5 Mistakes to Avoid When Running Your Construction Business
Three professionals on Houzz share the lessons they’ve learned while building their firms
From ensuring good client relations and maintaining business values to working with others, three construction professionals reveal some of the key tips they’ve garnered during their careers. Read on to find out if you’ve made any of these classic mistakes and discover ways to resolve them.
Contributions from: Saimir Zejneli at The Home Refurbishment Company; Alex Strikovs at Home Republic; Mariyan Stoykov at GDL Property
Contributions from: Saimir Zejneli at The Home Refurbishment Company; Alex Strikovs at Home Republic; Mariyan Stoykov at GDL Property
Mistake 2: Not anticipating mid-project disputes about budget
Budget can be a major cause of problems during a project, particularly when initial costs increase during the process.
Solution “It’s best to ask clients for their budget, so you can work around that,” Saimir Zejneli says. He believes this is the best way to avoid wasting time or causing problems later on.
“It’s easy to get into a dispute with clients if the second fix is included in the quote, as clients are likely to choose more expensive products,” he adds.
He recommends setting a budget for just the first fix. For example, a £10,000 kitchen budget would include supply of the kitchen units, electrics and plumbing, but the client would choose additional items, such as appliances, taps, sinks and tiling.
“You can give clients the links of traders you have accounts with to get a discount, but when they’re able to decide on their own second fix materials, they’re in control of their budget,” he says.
Consider using a management tool such as Houzz Pro to help you clearly convey costs to homeowners. Software like this enables you to easily share quotes and make updates in real time that you can quickly send to your clients.
Budget can be a major cause of problems during a project, particularly when initial costs increase during the process.
Solution “It’s best to ask clients for their budget, so you can work around that,” Saimir Zejneli says. He believes this is the best way to avoid wasting time or causing problems later on.
“It’s easy to get into a dispute with clients if the second fix is included in the quote, as clients are likely to choose more expensive products,” he adds.
He recommends setting a budget for just the first fix. For example, a £10,000 kitchen budget would include supply of the kitchen units, electrics and plumbing, but the client would choose additional items, such as appliances, taps, sinks and tiling.
“You can give clients the links of traders you have accounts with to get a discount, but when they’re able to decide on their own second fix materials, they’re in control of their budget,” he says.
Consider using a management tool such as Houzz Pro to help you clearly convey costs to homeowners. Software like this enables you to easily share quotes and make updates in real time that you can quickly send to your clients.
Mistake 3: Losing your purpose as your business grows
As you begin to scale up your firm and get busier and busier, it’s easy to forget the purpose and values you started out with.
Solution Alex suggests the best way to ensure you don’t lose those values is to actually increase them as your business grows.
“Over the past 10 years, our values have been developing with our growth, from facilitating positive life changes to strengthening society wellbeing,” he says, explaining that his firm does this by using sustainable technologies and systems, educating the team and clients on environmentally friendly solutions, and getting involved in community support schemes.
As you begin to scale up your firm and get busier and busier, it’s easy to forget the purpose and values you started out with.
Solution Alex suggests the best way to ensure you don’t lose those values is to actually increase them as your business grows.
“Over the past 10 years, our values have been developing with our growth, from facilitating positive life changes to strengthening society wellbeing,” he says, explaining that his firm does this by using sustainable technologies and systems, educating the team and clients on environmentally friendly solutions, and getting involved in community support schemes.
Mistake 4: Forgetting the interior design aspect of a construction project
It can be tempting to carry out all aspects of a renovation yourself, including the design part. However, this only works if you have those particular skills. If you try to wear too many hats during a project, the quality of the finished renovation could dip.
Solution “My favourite projects are those where interior designers are involved, as it takes all the headache away when it comes to design and choosing the finishing product for clients,” Saimir says. “An interior designer will also help with a more accurate quote, as you’ll have a clearer idea of which materials customers have decided on. It also saves a lot of time, as the designer can share links, so you can check the price and quality of materials.
“Working with a good interior designer makes construction companies look professional, and customers like this,” he adds.
It can be tempting to carry out all aspects of a renovation yourself, including the design part. However, this only works if you have those particular skills. If you try to wear too many hats during a project, the quality of the finished renovation could dip.
Solution “My favourite projects are those where interior designers are involved, as it takes all the headache away when it comes to design and choosing the finishing product for clients,” Saimir says. “An interior designer will also help with a more accurate quote, as you’ll have a clearer idea of which materials customers have decided on. It also saves a lot of time, as the designer can share links, so you can check the price and quality of materials.
“Working with a good interior designer makes construction companies look professional, and customers like this,” he adds.
Mistake 5: Making timeline promises you can’t keep
Don’t feel under pressure to agree to a schedule before you’re completely sure how long a project will actually take. Problems will arise if that promised schedule goes awry.
Solution Saimir recommends you don’t commit to a starting date with a client before the structural drawings are in place, and the party wall agreement and Planing Permissions are accepted. “There’s no point agreeing to finish the project within three or four months when planing or structural drawings often take longer than that,” he says. “Customers will be uncomfortable with delays and might also ask for a late penalty.”
“We look at all our construction projects from the perspective of the success triangle: shortest time, a competitive price and outstanding quality,” Alex says. “Some years ago, we started to educate our clients that one of those three factors would have to suffer – for example, if you want superior quality, you either need to spend a lot of money or have an extended programme. At the same time, we do constantly scrutinise our operations to try to create an equal triangle.”
Tell us…
Do you have any valuable tips you’d like to share with other construction pros? Add your ideas and advice to the Comments.
Don’t feel under pressure to agree to a schedule before you’re completely sure how long a project will actually take. Problems will arise if that promised schedule goes awry.
Solution Saimir recommends you don’t commit to a starting date with a client before the structural drawings are in place, and the party wall agreement and Planing Permissions are accepted. “There’s no point agreeing to finish the project within three or four months when planing or structural drawings often take longer than that,” he says. “Customers will be uncomfortable with delays and might also ask for a late penalty.”
“We look at all our construction projects from the perspective of the success triangle: shortest time, a competitive price and outstanding quality,” Alex says. “Some years ago, we started to educate our clients that one of those three factors would have to suffer – for example, if you want superior quality, you either need to spend a lot of money or have an extended programme. At the same time, we do constantly scrutinise our operations to try to create an equal triangle.”
Tell us…
Do you have any valuable tips you’d like to share with other construction pros? Add your ideas and advice to the Comments.
There’s immense value in being able to delegate tasks, but in practice it can be hard to relinquish control. If you can’t trust others to give advice or take over work, you can find yourself overwhelmed.
Solution “Initially, leading a construction team means knowing everything about all of your projects, workers, stakeholders, techniques and suppliers,” Alex Strikovs says. “But, as the company grows, it’s inevitable you’ll start bringing in bright new individuals who you can distribute your workload and responsibilities among. The team is at the core of every company and the sooner you can organise it, the quicker the company will develop.”
“Never underestimate the importance of your team’s comments; they see things from a perspective you can’t,” Mariyan Stoykov says. “What you learn in time is that bringing people together to discuss and overcome challenges has a cohering effect.”