Monthly Archives: June 2017

Promote your heavy equipment business through social media

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Social media has recently turned into a much powerful source to catch the attention of millions at a single go. You can express your ideas, your emotions to people you have never met in your life and they still follow you if they find your stuffs at all interesting. Such is the power of social media that many business houses are using this as a tool to promote their business. Ideally promoting any kind of business includes lot of costs which not many are able to afford especially the ones who have just made their way in an industry and do not have a godfather to get support from. It is for such people that social media has come nothing less than a boon. They can talk about their business ideas and can share their website to mass. They can do all this for a very nominal fee. Some websites do not charge a penny though.

We will discuss few primary reasons why people feel social media is more powerful than any other form of promotion channels.

Cost effective:-

When it comes to promoting heavy equipment business, it involves tremendous cost that is attached with it. You have to create a website and need to pay money to maintain it unless you have sound knowledge on how to maintain a website. Other than that, the challenge is to inform people that you are in the heavy equipment business. Your website will give a detailed picture of your profession but how to inform people about your association with this business can be quite a challenge. This is wherein the social media steps in and allows you to connect to other users and help you inform others about your profession. You are in a way creating your brand image and asking people to give you work. Websites like LinkedIn are the most effective social media websites as far as promoting your business is concerned. You save a good deal of money while you are busy on a promotion spree as you have to pay a very nominal fee to the service provider.

Creates a platform where the giver and the doer meet:-

Social media provides a platform where the person who gives the work is able to meet the person who can do the work. So for instance, if you are looking for aggressive marketing guy to market your machines then you can just leave your requirement on the website and you will be flooded with emails or calls from people who feel fit for the job. Simultaneously, you can also pick some random profiles based on your requirement and send them an email checking if they are interested for the job.

Talk about your website on social media:-

You can’t put everything about your work on the social media website. Or else there would not have been the need to create your company’s website. But what you can do is talk about your website to people who are interested in buying heavy equipment. Tell them the different kinds of offers you can give them and if you are ready to ship it to different states.

Heavy Equipment Welders

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Fixing up heavy equipment is very critical especially when you are in middle of an important project. There have been numerous such instances when the heavy equipment has stopped functioning just because a particular part of it has gone faulty and it needs to be replaced. In situation like this, a person who knows how to cut the portion out of the machine and put the replaced part back on it plays a pivotal role. This can’t be done by any lay person. Not even an operator who works all his time inside the cabin can do this as long as he is not trained in it. Here comes the role of a welder.

The work of the welder is to cut the portion that has been identified as the problem, prepare the new part and then put it back by welding it and then eventually cleaning the stuff. These are basically the 3 steps that a welder does when he is working on heavy equipment. Other than that, there are also companies who buy used heavy equipment which are first dismantled and then installed with new parts. This work also requires welding skills and therefore the work of a welder is required by such companies.

Special training needed to become welders:-

As one require training to understand heavy equipment and operate it, in the similar fashion when one takes up the job to fix heavy equipment they have to undergo a special training on welding. The mechanics who work to fix machines are necessarily good welders but this does not mean that all mechanics know to weld. However, if you know to weld heavy equipment you have a brighter chance to become a good mechanic. Therefore, folks who aim to become good mechanics train themselves into welding machines.

Welders should know to cut things:-

Welders do not necessarily mean people who can join things but it also extends to cutting a part of a machine. Welders use oxy-fuel to cut metal. Some also use plasma for the same purpose. The most common form of cutting done is through oxy-fuel and it can be found in almost every service trucks. Plasma is however faster than oxy-fuel and can even cut an aluminum or stainless steel sheet which can’t be done using an oxy-fuel. This basic information should be known by the welders before they perform their task. Once they are done with the cutting work the next step is to sooth the rough edges so that the new part can be installed properly. Removing the rough edges can be a challenge to most welders as it is a piece of sharp work and they need to ensure that they have removed the slightest of remnants/cracks.

Huge demand in the construction industry:-

Heavy equipment welders in particular are in huge demand in the construction industry. They are usually offered high salary and someone who is experienced can demand more from the company. Package is perhaps not a constraint for the right candidate. It is just that the welder should know his work well and can complete the assigned work with precision.

How to implement a safety program

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Forming rules is to a larger extent a simple job. What is rather difficult is to implement the rules on the ground level. It takes a lot of hardships on the part of the people who are been assigned the job to execute a program. They have to work hard to explain the folks the reason why the change has been brought and what good it is for them. You will also find few guys who will not agree with the new program and will be reluctant to participate. These challenges need to be addressed and sorted out as well. When a construction company comes up with a safety program, it means that the overall employees working in the company have to now follow some extra rules which they are not used to. Bringing something all of a sudden can be a little difficult for people to accept and therefore they might not take it sportingly even if the program is for their good.

A construction company while trying to implement a safety program needs to keep certain facts into perspective and then gradually try to bring in the change.

Make it a part of their habit:-

The reason why many construction workers do not want to wear those extra safety belts is because they have never worn one and when they are asked to attach extra load on their body they might not be comfortable with the idea. Therefore, one can primarily deal with this by bringing in the change gradually and make them used to it. You can ask them to wear a bit of extra accessories but you inform them well in advance that the company is intending to provide the workers with additional safety gadgets and people should be wearing them so that they can work safely. This will bring in a sort of excitement amongst the people and they will welcome the decision.

Provide proper training before they actually start using it:-

Training your workers on following a safety program is quite essential. You may form certain safety guidelines but as long as the workers are not informed about it in advance it will not be fair enough to ask them to follow it the day you want them to follow. They just do not know what the safety program is all about and why you want them to follow it. Proper training of the safety program should be given to the workers and all their questions need to be answered so that they take the program positively and apply it on the jobsite.

Monitoring the implementation of the safety program:-

Once you have trained the workers about the importance of the safety program and have also asked them to follow, the next important thing will be to monitor if all the workers are correctly following the safety norms. In the initial stage, it might be a bit difficult for the guys to be in sync with the norms and therefore proper monitoring is required so that whenever someone is having a hard time to follow, he should be assisted and shown the correct method.

Motivate your employees through ways of cash and kind

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Paying salary to your employees is perhaps not the only way by which you can motivate them to stay and work in your company for years. Though paying salary on time will keep them happy but definitely that will not act as a motivational factor and they will never have the love for the company and will also not be displayed through their acts. Their psychology is simple. They deserve to get some extra benefits that are apart from their wages. Those extra benefits need not be through monetary gains but can also be through other virtues shown by the employer. Knowing the name of your tenured employees is one such virtue and speaking to them often for at least a minute can spark a feeling in them that the company wants them to be a part of it. Also try not to be harsh with them when they goofed up with things. Instruct your men to speak gently but sternly with them and try to get things done rather than bossing on them.

Paying bonuses can give them a good feeling:-

If you have sufficient projects in hand and are also doing well in your business, then it will be a good gesture to announce bonuses to your employees. The workers will especially feel happier by hearing such an announcement. They are often paid less than other employees in a construction company and therefore when they get to know that the company has declared bonus to all, they are probably the lot who becomes happier than the rest. However, if the company has not generated enough profits in that year and could not declare any bonus, that also should be informed to all the workers so that they do not lay any wrong expectation and later feel hurt.

Organize dinner for your workmen:-

This can be work as a good get-together where people from various departments will meet at one place and perhaps for the first time they will not talk about work and business but will be there to have fun and make the evening a memorable one. You can even organize some cultural shows where the participation of the workers will be a must. This will also allow them a chance to display their skills other than what is required in their work. Programs like these will help in strengthening the bonding of the employee and the employer. These activities do not usually happen in many construction companies and if you take the initiative and organize these activities, it will lead to lower the attrition rate of the company.

Give gifts or shopping vouchers to your employees:-

Construction companies often get shopping or restaurant vouchers from many sources. The companies can distribute those vouchers to the top performer or if it wants to give it to everybody it can do that as well. In order to motivate your employees, you do not have to spend money from your company’s reserves. It’s a gift that you get from someone and you give it out to someone else and make their day.

Check the UCC of heavy equipment before you buy one

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We all buy properties and while we search for a property, we want to ensure one thing and that is if there is any existing lien on the property. If the owner of the property is paying installments to the lender then you will find the lender holding the first lien or else the title will be in the name of the owner of the house. However, if you see any more lien on the same property then you should get cautious and inquire about the other lien holder. You just can’t put your hands in a property that has multiple liens. The title of the house should be in the name of its owner and in your case the seller. Similarly when it comes to buying heavy equipment you got to maintain the same level of caution. You have to check the UCC on the heavy equipment and only if you see all is clear that you should go ahead with the deal.

Ask the seller to show you the papers:-

Once you have decided to buy a construction machine from a dealer or a contractor or an individual, you should ask if the machine solely belongs to him and once you get the answer in positive you should then ask for the papers. Go through the document and try to understand everything that is in there. Ideally the title papers of heavy equipment are not so lengthy and complex that a layman will have problem to figure out what is written in it. However, if you find something fishy in it that raises doubt you can ask him to give the photocopy of the document so that you can get it checked with an attorney or someone who has the ability to comprehend a legal document. It is only after you are completely convinced with the authenticity of the document that you should proceed.

Ample of problems with heavy equipment with more than one lien:-

If you intend to buy construction equipment that has more than one lien, you are seriously inviting for trouble. Any real property which also includes construction machineries and has more than one lien becomes difficult to identify the real owner of the property. On the contrary, every person who has a lien is the rightful owner of the property. This means if you buy the heavy equipment and pays the amount to the seller you still can’t claim to be its sole holder. People who have their liens on the machine will bug you for no fault of yours. It can even lead to legal proceedings which will further hamper your business.

Search the serial number on UCC “Uniform Commercial Code”:-

It is quite simple to identify the name of the UCC holder if you know how to browse internet. All you got to do is go to google and key in “Uniform Commercial Code”. There you will get to know if the machine has any liens on it. Other than that a bill of sale can also act as an evidence.

It is a bouncy ride to become best heavy equipment salesman

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It is said that one should pursue the career that he likes to do. He/she should not get into something that does not interest him. Selling is one such profession where the person if he/she likes the job he can really marvel in it and if he/she does not like what he/she is doing then it can turn out to be a sour experience for him. People who are in the profession of selling often aims to become the best salesman but through their journey of selling stuffs they experience so much of hardships that most of the folks do not want to continue with the profession any longer and just give it up. The work of a salesman is indeed a tough one where he not only has to convince people to buy his product but also need to have good knowledge about the product. This means that he continuously has to work on upgrading his knowledge pertaining to the product and at the same time increase his customer base. He should be equally good with his communication skill which will help him to convince people.

Search for a mentor:-

In order to make selling heavy equipment a little simpler, you should take help of a veteran who should guide you on how to pitch heavy equipment to people who deal with it day in and out. You can’t use the same old selling tricks on everybody because guys from the construction industry are very specific with their needs and they will not budge an inch from they need and what you have to offer them. They will go for the items that best suits their business and will not see whom they are buying it from. Though they have loyalties towards certain brands and may not want to change their brand but will not buy an alternative. The veteran who is in this industry for a long time knows how to react under various situations and will mentor you accordingly. Normally a heavy equipment manufacturing company manufactures all types of heavy equipment under the sun. It is just the factor of availability of the machine in the market. The mentor can guide you on how you can avail things that are rare and impress your customer.

Do not stay low for a long time:-

At times it is recommended that people should stay a bit low when things are not working for them. They should relax a bit and then hit back. For a heavy equipment salesperson the duration of staying low is very limited. He needs to be rolling for most of the time and for that he needs to gear up his energy after every unsuccessful sale, figure out the reason what went wrong and what he can do differently the next time. Growing your connection is quite important for a salesman and therefore you just can’t afford to stay low for a long time. Bad phases come and go but you need to make sure that you are there in the news.

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Plan your budget for a new project

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When you are a part of an industry and are doing well, you are tend to get more work. It is probably you have created a reputation over the years that now people believe in you and therefore give more business to you. So whenever you are given a new task, you need to plan few things in advance. Do you have the required human resource to get the work done in time? Is your financial reserve sound enough to take care of any additional requirements that will come out from a new business and many more of such questions should be answered first. These are tough questions for any business and the answers can’t come out of one’s head swiftly. There will be a lot of pondering that needs to be done when there is a chance of getting some new projects.

Moving our focus towards the construction segment, a business owner has to go through the same set of questions but for him the answers are far more difficult as compared to any other person belonging to some different industry.

Basically he needs to plan his budget bit differently than people from other sectors do. He even has to estimate the estimates. Now this is really difficult and can be confusing to many. When we talk about estimating the estimate, it means that the owner of a construction company have to estimate some rough estimates of the cost to the company. For instance, he estimates the cost of raw materials may increase and if it increases then what could be the price. So what is the highest point can he take his estimation is estimating the estimate. So in the above example, he is already estimating that the price of the raw material will increase and then he is further estimating the highest point that it may reach. Similarly, he can have estimation on anything that concerns his business. These estimations are crucial as it takes you closer to the actual.

Once you have made a rough estimation, the next step is to align it well with your budget. You may know your financial position much better than anybody else and therefore preparing a budget based on the estimations will be highly fruitful. It will take you closer to your goal and slowly and steadily you will start seeing things getting more realistic. It is only because of your in-depth planning that you can come so close to the realistic figures. They may not be accurate but certainly will be well-defined.

After you match up your financial position to the market estimate, you get to understand if entering into a new venture is anyway going to be profitable to you. Getting it discussed with your team is a healthy way to move forward and you might come across some really valuable suggestions from your team members. Taking advices from the seniors of your company will help you take precise decisions. So by planning your budget for a new project, you understand if you should put your hands into it or postpone it for some time.

Protect workers engaged in excavation and trenching works

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The Occupational Safety and health Administration and laid down some stringent laws that protects the rights of the laborers engaged in perilous job activities. Now it becomes the onus of the construction companies to follow those laws or else the license to continue business will get scrapped. Just one complaint from anybody and if the authorities find that the laws were not followed it can pose a lot of problem to the construction company. This is why it is a must to all the construction companies that they take uttermost care in ensuring that the workers working in perilous conditions are provided with enough protection so that if there happens to be an untoward incident the number of casualty is limited. Dangers are immense for construction workers that are engaged in excavation and trenching works. Though both excavation and trenching are different from each other but they both carry enough risk that may cause huge casualty and therefore enough care needs to be taken to protect the life of the workers.

Before any excavation or trenching work begins, the construction company should do a thorough study of the soil. It will help them understand the kind of risk one has to undergo and also the kind of precautionary steps the company needs to take to ensure the lives of all the workers are protected. No soil from two different places is similar to each other and therefore when the excavation process begins the soil may act differently. Trenching work is more difficult than excavation work and time and again it has been observed how important it is to understand the soil composition first and then start with the trenching work. Pre-planning of excavation or trenching work is also equally important. There are many things that one needs to take into consideration and plan everything in advance to the initiation of the project. Companies who are experienced in excavation works do not take pre-planning lightly and understand its importance towards the success of the project.

For companies that are new into excavation work, they need to be little careful with what they do. First and foremost they need to prepare a checklist of the things that they require and the things that they need to check prior to starting the work. Things such as the weather of the place, the traffic around the place, soil classification, the surface and the ground water, overhead and underground utilities etc. needs to be checked. These things should be known to the company before it places bids on the project. Once that is done it also needs to check the number of ladders it may require, the fall protection needs, safety equipment needs etc. They can gather much of this information from the local authority officials and other utility companies. This will help him to figure out an approximate cost to the project and also the cost of the safety equipment he need to garner to ensure the project is completed safely and without any harm to any of its employees.

Buying heavy equipment from dealers can get you more discounts

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We always appreciate when we get good discounts on products and especially when the product is an expensive one, getting huge discount on it can make us all the more joyful. It is a fact that manufacturers want to sell the product keeping it reasonable and within the reach of most buyers. It is perhaps the middle men or the intermediary who unjustifiably increase the price of the commodity thus making it expensive and outside the reach of common man. However, there are some middlemen who do not keep a major but and try to sell the commodity at a reasonable price. In case of heavy equipment, it is perhaps the same module that is being followed. The heavy equipment manufacturing companies have set up authorized dealers at various states across US who take the orders and then ship the item to the end user. However, in this transaction they also make sure that they keep their margin of profit intact.

There is a slight difference between the authorized agent and dealers. An agent is the one who will only deal with the heavy equipment of one particular company. However, a dealer has his hands into heavy equipment of several companies at the same time. The end users prefer to come to a dealer for their heavy equipment requirement. The reason is they get the option to choose the best machine of any brand from them. They do not get the same option while transacting with an agent. They may get the best machine but not at a price that they can afford and also do not have the option to check out equipment of other companies which may cost a bit lesser. The dealer plays a big role in bringing the price down. They are the ones who keep the competition buzzing. However, there are some dealers who do not want to break the market and keep the price at sky level.

Check the brand of heavy equipment that the dealer deals in:-

You have the freedom to pick the brand of your choice and if you feel that it is expensive and you can go to some other brand that falls in your budget you have the option to do so. Simultaneously, you can also build up some pressure on the dealer to reduce the price of the equipment that you want to buy. They will try and get things done for you if at all it falls in their limits. So as a buyer your role will be to check which brand of heavy equipment will suit your business needs more and how hard will it hit your budget. It always makes sense to go for a machine that is apt to your business needs and also goes easy with your pocket.

Dealers can help you get loans from banks:-

Dealers of heavy equipment have good connections with various financial institutions. They can easily get a loan sanctioned for you through any of the financial institution at a nominal interest rate. You may find it hard to get a loan but a dealer can get this done without much hassle.

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Use of internet to solve heavy equipment problems

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We often depend on technology to fix problems that has been created on a technological produce. We are now at a stage where we can’t take a step forward without the involvement of technology and that actually should be the case. The more you use technology the better it will make your life. It is just that you do not become completely dependent on it or else you will find it difficult to live without it. Too much of dependency on anything can be fatal and one must realize this before it gets completely out of hand. However, when it comes to taking help of technology to fix problems that has been the product of technology one should not refrain from doing so. In the construction business which involves small contactors who can’t afford to hire mechanics to fix small issues often do things on their own. They just can’t afford to pay the fees that a mechanic charges to fix a machine and therefore they believe in doing things themselves.

Blog can be helpful:-

If you encounter a specific problem with the heavy equipment and you do not know what should be done to get rid of it, try to log in to net and check if someone has created a blog pertaining to the issue. If there is a blog addressing the problem you can expect to find some help there? Just read through the blog, the questions posed by people and the resolutions that some has left. It may leave you awestruck upon reading suggestions that are extremely out of the world. They will speak about workarounds that are hard to believe but if you apply them practically it may get rid of the problem once and for all. Blogs have been extremely helpful to many amateurs who have just started their journey in the construction world and does not know much about heavy equipment.

Articles can at times do the trick:-

Articles on heavy equipment can at times be really beneficial to solve a particular problem. If the writer has stressed on one particular issue and has written in length about the possible workarounds it can prove to be really helpful for the read to get rid of the issue. Articles are lengthy and therefore one can expect a lot of workarounds for a single issue.

Hire mechanics online:-

We can even hire a mechanic online. Mechanics often post their work on internet and also allows others to hire them to fix problems. Their charges may differ and that can be negotiated over the phone or when once you meet them. Nevertheless, internet has provided them with an option to post their services online and since most of the things today happen online they can even sell their services on that platform.

Make use of training videos:-

Guys who do not want to involve a mechanic to fix heavy equipment problems can make use of online videos that teaches people to fix heavy equipment. They may use a bit of technical jargons. Hence the person who is following the video should be acquainted with the terms.