Contractor Success Map With Randal Dehart | Contractor Bookkeeping And Accounting Services

This Podcast Is Episode Number 473, And It's About How Technology Helps Construction Businesses Save Money The use of technology in construction has come a long way. Many articles have already been written about how construction has been sluggish in adopting new advancements in technology compared to other business sectors. However, more and more companies, especially small construction businesses, have been open to using technology to improve their operations.    Any change is difficult–especially in business. Changing how things have always been done in the past involves a lot of effort, persistence, and flexibility, not to mention financial investment. To sustain the interest and efforts towards these changes, it's crucial to fully understand and not lose sight of the benefits of adopting technology. For businesses, increasing the bottom line and reducing costs are always practical reasons to leap.    Here are the ways technology helps construction businesses reduce costs: Pre-construction Process From

This Podcast Is Episode Number 472, And It's About Unconventional Ways To Market Your Construction Business   One of your greatest fears is wasting money on a less than good lead.   They may or may not have any genuine desire for services. Sometimes a person is committed to collecting three bids when they already have someone picked out to do the work. They may be looking for a "temporary friend" to do them a favor, or by the time you have completed the form, they have changed their mind and no longer want service. This is often the case when one spouse or partner wants the work done, and the other doesn't.   Sometimes you want to try something new when networking with other business owners. Here are some unconventional ways to grow your network and bring in new leads. 1. Collaborate with others in the industry You know your niche, so you know the questions about your industry. Collaborate with people who fit your ideal market. For example, you could create a newsletter where you ask people in your niche mar

Every day you make financial decisions about your company, which affect how successful and sustainable your construction business is. If you're responsible for the bookkeeping and all the paper management (bills, receipts, estimates, invoices), you could be making errors that affect your decisions. Because of an incorrect decimal place, you may think that you have more money in the bank than you do. Or you may not fully understand how a decision today affects your business tomorrow.   Keeping up with paperwork is a typical construction business timewaster we noticed in more than thirty years in the industry. Doing your books often winds up costing you more money in the end, not to mention the time and energy that goes into a task you despise or, at the very least, don't fully understand.    This is one area that many construction company owners hate to be part of but still choose to take responsibility for.   Here are some ways having a construction bookkeeper can solve your paperwork frustrations and free

This Podcast Is Episode Number 470, And It's About How To Balance Profit Centers And Cost Centers In Your Construction Company Success in operating a profitable construction business is all about maintaining the proper balance of control over both The Profit Centers and The Cost Centers. If either one gets too powerful and is allowed to run your construction company, it can cause more damage than good.   The definition of a Non-Profit Construction Company is one that tries to fix its weaknesses and continues making the same mistakes repeatedly, expecting a different result and continues to struggle until the owner lays down and dies from over-work and exhaustion.   A Highly Profitable Construction Company builds on its strengths and core competencies and continues innovating, growing, and responding to changes in its environment.    It's Not Rocket Science; It's A Lot Harder Than That! Profit Centers Most construction companies earn most of their profits from less than four different project types or Profit

This Podcast Is Episode Number 466, And It's About Five Effective Ways To Find New Construction Clients If you want your business to continue growing and thriving, you'll need to find ways to bring in new clients.   Before the internet was commercially available, there were just as many experts advising contractors about the layout and design of yellow page ads and which books to spend money on. I say spend money because that is what it was and is now.   Many of us who owned and operated construction companies spent thousands of dollars on these experts and, based on their recommendations, spent tens of thousands of dollars annually in full-page yellow page ads as close to the first position as possible.   Nowadays, instead of yellow pages people, I see many well-intentioned people with their minds and hearts in the right place that have a lot of really great ideas on what works and fails in social media. I certainly don't know what works for every contractor; however, I know that every construction company

This Podcast Is Episode Number 468, And It's About Processes To Increase Production And Reduce Injuries At The Job Site Some construction business owners believe in maximizing production by driving everyone from the laborers to the project managers to work harder, longer, faster, hustle, and run. And if they are giving less than 110% to the company, they are not doing enough. One thing to consider: Don't let construction workers think too much; they may injure themselves. Apprentices and most Journeymen working on a construction job site are better off not thinking but simply following routines and patterns established by management based upon best practices. At first read, this sounds harsh, and yet it comes from our own experiences as a contractor operating multiple job sites with small crews on each from two to ten people; this one concept generated a lot of bottom-line profits and kept injuries very low. The system is the solution. Being process dependent, not people dependent, means investing the time an

This Podcast Is Episode Number 467, And It's About Four Key Areas To Evaluate In Your Construction Business Budget With the potential for business life to return to something resembling normal, it's good to look at your budget and see where you may need to shift some of your priorities. Pay attention to how your spending over the past few years affected your business and either helped you achieve or took you away from your overall goals.    Considering how your business and your employees functioned in recent years can help you predict upcoming trends, enabling you to plan for adjustments.    There is no better time to reflect and think seriously about your construction business. Excellent organization systems add considerable value to any business because they allow you to spend more time working on your business rather than on it.   Here are some key areas to evaluate in your budget to determine whether you need to spend more or less in these areas.  1. Technology This is possibly the business area with th

This Podcast Is Episode Number 466, And It's About Delight Your Online Prospects - Converting Visitors Into Clients Businesses are increasingly moving online to expand their reach and provide the best possible experience to their customers. Being online, however, means more competition, so business owners must come up with ways to amp up their game to gain a more significant market share.    You won't build a loyal client base if you can't earn your visitors' trust, so companies value social proof so highly. But proving your construction business's value online takes a unique skill set, one you can nurture by learning from the marketing industry professionals.   Great news for construction business owners like you since you're hyper-local and offer your services based on your location, which means you can target your online audience and optimize for better search engine results.   Connect with your prospective clients and "wow" them even before they reach out to you by implementing these strategies: 1. Put t

Contractors who ask for help in Cleaning Up their QuickBooks Files before filing taxes have better results than those that do not. The Tax Accountant is happier because the QuickBooks file is clean and easier to work with. They will likely find more deductions that can save you money and, in some cases, mean the difference between success and failure in your construction company. Because the QuickBooks file is clean, the Tax Accountant will have fewer questions for you. Because the QuickBooks file is clean, the Tax Accountant can easily find the reports needed to file your tax return. Because the QuickBooks file is clean, the Tax Accountant can focus on saving you money. You are the Happiest because taking a trip to the Dentist for many contractors is less painful than going to the Tax Accountant. Once a Tax Accountant is "Broke In," you hate to change them. It shouldn't have to be that way. Like a new pair of shoes – All is well and a Happier Experience, once the Tax Accountant and The Contractor understan

This Podcast Is Episode Number 464, And It's About Solutions To Reduce Debtor Days For Construction Business Owners   Steady, reliable cash flow is crucial for the survival of your construction business – so taking steps to ensure your customers pay promptly is a key priority.   Debtor days refer to the length of time it takes clients, on average, to pay you for the work you've done. A higher number of debtor days means clients take longer to pay you. A lower number of debtor days means clients take less time to pay you, which means there's more cash available for your business to use.    In the construction industry, debtor days can average as long as almost three months. Shortening that length can have a significant impact on your cash flow.   When your clients consistently pay on time, you'll avoid the dreaded "feast or famine" cycle. You'll be able to pay your vendors, suppliers, and employees on time, and, not least of all, yourself. Additionally, if clients start taking too long to pay you, you may lea

This Podcast Is Episode Number 463, And It's About Best Construction Employee Retention Secrets Revealed Most construction workers are good decent people who enjoy working with their hands making, building, repairing, remodeling, and fixing homes and commercial buildings.   Good construction workers will not tolerate chaos or unfair labor practices. They will try out many construction companies until they find a contractor with a system. Preferably with documented processes and procedures.   Desirable construction workers have these five traits in common: High Self Esteem Strong Work Ethic Always Learning Loyal To Family And Friends Law Abiding Citizen Traditionally, employers have relied on giving employees raises to retain their staff and reward them for being hard-working and loyal. Raises can get expensive, and there is often an upper limit for what you can offer to increase salaries and wages.  Keeping your employees happy makes business sense. You want to keep your good employees, and it costs money t

This Podcast Is Episode Number 462, And It's About How To Win Your Clients Back And The Secrets To Getting The Best Projects   Construction company owners - predominantly service-based businesses with monthly or yearly client subscriptions, likely deal with some level of customer churn, especially given the COVID-19 pandemic. Even customers who love your business and services may have lapsed for various reasons.    Whatever their reasons for leaving, it's still a great idea to win them back. Why? This is mainly because winning back a lost client still has a higher success rate than converting a prospect into a customer. After all, they've already hired your service once, so you don't have to convince them of the need. And you don't need to build brand awareness; they already know you exist.    Even if you can't win everyone back, those you can bring back to your business will affect your bottom line–and will do so at less expensive overall.   Here are some strategies to win back clients who have left: 1. Ask

This Podcast Is Episode Number 461, And It's About Construction Companies Who Fail Have One Thing In Common Every contractor who goes out of business has one thing in common, bad financial reports or none at all. Does this sound familiar? Contractor opens a business because they are so skilled at trade. With a small amount of cash, less than $10,000, a few credit cards with $5,000 available credit, they are off to the races. You tell friends and relatives about your new adventure and get lots of jobs. Of course, you wouldn't take advantage of friends or relatives at meager prices, would you? You open supplier charge accounts credit cards from Home Depot and Lowes. Your working capital increased by $20,000. "Wow, life is excellent! I should have done this a long time ago!" You were earning $25.00 an hour working for someone else. The contractor was charging $50.00 an hour for you. What a ripoff! You charge $30.00 an hour to be fair and undercut your competition. In six months, cash is gone, credit cards over t

This Podcast Is Episode Number 460, And It's About Different Skill Sets Of A Construction Company's Financial Team When you run your own business, it's tempting to take on every responsibility. There are many reasons for doing so: you want something done a specific way because you don't have the time to explain how to do it or because you're not sure someone else can handle the task.    Delegating saves you valuable time and energy. Sharing duties with your team also fosters a sense of responsibility, engages them, and helps them develop their skills.   What makes it so hard to delegate? Construction workers live in the real world, where everything can be seen, heard, felt, tasted, and sometimes smelled. They can look around and see evidence of their activities. Their long-term time horizon in years past was two weeks, which is why most payrolls are paid every two weeks. With the variety of check cashing and payday loan outlets, their long-term time horizon has been replaced with now and right now! Construct

This Podcast Is Episode Number 459, And It's About Improving Your Business Negotiation Skills As A Contractor Several aspects of the construction business can only be learned through experience. One of them is negotiating contracts.    Owning your business requires many skills, and among the most important might be the ability to manage negotiations. As a business owner, you could find yourself negotiating in many circumstances, such as:  Salary and job expectations with a potential employee  Financing terms with a lender Payment terms with a supplier Lease or property agreements Equipment agreements. Most people fear the negotiation process because it is an intrinsically uncomfortable process. Asking for more money or making personal demands doesn't come naturally to everyone. But with the right toolkit, you can breeze through contract negotiations. And you'd better get used to it because you'll have to handle many contracts whether you're a construction company owner or employee. Having the right mindset

This Podcast Is Episode Number 458, And It's About Different Skill Sets Of A Construction Company's Financial Team As your construction business grows, it's essential to have trusted financial professionals managing your books and providing strategic financial advice.    After all, the busier you get, the more complex financial management becomes - and the less time you'll have to maintain your books and try to make sense of all the data.    However, many construction business owners are not sure of the differences between a construction bookkeeper, a construction accountant, a financial planner, and a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) - or whether hiring one or all of them makes the most sense.   Keep in mind that each branch of accounting serves a different function similar to how it works in construction. There are framers, rough carpenters, and finish carpenters, and all three work with lumber, yet in most cases, the skill sets to do everything are rarely found in the same person.   An established, growt

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 yo

This Podcast Is Episode Number 456, And It's About Managing Generational Diversity In Construction Workplace Every manager has habits that make them effective. Managing contractors doesn't just mean scheduling them and making sure they're progressing on the project, but also knowing how to address workplace matters proactively - for one, the growing generational differences among their peers to communicate effectively and boost productivity. These days, it's inevitable that a diverse group of older and younger workers cross paths in the construction industry. After all, the young, tech-savvy, socially conscious Gen Y (Millennials) and Gen Z are currently the largest living generation in the U.S., navigating the workforce in record numbers. And the boomers may be retirement age, but that doesn't mean they're ready to stop working. Many baby boomers choose to enjoy "encore careers" – jobs that allow them to continue applying their skills and experience to personally meaningful projects. Here are a few ways to

This Podcast Is Episode Number 455, And It's About How To Leverage Automation And Technology In Your Construction Business The daily processes and transactions involved in operating a general maintenance and repair contracting business can mean long hours of repetitive tasks and occasional oversights due to human nature. These days, you can use technology to take care of almost any issue facing your business. Automating these tasks can result in significant savings in resources and eliminate mistakes caused by human error. The key, however, is to know which tasks should be automated and which ones warrant staff intervention and guidance. Let's discuss some of them:   Lead Capturing, Nurturing, and Scoring Automating your lead development process can do wonders for your service-based company's conversion rates. Both hot and cold leads require attention and targeted engagement to convert into paying customers. Using automation software can help sales reps guide prospects to end the sales cycle strategically,

This Podcast Is Episode Number 454, And It's About The Treatment To Your Construction Bookkeeping Symptoms Most contractors are skilled technicians who learned their tradecraft in an apprenticeship program taught by a Master Technician, experience, or combination of these methods.    There is a way to learn to operate your contracting company from a Master Contractor.   With time, they developed a Paradigm, Mindset, Understanding, whatever word makes the most sense to you about how construction companies operate based upon their experiences.   In their experience, production, getting work done is the most important part of the business because they always do as employees.    Since all learning is based upon connecting new things to things we already understand, most contractors fall into the trap of only doing what they know and not learning what they don't know.   Getting to own and operate a successful construction company is similar to understanding a construction trade. There are only two ways to do it.