The amount of construction business ideas are endless, and many of them lucrative, but some take much more time than others…
And since I’m a fan of making more money for less time spent working, the construction business ideas that we’ve tested are tried and true methods for making great money and scaling your business quickly.
Construction Business Ideas: 80/20 Principle & Leverage
Before I started working with my dad in our kitchen remodeling business, I was a marketing consultant that helped local businesses generate more traffic, leads and sales by using a lean marketing budget.
This was my first run-in with the 80/20 principle and I was able to use it later on in our remodeling biz to help us grow “stupid-fast” while being in an economy where the construction industry is currently at a 5 year low.
Essentially, if you’re considering different construction business ideas, you’d be better off creating a niche business that allows you to capitalize on working 20% of the time to get 80% of your max income… And one of the best niches you could dive into would be flooring.
Our average flooring client (we do flooring now because we’ve figured out how to tie it into our kitchen remodeling business) is about 1,000 soft. The beauty of this business model is I am able to hire an installer for $1 sqft and charge the client $2 sqft… And the best part is I don’t lift a finger for the job. My guys go out and do the work while I can sit back and focus on getting more clients for them to service.
And at a rate of 1-3 flooring jobs per week, I’ll make anywhere from $2,500-$3,500 without leaving the office. That’s one of the many construction business ideas that has some serious leverage!
Construction Business Ideas: Think Like A Business Owner, Not A Contractor
Business owners build systems that work for them, contractors do the work. There are MANY contractors out there that are happy with a few jobs a month and living well within their means. This is great, but if you’re like me, and you want to build an empire and develop financial freedom, then you can’t do all of the work yourself.
When considering construction business ideas, think of starting a niche construction business that allows you to hire and train guys for the least amount of money as possible, and have your system setup so that every single employee that works for you is as replaceable as the next.
Think of McDonalds and their system… If you lose a fry cook, you can hire and train one in a matter of a week. Now I know construction often times has a lot more variables than frying potatoes, but you need to keep it that simple.
One of the things we’ve done with our kitchen remodeling business is we’ve created an assembly crew. This crew can assemble cabinets for 4 kitchens per day, and I pay them $10/cabinet to assemble them. The job is very simple to learn, and I can replace anyone I need to with another high school graduate.
And the magic of paying them by the piece vs by the hour is that it keeps production levels up. Our employees understand the 80/20 principle and can see that they can make way more money if they hustle with the cabinet assembly in a day, and can have more time off if they finish as fast as possible without sacrificing income… And that’s one of the best construction business ideas that makes dollars and sense for both the business owner and our employees.
Construction Business Ideas: General Contractors Are Viewed As Being “Jacks-Of-All-Trades”…
With the lessons above, and the fact that leveraging the 80/20 principle is the best way to capitalize on all of the construction business ideas out there, having your license as a general contractor increases your perceived value in the marketplace.
Being a general contractor is 1 of the MANY licenses available that allows you to be perceived as having many skills to serve your clients. And even though you know your limitations and have your niche you’re focusing on, your clients will see you as being something greater than someone with a license in a specific trade… I’ve learned this from our clients through observing them ask us if we can do just about anything, but when a specialized trade comes in, they stick to the questions of that trade.
For example, I suck at electrical… To be honest, 220 scares the crap out of me, but our clients always ask if it’s something we can handle. But I have NEVER heard ANY clients of ours ask our certified electricians if they can frame in some walls, install some countertops, lay some tile, etc… Again, it’s just perceived value that you can leverage to your own benefit with a general contractors license 🙂
And if you’d like more info on construction business ideas, or you’d like help getting more clients for your current business, simply enter your name and best contact info in the form below and we’ll set you up with a free marketing strategy call…
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