What Kind of Business do You Want?

Crews that don’t need baby sitting?
Sell more jobs at your price?
Free time for your family?
I’ll show you how I do it.

As a contractor you face specific challenges in building your business; you also share many common obstacles with other small business owners. Generating leads, selling, managing production, systematizing your business–every small business owner, no matter his industry, faces these challenges.

Whether you are starting your business or have years of experience, So, You Want to be a Contractor provides a systematic process for developing policies and procedures for your contracting business.

This 249-page book provides the tools you need to systematize marketing, sales, production, administration, and more. It comes complete with worksheets and sample forms that will help you immediately apply the material and begin improving your business.

Why do so many businesses fail?
Among the most common reasons cited are insufficient starting capital and poor planning. Both can certainly contribute to the failure of a business. However, neither is a necessary cause of business failure—a business can survive with insufficient capital and/ or poor planning.

The reason most businesses fail is because the owner does not have the necessary business skills. He gets what Michael Gerber (author of The E-Myth) calls “entrepreneurial seizure”. A skilled craftsman decides he is tired of working for someone else and hangs out his shingle–now he’ll make the big bucks. The problem is, this seldom works out well. A skilled craftsman does not necessarily make a good business owner. The skill sets are much different.

I know because I’ve been there. I started my business in 1986, and I was clueless. I struggled year after year, vowing that somehow next year would be better. I was ready to close my business many, many times. But I stuck to it, continued to learn, and today I own a successful and profitable paint contracting company.

Along the way I learned some very painful, and at times, expensive lessons. I also learned the biggest secret to business success: There are no secrets to business success. Success just takes hard work and good business practices.
If you are like most business owners, you are willing to work hard. And if you are like most business owners, you lack good business practices.

You could spend several years reading books and magazines, going to seminars, listening to tapes, and then trying to implement everything you’ve learned. But why re-invent the wheel? Why spend so much time and effort and money when I’ve already done that for you?

Over the past 10 years I’ve spent nearly $30,000 on books, tapes, magazines, attending conferences, and more. I’ve heard lots of great ideas, and a few downright crazy ideas. I’ve tried a lot of things that didn’t work, and quite a few that did. And now I’ve put together a book– So, You Want to be a Contractor –that shows you what works.

Proven Business Systems Help you Operate Like a Franchise

My book covers virtually every aspect of the business side of owning a contracting company. This book covers:

• Business Systems
• Finance and Accounting
• Marketing
• Estimating
• Sales
• Production Management
• Administration

These proven business systems will help your company operate as smoothly as a franchise. Have you ever wondered how McDonald’s can operate with a crew of teenagers? The reason is systems– specific steps to take to achieve the desired results. I share my business systems in So, You Want to be a Contractor.

What’s Your Problem?
So, You Want to be a Contractor addresses all of the common complaints contractors have, and more.

Do you have trouble finding good employees? Are you tired of baby sitting your crews?

Set quality standards for your workers and provide them with appropriate training. Then get out of their way and let them do their job.

Develop a compensation system, such as piece work, that pays on the basis of performance, rather than time worked.

Develop forms and checklists to help your crew leaders operate more efficiently and with greater customer satisfaction.

Do you have trouble generating enough leads? Are you tired of feast or famine?

Leads are the life blood of a contracting company. Without leads you cannot give estimates. Without leads you will not have work. But the importance of sufficient lead flow goes far beyond the obvious.

Without sufficient leads you may find yourself desperate to land a particular job— you need to keep the crew busy. You may take on a job that is outside of your expertise. You may bid a price that is lower than normal or desired. You may travel much further than you would like.

Successful marketing requires more than simply placing an ad. It requires identifying the particular type of clientele you wish to service, both geographically and demographically. No business can be all things to all people—you must first identify what service you wish to provide and to whom you wish to provide it.

Haphazard, inconsistent marketing will deliver haphazard, inconsistent results. Successful marketing requires a plan, and the consistent implementation of that plan.

Do you worry about estimating jobs accurately and consistently? Are you tired of thinking a job will take 3 days and it winds up taking 5?

An estimate is a projection of the labor and materials required to complete a particular project. The accuracy of that estimate will determine the profitability of the job, and therefore, the success of the company. While an occasional mistake may not ruin your business, consistently under estimating jobs will ultimately put you out of business.

So, You Want to be a Contractor addresses all of these issues and much more. It is available in both a printed version and an electronic version that you can immediately download.

Click here to read a preview.

Click here to order.