457: 5 Steps To Setting Up Your Construction Business Processes For Success

Contractor Success Map with Randal DeHart | Contractor Bookkeeping And Accounting Services

This Podcast Is Episode Number 457, And It's About 5 Steps To Setting Up Your Construction Business Processes For Success

When a business starts, it’s natural for the owner to be a jack-of-all-trades. You may not have the capital to hire specialists or access the technology to help you. As your business grows–or as you look to take a minor role in your construction company–you may find the industry has become over-reliant on you, which makes it difficult for you to take a step back.

Have you M.A.P.ped your business yet? Consider this before retreating and delegating:

• Marketing - never sells more than Production can provide; on-time and on-budget
• Accounting - manages the money to maintain operations and produce a reasonable profit
• Production - delivers the project intending to exceed customer expectations

As you know, we are big on Marketing, Accounting, and Production; having a basic operation manual in place for your office, remote, and field employees pays off in the long run.

Now, here are some steps you can take to enable your business to thrive, even if you can’t be there all the time.

1. Review workflows

Have someone interview everyone in the company to find out their job and how they fulfill their to-dos. Look at their processes to see if there are ways to make their tasks more efficient and seamless–you could even look at best practices in other companies to see how they manage their tasks.

The goal here is to make processes as efficient and straightforward as possible. Take out any unnecessary steps and ensure each operation only involves vital tasks to successful completion.

2. Automate what you can

Look at activities carried out regularly and investigate whether software exists to make that process easier for you. Often in the construction business, people continue doing a task inefficiently simply because they got used to doing it that way. That can lead to hours being spent in activities that could be automated.

For example, if your staff spends hours each day updating your customer database, it’s worth looking into customer relationship management (CRM) software, which automatically takes care of that for you, saving you time and reducing the risk of errors. Likewise, if you or your team spends time following up on unpaid invoices, consider an online invoicing system that automatically sends out overdue notices.

3. Document the processes

Write the processes out once you know how people carry out their responsibilities and have identified ways to improve or automate them. If possible, keep the documents digital to be updated as your business evolves so everyone can easily find them. If you’ve purchased software to automate processes, make sure everyone who would use the software knows how to access it and can do so easily.

Finally, ensure the documents are stored somewhere safe and accessible for your staff. You could use Google Docs or software designed to help with business process management.

4. Train your staff

Now is the time to train your team in your optimal workflows. Ideally, you’ll have a couple of people prepared to cover each area of your business, so if one is ill or unable to work for a while, someone else can easily step in to carry out those responsibilities. Ensure everyone has read and understood the documented processes and knows how to access and use any software or technology you’ve purchased.

5. Make your business self-reliant.

You want your construction business to function without you, so it still thrives if you become ill, need a vacation, or otherwise can’t work for a while. Examine your processes for areas where the company is still overly reliant on you and look for ways to foster self-reliance. This may mean identifying gaps in your employees’ expertise and hiring people with complementary skills, finding new ways to automate workflows, working with consultants and outside service providers or subcontractors to fill in gaps, or creating an FAQ document where questions you’re commonly asked are answered.

Final Thoughts

The key to peace of mind and a reasonable profit in any firm is a strategic management system that orchestrates Marketing, Accounting, and Production to work together to produce predictable results (Download our free toolkit).

As your business grows and you step away, you’ll need to ensure you have staff who can take over various activities. Reviewing and documenting your processes, automating what you can, and identifying areas where your construction business is overly reliant on you will set you up for success.

About The Author:

Sharie DeHart, QPA is the co-founder of Business Consulting And Accounting in Lynnwood, Washington. She is the leading expert in managing outsourced construction bookkeeping and accounting services companies and cash management accounting for small construction companies across the USA. She encourages Contractors and Construction Company Owners to stay current on their tax obligations and offers insights on how to manage the remaining cash flow to operate and grow their construction company sales and profits so they can put more money in the bank. Call 1-800-361-1770 or [e-mail]