Category Archives: Goals

Set up business models that can be achieved

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Construction business may seem to be a rewarding one but in order to set your foot strong in this business; one has to go through enormous planning and determination to execute them with precision. Firstly it is very important for them to establish a sound business plan and once that is in place follow the plan stringently so that you can achieve things in a phased manner. Now having a construction company, you have entered a dynamic industry which has no set rules of its own. Things that are found to be merrier now may turn into something drastic and therefore just having one set of plan with no flexibility can only harm your growth prospect. Therefore it is crucial that you analyze things, try to foresee them and be ready to revamp your strategy when the need arises or else you may find yourself in an unwanted and complicated zone.

Take baby steps in the beginning:-

If you have just started your construction company, avoid taking big leaps as there are chances that you may hurt yourself in this process. Dreaming big is not a problem but giving not much time to fulfill those dreams could be harmful and dangerous for the prospect of your company. So during the initial phase, you take small steps towards achieving your goals and once you start seeing things working out for you, you may then speed it up a bit. However, do not be in a hurry. Have patience and give some time for your business to grow. It takes a lot of time to form a concrete construction company. During this while you should enjoy your work and learn from it.

Your strategies should be realistic:-

When you are setting up strategies for your company, make sure that they are realistic and achievable. Strategies should always be formed keeping into consideration your business goals and the time by which you want them to be fulfilled. Keeping unrealistic goals can have drastic impact on the financial health of the company as well as on the morale of the employees. It is prudent that you consider all the facts well before you frame business plans.

Review your plans at regular intervals:-

Plans once framed should be reviewed at regular intervals. You should give a gap of 3 or 6 months and then review the ground figure. Take into account all the people from the senior management and review your plans with them. Give clear instructions on how you want the review to be. Reviews that are simple can be better understood by everyone. If you find one particular department not being able to perform up to its merit, you go to handle the situation delicately rather than exerting pressure on the team. First and foremost, try to evaluate the reason of underperformance and once you have earthed that check if they need any help from you to get it fixed. You should be ready to provide any assistance to improve your team’s performance. Once these things are taken care of, rest all will fall in place.

Invest your money in construction projects globally

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

When we think about investments, we come across all sorts of investment avenues that are liquid as well as non-liquid. However, not many consider investing in construction projects globally as a good investment option. There are strong reasons attached to it which is why people are usually deterred to invest in investment projects in a foreign land. One of the strongest reasons is that you do not have a direct control on the project and it may become difficult to monitor the progress of the work by being away from the jobsite.

Other than having a direct control, other reasons also include political turbulence, company getting dissolved. However, these reasons can’t be considered to be too big for one to deter investing globally and can always be worked out before you end up investing in one such project. There are of course few Do’s and Don’ts that needs to checked first before taking a decision of any major investment in foreign land.

Check the viability of the project:-

You can definitely invest in projects that sound to be viable. Alternatively, if the project has all proper sanctions from the different authorities of that country, there is probably no other reason why it may get blocked. Investing in such projects being in a distant place can still be a good option. However, you also have to check your benefit in it. You need to first measure your risk and the returns that you can expect from the work at its completion. It will be worthy to take such risks where you know that it will fetch good returns. There are many American investors that have invested chunks of money into various foreign projects. In this case they do not have to deploy their men for the work and if there is any hurdle that shows up during the tenure of the project that will be managed by the construction company who has undertaken the work.

Reputation of the builder matters a lot:-

When an investor has to invest his money in construction projects, he definitely checks the credentials of the construction company who has taken up the work. In the same way, while investing in a construction project outside US, you have to check the credentials first. Meet the representatives of their company, do some research on their previous projects. By that you will get to know how big the construction company is and if it is prudent to invest in projects constructed by them. The reputation of the construction company should speak louder than anything else and that should be the signal for you to go ahead with them.

Stay away from countries that are politically unstable:-

You investments in a foreign land will bear fruit only if you put your money in a country that is politically stable and there is no fear of the government getting overthrown by rival political powers or the army of that land. Investment of any kind in a politically unstable country is too risky and not even worthy to take the risk.

How to become a successful construction business owner

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Many people who own a construction business wonder how someone can establish such a huge construction empire in this lifetime. For them it took years to get stabilized and there are few men who simply got success in every decision they took, in every sphere they moved. It looked all so easy for them as if they did not have to go through any hardships, any trouble or any challenge in setting up their business empire.

From the outset, we may see that they have got everything so easily but if we look into the depth of the matter, we will find lot many sacrifices that were made to reach the place that they are in. Life is never a bed of roses for anybody and all have to go through some amount of hardships to gain a place in their life. It is just that how they take things. If they are positive in life things are bound to go well but if they are pessimist and crib on every little thing, they will have a hard time in dealing with realities.

There are few very basic yet important things that you need to follow to taste success in this form of business.

Believe in yourself:-

You will get a lot of people who may not find your decision making ability to be appropriate and may feel that this will not work under the current situation. But if you feel it is worth taking the risk, go ahead and take it. You know yourself better than anybody else does. However, before you take a decision, take your stakeholder into confidence. There will be always 2 outcome of your decision. Either you will hit the bull’s eye or it will backfire. You got to be ready for both accolades as well as criticism. The crux of the matter is that you have given it a shot and that is important.

Keep yourself open for suggestions:-

A construction business owner should keep his minds open for any suggestions that he receives from business experts. The business decisions should be on the basis of these suggestions. The business experts understand the market better than the one who operates the business. They do round the clock analysis and then come down to a conclusion. They may not be able to estimate the future quite precisely but may remain close to what we call precise.

Set up good rapport with your clients and stakeholders:-

Getting more business fairly depends on the kind of relationship you have with your clients and stakeholders. Setting up good rapport with them can go a long way in getting more businesses from them. Delivering work on time, being honest with them may sound very basic but it matters a lot in times where people take any mode to please others. Standing tall on your ethics does matter a lot in establishing confidence in the hearts of your clients. Giving quality work also plays a significant role in generating strong rapport with the clients.

Buy Now on eBay [ebayfeedsforwordpress feed=”” items=”1″]

Prepare goals that are realistic – Do not ape what others do

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

We often consider every business to be tricky. However the fact is we make it tricky by probably deviating from the basics of the business. Innovation should never be considered as a form of deviation. It is rather a part of the basics but following someone else’s success model and incorporating it in your business may not give you the desired result. It can possibly give success to the person who has adopted that model but not everything is for everybody. We should not ape around what others do. On the contrary, we should have role models and analyze their way of working. Use that as a source of inspiration but never adopt the exact same model and incorporate it in your work culture. It may not work for you and therefore you need to do some experiment and see what works best for you.

Prepare a growth chart:-

Preparing a growth chart will actually help you take there. You need not make it for 10 years down the line. Try to keep the chart for a period of a year or two so that it would be easy for you to monitor the growth. It also helps you to track the growth that you have estimated and the actual one that you were able to achieve. This kind of concept matters a lot in the construction arena where people come only with the intention of making money. They may be quite short sighted and therefore they are the one who have to wrap up their business during turbulent times. The ones who have a long term vision will initially take baby steps and monitor their growth and once they become confident of their start that they will pull the accelerator and move with high speed.

Your goals should be realistic:-

This is a common mistake which many owners of small construction companies make. They keep their goals unrealistically higher and when they are unable to achieve them they feel dejected with their performance and end up by taking some drastic decisions that further dampens the career growth of the company. Therefore it is crucial that you set up goals that are achievable. By setting up unrealistic goals, you are only mounting pressure on yourself and on the people who are associated with your company. That is certainly not a wise thing to do as people will not be able to take the pressure anymore and will start quitting. You will then have to do away with some valuable resources which are then very hard to get.

You start should be slow:-

We often have the perception that the faster we grow the better we are. Well this is nothing but a myth. There is nothing called fast growth that ever existed. You do not start making profits from the very next day and if you think you should then business is not your cup of tea. You should be patient and understand the business first. Be slow but be steady. You take time to stand. Once you are up on your feet, take calculative risk and move steadily. You are not in a race with anybody. Enjoy your work as and when you go along with it.

 

Keep yourself ready for challenges in the construction sector

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Generally, we are surrounded with different sorts of opportunities and challenges. To be specific, we can regard ever challenge as a form of an opportunity because the moment you take up the challenge in life and are able to surpass it that turns out to be an opportunity for you. It is equally important to understand if you should be able to accept the challenge or not. Know your strengths well before you take up any challenge because in case if you are not able to achieve it, it can even break you from within. It has been observed that people who are linked with the construction business suffer big time after having taken up a challenge that they were not suitable enough to fulfill. They realize this later but by that time things have already gone awry for them and they could not convert that challenge into an opportunity for them.

Keeping yourself ready for challenges is an art that one needs to learn and slowly master it. It can’t be taught nor can it be learned in a day. You first take time to understand what you are getting involved in and once you know that this risk is worth taking that you should go any further with it.

Keep your temptations at check:-

It is crucial that you do not fall for offers that are too good to get. You may even get offers that are huge and have many people involved in it. Huge offers are often tempting and it draws you more towards it but you should be wise enough to analyze your benefits and the cost you are paying to get that offer. Oh yes, there will be a cost attached to it. It will not come to you for free. Therefore, before you take up the offer, understand your risk that is involved in the trade and the possible threats attached with it. Since there will be more construction companies attached with the project, you need to understand the role of your company and the share you would be drawing. It should not happen that some other company puts the blame of their wrongdoings on your work. You also have to check how good your rapport with the other companies is. If you share an excellent relationship with them, then there is no problem with going for the deal but in case if you see people whom you do not like or who do not like you, it is better that you do not get yourself involved with it.

Always set up a back-up plan:-

A back-up plan is a much needed aspect when you are dealing with important projects that have severe financial implications on a company. In case if anything goes wrong with the preliminary plan, then the back-up plan can always be used to safeguard your interests and also ensure that the project is on line. You can encounter any form of challenge when you are dealing with an important project and being ready for it will only display your seriousness towards your work and your ambitions in life.