What You Need To Do To Kick Start Your Very Own Building Business
If you’ve worked in the building and construction industry for some time and have decided to build your very own business, there’s no doubt that it’s a very exciting step. Although it can be extremely rewarding to run your own business and be your own boss, it’s certainly not an easy thing to manage a lot of the time. You’ll have to invest a lot of time, money and energy in order to help your business stay afloat during the first few years, but the payoff is absolutely worth it. To give you a head start, we take a look at a few things to keep in mind as you start to build your business.
Are you Experienced Enough?
Before you make the most of flexible hours, important achievements and professional growth, you’ll need to have a good amount of experience. In addition to studying a Diploma of Building and Construction – CPC50210, state bodies will expect you to have a significant amount of experience in the industry. NSW, for example, demands builders have at least two years of supervised work experience as an employee or subcontractor before they provide a building licence. Although some people might have a certain kind of view of business owners as they look to create their own business, such as wealth and success, this is very rare for new business owners. This kind of success takes years and a lot of hard work. In fact, it’s not uncommon for new business owners to deal with things like a lack of paid leave, no super, complete accountability for everything that goes wrong (not just the things that go right) and even the lack of a paycheck. These things will obviously affect your family as well, so make sure that they’re aware of some of these issues beforehand.
Are you Properly Prepared?
Even if you have all the relevant qualifications and licenses, jumping into a new business without a plan is always a bad idea. You should ideally be developing a watertight business plan that includes valuable pieces of information related to both past and present, such as revenue, business promotion, admin work and how you’re financing everything. This is because starting your own business requires significant investment on your part. Although these costs will eventually pay for themselves in the long term, it can still be difficult to front the initial costs. Depending on what your business might involve and require, you’ll likely have to consider education costs if required (such as the Certificate IV in building and construction – CPC40110 fee), renting or buying equipment and/or vehicles, licensing fees, marketing costs and business-related insurance and much more. The licensing fees in this case can range from things like zoning permits, licensing for certain types of high-risk work and building with energy.
Do you have the People skills?
Running your own business isn’t just about knowing how. It takes a leadership-minded person to develop a business that can easily manage clients and employees alongside the daily responsibilities demanded by the business. Although this might not be easy for everyone, it often just takes a bit of persistence – you might sometimes feel like a fish out of water at first, but learning as you go and asking for advice where necessary can help considerably.
