Starting a Construction Company
If you've been working a construction business for a while, you might be thinking about opening your own business and entering the realm of the self employed. This is a great opportunity and can be very successful if you go into it the right way.
First of all decide on your specialty. If you're going to do roofing, wiring, painting, framing or general carpentry. Then find out if there are any special licenses that need to be filed in your state or city. Keep your receipts as these are usually tax write offs even if you're just a sole proprietorship.
Next, you will need to be able to give estimates. It would be helpful especially when you're first starting out to use a
software program that will create the estimates for you as you might forget one necessary item and going back to your client and saying you need to raise the price of your estimate because you forgot to add something in just looks bad for you. No matter how young your construction company is, you can look like a seasoned pro by getting your estimates dead on accurate. There are estimating programs for nearly every specialty you can come up with, plus general contracting software programs if you offer a lot of different services to your customers.
Besides doing a good job for every customer, you need to be able to keep track of your sales, payments and file your taxes quarterly if you've made over the limit per quarter. If you're comfortable doing this yourself, great. If not, talking to an accountant about handling these very necessary procedures for your business would be a good idea and in many cases, you can write off the fees of your accountant on your taxes!
Be smart when you're setting up your construction business. Talk to other owners and find out if they are sole proprietors, partnerships or corporations - all three business types have their pros and cons and you can find the best fit for yourself. Find out what licenses they need and call the city and find out the prices of the licenses you will need to start your business. Then advertise and market your company. This involves leaving your business card in stores, posting a flyer on various bulletin boards (most Home Depots have them up at the front of the store), and asking your friends to recommend you - you may even offer them a financial incentive for doing it like a percentage of the sale. It's a great way to get your business going and good luck to you!
posted by Contractor Guides
Help for Roof Contractors
Roofing is one of the most profitable areas of contracting and even if you've been in the game a long time, you can probably use some additional tips and tricks along the way.
If you have only done basic tear off and replacement for roofs. You may want to learn the art of roof cutting. If you learn how to do it, it can be a very valuable service to offer clients. And let's face it, the more services you offer; the more revenue your company will make.
Roof cutting is the procedure of actually building the frame work for a roof. Whether it is a new build or add on construction, it will require the knowledge to interpret the building of the room from the blue prints and then bring the design to life. There are 3 very helpful DVDs that can get you going for learning to do this profitable service.
The first DVD is the Basic Art of Roof Cutting and you will learn the basics for safely cutting and assembling roofs. By learning the techniques in this video, you will have the basic skills necessessary to be on your way to becoming a master roof cutter.
The second DVD will cover more advanced techniques used in roof cutting along with how to handle various angles and custom roofing designs that may not be part of the norm you are used to handling. Using the tips and tricks in this DVD, you'll be able to cut a roof for any design an archeitect can come up with.
The last DVD in the series is called Super Advanced Roof Cutting and with good reason. This DVD will tie all your knowledge together and give you some final lessons on handling very irregular designs, obscure valley placements and other problems that might stump other roofing contractors. If you're ready to expand your roofing business to a new level of service, take your skills and apply them towards learning the fine art of roof cutting.
posted by Contractor Guides
