarterly check-ups #5 You don't have a formal documented Business Plan with a budget and projections   If you have already raised some or all of these red flags, no worries; we can help you fix most of them. Bankers love chatting with accountants because we speak the same language as homebuilders, who love talking with sub-contractors and building material suppliers. After all, you all speak the same vocabulary. The Risk Management Association (RMA) 1914-  the Robert Morris Club (RMA) was formed to help businesses and bankers exchange credit information. It was named after Robert Morris, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and was believed to be the primary financier of the Revolutionary War. The RMA developed several tools; among them was a system of Ratios that we use today to study the financial statements of all companies in all industries. The banking and lending industry has enormous databases and artificial intelligence software from places like , allowing them to separate reasonable contractor risks from bad ones. It generates recommendations based on algorithms much more complex than any gambling casino and with a much higher payoff. One of the keys to getting a banker, lender, or bonding company to consider your construction company for financing is how your financial statements are presented. In particular, your construction company's Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet. A banker, lender, or bonding agent logs into their RMA account, fills out electronic forms, answers questions about your construction company, and inputs specific numbers in specific blanks taken directly from your construction company's Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet. Any construction accountant knows precisely how to set up QuickBooks correctly for this process.  If a contractor gives their banker, lender, or bonding agent a set of financial reports that do not conform to the RMA requirements, they may or may not try to extrapolate the numbers needed using Excel or some other program. In most cases, they are polite and thank you for "applying" before giving you the "We will let you know as soon as we know anything" speech. I know this because I have heard it from many bankers, lenders, and bonding agents who are frustrated. After all, they know you are an excellent client and know you are a person of integrity who can be trusted to pay the loan back on time, with all the interest. The RMA and other reports show where your contracting company stands concerning other contracting companies serving...

This Podcast Is Episode 543, And It's About Better Practices For Managing And Maintaining Construction Business Cash Flow In the business world, cash flow remains the lifeblood that keeps your operations running smoothly. Whether you're a start-up finding your feet or a seasoned business in the construction industry, managing and maintaining a steady cash flow can be challenging. But a few small changes can make a world of difference to your cash flow and overall revenue.   Your business needs cash. Cash keeps your company in operation and enables it to grow, so you should know how much your business needs to survive. Although many think the answer is linked solely to operating expenses, this isn't true.   No single factor determines how much cash every construction business needs to have on hand. Somewhere between 3-6 months of operating expenses is an excellent baseline to start from, but there's more to it than that.       Initiate a discussion with your lenders if interest only or deferred payments on outstanding debts are possible.   Request more flexible payment options   It never hurts to ask, especially if you've been transacting with your vendors for a long time and you've established a certain level of mutual trust and confidence. You can request more flexible payment options or longer payment terms.   Tap into available credit lines   Take advantage of available lines of credit and place the funds in interest-bearing accounts.   Assessing your cash flow is fundamental to better understanding your business's financial health.   Let's dive into some practical strategies you can implement to boost your cash flow.   Make invoicing a priority -get paid faster and aggressively follow up on invoices.   Receiving speedy payments is crucial to improving your cash flow. If you typically invoice your customers, consider offering them an incentive to pay earlier than the standard 30-day payment period. A small discount of 5% could encourage them to settle their bills within ten days.   Small businesses in the construction industry are at risk of having their clients not pay them on time—or at all. Being too passive in collecting unpaid invoices or reminding clients when payment is due will not help you collect the money you need to pay your bills.   Sending out reminders of due invoices can speed up getting you paid and encourage clients considering not paying you to reconsider. Reach out to clients if necessary to discuss payment options. Even a payment schedule is better than no payment at all.   Invoicing should be a regular part of your business day. Adopting a same-day or next-day invoicing practice can ensure you're on top of your receivables. Additionally, consider emailing invoices as a supplement to regular mail.   If you have customers who are habitually late, don't hesitate to remind them regularly about payments.   Use business credit cards.   Using business credit cards to pay suppliers or make purchases can also help manage cash flow. Most credit cards offer a grace period, sometimes up to 25 days, allowing you to settle the statement balance without incurring interest. Some even come with cash-back features.   Watch for scope creep.   Scope creep occurs when clients or stakeholders change a project's goals or deliverables. Almost all projects experience some form of scope creep, but too many changes to a project can severely impact your bottom line and hurt your cash flow.   Make sure the terms of your project are set out clearly, and let clients know that any changes to the project will result in additional fees. If clients attempt to change the project, you can remind them about the original agreement and the extra costs. If they insist on making the changes, you can charge the agreed-upon amount.   Invest in today's technology.   Investing in modern bookkeeping software or invoice...

This Podcast Is Episode Number 539, And It's About Construction Company Contract Traps And The Advantages Of Legal Help Mistakes can be expensive in the construction business, and as an entrepreneur, although you'll know many of the regulations that apply to your business, there are so many that you can't possibly remember all of them. Depending on the type of contracting business you run, you could face laws regarding taxation, employment, product liability, premises liability, discrimination, health and safety, and various other regulations.   Keeping on top of all the laws that affect you and the changes to those laws while still being mindful of all the other aspects involved in running a business is almost impossible.   That's why you need legal help. A legal professional can identify the rules and regulations that apply to your business and advise you on operating within those laws. They can also help you draw up necessary contracts that could prevent legal action in the future, and they can prepare a case in the unfortunate event that you wind up facing or filing a lawsuit.   For instance, a new contractor meets an experienced customer, and money changes hands, not how you expect it. Typically, this happens when you first get started: You bid on a project and are the low bidder. You are given the client's standard contract, which contains the client's favorite set of commercial terms and conditions, to sign as a condition of getting the project. You close and sign the contract because you don't want to ask for changes in the terms or consult your construction attorney. You put the signed contract in your bottom desk drawer and pray that nothing will happen during the project that will cause you to reread the contract. Before it is too late, consider these contract traps to look out for: 1. Poorly defined scopes of work create claims and disputes. 2. The completion schedule is too short and exposes you to monetary damages for failure to finish on time. 3. Payment terms put you in never-ending negative cash flow by loaning the customer money at 0% and borrowing on your credit cards at 24%. 4. The customer keeps 5%-10% of the contract price as retention for up to a year or more after the entire project is finished, which could be all your profit. 5. Indemnity clauses could make you financially responsible for bodily injury and property damage claims caused by customer negligence. 6. Indemnity clauses could make you pay the customer's attorney fees and costs. 7. Your insurance company may be required to provide additional insured coverage for the project, giving the customer free insurance and full access to the policy coverage and limits. 8. Often, the terms and coverage of the warranty are beyond reasonable industry standards. 9. Dispute resolution clauses that require arbitration first and then litigation are probably the two worst ways ever invented to resolve disputes. 10. The client's pre-printed final waiver of the lien document (necessary for the contractor to receive final payment) waives all contractor's rights to recover unpaid extra work and to pursue any claims that arose during the project. Here are three reasons you need a professional to help. They help set up your construction business In the early stages of your business, they can help you make vital decisions and understand the consequences of those decisions. Is your business going to incorporate? Do you know what that means from a legal standpoint compared to other business entities? Do you understand the difference between hiring employees and working with contractors? Do you know the employment laws surrounding hiring and firing if you hire employees? Law experts understand each of those and can explain how they affect your business. They can help you make an informed decision that is in the best interests of your organization and protects you in the future. They help with contracts At some point, your business will enter into...

This Podcast Is Episode Number 538, And It's About Pros And Cons Of Working With Family And Friends In Construction Ever dreamed of starting a family business? Investing in a franchise opportunity with friends?   Businesses owned and operated by families can have incredible staying power. All family-owned companies, Volkswagen, Samsung, and Nike, are among the world's most successful, leading brands.   Working with family and friends can be fun and rewarding, especially in the construction industry. I know because we've been in one. But before you hire the people you care about most, it's wise to consider the pros and cons.   Pro: Dynamics When you hire family and friends, working together can feel comfortable and pleasant. You can vouch for their work ethic and values upfront. You already know their natural talents, abilities, preferences, and skill sets – their strengths, weaknesses, and how you can best work together. Con: Dynamics Regarding family and friends, modifying negative behavior or communication patterns can be challenging. What's more, it can be complicated to confront a loved one when they aren't acting in the company's best interest. The temptation to avoid conflict or hurt feelings can make managing a friend or relative tricky at best – at worst, it can become a severe liability. Always practice clear communication. Share business policies, practices, and expectations just as you would with any employee. Pro: Streamlined hiring You'll save time and money when you have a crew of committed workers ready to go before you're set to launch. With family and friends willing to help you, you won't have to screen and interview candidates – or spend precious time following up on background checks and qualifications. You can hit the ground running, focusing on generating income and profit. Con: The company has to come first Building a profitable and sustainable business requires effective management without exception. That means sometimes it may be in the company's best interest to re-train an employee for a different role, ask a worker to take on additional responsibilities – or, in some cases, to let someone go. When it comes to complex personnel matters, it can help to seek guidance from an independent advisor. Pro: Tradition is seen as a strength Strong brands are quickly built on the values we associate with family, such as honesty, trust, and enduring relationships. A recent study showed customers prefer family-owned businesses for their perceived stability, trustworthiness, and consistent service. Con: Too much tradition can hold you back When a family business does things as they've always been, the company can suffer from a lack of diversity and innovation. It's essential to keep an eye on market trends and changes in your industry, so you can adapt quickly and avoid missing opportunities. Solution: Set up a board consisting of family members and an equal number of independent advisors. A note on the spouse doing the construction bookkeeping and divorce Here is what we see repeated many times over. Contractors cross the line and treat their spouses as indentured servants who should be grateful for a place to live, eat and sleep in exchange for maintaining a household and being an overworked, underpaid contractor's bookkeeper. They become incredibly frustrated and desperate. In some cases, you are not at fault; you are being hammered by customers who are doing everything they can to drive the price of everything and everyone into the ground in a twisted attempt to get something for nothing, and I have a suggestion for how to fix that. The answer is simple. We have helped save many marriages by working with contractors' spouses and showing them how to do what they are good at, like managing the money, paying the bills, customer service, and other management tasks, and letting us take care of the contractors' bookkeeping services. Having your spouse handle construction bookkeeping...

This Podcast Is Episode Number 537, And It's About How To Safeguard Your Construction Company From Employee Expense Fraud As a small business owner, you always look to keep your company running efficiently. Expense reimbursement fraud is the last thing you want to face. Not only can it hurt your bottom line, but it can also damage your construction company's reputation. Here we discuss employee expense fraud, the reasons behind it, and, most importantly, how to prevent it from happening to your construction business.   What is expense fraud?   Expense fraud is submitting falsified or inflated expense claims to receive reimbursement from the employer or avoid paying out of pocket. It is illegal, unethical, and detrimental to your business.   Employees can commit expense fraud in several ways, such as using personal expenses as business, submitting fake receipts, inflating costs, duplicating submissions, falsifying mileage, and using company funds for personal use. Why do employees commit expense fraud? There can be multiple reasons behind expense fraud. Financial gain is the most common motivation, but some employees may do it for personal reasons, misunderstanding of policies, pressure to achieve targets, or simply apathy. As a business owner, it is essential to understand the reasons behind expense fraud, as it can help you identify and address them proactively. Understand The Employee Theft 10-10-80 Rule - Discovered over many years of experience and first-hand observation by auditors, accountants, fraud examiners, and anyone involved in detecting employee theft. Ten Percent of all employees, including bookkeepers, will steal in various ways from office supplies, petty cash, graft, kickbacks, and payoffs from your suppliers, vendors, and sub-contractors, and even hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. They will do it regardless of how many security systems are in place because they lack integrity. They cannot be stopped, only caught! And only then, if you have systems in place and can convince the criminal justice system to take action, good luck with that! Ten Percent of all employees, including bookkeepers, will never steal because they have integrity and a "Producer's" paradigm. Ultimately, these people will add so much value to your company that you cannot help but reward them with more money, benefits, and recognition. Because if you do not, they will be recruited by your competitors.  Eighty Percent  of all employees, including bookkeepers, will steal if they feel confident they can get away with it and if circumstances allow for it due to weak integrity and a sense of "Redistributing The Wealth, But Not The Work Or The Responsibility." Signs to watch out for your employee: Asks for signature authority on your checking/savings/payroll accounts Has a lifestyle that seems above what they are earning Takes Records Home to work on, or they want to work in the office when no one is around (Fraudulent activities are more accessible when nobody is around) Gets defensive when you or your CPA asks questions. Has access to your credit/debit cards Your bookkeeping is a complete mess, and you cannot understand it. Tries to explain away delinquency tax notices. Is the primary contact for your company's banks, auditors, creditors, etc. Misplaces payroll receipts, deposit records, supplier letters, and estimates. Makes bank deposits, and they seem to be too small. Show signs of drinking, drug, gambling, or family financial problems. Suggested they could save money by eliminating the outside accounting firm. Gets angry when you ask for a QuickBooks report. Tries to blame the previous Bookkeeper or outside accounting firm for messy QuickBooks. Does not get along well with other employees and staff members. There are more warning signs, so be aware of and action steps you can take. How can you effectively prevent expense fraud? The first step in preventing expense...

This Podcast Is Episode Number 536, And It's About How To Handle Construction Client Debt So You Get Paid On Time If your customers owe you money, the faster you can obtain it using effective collection tactics, the better. Ideally, you want to reduce the chance of bad debts and pressure on your construction company's cash flow. It can be easy to neglect to manage your debtors when you're busy growing your business, but intelligent credit control is important. So it's crucial to have the skills to handle the people who owe you money well, especially if you want to avoid taking them to court. When negotiating contracts with clients, try to set payment terms that help your cash flow, such as deposits or progress payments. Dealing regular payments for contracts that take months to complete has two purposes: it gives you cash flow to match your expenses and protects you from total loss on a project if the customer goes into liquidation. Please include a timetable for the customer to pay invoices as part of any agreement. Agree on clear milestones for the work to be completed to minimize the chance of the customer disputing any invoices. Successful debt collection is about good processes. As with most things, prevention's better than a cure. If you have good processes in place for collecting debt, the less likely it is that you'll have to chase debtors. And if you do, having the proper procedures to follow up on late payers makes it much more manageable. 1. Tighten your credit control Having stricter control over new debtors is the best way to limit your exposure to future bad debts. So make sure that you: - Ensure your business completes comprehensive reference checks before offering credit to new customers. - Set fair credit limits – and ask your staff members to notify you if a customer wants to exceed their agreed limit. - Approve any additional credit extensions in advance. Make sure you state clear payment conditions in your terms of trade agreement. Make use of credit checks – this can be especially important for new businesses that feel pressure to gain customers. Try to avoid being careless with credit checks. It might come back to haunt your business in the form of cash flow problems up the road. Terms of trade – implement a system whereby new customers must sign their acceptance of your terms of trade before you offer them credit. Follow up by emailing (and any changes) annually to refresh their memories. 2. Structure payment terms It's essential to put together your payment terms to encourage prompt Payment. You could, for example, offer a 2% discount for customers who pay within 21 days. Ensure that your terms of trade state exactly when you'll start charging interest on any overdue amounts and the rate you'll be charging. Don't yield to customers even if Payment is only a day late. Whether you decide to make any exceptions for those customers that usually pay promptly is up to you – but be clear that it's a once-only exception because you value that customer's business relationship. 3. Good organization is vital You'll come across as an astute businessperson who takes Payment collections seriously if you systematically show your clients that invoices are a top priority. By being organized and able to quickly reference a customer's account when they make contact, you'll be more likely to get paid faster. Some ways you can project a higher level of organization include: - Being professional – all written communication with your customers should be consistent, look professional, and clearly show contact details, the amount owed, expectations, and payment terms. - Having a consistent schedule – sending invoices at the same time of the month and following up after a set number of days. - Don't show a layered approach – a customer's first invoice will show the amount due and by when, but next month should state that they're late in paying. Don't have 'late Month 1, Month 2, Month 3'. They are all...

This Podcast Is Episode Number 535, And It's About A Guide To Service Based Business Advertising That Works Marketing covers everything you do in your business that creates awareness, including advertising, brochures, competitions, trade shows, demonstrations, travel, direct mail, email campaigns, your website, and sponsorship. Let's narrow our focus to an integral part of Marketing - Advertising. Advertising is a massive industry with multiple mediums for your message to be heard or lost in translation. It might sound like a no-brainer, but before you start planning your advertising, you must consider what you are trying to achieve from your investment. Your ultimate objective likely is to build sales, but other things to consider are increasing market presence and building your brand. Advertising can be used to: Establish a reputation as the market leader or industry expert – allowing you to win long-term contracts or even increase prices. Build brand awareness for a product to make it easier to sell and raise the profile of your other products. Change customer perceptions of your products and services to boost sales. Detail a specific, one-off message to your market by informing potential customers of a special offer or product component. Address your existing customers to increase your brand awareness – meaning they think of your business first when considering a product or service. Identifying your target market Before any advertising is written, you need to take the time to define your target market (if you haven't already). Knowing who you are trying to target will help you customize your marketing efforts to suit those people. You should already know who is interested in your products or services, but the easiest way to clearly define your target market is to create an ideal customer profile. How to create a customer profile: Try and create an ideal demographic for your target market. Think about the age, gender, marital status, and income of the person most likely to buy your product or use your services. If you are unsure, think about your biggest customers – is there anything they have in common, such as age or gender? Think about the geographical reach of your business – service-based businesses like yours have a limited market area. Think about your regular customers or clients that live within the region. Once you know your market area, you could research existing data or conduct some market research to find out the average age, income, and family status of people in your area. Be careful not to make your target market too specific, as you may exclude many potential customers. For example, rather than targeting couples aged up to 30 years who own their first home, it might be better to target couples aged up to 40 years who are currently renting but are interested in purchasing a property. You can learn a lot about your target market by looking at your competition – pay attention to where they advertise, how they present their advertising, and the tone they use in their written material. Subscribing to competitor newsletters or regularly checking their websites is a good way of keeping up-to-date from a distance. Types of advertising Knowing what type of advertising will appeal the most to your target market is the key to producing effective advertising. Here are the most common types of advertising you can use to promote your construction business. Print advertising. Print advertising traditionally covers newspapers, magazines, brochures, flyers, and other printed media. Print advertising can be expensive, such as a feature page in a newspaper or a local magazine. More inexpensive options include community papers, classifieds, or delivered printed fliers. Internet advertising. Internet advertising includes online services such as YouTube, Facebook, Google, and Twitter but also includes banner ads and embedded video content. Internet advertising offers a range of options for different...

This Podcast Is Episode Number 534, And It's About The Rundown To Running Your Own Construction Business Getting your construction business up and running and making a profit is usually much more complicated than it sounds. So let's focus on honing the skills you'll need to make it happen by acquiring these yourself or consulting professionals to help you. What it means to be your own boss Being your own boss might sound like it is the ultimate ticket to freedom and financial success – and it can be. But don't be fooled into thinking you'll be able to put in a few hours each morning and spend the afternoons networking over a round of golf. The reality is that most businesses require much hard work – more than your standard 9–5 job and over some years – before they start to make a reasonable profit, and many new construction businesses fold before they reach that point. Here are the top things you should be aware of: You need to be passionate about what you do: Setting up your contracting business is challenging. If you're not passionate about what you do, you'll find it hard to stay motivated when faced with several hurdles. Also, if your business is just another idea to make money and not something you're passionate about, you'll lack that key ingredient to make your new business more attractive than the established competition. Before you start a construction business, ask yourself if you're passionate about this industry. You'll need to make sacrifices, at least during the first couple of years: You'll need to put in a lot of hard work between coming up with your business idea and establishing your business. You'll probably have to work harder than most of your mates and make many sacrifices. It might mean less time with your friends, less time for sports or hobbies, or even less time with your family. You'll also probably be taking home less money – and might need to sacrifice family holidays or put major household purchases on hold until your business is established. Ask yourself if you're prepared to make the sacrifices necessary to make it a success – and check that your family is prepared to make these sacrifices too. You'll face risk and uncertainty: When you start your own business, you won't have the security of regular payments from an employer. Your business might be unable to pay you a wage for the first few weeks, months, or years. In addition, you might need to draw on your savings or even take out a loan to finance your business operations. There's an element of risk and uncertainty when you start your own business, so you need to be sure that your construction business idea is viable and that you have enough money to support yourself and your business until you reach your break-even point and start turning a profit. You'll need abundant patience and persistence: It's rare for a start-up that has everything run according to plan without any teething problems. You'll likely encounter your fair share of setbacks and challenges, from financial issues to demanding customers and problem staff. While there's a fine line between persisting against all odds (when the business is not viable) and giving up when the going gets tough, you'll need patience and persistence to make your business a success. Getting the skills you need Very few people who own businesses start with all the necessary skills. The secret is to quickly inventory your current skills and identify the gaps in your knowledge base. You can then either get the training you need or employ people with the right skills for those areas you don't have a natural affinity for. You'll need the following skills to run your business. Market research skills to understand the market you are entering and stay abreast of market developments, customer preferences, and the actions of your competitors. Money management skills to forecast when you expect your business to break even, understand your financial position at any point, and...

This Podcast Is Episode Number 533, And It's About Finding The Right Construction Talent And Common Onboarding Mistakes As a business owner, you know the right people are crucial to your construction company's success. The best employees can help you achieve your business goals, improve productivity, and drive growth. But finding the people best suited to your team can be daunting, and sometimes it's easy to hire someone who seems okay rather than taking the time to find the best fit.  Here are some steps to find and hire staff that support your business growth, whether in the office or the field. Step 1: Define the job and necessary qualifications The first step in finding the right talent is accurately defining the job description and qualifications. Is this a new position you're hiring for? Are there gaps in employee skills that need to be met? Is this a position that requires specific knowledge and experience?    Remember that there's a difference between "must-have" qualifications and "nice to have" considerations. When setting out "must have" qualifications, include only those that are necessary to the person successfully performing the role.  Remember also that the job salary should match the role and the qualifications. You can't expect to hire someone with ten years of experience by only offering an entry-level wage.    Step 2: Use multiple recruiting channels These days, there are many places you can turn to when finding employees, and each attracts different people. Using a variety of channels when searching for employees gives you a higher chance of success.  Post the job description on your company website and multiple social media platforms. Use job boards and recruitment agencies to expand your reach. Contact your personal and professional networks to ask for referrals or recommendations. After all, the people you know also know people. They may be able to recommend someone who's an excellent fit for your construction business. Step 3: Screen candidates Once you have a list of candidates, you'll need to screen them. This includes going through resumes/CVs and conducting interviews. Check to make sure they have the qualifications and experience you need.  During the interview, ask open-ended questions to assess the candidate's problem-solving abilities, communication skills, and overall fit. Ask about the results they've obtained in previous jobs and lessons they've learned throughout their experience. It's also important to allow candidates to ask questions about your company and the position you're hiring for. Step 4: Check references Before making a job offer, it's essential to check references. Contact former supervisors and colleagues to ask about their work performance and attitude. Double-check that they obtained the results they said they did. This will help you ensure that the candidate has a proven track record of success and is a good fit for your construction company. Step 5: Make a job offer After checking references and confirming that the candidate has the skills and qualifications to match your needs, it's time to make the job offer. Be clear about the terms of employment, including salary, benefits, and start date. Give the candidate time to review the offer and ask any additional questions they may have.  Once they accept the offer, you can begin the onboarding process. Step 6: Provide training and support Once you've hired someone, it's crucial to provide training and support to help them succeed in their new role. This can include job-specific training and coaching on company culture and values. Regular check-ins and feedback can help new employees feel supported and valued and ensure issues are handled quickly and effectively. In this regard, while most small businesses spend much time and effort finding the right employees, they often fail to capitalize on their newly hired talent by ceding the onboarding process to HR or neglecting their...