Hi am starting up as a builder/contractor. need help and advice.

tandeh

Hi all, i am setting up my own construction/building company called 'Range Build & Construction UK'.

I have worked for builder's before (bricklaying, joinery etc.), i am planning to offer a very high quality job and a friendly service, i want to diffrentiate my company from the labels of cowboy/unfriendly/dishonest etc.. I will be covering the following area's:

*General Building (joinery,plumbing,bricklaying, windows etc.)
*Extensions,loft/basement conversions
*New builds
*Roofing
*Maintenence Contracts


I am also planning to register with FMB, GOMB etc.. as soon as i can afford it (as i have just rented an office out).

as it is the first time i am setting up my company ( i have 1 partner who is an engineer). i want some advice, as to what is the best way to attract customers. especially those appreciate good quality work, done properly according to building regs, as most of the customer's i have come into contact want a cheap as possible job that look's okay but is a shambles in the long term (i.e. rebuilding a wall on old,un-level or non-existent, foundations, shoddy skim job etc..).

I try to give competitive prices, but my current customers , just don't understand that a properly done job cost more than what cowboy's charge.

any advise how i should go about advertising, presentation, and attracting the right customers. also any other advice i may need.

thanx in advance.

Debt_Free_Chick

This is a big topic to cover here. I really would suggest you contact your local Business Link who probably run courses to help with this.

HugoSP

I am in the same business as you. though my route is a little different - I'm an ex engineer who has developed skills on property renovations.

On the basis of competing against cowboys.....

Not every customer wants a job done cheaply. Some do and some don't. Having experience in the trade should give you the confidence to price appropriately for the job. Be confident enough to walk away from punters who want a chaep job if you're not prepared to come down to their price and compromose the quality of the work.

However, often a client will want a cheap job for a good reason. In the case of my local school who were having decorating done during the summer hols, simply wanted a couple of metres of wall painted over cheaply in April, just to keep it neat until the room was redone - not the usual preparation etc. I did do it for the price they wanted to pay, but took just some shortcuts to ensure it would last until the summer at least.

Also, a client may need the job doing but don't have the money to do it properly. I've had this a few times, so you simply discuss the options with them. For example, replacing a slate roof will cost a lot more than replacing a few slipped slates. The latter is better than nothing if they want to keep the rain out for another couple of years.

I think you have to ask yourself if the cheap job you're doing could harm your image. Both examples above probably wouldn't have. The first because the area I painted was going to be repainted again in a few months. The second wouldn't because it was obvious that the job was a running repair rather than a re roof.

An example of a possible shortcut that could harm my image is the job I did for a member of my family. He thought I could tile both his bathrooms for £200 plus materials. How wrong he was. Even with him helping it took me days to do each one and that's working 10 hour days! I wanted to excel on the job as I normally do but he wanted me to take short cuts to save time and money. In the end the job was a sort of compromise, and to be fair to him he acknowledged that I had to compromise quality because of his budjet.

As far as advertising. The trades in general are not short of work. Get a stack of business carsd designed well and made. 500 should do it for the first two years. Give them out to everyone you manage to strike a conversation up with. Don't leave any opportunity untouched. For example, If you're driving past a house with a removal van outside stop and find the new owner and hand them your card. I've got quite a lot of work this way. I also pick up work in the strangest of curcumstances. For example, I was having my hair cut when an 80 year old lady who was wating her turn was moaning that she couldn't get anyone to paint the front of her house. I asked if I could quote for the job. The same day I had got the job!

Give your card out to estate agents and other professions who may come into contact with potential clients on a regular basis. Possibly removal companies and the like.

I regularly embarress my family by handing out my card. People who are especially eligable are those that try to sell you something! My accountants are regularly given a few cards when I go and see them.

If you can get onto your local county council approved list all the better. This will open you up to schools etc.

Have you got pictures of your work? I used a photo album of a renovation project for me. I unwittingly showed it to a client of mine, who then insisted I rebuilt her fireplace!

H

tandeh

thanx for the advise mate, points noted. what about yellow pages any good? or thomson local?

tomstickland

as most of the customer's i have come into contact want a cheap as possible job that look's okay but is a shambles in the long term

That's how a lot of people think, sadly.
Word of mouth is the best long term advertisment, but in the early days you need to get out there and find business, as the previous poster has done.

Sumostar

Hi

Another way of building your customer base is to approach your local churches. The traditional church has an ageing population and very often need someone to carry out their regular maintenance. Also price is not usually the main deciding factor. If you are warden of a Grade 2 listed building (as I am) you don't mind paying a bit more for a proper job that's going to last 50 years rather than the cheapest that will only last 5 minutes. This would also give you a route in to the members of the congregation and the private work that they might need doing.

newUKshopper

tandeh wrote:

Hi all, i am setting up my own construction/building company called 'Range Build & Construction UK'.

I have worked for builder's before (bricklaying, joinery etc.), i am planning to offer a very high quality job and a friendly service, i want to diffrentiate my company from the labels of cowboy/unfriendly/dishonest etc.. I will be covering the following area's:


Congratulations! The best advertisement you can ever get is word of mouth and that is what has brought over 90% of my clients to my business. If you want to stand out from the others, always make sure the clients are happy when you leave and including something extra could do wonders. It wouldn't have to cost you much but if you are hired to fix something in your client's home and notice some minor things that could be fixed easily, offer to add it free. It could take 10 minutes out of your day but the client might feel he got something extra for free and most people get happy about that. Then they are more likely to brag about it to their friends and they will want to check it out.

I also agree with the business card idea someone else mentioned (I can't see the posts while I'm writing this). If there is one particular kind of work you like doing or makes you the most profit, find a supplier of the materials needed for that knd of a job. If you want clients with money, going to the more expensive shops could be an idea. Chat with the sales people and see if you can leave a stack of business cards there. Don't just leave them there though, make sure the sales people know and drop in once in a while to check if there are still enough cards. If the sales people know you, they are more likely to pick out your card to hand to the customer when they ask if they can recommend someone. (Might even be worth it to talk about your experience working with their materials, positively of course).

The "someone" mentioned above also talked about his accountants. They are of course a great way to advertise your business. I'm sure you already have a good accountant but as I belong to that breed and too many new business owners tend to forget the importantce of good book kepping, make sure you always bring all your paperwork to your accountant in time, you don't want to get in trouble with Mr. Taxman .

One more thing to consider. When you are looking for any kind of service, where do you look? The internet right? A nice website could work wonders and even if you have to put a little money into it, it should pay off soon. Make sure it looks professional, post photos of your work and maybe you could get your favourite suppliers to advertise on your site and link to it from their own.

Good luck to you and let us know how things go

ericthekidstoner

sounds silly but a "tradesman" that turns up late, complains about the condition of his/her "canvas", jokes about !!!!!! tools and smokes on your door step before/during/after plying his "trade", is unprofessional imho

so, my point is... if you're going for the high-end market, make sure none of your staff do any of that stuff!


which area do you operate in?

bbruce

You might be able to compete with the cowboys and get a good name while you don't have to register for VAT. After that, word of mouth should help you grow further.

Mike_by_the_Sea

Hi tandeh

Where are you based? I am working on a "trusted tradesman" website and am linking it into the local business and charity networks in the area. There are a lot of people out there looking for good tradesmen and there are very few places that you can find them.

Check out your local chamber of commerce, they may compile a list of good ones and may have a scheme that you can qualify for.

Good luck

Mike

tandeh

Mike_by_the_Sea wrote:

Hi tandeh

Where are you based? I am working on a "trusted tradesman" website and am linking it into the local business and charity networks in the area. There are a lot of people out there looking for good tradesmen and there are very few places that you can find them.

Check out your local chamber of commerce, they may compile a list of good ones and may have a scheme that you can qualify for.

Good luck

Mike

i'm from manchester