Ten Top Tips for Running a Lucrative Plumbing Business
What is the key to maintaining a successful plumbing company?
Unfortunately, if you’re looking for a quick-and-dirty formula or a money-making scheme that would enable you to become wealthy quickly, this article is not for you.
The fact is that there is no magic formula for starting a successful plumbing business, but there are some things that must be done in order to get started. Dedication, commitment, enthusiasm, and a lot of elbow grease are the keys to success. The following is a list of things a commercial plumber can do to become more profitable and successful. These suggestions can also be used within other types of enterprises.
The following are ten suggestions for establishing a profitable plumbing business.
- Discover and cultivate your specialization. As a plumber, you have the option of focusing on any aspect of plumbing. For instance, you may opt to concentrate on tenancy fit-out work in the inner city. Or perhaps you’re more interested in modest commercial and household maintenance projects. Domestic maintenance, commercial maintenance, new residences, bathroom or kitchen renovations, nursing homes, hospitals, townhouses, or even large-scale construction projects like new buildings and warehouses may be niches for plumbing companies. Once you’ve decided on a niche, you’ll need to locate builders, architects, and hydraulic consultants/engineers that manage and design these sorts of projects so you can be included on their tender list.
- Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. In other words, don’t work for just one builder and expect to always be their go-to plumber. It isn’t going to happen. Unfortunately, there is no loyalty in the building sector right now because everything is centred on pricing, and the plumber who gets the contract is generally the cheapest, even if they have a track record of poor execution. When the market improves, this will change.
- Put a price on everything. Plans are now sent to you or electronically placed on a website where you can view and price all of them. This is why it’s crucial to call all of your niche’s clients to find out when projects are up for bid. Ensure that your tenders are submitted on time. Late quotes will be automatically excluded. This includes counting up your fixed and variable costs when choosing your price. Insurance is a fixed cost that could be cheaper if you compared your plumbers insurance online.
- Go to a work site before the tender closes to see whether the task can be done in a less expensive method than the engineer has drawn it out. It’s possible that some sites will be inaccessible, but it’s worth a go. A site visit with the builder can potentially be arranged, and site inspections are frequently scheduled prior to the tender closure. Check that the nearest waste or water pipe is in the area that the engineer has depicted on the design when you get on site. If you locate one that is more similar to what is depicted, use it as the basis for your quotation. Visiting the site gives you an opportunity to price to what was on the plan. As such, your pricing may be lower than other plumbers’ quotes. Just make sure the waste pipe you’re pricing is for sewage rather than storm water!
- Clarify everything in your quote. When quoting, qualify EVERYTHING to the letter. From not incorporating security guard costs to not being held liable for damaging other services if you cut into walls or floors without being informed of their position.
- Communicate with key contacts at the earliest opportunity. Once you’ve won a tender, contact the project manager or builder to find out when you’ll be required on site. It’s also worthwhile to make a visit to the site to observe how things are progressing. The project manager may say you may start next week, but if you get to the job site and the onsite construction manager agrees, go ahead and start.
- Ensure that all paperwork is up to date. Ensure all council inspection forms and fees have been submitted and paid in full, as well as the safety paperwork (which is now required on all commercial operations) that has been given to the project safety supervisor before any work begins.
- Email certificates. After completing plumbing work, follow up on plumbing clearance certificates and email the certificate to the builder as soon as possible. Builders despise paperwork, and they will not thank you if they have to chase you to hand it over. The builder will put you on their recommended plumbers list if you provide the relevant documents, plumbing certifications, as-built blueprints, and manuals on time or before they nag. If a builder prefers to utilize you over a less expensive plumber, they will contact you and negotiate your pricing.
- Keep your operating costs to a bare minimum. You don’t have to pay for a lease on an office just because you have a home office. Setting up a home office has tax advantages. Consult your accountant for details on what can and cannot be claimed.
- Make sure you have a website. Many plumbing companies still do not have a website, but plumbers must keep up with the trends if they’re serious about growing their business. Potential clients want to know what kind of work your business has completed and who your clients are. When you begin tendering with a new customer, sending a brochure or biography about your company is often useful. Set up a Facebook and Twitter account instead of a website if you can’t afford it. A blog is very simple to start up since you can update it as fresh work comes in. You can get clients to follow your page, and it can be updated with photos of completed jobs on a regular basis.
So there we have it: Ten top tips for growing your plumbing business. The good news is that the majority of these pointers may be applied to any commerce firm.