0307: How To Prepare Your Construction Business To Go From Local To Regional Scale

This Podcast Is Episode Number 0307, And It Will Be About How To Prepare Your Construction Business To Go From Local To Regional Scale The construction industry offers a lot of opportunities. Entrepreneurs developing a construction business have an insatiable desire to grow and expand. Even though this domain offers a lot of opportunities, it brings also a lot of challenges in the same package. Therefore, when you decide to expand your construction company from local to regional, there are a lot of things you need to consider. This article is going to show which strategies you can apply to have a successful transition. First, you should understand why you need to expand your construction in another city. Below you can find a list of questions you should answer before deciding if you are prepared for this move. Steps to Follow Before Expanding on a Regional Level What are your customers asking?  A successful construction business is the one that develops long-term relationships with its clients. When you start a business, one of the first steps is to determine your target audience and understand their requirements and expectations. Therefore, when your clients start asking you to deliver your services in other geographical areas, then it means that you need to expand regionally. Is your market saturated? Even though your clients are not asking you to collaborate with them in other areas, this doesn’t mean that you cannot expand your construction business. Any local market has its competition, especially when we are talking about a productive industry like construction. Therefore, it is obvious that, no matter how big your business is, you won’t be able to cover more than a certain percentage of the entire market. Thus, you will reach a moment when your market will be saturated. This is a clear sign that you need to think of an expansion strategy. Will it help you to leverage your expertise? If you want to be successful in the construction industry, you need to be innovative and unique. Whether you are using a different internal system, or your people have special skills, you need to stay ahead of your competition. Therefore, expanding your construction business to a regional level will be a great opportunity to leverage your expertise. Will this expansion motivate your key employees? One of the biggest difficulties construction companies face is motivating their key employees. What is more, it becomes even harder to find good people to work in this demanding environment. Therefore, once you find them, it is very important to keep them motivated. Thus, when you decide to move from local to regional, think also from your key employees’ perspective. If this may represent a motivating factor for them, then this is a good reason to build your business in a different city as well. Are you ready to fund your growth? Even though your construction company is already making a nice profit, growth will always need an investment. For instance, you may need upfront capital to acquire an existing company. Or you may also need money to buy or rent new equipment to start big in the new location. Therefore, before jumping into expansion, you need to think carefully about how your strategy will look and be ready to fund your growth at a regional level. Challenges to Overcome When Expanding a Construction Business You can learn a lot from the mistakes other business owners do. So, if you don’t want to repeat them, take a look at the pitfalls mentioned below and analyze your exposure before venturing into expanding your construction business. Underestimating the efforts necessary to succeed When you open a new branch in a different city, you need to be ready to invest a lot of time, energy, and money to make sure that you will be successful. Opening an office in a different city is a long-term investment. So, you need to be prepared for the entire process. Entrepreneurs should be ready to translate their marketing content and materials into different languages if they want to approach an expanded target audience. It is very important that people know about you and understands what you have to offer. Underestimating your competitors You may be the strongest construction company locally, but this doesn’t mean that once you expand you will keep your top position. The power of the local competitors is usually underestimated by most business owners. But, they have a very important advantage. They know the market very well and have strong local connections. Therefore, even though your work processes and equipment are superior, you will need some time to make clients understand you are trustful, and you really bring something new on the market. Moreover, once you have discovered who your local competitors are, you can analyze their progress on the market and understand what they did wrong and what was good that placed them in this position. In addition, you also need to be prepared for a price drop. Your local competitors will have a primary interest to make you fail. So, they will most probably drop the prices to achieve this goal. Hiring the wrong branch manager When you open a branch in a different city, you need a very strong branch manager. You can choose either a local person who knows the market very well and is well-connected with the key stakeholders. But, you can also offer this opportunity to an existing employee who will find it very motivating and put all his efforts into making your business a success. Either option you choose, you need to be mindful in offering him or her an incentive to win. Your branch manager should treat this business as it was his. Thus, he will feel motivated to do everything he can to achieve your goals. In conclusion Construction is definitely not a game where you grow or die. Yes, growth can increase your profits and strengthen your brand on the market. But, if it is not done properly, growth can also kill your business as you might not be prepared for the investment and challenges which will come. About The Author:  Kristin Savage has graduated from Columbia University where she was majoring in Germanic Languages. Besides English as her mother tongue, she also speaks German and Dutch fluently. Currently, Kristin is studying Spanish and planning to obtain her Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics since she is interested in how to use her practical knowledge of language processes in everyday life. She has been a writer at Pick Writersfor a few years and is known for her thorough approach to all the tasks and aspiration to fulfill assignments with flying colors.  --------------------------------------------------------------- We are here to Help “A Little or A Lot” depending on your needs. I trust this podcast helps you understand that outsourcing your contractor's bookkeeping services to us is about more than just “doing the bookkeeping”; it is about taking a holistic approach to your entire construction company and helping support you as a contractor and as a person. We Remove Contractor's Unique Paperwork Frustrations We understand the good, bad and the ugly about owning and operating construction companies because we have had several of them and we sincerely care about you and your construction company! That is all I have for now, and if you have listened to this far please do me the honor of commenting and rating the Podcast  www.FastEasyAccounting.com/podcast Tell me what you liked, did not like, tell it as you see it because your feedback is crucial and I thank you in advance. You Deserve To Be Wealthy Because You Bring Value To Other People's Lives! I trust this will be of value to you and your feedback is always welcome at www.FastEasyAccounting.com/podcast This Is One more example of how Fast Easy Accounting is helping construction company owners across the USA including Alaska and Hawaii put more money in the bank to operate and grow your construction company. Construction accounting is not rocket science; it is a lot harder than that, and a lot more valuable to construction contractors like you so stop missing out and call Sharie 206-361-3950 or email [email protected] Contractor Bookkeeping Done For You! Thinking About Outsourcing Your Contractors Bookkeeping Services? Click On The Link Below: www.FastEasyAccounting.com/hs This guide will help you learn what to look for in outsourced construction accounting. Need Help Now? Call Sharie 206-361-3950 [email protected] Thank you very much, and I hope you understand we do care about you and all contractors regardless of whether or not you ever hire our services. Bye for now until our next episode here on the Contractors Success MAP Podcast.   Our Workflow Removes Your Paperwork Frustrations For Contractors Who Prefer To Do Your Bookkeeping Fast Easy Accounting Do-It-Yourself Construction Accounting Store Is Open Most Contractors Setup QuickBooks Or Xero Online Accounting Using: #1 EZ Step Interview inside QuickBooks Setup #2 Asked Their Tax Accountant To Setup QuickBooks #3 They Attended A How To Setup QuickBooks Class Or Seminar And QuickBooks Does Not Work The Way They Want It Too! The Answer: #1 Click Here To Buy An Entire QuickBooks Setup For Your Specific Contracting Company #2 Click Here To Buy Just The Chart Of Accounts For Your Specific Contracting Company