Things To Do In SW Florida

A general contractor is skilled. Often, he/she is skilled in many ways, but that does not mean he/she knows everything. Projects can be complex and require the expertise of someone else or you need more than one person to handle the job.

One contractor cannot easily handle a residential or commercial project alone. Sure, if you’re toilet is broken, one plumber could easily come over and fix the problem. But when it comes to residential and commercial construction, it can be nearly impossible for a single person to do everything that needs to get done by themselves, within budget, and on schedule.

Planning. Buying. Organizing. Invoicing. Budgeting. Doing the job. These are a lot of tasks. Therefore, it makes much more sense to hire a team. A general contracting business made up of many employees and subcontractors tend to have better success in projects and reviews.

When a contractor works with a team, he works together with differently professionals who specialize in a different part of the project. From designers and electricians to foreman and managers, everyone has a different but important role to play. The number of people working on a project will depend on the size and complexity of the project. read more

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.

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If you are a contractor with a business, whether big or small, you should think about joining a contractor/trade association (or more than one).

As a contractor licensing company, we wanted to share reasons with you as to why you should join these associations.

These associations help promote the industry through collaborative efforts. For example, you can go to local high schools and promote a certain trade.

These associations will keep you up-to-date on code and licensing changes.

There is strength in numbers. As an association, you can go up against the city or state in decisions or votes that are going to hurt your trade.

An association can help pay for training or offer less expensive training for people.

Associations often bring in great speakers for meetings. These speakers are good at what they do and can motivate you to do things you may have never done before.

You belong to a group doing the same work as you and having similar problems as you. These people can become friends and a great support system to you.

You can find people to buy or sell a business to through the association.

Your customers will find you more credible if you belong to an association.

You can choose what level association you want to be a part of to save on costs.

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If you’re a contractor that wants to start your own business or have a business and want it to grow more, you need to make sure you have the right things or systems in place for your business to run efficiently and effectively.

As a contractor licensing business, we wanted to share with you some things you need to have in place for your business to flourish.

• Use accounting and bookkeeping software that is easy-to-use and understand. These systems track all your money come in and out, and they help you keep your business running. Some good choices are Quickbooks and Xero.
• Just like the accounting and bookkeeping software, you need a payroll and invoicing system that is easy to use, so you can pay yourself and your employees and invoice clients and vendors. Due.com is a great service. Quickbooks is great for payroll, as well.
• Get yourself a task management platform to manage projects. A great tool is Asana.
• A lot of your business communications may happen through email, so it is in your best interest to get a good email server, like Gmail, for your emails.
• Get yourself a proper digital calendar system to schedule projects, appointments, deliveries, bills due, etc. Google Calendar or Calendly are great tools to keep track of all your appointments.
• Google Docs and Google Sheets are a great and cheaper way to send paperwork and you don’t have to buy a software license to use them.

If you need more tips or ideas on how to start a business or get a contractor business going, either join an association or contact us. We help contractors get their businesses started.

If you need help establishing a contractor business of if you need your contractor license, let us help you. We are a Florida contractor licensing company and have helped contractors in all 50 states get their licenses.

We know what the Board needs to get your license or business approved quickly. To get your contractor license or business license, click our Florida contractor’s license page or Forming Your Contractor Business page  to learn more or call 239-777-1028. read more

In the state of Florida, it is illegal to practice contractor work without a contractor license. Do you really want someone working on your home illegally? Sure, maybe this unlicensed contractor’s fees are a lot less than other contractors, but is it worth the risk?

As a contractor licensing company, we have helped thousands of contractors get their licenses across many states. For this article, we wanted to share with you reasons why you should hire or work with an unlicensed contractor, even if they are the most affordable option.

• An unlicensed contractor can take your money and disappear.
• Licensed contractors must go through a lot of work to be licensed, so it shows they have a higher work ethic and values.
• An unlicensed contractor likely doesn’t carry any type of insurance, which means he/she can go after you if they get hurt on your property.
• If you work with an unlicensed contractor, there’s a good chance some of the warranties on the products he/she installed will be void.
• Your contract with an unlicensed contractor may not have any legal backing, so if something goes wrong, you can’t go after them legally in the what you would like.
• If the unlicensed contractor makes a mistake and ruins other things in your home by accident, he isn’t obligate to fix or replace any damaged areas. He cannot pay you for the loss, and it will be nearly impossible for you to sue him for damages.
• Your unlicensed contractor likely will not know the proper codes or permits, which means you must investigate this information. If not, you will get fined.
• If the work the contractor does on the home causes future damage or defects, you will be liable not the unlicensed contractor. In this scenario, your homeowner’s insurance likely will not help you either because you chose to work with an unlicensed contractor.

Every year, homeowners hire unlicensed contractors who make promises and appear to be trustworthy and legit; however, in many of these scenarios, the contractor starts to make up lies and disappears with the homeowners’ down payment. Don’t let this be you. Don’t let a small home job turn into thousands of dollars lawsuit against you.

It’s worth hiring and paying more money for a licensed contractor. You know with a licensed contractor that he/she is insured, experienced, and legally responsible to get the job done for you. read more