Tips for Improving Your Construction Operations

There has never been a better time to work in construction or trades in Texas. Business is booming, and the industry is scrambling to keep up. And like most, you may be working harder than ever to keep your head above water. So, we’re here to share some expert advice to keep your construction business running smoothly, efficiently, and profitably.

Four walls can’t hold you, which is why you are living your dream and running a business. However, the trades and construction industries are anything but routine. Whether you are a builder, electrician, carpenter, plumber, or welder, your success is dependent on performance. So how do you manage your projects efficiently both on-site and on the backend? Better systems.

Account for Everything

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how skilled you are if you aren’t making enough money to keep you and your company afloat. In any business, accounting is the backbone of the system. And we’re not just speaking of billing and finances. To run a profitable business, you need to account for time and materials, as well as labor.

Here is an everyday example of accounting for time and materials and how it can affect your project profit. Say you are an electrician performing work for a commercial office build. You’ve brought three people to the project, and you have estimated three days to complete the job. However, your crew runs out of the material needed to finish the day’s work on the second day. Not only do you lose the time accounted for that afternoon’s work, but you also lose the labor. All of this affects the project budget.

Fortunately, there are solutions to help your business account for every phase of a project. We recommend investing in comprehensive construction management software to streamline and improve your project management from start to finish. There are plenty of cloud-based options available that will give you and your team anytime and anywhere access to everything needed to run projects from estimating to invoicing efficiently and everything in-between.

Stay Organized

Staying organized on every project is crucial in the construction industry – however, it’s time to move away from outdated manual filing systems and paper trails. When someone from your team needs project information, it’s faster, safer, and more practical to have access to this information in one place that’s accessible from anywhere. In addition, cloud-based or digital management of your operations allows real-time accounting of job changes, materials, costs, and labor.

Here’s a scenario – say you are facing late payment on some invoices. Fortunately, construction laws provide the mechanic’s lien as a safety net to protect contractors and subcontractors from non-payment issues. However, the mechanic’s lien in Texas is riddled with stringent guidelines and deadlines. So, having instant access to organized project data comes in handy if you have to execute paperwork quickly to meet a deadline.

As you can see, technology is key to staying organized and competitive in today’s construction and trades industries. Whether it’s the project management software or mechanic’s lien paperwork management, utilizing the software and online tools available will help you and your business run efficiently in real-time from anywhere.

Cultivate a Team

As a business owner, you are only as good as the team you’ve assembled. So how do you find and keep good people? Create a culture of performance recognition. Financial reward, although excellent, isn’t the only way to motivate your employees. Creating performance-based incentives will go a long way to not just keeping your team motivated but also keeping them loyal and happy.

Profit-sharing incentives based on performance goals are beneficial to everyone involved. It will give your team a sense of control and ownership, as well as the right amount of motivation. For example, structure a bonus plan around finishing a project on time, on budget, or both. And remember, rewards don’t always have to be financial. Perhaps a performance reward is a company vehicle or job-related material incentives, like new equipment.

Be proactive and stay up-to-date.

Running a business is hard enough, and there is no reason to avoid making the process easier with available technology. The right software can help you accurately account for every project step and keep your information safely guarded and easily accessible at all times. Let’s face it, tools for the trade have moved from pencils to screens, and the advantages of adopting new systems far outweigh the potential learning curves associated with updating processes.

Learn about: How to File a Lien in Texas