Ways To Grow Your Business In 2021

After a year of upheaval, 2021 promises to offer plenty of opportunity to expand your company and build your customer base. If you’re trying to grow your business this year, there are a few simple things you can do to land more jobs and make this your most profitable year yet.

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Build Your Team

Contractors who know how to grow a small business into something larger understand that building a great team is a key to success. Hire experienced professionals and offer the kind of work environment and benefits that make them want to stick around. Develop real relationships with your employees and subcontractors, and create clear project goals that make it easier for your team to get the job done.

Keeping your team happy also involves giving them some autonomy, so work on being a leader employees want to follow and not just a manager who tells them what to do. You want your team to be able to handle emergencies or make decisions independently when you aren’t there. If every person on your team is providing excellent customer service at every point in the job, clients end up happier and more likely to recommend you to their friends and colleagues.

Assess Your Strengths

Before you can focus on business growth, you need to take a close look at what you already do well and what areas need work. Assessing your strengths in a formal way could bring to light aspects of your business you haven’t considered. You might discover that your company tends to perform especially well on certain types of jobs, such as new residential construction or restaurant renovations. If so, putting a focus on getting more of that specific type of work in the future may help you better reach your target audience. Becoming known as the best contractor in a niche area could be a way to set yourself apart from other local construction companies.

When you’re looking at strengths and weaknesses, also consider what your competitors are doing. Compare your contracting business to others in the same geographic area to find opportunities everyone else may be overlooking. Strategic planning for growth should include assessing how you position yourself within the overall industry.

Grow Your Business With Networking

Connections are essential when you’re growing a business. Make 2021 your year to connect with other local professionals. In addition to networking with members of your own industry, introduce yourself and your company to professionals in related fields, such as local real estate agents, property managers, and landscapers.

Finding opportunities to network has presented some unique challenges during the past year, but the tide is beginning to turn as more localities open up again. While many larger conferences and trade shows remain canceled, smaller local events may be returning throughout the year where you can network. Some online networking opportunities have developed or expanded recently, and these are likely to remain active in the future. Consider joining social media groups and forums dedicated to your industry to interact with other professionals even when you can’t get together in person.

Get Selective

While gaining new customers is often a goal for contractors, finding the right customers is even more important. Look for more profitable clients who may want higher-end services so you can make more money with the same amount of effort. You may also want to determine who your best current clients are and turn them into loyal customers who rely on you for all of their contracting needs. Sometimes, repeat business can be more lucrative than finding new clients. Think about add-on services you can offer that increase the profits of each job and grow your business in an efficient, intelligent way.

Part of being selective also involves learning how to assess jobs before you take them. Clients who balk at providing a down payment or who act rude to your staff may be more trouble than they’re worth. You might also want to ask other local professionals who’ve worked with a particular client about their experience before signing a contract.

Invest In Long-Term Growth

When you’re trying to expand, think long term instead of short term. Growing too quickly can lead to overbooking that disappoints customers and hurts your reputation. Understanding how to grow a business over many years ensures your income and work output grow steadily and sustainably instead of in fits and starts. Aim to grow at a rate that lets you easily add new resources to your company as needed while avoiding situations where you’re rushing to complete jobs.

Another aspect to long-term planning for business growth is putting resources into training and equipment that can help you run your company better. If your business takes up more of your time as you grow, consider outsourcing some tasks to others, such as accounting or marketing, so you have more time to manage your company.