4 Strategies to Grow Your Contractor Business in 2022
There comes a time in every business owner’s career when they decide it’s time to grow the business and expand to new horizons. And while growing a business is no easy feat, there are some things you can do to make your path to the top quicker and easier.
Of course, the way you grow your business will depend on the niche you’re in. If you’re a contractor, there are a lot of chances for improvement since the global construction market will grow to $8 trillion by 2030.
If you’re not sure how to achieve the growth you want, these strategies will help.
Implement work order software
A work order tool allows you to create and manage work orders and service requests, typically for maintenance tasks. Work order software usually comes folded into a specific category known as computerized maintenance management systems, or CMMS software for short.
Here are some of the features you will find in this tool:
- A ticketed maintenance system. With this software, you will be able to organize and streamline the entire ticket creation process as well as the processing life cycle. It also comes with a sophisticated dashboard, role-based access, and an intelligent interface to make ticketing more efficient.
- Asset resource. Whenever you need to retrieve assets, all of the information resources will be readily available to you in the system and you can have the needed information within seconds.
- Recurring work orders. If you’re using a preventive maintenance plan to reduce equipment deprecation, work order software can help you by automating the scheduling. You can simply choose custom dates and create recurring work orders without any issues.
Use contractor agreements
If you’re an independent contractor, you’re much more flexible with your hours and workload than those who are just employees. Companies hire independent contractors quite frequently, and instead of making them employees, they draw up an independent contractor agreement.
These agreements ensure both parties are clear about the work that needs to be done, the time frame during which it needs to be completed, and any other details that need to be discussed. A simple independent contractor agreement should be drawn up for each new project you take on as an independent contractor.
While different projects will require different additions to the contract, there are a few things that you should always include:
- The name of the contractor and the person/company that is hiring them.
- Description of the services the contractor will provide.
- The timeframe for the project.
- Payment amount and terms.
- Cases for contract termination.
- General terms and conditions.
- An agreement on how changes to the original contract will be handled.
- Both parties’ signatures.
Choose one area to specialize in
Globally, 62% of contractors report high levels of difficulty finding skilled workers. And while there are many reasons for that, one of the main reasons is that most contractors try hard to be skilled in multiple areas while being without a proper skillset or specialty.
If you offer the same services as all general contractors, there is no reason why a company should hire you over someone else.
To ensure you always have something to offer to the market, consider specializing your business while still being able to provide general services. Do some research to find out what other independent contractors lack and try to capitalize on that while giving yourself a competitive advantage.
Don’t forget about customer service
There are many ways customer service catapults your business into success. The way you treat the people who hire you for a project can make or break your business.
One thing you can do to ensure your customer service is good is to make yourself available to clients at all times during your business hours. Remember that people want to speak to another human being, not just talk to a robot voice that will provide them with dry information.
If it’s impossible to have someone sitting by the phone during business hours, you can send business calls straight to your cellphone if you’re not in the office.
Additionally, don’t forget to clearly state your business time on your website, business cards, social media channels, and your physical office location. That way, there will be no confusion among customers about when they can reach you.
Finally, you should set up an automated social media and email messaging system that will reply to clients even during off-hours.
Final thoughts
Growing a business in 2022 is much easier to do than it was just a few decades ago. With so many tools at your disposal and vast knowledge of what clients expect from businesses, you can play your cards right and achieve the success you’ve always dreamed about. Hopefully, the abovementioned strategies will improve your business’s bottom line.
