Whatever your reason for doing it, starting your own construction business, as with starting any other kind of business, comes with a lot of work and a lot of paperwork. Luckily for you, we’ve provided some helpful tips and reminders to get you started planning and building your unique brand, along with the particular laws and requirements you need to keep in mind.
Social media presence is a must
As with any other business nowadays, curating a social media, or at least an online, presence is necessary to help your business grow and reach a wider audience. If you’re tech-savvy, you may want to create and keep up numerous social media profiles for your business or hire a social media manager to do it for you.
You can also pay for advertising on other sites or do your advertising with your own social media pages. Especially during the pandemic, when working from home is still recommended more than in the field, advertising through the internet provides a great opportunity for your business to be seen.
Start small and expand from there
Accept that you’re still a small business, and while you might have the capital for something as expensive as a construction business, you might still have a long ways to go. Whether you plan to remain on the local scale or expand to something bigger in the future, it’s always a good idea to keep your ambitions and expectations small before gradually expanding it to accommodate something larger.
This could mean a smaller workspace, a modest workforce, or less equipment than you had initially planned. But if you plan to expand in the future, it’s all a matter of building up your reputation and getting more profit to make that plan a reality. If you’re worried about not being able to do many jobs with a smaller workforce, you can start by taking smaller jobs as well. Nothing too big or grand.
After all, the big giants of the industry had to start somewhere. Plus, you’re still testing out the waters. Once you’re sure that you have enough room and capital to grow your small business into what you want, then you can begin to think about expanding.
Invest in safe and reliable equipment
If there’s one thing you may want to splurge on, other than perhaps insurance, it’s your equipment. You can never be too careful when it comes to something as delicate and potentially hazardous as construction. Besides keeping your field workers safe, higher quality equipment ensures that you get the job done in the most efficient way possible.
You can buy a good deal of essential equipment — from forklifts, quality backhoe loaders, and excavators — from any reliable dealer, so long as both the dealer and the equipment’s brand are well-trusted and of high quality. Since you’re starting as a small local business, you might start with a small quantity, but the quality of the machinery should make up for that.
Besides heavy on-site machinery, you might also want to invest in construction management software to help streamline the process. It can help you keep track of your tasks, jobs, sales, and orders. You can access it straight from your smartphone, so you don’t have to worry about losing important papers or leaving them at home.
Get all the necessary paperwork and permits as soon as possible
The first thing you should probably do when starting your own construction company is to ensure that you have all the necessary business permits and essential paperwork filled out and submitted. Before you can even begin to think of your equipment, you’ll have to think of a name for your company, decide on a business structure, and register as a contractor, among other things. Depending on the area, you might be required to have the right permits and a city license on hand as well.
We know it can be tedious and confusing, especially for someone just starting, but getting all the paperwork done from the start can save you a lot of time and trouble in the future. For a comprehensive list of all the requirements for a small business, take a look at this resource.
Don’t forget insurance
As a construction company, you need to have contractor liability insurance in case things go wrong on-site. No matter how safely you play it, there is no guarantee that things will always turn out a hundred percent fine. Accidents can happen at any time, especially on a construction site, and it’s always better to be ready when or if they happen.
As a small business owner, you are responsible for your health insurance and your workers and employees. Like with your equipment, insurance is one other thing you don’t want to skimp out on.
Be aware of OSHA guidelines
This should be common knowledge, but always be aware of OSHA guidelines and make sure that all your employees are kept up to speed. Especially during a pandemic, when field workers have a higher risk of contracting COVID, it’s important to know what you can do to prevent it and ensure that all your employees are healthy and safe.
