There are certain problems which business leaders look forward to having. You might receive too many outstanding candidates for a vacant position, and have to turn a few away.
You might find that your product is selling far better than your most optimistic projections, and that you’re having to disappoint customers. Somewhere near the top of this hierarchy of good fortune are business leaders whose organisations are prospering, and who have an opportunity to grow rapidly. But how can construction businesses manage their growth, and thereby avoid the problems associated with rapid expansion?
Invest in the Right Equipment
Buying cheap tools will cost you in the long run. Investing a little extra in something that’s custom-made to your specific requirements, using the One Key system, will help to ensure that jobs are done more quickly, and that mistakes are eliminated.
Create the right Hiring Procedures
The people who work for you will have a major say in what makes your business tick. But as you expand, your time will become limited. You’ll be unable to involve yourself personally in every hiring decision. For this reason, it’s essential that you get across to your middle-management the qualities that you’ll be looking for, and the places that you’ll be advertising. Perform regular reviews to check that these hiring practices are being adhered to. Without the right staff, your business will be unable to prosper – no matter how large or small it might be.
Create the right Culture
Once you’ve gotten your people into place, you’ll need to instil a culture that drives excellence. That means identifying cases where corners are cut and holding those responsible to account. As a construction firm, you’ll live or die based on your reputation; if that reputation suffers as a result of shoddy workmanship, your business will suffer.
Support your Workers
At the same time, there’s no point in insisting on excellence if your practices don’t support the health and safety of your workforce. Sleep deprivation is a common occurrence in the workplace, and on a construction site it can cause serious harm. But it’s the lower-level lack of concentration that’s more insidious. In terms of its impact on performance, sleep deprivation can be compared to drunkenness – and should be treated with similar intolerance.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with upscaling a business rapidly. If the demand is there, as it was for Zoom’s teleconferencing service in early March 2020, then the opportunity cost of delaying would have far outweighed the cost that haste might have incurred.
Still, for most businesses, growth is something to be managed. Grow too quickly, and you might end up putting into place practices, procedures and personnel which ultimately restrict you in the long-term. For construction firms, these concerns are especially pressing, as investment in substandard equipment and staff might quickly cause mistakes.
