They say time is money. That’s especially true for construction projects. Time lost on the job translates to additional expenses that eat into your bottom line. Here are a few tips to making your next project more efficient and improve your profit margin in the process.
1. Stay Productive
Keeping your team on task throughout a project is often the difference between meeting your deadline and expensive delays. Some keys to staying productive include:
- Meetings are necessary to keep your team informed. Prepare an agenda to keep meetings on-point and concise. Anticipate questions and be prepared to answer.
- Avoid micromanaging trusted employees. It only distracts them and you from completing the job at hand.
- Setbacks are inevitable. Deal with them promptly to avoid additional fallout down the road.
2. Choose Trusted Vendors
Knowing your mobile office, portable storage container or rented equipment will be delivered on time and in good condition lets you to focus on completing your project. Consider the cost of time spent chasing down vendors due to poor service or products versus time spent actually managing your project. Again, time is money.
3. Learn From Experience
Make notes during and after projects about what worked and what didn’t. Pay extra attention to projects that yield high profit margins or finish at a loss. Overtime this will become your playbook for sustained success.
4. Watch Your Competitors
Understanding how you stack up against the competition is on the critical path to realizing your business goals. Compare your performance against similar successful construction companies. Utilize benchmarking information from organizations like the Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA).
5. Go Mobile
Waiting to get back to the office to check email and reply to customers is so 2010. Today’s project managers are plugged in and mobile. They can review blueprints and important documents on mobile devices outfitted with rugged cases to stand up to the rigors of construction. These tech tools allow construction professionals to access productivity metrics, material costs and, most importantly, keep clients well informed and happy.
Profit margins are shrinking across the industry. Successful construction firms are finding new ways to improve efficiency in every way possible. With a little planning and some help from new technologies, you can do it too.
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