Written by Zach Hansen
2021 is the year to get back on track after the upsets of 2020. If it’s your primary goal to try and grow your business this year, then there are some simple steps that you should consider to land more jobs. Follow these steps and you could stand to make a lot of profit in 2021.
Determine Where Your Strengths Lie
Before you’re able to focus on your business you need to find out what you’re doing well and what you could do better. When assessing your strengths, it’s critical to be brutally honest with yourself. Take the time to do an overview of every aspect of business and consider what you’re doing best and what areas need some work. For example, you may discover that your company is excellent at some projects, but lacking expertise in other areas.
This doesn’t mean that you need to put your time and energy into improving the areas that you’re weaker at. In fact, it may be more beneficial to be known as a reliable and professional contractor in a more niche area rather than being average across the board.
When assessing weaknesses and strengths, also assess the competition at the same time. Take a look at other businesses in your area and see what’s working for them. Also, try to take advantage of opportunities that they aren’t.
Build a Top-Quality Team
Growing your business means building up a professional and reliable team. Without a good team, your business probably won’t expand successfully. Look into hiring more experienced professionals, and once they are hired, ensure that you’re providing the type of work environment that retains employees and allows them to grow. Work on developing relationships with all of your employees and subcontractors too. It can also be helpful to create clear-cut goals so that your team knows what direction you’re heading in.
When building a team it’s also important to work on your managerial skills. You’ll struggle to retain employees if you aren’t the type of leader that they look up to and want to work for.
Network
Growing a contracting business in 2021 will be nearly impossible without good networking. Take the time to connect with other professionals using online tools, especially social media sites. Also consider introducing yourself to professionals in other related fields, such as landscapers or property managers. As things start to open up a little bit more in the wake of the pandemic there are also more opportunities to network in person. Consider attending conferences and trade shows if they’re open in your area, or maybe just small local events.
Work On Your Customer Contacts
Beyond networking, you also need to think carefully about lead generation. Putting time and effort into generating quality leads, and then following up on them properly, can help your business’s expansion. After all, you need customers to grow.
Once you’ve found clients, you need to reach out to them and maintain a relationship. Consider relying more on texts and less on phone calls to do this. You can actually set more appointments and close more jobs by utilizing the convenience of text messages rather than calling customers. Most people these days won’t answer phone calls from unknown numbers, so a text allows you to introduce yourself and get your foot in the door.
Invest For The Long Run
Never think short-term when you’re trying to grow a company. You need to put in place practices and make investments that are going to benefit you long into the future. Growth can be exciting but doing so too quickly can actually damage your business. Rapid growth often leads to unhappy employees because you can’t keep up with the pace at which you’re moving. Take it slow and steady and understand that the more solid of a foundation you build now the better off your business will be in the future.
Try to grow at a rate that enables you to avoid rushing to complete jobs and allows you to add resources as needed. When planning to grow long-term it’s also vital that you dedicate resources to training and equipment. This might be expensive but it’s only going to help in the long run. You may also consider outsourcing some aspects of your business. Companies that begin to expand often outsource tasks such as accounting and marketing so they have more time to dedicate to the growth of the company itself.
You need to put in some critical steps to build a solid foundation for growth. The rapid growth that’s undertaken in the wrong manner can actually damage a business. As the old saying goes, slow and steady wins the race when it comes to company growth.