Businesses are always looking for ways to save money and make their business more profitable, and if this hasn’t been a priority for you to date, this is your sign to make a start. We’re focusing on construction businesses today, as there is a significant amount of time and resources required to complete construction projects that can result in low profit margins. It may take some time and planning to get the following steps implemented, however they will soon become a normal part of your operation that could make you a good amount more money. Rather than things like your construction marketing that is key to the growth of your business, So, let’s get into it and help you save some money for your construction business!
Consider Hire Instead of Buying
Our first piece of advice to help you save money for your construction business is to consider hiring instead of buying equipment. If you’re a smaller company this is especially important. There are many benefits of hiring equipment, with one of the main being you can access so much better quality for your money. If you’re having to scrape together enough to buy a piece of machinery, it’s likely that the quality won’t be there and it will be less reliable, meaning the quality of the results will be worse and projects may be delayed. When a customer has this kind of experience, it is very likely they will return. Hiring can help you overcome these issues.
Another huge benefit of hiring equipment rather than buying is the flexibility. If you were to buy 10 pieces of machinery you need for a project, you’d be looking at tens if not hundreds of thousands of pounds. However, you can hire as much equipment as you need in a short space and the savings will be phenomenal. Choosing construction plant hire is a great choice, then later down the line when your business is more established, you may have a few pieces of core equipment and then potentially hire the rest.
Buy Materials In Bulk
Our next tip to help save money for your construction business is to buy your equipment in bulk. If you have the storage space to do it, generally when you buy more of an item, you pay a lower unit rate, saving you money in the long run. Of course, this only works effectively when you know that you will absolutely be using that material. This will depend on the sector of construction that you’re in as well as the size of your business, however buying something like concrete in bulk would be an example. For things that depend heavily on the project, it is better to buy these as a one-off to avoid waste.
Along with buying in bulk, you should ensure that you shop around. There are quite a few different price comparison sites for you to utilise that have sectors dedicated to construction, so you can compare the prices of all kinds of different materials. If you know exactly which product and brand you want to use you could compare the prices across different suppliers, or if you’re more open to using newer brands then you could also just search for a generic category like “resins”, for example. Before you commit to a new brand that you’re unfamiliar with, it’s important that you read plenty of reviews from other people who work in construction, as well as making time for trial runs yourself rather than using it straight on a project. However, if the savings are significant, it could be worthwhile. If after the test runs you don’t think the quality is there, the additional cost of the better brands will be worth it, in terms of quality of work and therefore return custom moving forwards.
Conduct A Risk Assessment Before Each Project
Another thing that you can do to cut costs for your construction business is to conduct a risk assessment before each project. Identifying what could potentially go wrong, pre-empting it and then taking action to prevent it happening is important. All of the hazards on site should be identified and then you can put measures in place to control the risks. You may need to get a professional in to conduct this depending on the project, or larger businesses might have a full time risk assessor to do this.
In terms of saving money, not only are you making your site safer, but you could also be cutting costs in the long run. Any incidents on site take time to resolve, so you will be making your project more efficient.
Choose Experienced Staff
Choosing experienced staff is another important component of saving money for your construction business. Of course, your business will likely have juniors or apprentices, however it is absolutely essential that you also have experienced staff who can closely guide them. If the majority of your staff are juniors or don’t have much experience and there is a shortage of more senior team members, it is likely that you will encounter some potentially very expensive mistakes and the quality of work might not be there, impacting the future of your business in terms of repeat custom.
The cost of hiring more experienced staff might be higher, but it is likely going to cost less than having to repair mistakes and losing potentially long term business. Cutting costs isn’t just about focusing on the short term, but also the longevity of your business.
Focus On Reducing Waste
Lastly, you should focus on reducing waste for your business. This ties into our point of buying in bulk but only making sure that you buy things you know you will use. Another thing you can do is make sure you measure carefully and make cuts to reduce waste. Excess materials is literally money down the drain, so try to only buy what you need and then look at options in terms of reusing and recycling materials in the future. Things like remixing paint and using it in lower priority areas like storage rooms, recycling bricks for smaller garden projects or salvaging hardware, doors, etc.
Final Thoughts
Costs are constantly increasing, so this is the best time to start making an effort to cut costs wherever you can across the business. Whilst some planning will be required for this, and you may need to invest time initially into implementing some of the above points, it will absolutely be worth it for your business. Even if things are going well and business is good, you shouldn’t get complacent as things can change at the drop of a hat. So, now is the ideal time to commit to these changes and to maximise the potential of your business.