How to Make Your Construction Business Profitable

It seems lately like there’s no end to the list of challenges construction businesses and contractors face these days. It’s not surprising that we’ve heard from industry insiders that maintaining profitable margins is becoming increasingly difficult. The good news? There are a few steps you can take now to build processes that make your construction business more profitable as you scale and grow.

Accurate Estimates and Job Costing

Knowing how much a project costs to complete means you’ll have the upper hand in bidding. Drill down on every line item and cost; having an accurate, exact number on paper means you’ll be able to calculate profit easily. Regularly calculate how much money it takes to run your business on a weekly and monthly basis to get a look at your profit margins and what it will take to maintain them.

When creating accurate bid proposals and keeping construction projects on track, one of the biggest challenges for contractors is estimating equipment costs. While there are several different ways to calculate equipment costs, there are some considerations to keep in mind when getting the cost of equipment right.

It can’t be reiterated enough: The first step to accurately estimating equipment costs for the bidding process is getting a firm grasp of the number of hours the equipment will use. You can best achieve this with a focus on project management and construction scheduling best practices.

Optimize Scheduling

Put away the pen and paper; there are much better tools for creating construction project schedules. Plenty of sophisticated software available to your team will bring your scheduling into the 21st century. Another benefit of using software is integrating with other tech tools you may already be using to collaborate and communicate.

Investing in construction scheduling software like Primavera and learning how to use it is a great way to equip your team to streamline construction scheduling and planning. Regardless of which software or strategy you use to schedule your construction projects, there are a few ways to optimize the construction scheduling process.

However, a caveat: Don’t create a schedule just to create one. Work closely with contractors and subcontractors to discuss their construction methods, and consider their feedback when choosing a methodology for your construction scheduling. Better yet, call in a team of scheduling experts to take over the task. 

Boost Productivity

Getting your scheduling processes on track and property estimating job costs and business expenses will help you and your team become more productive, but take it a few steps further by prioritizing steps to boost productivity even more.

Critical Path Method (CPM) scheduling is another simple and effective way to help boost worksite productivity. For instance, it works on the fundamental premise that there is one best path to accomplish a task or project by an expected finish date. Similarly, it identifies each step but also considers the best-case scenarios, likely scenarios, and worst-case scenarios for each step.

In addition to managing your project with Primavera P6 EPPM, there are also experts you can work with that conduct custom hands-on, one-to-one Primavera training or consultation on the software with clients, general contractors, and owners, enabling them to increase their skill set with this valuable tool and participate in the project – and future projects – more successfully.

Work with Construction Business Experts

Construction business growth is generally hard, but that’s especially true now. With rising material costs, widening labor gaps, and increasing inflation, owners and contractors are finding their margins shrinking. The good news is that a few strategic investments and some time will help support construction business growth initiatives.

When starting a project with TD Wilson, you benefit from our decades of experience and our expertise with today’s top CPM software products. Our approach to developing a well-defined project schedule leaves nothing to chance, which means you get peace of mind that your business will thrive.

When you add us to your commercial construction project team, you bring 30+ years of experience in engineering and construction to your job site, as well as notable expertise in today’s sophisticated project portfolio management (PPM) software. We have acquired a vast portfolio and a reputation for excellence among clients. We regularly manage multimillion-dollar land- and marine-based projects, such as high-rise office buildings, sports facilities, and light-rail transit. Contact us today to get started!