Category Archives: Business

Invest your money in construction projects globally

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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

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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.

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Having a good sales team can have a major impact on your construction business

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Sales constitute a major role towards the making of any company. If you have a good sales team that believes in the product you make, then your company may probably not see many bad days irrespective of any phase of the market. Sales play a dominant role in any sector as you got to sell things that you have produced and you got to do it real quick. Products staying with you for long is a not a good sign of development. You need to sell it fast in a market where others are able to sell things at a steady pace. Having a sales team that is experienced enough to sell apartments (if you are into construction of apartments) is a huge plus point. No doubt that you have to pay them handsomely but you should be pleased to do so if you have a team that delivers.

Many construction companies find it immensely difficult to sell apartments in a sluggish market condition. However, there are few companies that are clearing their stock despite of the poor market condition. Industry experts reckon that the sales team you have has a major role to play in getting the stocks cleared. It is also very important to set up some standard for the sales team to follow. A salesman can go to any level to sell a product. He may even misguide his customer leading to several complications in future. It is therefore very crucial that you set up some standards for the sales team and ensure that they all carry out their responsibilities within the framework.

The sales team should believe in your product:-

Be it selling heavy equipments or residential apartments, the sales team should believe that the stuff they are selling is one of the best in the industry. That does not mean that they should start believing that whatever they are selling does not have any drawbacks. If a customer highlights a drawback, they should be in a position to take the feedback positively and if possible can counter it with logical reasoning. If he does not have anything to say then just take the feedback and move that up to the higher level.

A good salesman will never have unwanted debates:-

Having any kind of debate with the customer can lead to a no-sell. On top of that, it may even irk the customer and he may pass it on to others. This will only make things more difficult. Construction business runs mostly on goodwill and if that is tarnished it is rather very difficult to regain what you have lost. Customers may usually have issues with the amenities provided in an apartment. A sales guy can handle the situation by having a word with his supervisor if anything can be done with the amenities part and convey the same to the customer. The customer will be content with the fact that you have at least tried to work things out for him.

A sound business strategy is the need of the day in the construction business

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We all get so fascinated by hearing stories of people who have successfully carved a career out of their business and dream to follow them, to become someone like them. There is definitely no problem to think like that but it is important to think what they did so different than others that they are so successful in life and what price did they pay and are we willing to pay the price if we too take up the challenge. If someone is dreaming to make a career in the construction industry, then he needs to prepare himself right from the day he has begun to dream and start making plans to achieve his dreams.

Having a sound business strategy is considered to be one of the most important component for becoming a successful businessman. Now, a business strategy is required in any sort of business regardless how big or small it is. However, if one is chalking out plans pertaining to his construction business, he got to be make sure he comes out with a real good plan. Following are few pointers that will stress on how one can set up a sound business strategy.

Strategize your plans based on the business requirement:-

Strategies are often made keeping into consideration your business requirements. For instance, you are planning to buy some heavy equipments. Here you will consider the price of the machines, the utility factor, the features it possess and most importantly does the project really require any enhancements as far as the equipments are concerned. If you find positive answers for it, you should go ahead with your strategy or else it is better that you continue with the existing heavy equipments.

Take opinions of experienced people:-

If you are running a small business, you should far importantly take opinions of experienced people before you start planning up something. If possible share your plan with someone whom you can trust. People who are experienced in the construction segment will give you suggestions that will help you a long way.

A good strategy is the result of good team work:-

In case, you have a big business where you are required to big decision that will have a lasting effect, you should involve people who hold the top positions of various departments. You put to them your vision and ask them to come out with some plans. Ask them to think about the opportunities and threats involved. Once they give you a detailed report, you can absorb them all in your plan. You have the big picture in front of you. You only need to give it a proper shape. Once you come up with a final plan, place it in front of the senior most people in the company and see how good it sounds to them.

Keep your strategy flexible:-

The strategy you have adopted should be flexible and not stringent. When things may not go the way you have estimated them to, you may have to change them. Your strategy should allow you the space to make changes.

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Experienced men are most preferred in the construction industry

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We belong to whatever profession but it has been always witnessed that our market value increases as and when we grow older in the system doing the same job and learning more from it. For instance, a medical student after completing his studies practices under the guidance of senior doctors. At that point in time, he makes less money as he is in the learning phase but after once he completes few years in that profession and enhances his skills, the demand for his service increases and thereby his fee is also augmented manifold. What we get to understand from the instance is that a person who gets to experience different aspect of the business and learns things from them is the one who gets more opportunities in life and simultaneously also has more chance of earning good sum of money.

Medical profession is very different from the construction business and one who wants to make decent money after having completed their civil engineering or have taken up a course of becoming an operator can make their way in this sphere. It is evident that they will not simply start generating chunk of money from the day 1 but as and when they gets attuned to the work and understand it well, their marker price automatically rises. They CV speaks a lot for them and then moving from a low paid job to a higher paid one will no longer be a difficult task.

Experienced men have dealt with different situations:-

People who have dealt with situations in the past do know how to deal with them whenever they arise again in the future. The construction industry is full of situations where one gets to learn something or the other on a daily basis. They come across numerous situations and learn how to deal with them in an effective manner. A newbie joining this industry can expect going to new heights in his career if he manages to stick around in this sector. Ideally, it has been seen that people tend to move off to some other line of business as they are unable to tackle the pressure but the one who can take it up has no limit of growth as he keeps on learning things as and when situations arises and that helps him to grow as an individual and also increases his value in the sector.

They can be good mentors for the new joiners:-

A new kid joining this industry is often tensed as he is not aware what he may have to deal with and therefore he will feel relaxed if an experienced person can come forward and guide him through. There may be numerous obstacles that may come in one’s life but a mentor is the one who will equip the new joiners with his expert advices and make sure that they do not make the same mistake which he had made when he was one like them.

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“Make hay while the sun shines” goes well with the construction industry

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Not every industry has its golden era forever. There are times when they see ups and also times when they also have to see the downs. You name any industry and you will see people related to it cheering during the good times and struggling when things are not so good. So as a business owner it is crucial that you make the most when things are positive in your sector and stay low when things are not doing well. This may not be the only mantra but is certainly an important one when it comes to finding success in any industry. We have often heard the saying “Make hay while the sun shines”. It makes a lot of sense in an industry that is dynamic and has lot of competitors all wanting to make the most. Construction industry is one such sector where people are vying for almost anything and everything.

Construction business owners know one thing for sure that it is pointless to struggle to get business when the overall industry is not performing well. For some it may sound weird when they get to hear that the construction industry is not doing well. They may have the belief that it is most rewarding industry in today’s time and for some reason can never see any downslide. Well as a matter of fact, every industry has a phase when it has to see the bottom and so it is with the construction sector as well.

Companies should have patience:-

Many new companies wind up their business when they do not see work coming. They probably get into the sector when it is trending downwards and since they do not have work in hand, they can’t take care of the operating costs and are compelled to give it up. Well for such enterprises, the only advice would be drastically cut down on the operational costs even if it means running the business from your house. If you have to do that, you should do so. Having an office and paying rent for it can become too strenuous for you to handle especially when things are bad. Therefore working from home becomes the most viable option and also cut down on the workforce. Stick to any small project that you get and learn to work on heavy equipments so that you can operate the machine on your own. This saves the cost of employing an operator.

Be aggressive when the sector is doing well:-

As understood by many, construction sector rewards you well when it is at its peak. You can take the risk and work aggressively to make the most. While you making profits, you got to remember to save resources for times when the business may take a downturn and you have to keep it afloat using those resources. This is why try and be aggressive when others are minting because you also will make lot of money then.

Construction business is all about meeting deadlines

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Construction involves constructing of a building or an infrastructure. It requires collaboration across various multiple disciplines. It comprises different types of professionals such as an architect, construction manager, design manager and a project manager and each of them with their team members. It involves huge financial investment. It is risky but lucrative business. Effective planning allows successful execution of a project. However the projects need to meet the deadlines to stay forefront in this business.

 

Any profession comes with a deadline, which is an external pressure to complete the task of making quality product within a given time period. The reason being the finance invested has to be ultimately regained in terms of profit. In case of the construction business, it is the completion of an infrastructure within a promised time. As ‘Time is Money’, sticking to the timeline of completing the project is the main responsibility of a construction company.

 

Some of the ways to meet deadlines

  1. Being realistic:

Being aware about magnitude of the construction project will give a true estimate of how much time and finance is required for its completion.

2.  Use of Technology:

Many construction companies use different construction management software programs that help keep projects on time and within budget. These programs allow companies in preconstruction planning, to organize a schedule, project budget, manage customer list and so forth. They are easily available in software form or are present in form of apps and can be easily downloaded. Thus, latest technology helps to manage the schedule of projects and complete them on time.

3.  Being foresighted:

Always scheduling the project on time is not easy. There can be many unforeseen developments that can delay the entire construction project such as the adverse weather conditions, delay in shipments, no labour force, contractor overshooting the schedule and more. Thus, project scheduling should be flexible so that construction owners do not lose clients.

4.  Selection of a right manufacturer/distributor for the product:

Developing a relationship with distributors who offer quality products (whether its heavy machinery, heavy equipment, construction material, electrical devices) with fast product distribution channels and easy installation can speed up the project. In addition choosing good quality and economical product is important. This will ensure to meet the deadlines of a project.

5.  Maintaining a Log of the work:

A log or keeping record of the problems faced on the construction site, when they were encountered and how they were resolved. This will be helpful to use these as reference to solve if similar problems arises in future on the same and other projects. This will save time and allow project completion on time.

6.  Selecting professionals and skilled labours and retaining them:

Having right type of skilled workforce will allow superior productivity. Sufficient training should be imparted to the newcomers so that become adept at the work. Having professional and serious workforce ensures completion of projects on time.

7.  Ensuring safety at workplace:

The owners should ensure safety at the site for the workers as well to the customers. This will minimize the accidents from taking place at the workplace and not waste time of the unit in attending to them.

 

The new and experienced entrepreneur’s should be aware of the business and strategies required to complete the projects on time which will make their customer base strong.

 

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Making of a construction company

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It may sound hard to begin a business when you do not have much experience on how to run it. It will in fact be quite difficult for you to sustain the initial few years and this is to be considered the most crucial period of any business setup. It is during this time that you experience too much of turbulence in your business and many people are compelled to shut their shops. But the one who are able to make it through these rough times are the one who are set to make history. The beginning of a construction business is no different and one has to go through the hardships which a person from some other industry goes through. However, what one needs to understand is till how long they have to experience the turbulence before finding the shore.  For this one needs to ensure that he has the right frame of mind and a sound financial backup that will help through his journey of setting up a mighty construction company.

Know how the industry functions:-

In order to run your business successfully, it is quite imperative to understand how the overall industry functions at ground level. Without knowing much about the industry, it will be futile to go any further with your business. It may lead to severe complications that may catch unaware. Things like how you can take a project, what prerequisites are required, the kind of expectation that one can set upon you and what you can do to fulfill those expectations are crucial. Running a construction business is not a easy one and involves lot of technicalities that the one who runs it should understand and also apply it well.

A bit of experience is always helpful:-

A person who knows how to deal with challenges and overcome them is the one who will find his place in the construction domain. Having little experience on how to run the business is crucial. It actually teaches you to deal with different types of situations in an effective manner without ruining your daily affairs. It also helps to learn to maintain good relation with your clients even when you have surrounded with different forms of challenges some thrown by the clients themselves. It is never easy to keep your clients satisfied as they always expect more from you. But to know the way to keep them content is an art that one can learn only through experience.

Have sound financial backing:-

This is perhaps one of the most important criteria one must consider. Every affair of your business in co-related to finance. You get projects keeping into deliberation the strong financial backing you have to complete the project on time. Your clients gives you work after they are satisfied that you have the resource to pay salary to your employees. You have to buy heavy equipments and that costs you a bomb. Therefore having a strong financial backup or some sort of reserve is imperative when you are about to begin a construction company.

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Take sound decisions if you are new to the construction industry

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When you are inexperienced you may not get it right the first time. You be into any profession, you need some amount of advice and guidance in order to learn things in a better way. Simultaneously, you are also unable to take the right decision when you do not know the difference between what is going to be beneficial for you and what will turn out to be a drastic debacle. It is quite important to first understand the subject properly before you get into it in order to take the right decisions in life. Your decisions will be quite circumstantial in nature. It will vary on the basis of the circumstance that you are in. One such industry is the construction industry where people find themselves in a tight spot over taking the right decision. The circumstance may be such that they will find it difficult to analyze which way to go.

Taking up of new projects is one such example where people do not know if they should be accepting the new project or wait for the existing ones to get over and then jump on to it. Ideally, when a construction business owner is given a new business, the giver expects him to get going with the work but the irony of the construction company is that he has to first wind up the existing work he has got in his hand and then only can deploy his resources for the next assignment. The other option is he can get more resources for the new project and start with the work but then once the work is completed in the next 2 years, he will have to do away with all his resources provided he has managed to get more work. But a construction company can’t perform on assumptions of events that may happen after a couple of years.

In this case, the company is in a dilemma if it should take it or leave it. Leaving the project will also have repercussion that the company has to face. It may be out of work for few months after the completion of the existing one and that is definitely not a good sign for any business. So situations like these can leave any construction company owner under stress and when it comes to a new company, one can only imagine how difficult it will be for him to take the right call.

Now when it comes to taking right decision, you need help from others and that others have to be an expert in the same domain. A new guy in the construction industry may have a mentor who is a guiding force for him. He should reach out to him for advices. He may get something phenomenal from his mentor which will help him to take control of the situation and eventually take the right decision for the company. The difference between making money and losing everything is nothing but taking sound and unsound decisions.

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Servicing of heavy equipment can become quite a profitable business

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After having bought heavy equipment, we experience the real problem when we see the need to service the machine. Though the user manual also speaks about how you should maintain your machine to lengthen its life but getting the equipment regularly serviced by a mechanic is also very crucial. It has been lately found that people possessing heavy equipment see dire need of guys who can also service their machines. Heavy equipment manufacturing companies also have their servicing department but many of the times they are full with work and one has to wait for days and even months to get their equipment serviced. Getting good mechanics has become a big problem.

Construction companies big or small are in dire need of servicing stations that are reachable and can send their mechanics to service the machine without much delay. It is understood that mechanics will always be engaged with enough work to keep them occupied for days but they expect the servicing company to have surplus men who can be sent across to service the machine. Therefore people who are intending to open up such a kind of business can be assured that they will end up making good profits in this business. It can get you a lot of clients who are ready to pay you good money for your service.

Few important things are needed before you start the business of servicing heavy equipment.

Installing right infrastructure for the business:-

When you are thinking of starting up a service center, you got to be sure that you have the infrastructure in place. Servicing of heavy equipment is a task of huge responsibility and it also requires machines that do the work for you. It is pretty obvious that you can’t use your hand to clean the dirt that has been set in the interiors of the machine. For that you may need a water spray that will flush out the dirt from the system. In the same manner, you need other equipment for different kinds of work. So you need to ensure that you have the set of equipment ready before you start advertising about your business to others.

Having the right set of men to do the job:-

Having men who know their job is a very crucial point in this business. Before you start up the business, you need to have people who are good with servicing heavy equipment. You need guys who have worked as mechanics and have repaired different types of heavy equipment. Alternatively, they should also be aware of the places from where you can get heavy equipment parts because you may get machines whose parts needs to be replaced. So you buy the parts from that place in bulk and charge the customer as per the market price. So people who are experienced in servicing machines are the type you need for your business.

You also need to make sure that you pay your men real well so that they stick with you and do not move away to some other company just because they are offered more there.