The 7 Deadly Sins of Building a Contractor Business

The 7 Deadly Sins of Building a Contractor Business

By Karan Dhillon, The Contractors' CoachBusinessEducation
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The 7 Deadly Sins of Building a Contractor Business episodes

  • The 7 Deadly Sins of Building a Contractor Business - 10 - About The Contractors' Coach


    About

    Since 2008 The Contractors Coach has been providing
    business coaching services to Contractors from California all
    the way to Sweden.

    We have been helping owners of construction businesses
    become business owners, instead of feeling like their
    business owns them. This includes not just developing
    a better business, but becoming people who think like
    business owners. This helps contractors develop the
    mindset of a successful business owner, and creates a
    business that is run through systems and teams.
    Listen for more!
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  • The 7 Deadly Sins of Building a Contractor Business - 09 - Sin #7 – If I’m Really Good at What I Do, the Business Will Come and I Will Eventually Be More Successful


    Sin #7 – If I’m Really Good
    at What I Do, the Business
    Will Come and I Will
    Eventually Be More
    Successful

    If there is one thing I hope this book has helped you see it is
    this: There is a big difference between being good at your
    trade and being good at your business.

    Most contractors strike out on their own because they have
    good technical skills, inherited the company from their
    family, or wanted to fire their boss. These are all good
    reasons to start a business, but as you know, they are not
    nearly enough to create a real lifestyle business – as opposed
    to a never-ending job.

    This last sin is about letting go of the idea that "if you build
    it, they will come." Yes, it is critical to provide your clients
    with high-quality work; but if you really want the life you
    say you want, you have to develop your entrepreneurial
    skills just as much.
    Listen for more!
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  • The 7 Deadly Sins of Building a Contractor Business - 08 - Sin #6 – I Just Need to Sell More Jobs to Make More Money


    Sin #6 – I Just Need to Sell
    More Jobs to Make More
    Money

    Let me ask you an important question: How much money are
    you actually making on each job?

    If you do not know the answer off the top of your head we
    have got a problem.

    You see, it is not enough just to sell more jobs. You need to
    sell more jobs that are more profitable. You can have all the
    volume in the world, but if you are earning mere pennies (or
    worse, are actually losing money in the process) by selling
    more jobs, you may be putting yourself into debt or out of
    business even faster! You might as well be flipping burgers
    – at least then you would get a free lunch every once in a
    while.
    Listen for more!
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  • The 7 Deadly Sins of Building a Contractor Business - 07 - Sin #5 – I'm a Contractor, Not a Salesman!


    Sin #5 – I'm a Contractor,
    Not a Salesman!

    Most contractors have been there: that desperate and anxious
    feeling that comes when it is time to close a sale. You are
    worried that you will not be able to say the right thing,
    answer the prospects' questions in a smooth and persuasive
    way, prevent them from saying those dreaded words that
    almost always mean no: "Let me think about it."

    In fact, you might even feel frustrated that you have to sell at
    all! "After all," you say to yourself, "I'm a contractor, NOT a
    salesman!"

    Of all the sins of the mind that contractors commit, this is
    probably the most common (not to mention the most difficult
    to overcome). Fortunately, I am about to help you eliminate
    your fear and hesitation by showing you how to think about
    sales in a whole new way.
    Listen for more!
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  • The 7 Deadly Sins of Building a Contractor Business - 06 - Sin #4 – When Times Are Tough I Need to Hunker Down, Save Money, and Wait for the Economy to Turn


    Sin #4 – When Times Are Tough
    I Need to Hunker Down,
    Save Money, and Wait
    for the Economy to Turn

    Let me introduce you to a fundamental business principle:

    You can never save your way into prosperity.

    Never.

    Similarly, you can't cost-cut your way to growth. Nor can
    you expand your business by hiding in it.

    Are we clear?

    You see, when times are tough, the business that used to
    come from referrals dries up, clients become more price-
    conscious, competition gets tighter, and margins shrink. And
    as a result, businesses collapse by the thousands.

    Do not fall into the same trap.

    The truth is, you can only spend your way to wealth. Now
    don't get me wrong: you must be smarter, more strategic, and
    more precise in the way you spend your resources – but if
    you want to survive, you absolutely must learn how to spend,
    and spend well.

    "Spend on what?" you are probably asking.
    Listen for more!
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  • The 7 Deadly Sins of Building a Contractor Business - 05 - Sin #3 – I’m the Expert and I Know What My Customers Need

    Sin #3 – I’m the Expert
    and I Know What My
    Customers Need

    (Or as one contractor, a rather cut and dry fellow, put it,
    “Even if my customers had a mind, they couldn’t make it
    up!”)

    In the entire world of business there is only one way to make
    money: Find out what people want and sell it to them.
    Period. End of story.

    But so many contractors fall into the trap of completely
    bypassing what the customers want and head directly into
    what the contractor thinks they need!

    Look, your knowledge of your trade is critical, and you may
    offer the best option based on your informed opinion – but if
    you are not offering something your clients really want, they
    will not hire you; or worse, if they do hire you, they will not
    like you very much once the job is completed... and they will
    tell their friends! Listen for more!
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  • The 7 Deadly Sins of Building a Contractor Business - 04 - Sin #2 – If I Want Something Done Right, I Have Got to Do it on My Own

    Sin #2 – If I Want Something
    Done Right, I Have Got to
    Do it on My Own

    It is no secret that most contractors are in business because
    they are good at their trade.

    Business growth expert Michael Gerber says that most small
    business owners – and contractors are no exception – are
    frustrated technicians who became entrepreneurs on the side.
    In other words, chances are you became a contractor because
    you are good at a certain trade and decided to go into
    business for yourself.

    But being good at a trade and being good at running a
    business in that trade are two completely separate things!
    You need completely different skill-sets to be successful. So
    if you are a great plumber, it does not mean you will
    automatically be great at running a plumbing business.

    One of the most critical skills every business owner has to
    master is hiring. Listen for more!
    0 min
  • The 7 Deadly Sins of Building a Contractor Business - 03 - Sin #1 – I Am Already Out of Time; If I Grow My Business, I Will Be Even Busier!

    Sin #1 – I Am Already Out of
    Time; If I Grow My
    Business, I Will Be Even
    Busier!

    If you are like most contractors I know, you are running
    yourself ragged.

    You make it to the end of one day only to collapse into bed
    for a few fitful hours of sleep, then get up and do it all over
    again – day after day.

    You are stressed; you are exhausted; your bank balance is
    not anywhere near where you would like it to be – but when
    someone asks you if you would like to grow your business,
    the first response out of your mouth is, "No way! I don't even
    have the time to handle the business I already have!"

    Working Hard or Working Smart?

    Fortunately, there is a better way.
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  • The 7 Deadly Sins of Building a Contractor Business - 02 - Introduction

    Introduction

    Are you "living in sin" in your contracting business?

    No, no, not that kind of sin. I'm talking about the kind of
    "sin" that gets in the way of your ability to be successful in
    business. A sin of mindset, of the way you think.

    You see, small-minded thinking will keep your small
    business small – or kill it outright.

    On the other hand, if you can master the mindset of success
    it will become almost impossible for you to fail!

    The bottom line is that the way you think about your
    business as a contractor determines your success far more
    than anything you do. After all, every action is preceded by
    a thought – which means the idea had to have been there
    before the action occurred.
    0 min

About The 7 Deadly Sins of Building a Contractor Business

From the publisher's feed

Are you "living in sin" in your contracting business?