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4 Simple ways to manage cost in the construction i...

4 Simple ways to manage cost in the construction industry

Construction is a great industry to get into and there’s a lot of money to be made, but starting your own construction company is very tough. One of the major hurdles that you’re going to face is the start-up cost. A lot of businesses can be started from home with very little financial input but with construction, you simply can’t do that. As soon as you land your first job, you need to cover the cost of all of the equipment and materials that you’ll need and that’s going to be expensive. A lot of construction companies fail because they don’t manage their costs effectively in the first few months and years. If you’re thinking about starting your own construction company, you need to read these tips on managing your co

Estimate Costs Accurately

When you quote a price for a job, it’s so important to be accurate. If you make a mistake and suddenly realize halfway through the job that it’s going to cost a lot more than you first thought, you can’t turn around to the customer and start demanding more money. Instead, you’ll have to cover those costs yourself and that’s going to eat into your profit margins. When you’re quoting a job, always make sure that you’re thorough in calculating the costs and don’t forget to take into account any potential problems that might occur during the job.

Spend More On Materials

This might seem like a terrible way of saving money, but you’ve got to consider the long term. If you’re doing poor quality work with cheap materials, the job isn’t going to last very long and it’s likely that you’ll have to go back and fix it at your own cost. That’s why it’s better to buy good quality and just do the job once. When you’re looking for a plastic tubing & extrusion manufacturer, ask about the materials and processes that they use. When you’re buying tools, get the more expensive ones that are going to last you longer. If you buy cheap, you buy twice, so you can actually save yourself a lot of money by spending a bit more money on your materials and equipment.

Don’t Neglect Online Marketing

So many businesses use social media to market themselves effectively but a lot of construction companies neglect it. It’s true that a lot of your jobs are going to come from word of mouth but that doesn’t mean that you can’t make good use of social media marketing and a good business website. It’s so much cheaper than other more traditional forms of marketing like leafleting, for example, so you should make use of it where you can.

Hire Multipurpose Labor

Staff costs are one of your biggest expenses so anything that you can do to reduce them is a big bonus. When you’re hiring people, consider the different skills that they have and try to find multipurpose labor. For example, you don’t just want to hire a separate electrician, plumber, and bricklayer. Instead, you can save money by hiring people that can fill more than one of those roles.

Your construction company has a much better chance of survival if you can manage your running costs more effectively.  

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Christine Buske is a former academic who left science at the bench, and now considers herself a woman in tech. She is a frequently invited speaker, and enjoys talking about career transformation (particularly leaving academia for the business world), tech, issues around women in tech, product management, agile, and outreach. She is a proud Canadian resident, and qualifies as a "serial expat".

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