0130: Success Tips For New Contractor Startups

This Podcast Is Episode Number 0130 And It Will Be About Tips For New Contractor Startups

 So You Are Starting A Construction Company. Perhaps yours will be building houses, a handyman business or a specialty contracting company like a plumber, electrician, HVAC, concrete or Landscape Company. Whatever it is congratulations you have or will be taking a big step toward being the Master of Your Own Destiny!

P.A.M. = Production Accounting Marketing = Pain And Misery

“Failure In Construction Is A Few Simple Errors Repeated Everyday” - Randalism

This Is The Most Popular - and yet the hardest and least profitable way to operate a construction company. Contractors thinking and doing what they did while working for somebody else instead of thinking and doing what a business person does.

Production First

This Is The Most Popular - and yet the hardest and least profitable way to operate a construction company. Contractors thinking and doing what they did while working for somebody else instead of thinking and doing what a business person does.

Production is the first thing they think about and do and it happens when a contractor has one or two jobs from friends and relatives. They do what they have always done....they put their tool bags on and go to work!

There is a perception - They have very little or no overhead and since they want to make a name for themselves they work real cheap.

Some contractors - Refuse to markup materials or sub-contractor invoices because they want to save their customers money. Everybody needs to benefit from all transactions to keep things fair. If the contractor spends time, effort and expertise they deserve to be paid.

Some Big Hearted - Good Natured Contractors labor under the illusion that if they work real hard and keep their prices low their business will magically prosper. The reality is they own a JOB, with little or no health insurance, no retirement fund and no benefits!

Accounting Second
When Tax Forms - Nasty letters, assorted mail and phone calls from the State Department of Revenue, Workers Compensation, Employment Security Department and the IRS 940 and 941 notices pile up you will start thinking about your bookkeeping problem.

Bounce Some Checks - Pay bank fees and pay returned check fees to the stores. Go to another bank and repeat the process twice more.

The Bookkeeping Path - Do-It-Yourself / Get Stuck / Take QuickBooks Class / Still Stuck / Hire Cheap Bookkeeper / Lose Sleep / Get Aggravated / Fix The Aggravation and put a Bookkeeping system in place and start making money!

Marketing Last
When The Low Hanging Fruit - Friends and relatives with "honey-Do-Projects" are done they wait for referrals to come rolling in and yet for some unknown reason the phone hardly ever rings.

When The Phone Rings - It is a "Customer" Not a "Client". There is a HUGE difference between them. A "Customer" is looking for an "honest contractor" also known as someone who works for less than dirt wages and will throw in lots of extras at NO CHARGE!

Business Cards - Are printed and words like "Quality" "Best" "Low Prices" which means nothing because Quality and speed are the standard operating procedure now. 

The question is what makes this company different from all the other contractors?  What is their USP (Unique Selling Proposition)?

M.A.P. = Marketing Accounting Production = Success And Happiness

“Success In Construction Is A Simple Disciplines Practiced Everyday” - Randalism

This Is The Least Popular - and yet the most profitable way to operate a construction company. Contractors thinking and acting like a business person.
Marketing First

Stop, Look, Listen And Think - Understand the impact of the 80-20 Rule for contractors:

> 20% of your customers normally generate 80% of your net profit.
> 20% of the goods or services you sell contribute 80% of your revenue
> 20% or 2 out of 10 of your staff create 80% of the value for your customers.

The frightening consequence of the 80/20 rule is that 8 out of 10 hours we spend at work drive almost no value to the bottom line and the biggest drain is trying to save money doing our own contractor bookkeeping services instead of reviewing the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) Reports. Especially now when they can be accessed 24/7 without opening QuickBooks for Contractors.

The most important value good contractor bookkeeping services can bring your construction company is an understanding of where your 20% most profitable clients are and they are rarely who you think they are. They are found inside the Job Costing Reports including the Job Profitability Reports.  

By generating daily reports that uncover the best customers, jobs, services, or products, you will soon see how you can refocus your internal efforts on doing more good work.

This is the great contribution a company receives from good QuickBooks® data and from using QuickBooks® the ‘right-way’.

What are you good at and what do they love to pay you money to do for them? What jobs have you done that made a positive difference in people lives? What projects did you have so much fun doing that time seemed to fly by?

Take the information - Outlined above and write a story to describe the people you enjoy working for because they are your "Prime Customers" and they are your target market.

Document - The demographic and psychographic profiles of the people you enjoy working for and why.

Develop Your Business Plan - Using the Eleven Steps Program and pay close attention to the marketing section because that is where you will decide what niche of the construction market you will dominate. Know that in time your company will become legendary to such a degree you clients will be raving fans and referrals will be part of your marketing strategy. Nordstrom has been very successful at this and it would be wise to learn from the leaders.

Accounting Next
Outsource Your Contractors Accounting Services - To a firm that specializes in Construction Bookkeeping and Accounting because it is a chore for you and in most cases we can do the job for much less than an in-house bookkeeper because we have a Contractors Bookkeeping Services System.

But Wait There's More- We have remote servers which means you can have 24/7 access to your QuickBooks desktop version

Learn To Read Your Financial Reports - We can guide you on which reports to pay attention too and why certain reports can make you more money than other ones. Learn More about the KPI Reports Here

Production Last
The Final Stage - To launching your successful construction firm. This is where all your hard work pays off.

At this point you have some basic operation manuals in place for your field and office employees. It is the document that answers the same questions you will be asked 100's of times. It is the Wikipedia of your company. "This is Who We Are And This Is How Things Are Done Here".

Now You Have - A road map to success and all you have left is to assemble the tools, equipment, employees and setup your trucks and/or vans and go to work!

I trust this podcast helps you understand that outsourcing your contractors bookkeeping services to us is about more than just “doing the bookkeeping”; it is about taking holistic approach to your entire construction company and helping support you as a contractor and as a person.

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 this far please do me the honor of commenting and rating 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.

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 sharie@fasteasyaccounting.com

Thinking About Outsourcing Your Contractors Bookkeeping Services?

Click On The Link Below:

www.FastEasyAccounting.com/hs

Need Help Now?

Call Sharie 206-361-3950

sharie@fasteasyaccounting.com

In closing, I want to caution you that we may or may not be a good fit for your contracting company. This guide will help you learn what to look for in outsourced construction accounting.

Thank you very much and I hope you understand we really 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.

Warm Regards,

Randal DeHart | Contractors Accountant