How to Grow Your Contracting Company Responsibly

A sound strategy for sustained growth is the only real way to secure your company’s future. This involves bidding on the right jobs as opposed to the biggest jobs.

Large jobs may have a high gross, but you could lose more than money if you bid on them before you’re ready.

Sustaining Responsible Growth

As you grow your contracting company, you will acquire more equipment. In the companies infancy, it’s best to bid on jobs which require equipment you already own. Just the cost of training someone to use a new machine can be more trouble than it’s worth. It’s always good when a job allows for the purchase of the necessary equipment while still netting a substantial gain. However, smaller jobs can be more financially rewarding when all factors are considered.

Factors that decrease profits

• Longer time to complete the project

• Price of materials/new equipment

• Manpower/additional overtime

• Additional insurance

• Lost hours

Growing Pains

New employees can be a liability. Fortunately, good employees are a company’s greatest asset. A trustworthy staff will work diligently. Bidding on the right job is so important, because — to complete them — companies aren’t forced to hire dozens of new employees.

Gradually building a reliable team of professionals allows the company to build a strong reputation as well as a steady client base. Drug screening employees leads to decreased insurance rates in most instances, and background checks prevent the hiring of employees with questionable pasts.

Past problems detected by employee screening:

• Embezzlement- There are people who prey upon unsuspecting entrepreneurs

• Insurance fraud- Yet another predatory practice of bad employees

• Felony Convictions- The employer is responsible for the employees’ actions

• Drug Use- Lower insurance premiums

• Employment Gaps- Reliable employees will typically have a consistent work history

Being proactive is always better than being reactive. Growing responsibly consists of selecting the right employees at the right time. In order to grow your contracting company, you must first grow your reputation. It’s important to remember that growing stronger means avoiding growing pains, and taking the right jobs over the biggest jobs.

Signs of growing pains:

• No time to screen employees

• Multiple negative reviews from customers

• Multiple injured employees

• Losing money on jobs