GROWING YOUR BUSINESS – Contractors: grow your business in hard times

by Dan Beaulieu
Business consultant

My mother used to say there is always a way. No matter what the challenge, no matter how hard the times, there is always a way to make it through. And my mother at 92 years old has seen depressions, wars, recession and all sorts of challenges and always she has survived.

And now we face this, this common enemy, this virus that is threatening not only our health but our economy and our businesses as well.

But as mom always said, there is always a way, there is always a plan that can be creatively conceived and implemented to get through just about anything, even these hard times.

As promised, here are some more ideas to help you grow your business in these very bleak times.

This time we’ll talk about what you can do if you are a contractor. I know contractors are having it hard right now. Jobs are being canceled, because people do not want strangers in their houses, (nor should they) But, you can work outdoors right?

This is a great time to be putting on new roofs or siding. These are projects that can be done with minimum human contact. How about adding decks or porches? How about putting up a new fence, or building a new shed or garage, or maybe even a gazebo? These are all great projects that are done in the spring and especially when the weather gets warmer and even better outdoors!

How about working in temporarily closed businesses. This is an excellent time for closed businesses to be remodeled. Dentist offices, Spas and Beauty Salons, even municipal office buildings, anywhere that are closed and people are working from home, are places where there has never been a better time to paint, or lay new flooring, or new wiring, or plumbing.

All of these are opportunities to not only stay busy, but actually grow your business during these hard times.

But you have to get the word out there. Often people, customers, don’t think of these things. You have to put these ideas in front of them through advertising, whether traditional print, or social media, or even the good old U.S Post Office. If you’re on a budget, write up a flyer and pass them around various neighborhoods. Use your eyes and your ears. Look around to see what people need. Drive through your local area and see which houses have peeling or faded paint, or sagging porches, or a collapsing fences, or need new roofs and leave appropriate flyers advertising your business’s capabilities and always include – this is vitally important – special offers.

And remember that advertising and marketing are numbers games. You can leave 50 flyers and only get two inquiries; and win only one job. Well, that’s a job you would not have had. The important thing is to be an outlier, to always think different. And if you do this, if you are ambitious and innovative and persistent, you, in the end, will grow your business in any circumstances, even these times.