NAIL 2021 NOW: GET YOUR BUILDING FIRM TO WHERE YOU WANT IT TO BE

When I say nail 2021 now – I mean it’s time to take your building firm to a new level with:

• Quicker response times
• Efficient paperwork trails
• More profit
• Better paid jobs
• Interesting projects
• Proper downtime.

Sound like a nice idea but you’re busy right now and for the foreseeable? Well there’s probably never a good time to get your house in order, so here are some pointers (and if you want the ‘short cut to success’ skip to the bottom of the article):

COVER EVERYTHING IN YOUR COSTS

Every job quote should cover ALL your costs (not just materials and labour). Overheads, from van leasing to insurance, wear and tear on kit, funds for expansion, marketing, bumps in the road, inflation… Remember that all your PPE, cleaning products and any extra signage are on-costs.

MAKE YOUR ESTIMATE AS ACCURATE AS POSSIBLE

Don’t guesstimate and certainly not without warning the customer. Be clear on provisional sums. Allow for every last nail, tile, tube of Mastic… Use the latest prices. Visit the building site to check for any potential problems. Don’t risk eating into your profit margin. Be confident about your estimate. What you don’t quote for – you pay for – unless you enjoy awkward conversations with the customer…

AGREE PAYMENT TERMS

There’s no problem with charging along the way as long as you’re upfront with the customer from the start. Show them the build stages/phases requiring an interim payment.

DRAW UP A CONTRACT

Put the scope of the job down in black and white with a plain English contract. Don’t get caught out if and when the customer moves the goal posts. Oh yes, and one for your sub-contractors too.

HAVE YOUR HEALTH & SAFETY DOCUMENTS IN ORDER

Don’t just bring together all the documentation – follow through with the requirements. Remember to comply with each obligation at the relevant point in the project. A fine could blow a year’s profit or worse. Make sure you’re Covid-19 secure too.

STAY ON TOP OF YOUR OUTGOINGS

Produce a cash flow analysis – have it to hand to check when you need funds for the next phase of the project. Amend it as and when things change – because they will.

HAVE A BUILD PROGRAMME

Time is money. Know the exact day you’re laying foundations, when you’re doing the footings – all based on the price you quoted. An up-to-date Gantt chart makes changing timings – and the cascading effect – so much easier.

STOP THE CONSTANT TRIPS TO THE MERCHANTS

Order your materials just the once – you’ll be able to negotiate the best prices and it’ll result in least disruption to the project.

GET MULTIPLE PROJECTS IN SYNC WITH EACH OTHER

Imagine being able to merge all your jobs so you can see who’s where, what needs to happen when? Tall order? It makes the difference between keeping all your profit or some of it.

KLAXON ALERT! HERE’S THE SHORTCUT

If all the above is blowing your mind then buy or subscribe to software that will do the lion’s share of the work for you. And you can nail 2021 now.

EstimatorXpress is our award-winning estimating software programme. And it does way more than produce accurate estimates. It automatically produces 80+ management reports from your estimate data. As well as a full breakdown of costs (all up-to-date thanks to the software’s Price Tracker+), cutting lists, material schedules and labour schedules, it will also give you a cash flow analysis and tell you how much profit you are going to make. It will help you with your invoicing too. What’s not to like?

Then there’s ContractsXpert for all your contracts, Health & Safety Xpert for your legally-required documents and ProjectXpert for the management side – all sorted for you once you provide a few details.

Once you have EstimatorXpress in your kit – you can feed each estimate into these other software tools to get almost instant outputs for the jobs. The programmes read the data from the estimate. It’s the most amazing syncing of residential construction software you’ll find.

WHAT NEXT?

Take action now to get ahead and put your business head and shoulders above your competition.

Give the sales team a call on 0117 916 7898 for a non-techie, straightforward chat about your business and how we can help. Have a 1-2-1 online demonstration. Or email hello@hbxl.co.uk or hop onto the chat service at the bottom of your screen. And nail 2021 now!