Economic turbulence in the construction industry can cast a shadow on growth and stability for contractors. It’s vital to adopt strategic measures that not only shield you from risk but position you for growth. We’ll explore five ways you can proactively stay ahead of contraction and how STACK’s got your back at each step.
1. Always Be Bidding
No matter what you do, you can’t predict every problem or added cost in a project, and you never know when you’ll need that next project to bail out the unprofitable job you’re finishing now. With no pipeline of new work, there’s nowhere to find the cash flow needed to cover yesterday’s struggles. Take action now to mitigate risks by nurturing relationships, making your precon precise, and looking further into the future.
STACK’s Got Your Back
Perform faster takeoffs increase your win rate with our comprehensive takeoff and estimating solution. STACK enables more accurate measurements and saves you time, allowing you to make better bid decisions.
Having someone who knows what they’re doing at the controls can more than double the amount of productivity in your business. We’ve tripled the number of bids we put out with STACK.
2. Mitigate Cashflow Constraints
Traditional bank loans can leave contractors in the lurch with long repayment cycles. You can look at bigger projects if you have the cash to fund them, so seek out financial partners with construction-specific programs that let you pay for materials upfront and have cash on hand for other expenses. Optimizing payment terms with suppliers can also ensure a smoother cash flow.
STACK (and Billd!)’s Got Your Back:
Eliminate money worries with the STACK + Billd integration! You’ll increase bid volume and secure working capital, strengthen supplier relationships, and take the guesswork out with accurate estimates and predictable AR.
Bid Faster. Win More. Build Smarter.
Get your FREE account today to:
- Increase Team Efficiency
- Complete Estimates Faster
- Generate More Revenue
3. Use the Right Technology to Address the Labor Shortage
Contractors need to look at areas of business that can be improved like addressing the labor shortage and increasing efficiency, but the shortage isn’t just isolated to field and skilled labor roles. The 2008 recession led to a sharp decline in construction projects due to decreased demand, lack of funding, and economic uncertainty. Many construction projects were put on hold or canceled altogether, resulting in fewer job opportunities for project managers and estimators. This created today’s large void of professionals prime in their careers in those seats. The knowledge gap between the aging workforce and Gen-Z entering the industry is large, and the fear of losing information from the people ‘who got us here’ to the people ‘who are keeping us going’ is palpable.
It’s vital to leverage digital assets to give your teams extremely robust tools that make their jobs easier so they can focus on business growth, not manual tasks. The right tech will increase collaboration, streamline processes, and integrate with your existing workflows and business systems to ensure data integrity and increase productivity. It’s the gateway to disseminating that rich data, knowledge, and experience in the older workforce to the younger generation.
STACK’s Got Your Back:
STACK is 100% cloud-based with quick onboarding and a user-friendly interface. Our robust, open API helps streamline workflows and increase business efficiency. From preconstruction to construction, we have the lightning-fast tools you need to maximize productivity and allocate your teams where you need them, and standardizing your data within one system will help eliminate the knowledge gap between generations in the office and field.
It took my son four days a week to estimate and now he is down to a couple hours a day. Now I can put him in the field and have him make us money. STACK has won us more bids, we’re up about $8 million this year. That’s got to contribute to my son not being in the office all day long.
4. Building Tomorrow, Today: Target a Younger Generation
Does your company have high organizational standards and career advancement opportunities? What do you have in place for ongoing success and growth for employees? The next generation of the workforce is already prepared for the jobsite of tomorrow – aka a tech-stacked company. Be prepared with the right tools for them to maximize efficiency and productivity – from the office to the field. Using best-in-class solutions to attract top talent is essential for recruitment and employee retention.
STACK’s Got Your Back:
With STACK’s intuitive and frequently updated user interface, you’ll attract tech-savvy Gen Z and Millennials who expect easy-to-use tools. Our cloud-based platform allows your team to access data anywhere, anytime, another vital feature for remote and hybrid employees who expect flexibility.
5. Predictive Analytics for Guaranteed Job Success
Predictive analytics help use historical data to forecast potential risks and trends, allowing you to make better-informed decisions for future bidding. These tools provide valuable insights into market trends, material costs, and profitability of projects by phase, location, or GC relationship. Better predict job success and strategically allocate resources by focusing on the projects that make you money.
By having your preconstruction team analyze your actuals you’ll be able to know what project opportunities NOT to take because of a low likelihood of succeeding and also improve accuracy on future estimates to better calculate your cost per square footage (or cubic yard, etc).
STACK’s Got Your Back:
STACK gives you real-time total project visibility with dashboard analytics to ensure accurate estimates by summarizing project by square foot, projected profit, and project details.
STACK is the Right Tech for You
STACK gives you MAJOR capabilities for your business to succeed!
- 100% cloud-based
- Real-time cost data integration with 1build
- Extremely collaborative connecting the office to the field
- Industry-leading in data security
- OS flexibility (Mac compatible!)
- All-in-one takeoff, estimating, and proposal solution
