If you’re a licensed contractor who wants to start his/her own business, there are certain things you should do, have, or think about that will likely guarantee you will grow your business or create a business that can last long.

• Get the right systems in place to run your business efficiently. From invoicing and scheduling to bookkeeping, use a system that helps you and your employees be efficient and effective.
• Look for customer referrals.
• How are people reviewing or rating you? Try to get positive customer reviews, especially publicly.
• Do you have a high or low turnover rate? If people keep leaving, ask yourself why, or find out.
• Focus on areas you need to improve your business before expanding your business in any way. Stay small to keep your cash flow higher if your profits are not going up. If your profits increase, then you can justify hiring more people for your team.
• Work on communication skills and customer service.
• Hire skilled, intelligent, independent workers who you don’t have to worry about.
• Be available to your clients/customers.
• Always pay attention to your finances so you don’t come up short in the end. Be prepared for all scenarios.
• Join an industry association where you can network and work on forming and developing better skills.
• Market your business on a website, social media, through email, and more. Go to networking events in your local area.
• Work with or have someone with more experience than you to guide you.
• Go above-and-beyond for customers so they will call you back and become repeat customers and refer you to others.
• Make your business stand out. Choose a specialty to master.

If you’re just starting out and need a contractor’s license or if one of your employees does, let us help you get licensed. Unlicensed contracting work is illegal in Florida and many other states. As a Florida contractor licensing company, we will work with you to get your application approved by the Board. The application process can be tricky, so leave it up to us to get the job done! To get your contractor license, click Florida contractor’s license page to learn more or call 239-777-1028.