It takes work to make the phone ring. It takes even more work to increase the sales ticket. Customers are looking for a contractor to do a little work. If you offer three options, do you find customers usually choose the middle option? 

 

When trying someone new, they may go with a "Low Risk" by prepaying for services on a "Deal" on a contractor lead generation service. The deal allows them to set a "budget." It allows them to try you out before mentioning any additional details. Have you ever heard anything like this from a prospect: "Hello Contractor, I had nothing better to do this week, so I filled out your form and called you on the phone to ask you come to my house and while I act your tour guide because I am thinking of having some work done."? Not likely.

 

 

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Topics: Construction Marketing, Customers Vs. Clients, Clients, Inbound Marketing For Contractors, offline marketing for contractors

Employees need to fill out timecards. The most practical reason is that all employees want to get paid, early, often, and regularly.

 

For those of you that are parents, do you remember when you brought home your newborn baby? They need food, water and diaper changed. You learned all about "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" Some children who are born on a HOT summer day seem to get "overheated" quickly and do not suffer quietly. 

 

If you have employees, you may notice in some similarities to raising children because in some cases you the contractor take over where your employee's parents left off. They want their paychecks (allowance) on a regular basis, and it had better not bounce at the bank due to insufficient funds.

 

If any of your construction worker's paychecks do happen to bounce or they are not able to cash it at the bank because your construction company does not have enough money in the payroll account then most likely you will find whatever tools and equipment they have easy access to at the nearest pawn shop.

 

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Topics: Time Cards, Contractors Bookkeeping Paperwork, Time Card Issues, QuickBooks For Contractors, Construction Bookkeeping, Painless Paperless Contractor Bookkeeping Services

In the mechanical trades of the construction industry, plumbing, electrical, HVAC and related fields of irrigation, low voltage and audio / visual equipment companies there are lively discussions happening regarding "Repair Versus Replace."

 

Most of the time, the participants are more fixed in their positions and intense with passion than any political or religious discussion I have ever seen.

 

The primary question involves a deep-seated paradigm regarding the definition of honor and integrity. Is it more honorable and better for the client to treat every mechanical part as something that must have every last bit of use squeezed out of it before replacing it? Or is it better to replace it at the first sign of breakage? Or lastly is there a middle ground?

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Topics: Contractor Challenges, Contractor, Contractor Tips, finance, Contractor Operating Tips

Construction company cash flow is the movement of money in and out of your contracting business; these movements are known in accounting circles as inflow and outflow. 

 

Inflows for your construction company primarily come from the sale of goods or services to your customers, but keep in mind that inflow only occurs when you make a cash sale or collect on receivables. Cash is king! Other examples of cash inflows are borrowed funds, income derived from sales of assets, and investment income from interest.

 

Outflows for your construction company are generally the result of paying labor, material, other direct and indirect costs of goods sold and overhead expenses.

 

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Topics: Payment Collect, Contractor, Contractor Tips, finance, Contractor Operating Tips

Estimating and submitting bids are one of the most stressful and nerve-wracking sides of your construction business. It is essential to keep in mind that "break-even" in the construction business is challenging to calculate because most projects are one-of-a-kind custom jobs. Proactive contractors have systems and cost libraries with pre-priced assemblies for bidding, which works in conjunction with Strategic Construction Accounting to provide management with progress invoicing, job costing, and job profitability.

 

With poor bookkeeping, misguided judgment, and clerical errors come bad decisions on what projects to bid and not to bid on until eventually, you'll run out of time and money. This is why some construction projects fail or worse, construction companies get bankrupt. 

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Topics: Payment Collect, Contractor, Contractor Tips, finance, Contractor Operating Tips

Perhaps more. 

 

An alarming number of construction company owners are being ripped-off and driven into bankruptcy. That sounds harsh, but it's true. Whenever we see a contractor heading towards a problem, an issue, or a big disaster, we immediately raise the alarm. We are cautious about doing it so when we say there is a potential problem, our clients know we are serious.

 

Contractors by nature are tenacious, resilient and have a tremendous amount of "Grit And Determination To Succeed" which means they are not easily disturbed or prone to react hastily or rashly at the first sign of trouble. This is just one of the many qualities I sincerely admire about these wonderful men and women.

 

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Topics: Payment Collect, Contractor, Contractor Tips, finance, Contractor Operating Tips

If you are the typical construction contractor trying to keep track of your construction projects, meetings, tasks, and conversations without the tools and technologies you could be living in a nightmare. You can either keep on "Powering Through"- spend your life endlessly chasing details, missing appointments, suffer untold losses in cash flow and profits; or you can start developing a plan and work on your business.

 

You may be getting your construction projects done with sheer will-power, but the lack of processes, business plan, and strategy will eventually wear you down.

 

Successful contractors improve processes all year long. Your construction company can benefit from this system that other successful contractors are using now, which means there is no need to "Reinvent The Wheel." As your construction company grows and evolves, your processes can support the controlled and planned expansion.

 

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Topics: Payment Collect, Contractor, Contractor Tips, finance, Contractor Operating Tips

When my partner, Sharie DeHart and I, were running construction and plumbing service and repair businesses beginning in the early 1970s until 2000 we felt we did not need to pay anybody to tell us what to do because we knew exactly what to do.

 

After several very painful and extremely costly mistakes, we found the adage "Experience Is The Best Teacher...And The Most Expensive" to be oh so true!

 

We found ourselves, our family, employees, and suppliers were all riding on our Roller Coaster of Surprises, some good, some bad. On occasion, we would wake up screaming bloody murder only to discover it was the middle of the afternoon, and we were not asleep!

 

After a while, we decided perhaps there was truth to "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." I will admit I was a bit arrogant thinking since I was raised in a family of contractors that I knew a lot about construction. In fact, I knew quite a bit about what Michael Gerber calls "Working In The Business But Not On The Business."

 

At that point in the late 1970s, we decided to move to The Merry-Go-Round of a business with a Strategic Plan that could grow-up and provide us with a more predictable result.

 

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Topics: Payment Collect, Contractor, Contractor Tips, finance, Contractor Operating Tips

The one burning question contractors want to know: When is it income?

When money comes into the business, at some point it turns into income. " Money goes in and out of my business and I don't understand when it is income and when it is not ". Without proper tracking and matching of income and expenses, most construction companies never know if they made a profit until the job is over.

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Topics: Payment Collect, Contractor, Contractor Tips, finance, Contractor Operating Tips

Go through a quick search of construction/home service-based businesses near you, whether it’s a Handyman, Plumber, Painter, or a Framing company, or better yet google your competition and look at their information. Does it link to their websites? And if so, do they maintain a blog?

How many people, including you, search the web for information before making a decision – buying equipment, booking a hotel, or eating at a restaurant? While a company website establishes your credibility as an industry leader, blogging presents an excellent opportunity for you to develop a relationship with your audience, strengthens your reputation as an authority in your field, and helps you stand out from the competition. You care enough to provide your prospects and followers relevant and useful information that they can practice and apply.

When creating content, ask yourself these questions:

• What is the purpose of this blog post?
• Am I adding value?
• Why is this important to my readers?

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Topics: Marketing Ideas For Contractors That Work, Contractor Marketing, Blogging for contractors