Struggling to get new customers construction company

[TheFitLocker.com]

Hi everyone I was just looking for some advice:
I'm a small business who works along with my father who has been in the construction company a lot longer than I have. I myself was a electrician for 10 years and had decided to build a construction company along with my father as it was something I was passionate about as a wanted to be an architect when I was younger and really loved being in control of bigger projects.
The problems I am having is getting new costumers to provide estimates for work I am based in Liverpool.
I have tried to make ourselves stand apart from our local competition by starting an online building service shop selling products and offering services all at one price that includes the installation of that product e.g. a wireless house alarm , a service example is e.g. electrical test certificate.
I have all the social media pages were I post recent projects etc
I have posted many, many flyers to people who have recently applied for planning permission with little to no return.
we advertise on facebook, twitter, Houzz we have videos on youtube and also have someone completing seo services which up until now due to finances being tight I have to stop thus effecting our location on google search.
I am also in contact with 2 architects to get planned drawings from them and offering free estimates which they can attach to there drawings when sending to our clients.
I need help asap as I feel like I am sinking
thanks

 

[Gecko001]

General builders rarely come from the ranks off electrical contractors, or architects, or plumbers, or painter decorators. There are other building trades or professions which supply a lot of successful builders. These are joiners, plasterers, quantity surveyors, kitchen installers or even interior designers. You are on a uphill struggle to buck the trend, but I wish you well in your endeavours to do so.

Are you considering small jobs which do not require you to hire many or any subcontractors? You need the small jobs to build up trust and word of mouth. Word of mouth is crucial in the building industry as you probably know, so do not for get it.

 

[Dunny]

In my experience the best way to build a construction company is by word of mouth and this takes time. I am from Liverpool myself and funnily enough I have been toying with this idea myself recently (having said that I am always looking at one idea or another). The way I was planning on approaching this was through my estate agent business. We get a lot of people that will be looking for someone to do work after poor survey results, for example things like damp courses, plastering, roofing etc. We give this work away at the moment but we do have a number of different trades that will give us referral fees. Maybe following this route through going around the estate agents in Liverpool and asking them whether they would be interested in setting up a referral scheme might work for you?

 

[columbo]

I have tried to make ourselves stand apart from our local competition by starting an online building service shop selling products and offering services all at one price that includes the installation of that product e.g. a wireless house alarm , a service example is e.g. electrical test certificate.
I have all the social media pages were I post recent projects etc

There could be numerous reasons for people's lack of interest in your service.

But one thing jumps out from your post is "wireless house alarm" and "electrical test certificate"...some people might not want an electrician building their house for them. You must not dilute your offering. In business perception is reality. Big established companies might get away with offering multiple services because of their "reputation" but a smaller business can't, (in my experience at least).

Would you go to dentist who also offered hair-cuts?

My suggestion: whittle down your service to a pure building service and market your business as a "family construction business" mentioning your father's years of experience.

 

[TheFitLocker.com]

Thanks for the great replies I don't think I explained myself properly.
I have a construction company which i promote and get the majority of my work is word of mouth but i want more consistency and want to eventually expand so people think of us first if they ever have a problem with there home....
To make ourselves stand apart from other building companys,
i have set up an online store like any screwfix, toolstation etc that sells products but it also gives the option of an all in one installation price to install that product, so i client who doesn't know much about kitting there house out with new sockets lighting etc can come to our site and select what they want when they want it.
We also have services that people can purchase eg. electrical safety certificate, etc.
This is how we want to set ourselves apart......

 

[Gecko001]

You seem to have things fairly well sorted out and could probably teach most of us here how to run a business. On this forum, we often get people here who are just starting up a business and they struggle despite very good marketing/advertising. Or people who have an idea and little else. You fall into neither of these categories.

What you describe of your site makes me think that it is just what many people are looking for. In fact the concept seems too good to be true. This might be the problem as people are often wary of things that look too good to be true. Are the prices of your online items similar to those of say Scewfix? People do shop around and will go to the cheapest they see online.

Also, I would not forget Ebay. Speaking as a customer of Ebay, often I have bought a product from a seller on Ebay to then make my second purchase from that seller's own website.

 

[TheFitLocker.com]

Thanks for the response
It was an idea i have had for a long long time and i feel it has great potential i have never ran a wholesaling business so i am finding it hard contacting to the write manufacturers so we can sell quality products at the best price possible....
We offer 2 prices for each product one with an installation price and one without so if a customer wants to get there own installer that is more than fine.
If anyone knows anything about how to run a wholesaling business i am all ears

 

[Gecko001]

Thanks for the response
It was an idea i have had for a long long time and i feel it has great potential i have never ran a wholesaling business so i am finding it hard contacting to the write manufacturers so we can sell quality products at the best price possible....
We offer 2 prices for each product one with an installation price and one without so if a customer wants to get there own installer that is more than fine.
If anyone knows anything about how to run a wholesaling business i am all ears

That is your problem in a nutshell.

 

[TheFitLocker.com]

Thanks for the great replies I don't think I explained myself properly.
I have a construction company which i promote and get the majority of my work is word of mouth but i want more consistency and want to eventually expand so people think of us first if they ever have a problem with there home....
To make ourselves stand apart from other building companys,
i have set up an online store like any screwfix, toolstation etc that sells products but it also gives the option of an all in one installation price to install that product, so i client who doesn't know much about kitting there house out with new sockets lighting etc can come to our site and select what they want when they want it.
We also have services that people can purchase eg. electrical safety certificate, etc.
This is how we want to set ourselves apart......

 

[columbo]

i have set up an online store like any screwfix, toolstation etc that sells products but it also gives the option of an all in one installation price to install that product, so i client who doesn't know much about kitting there house out with new sockets lighting etc can come to our site and select what they want when they want it.
...

I know a guy down the road that sells car accessories but I'm not going to buy a car off him.

In people's minds' there is a big difference between an online retailer and an actual builder.

The two propositions are at variance with each other. One would seem to be aimed at the DIY market and the other aimed at those looking for a professional builder.

 

[Richard Pakey]

I'd advise that you be an expert in just 1 thing, pick something that you currently excel at and do good business on, then market that expertise, in time there is no reason why you can't be the expert in several areas, the target market will only see 1 message at a time

 

[fisicx]

I have all the social media pages were I post recent projects etc

Unless potential clients are looking sat these pages this is a waste of time

I have posted many, many flyers to people who have recently applied for planning permission with little to no return.

This is way too late. These people have already got their contractors i=on standby.

and also have someone completing seo services which up until now due to finances being tight I have to stop thus effecting our location on google search.

If you a have good site, and proper SEO your ranking would be rock solid.

i have set up an online store like any screwfix, toolstation etc that sells products

This is pointless. You can't complete with the likes of screwfix so don't bother.

so i client who doesn't know much about kitting there house out with new sockets lighting etc can come to our site and select what they want when they want it.

I employ the contractor to sort all this for me.

We also have services that people can purchase eg. electrical safety certificate, etc.
This is how we want to set ourselves apart......

So does every other contractor.

We needed an electrician to fix some outside lights so Googled and found 3 local guys. Checked checkatrade and picked two out of three. Called them on the phone and only one answered. So he got the work. No social media, no shop for lights, just a simple search and picked those listed in Google My Business. Tony doesn't even have a website.

 

[columbo]

the target market will only see 1 message at a time

Exactly but if the target market is confused by your product offering, they simply move on.

 

[TheFitLocker.com]

Hi Fisix
How are you I am still working on other project.
This is my business that I generate most my earnigs from.....
So you are saying seo is the way forward....
I tried that for over a year but had very poor results

 

[HomesWarehouse]

I used to own a property renovation company and had most of my business from yell.com and word of mouth,

 

[fisicx]

Hi Fisix
How are you I am still working on other project.
This is my business that I generate most my earnigs from.....
So you are saying seo is the way forward....
I tried that for over a year but had very poor results

No, not SEO. you need to refocus the business and do what you do best: contracting. Drop all the ideas of the shop and the landlord alerts and whatever and go get leads. Make your Google my Business the best there is, work on your checkatrade pages, add loads of local projects to your website and parade your vans around town with your logo on the site. In other words, market the business.

 

[alja]

We dropped all advertisements and all associations and organisations/building bodies. We found people do not make their choice of contractor by looking at ads and benchmarks. Word of mouth is very important. Gaining the trust of reputable surveyors will be the best move you'll make. They will give you more work than you'll ever need. From there your client base shoots through the roof. Being a successful construction company is less about how good you are on the tools and more about how business savvy you are. Which you seem to be. The real secret formula is how you are as a person, how you come across to people and how you sell your construcrion company to the client. Having the gift of the gab and knowing how and when to use it.