Construction and Contracting Business. Entrepreneur magazine
rel="nofollow" href="#fb3_img_img_82fe6e05-506e-54cc-887b-68443c60c669.jpg" alt=""/> Will the neighbors complain about increased truck traffic stopping to deliver supplies? Will they be upset if you have several trucks and vans parked in your driveway each night?
No matter where you ultimately decide to open up shop, you must decide how much space you’ll need to operate efficiently. As is usually the case, when you think you have just the perfect size office, it will instantly become too small. Ideally, an office should be designed with some flexibility. Most businesses add staff over time and need space for each individual to perform his duties. At a minimum, contractors should have space for the owner, the staff, and a meeting room.
The office for the chief executive of the company should be large enough to hold meetings with at least several people. However, today many meetings include people on conference calls or video conferencing. Off-site meetings have become very easy and often quite cost effective, rather than trying to travel to various meeting locations. In your office search, you need to look at renting spaces that are large enough for a desk, computer, printer, filing cabinet, and perhaps a comfortable chair.
The work space for design staff should be determined by the equipment they use. The drafting table is rapidly becoming a relic as most new designers and architects work on a personal computer. However, they may need space to print out plans and a table to lay them out. Storage space for the printed designs is critical and usually takes up lots of space.
A small conference or meeting room for getting together with clients and sales representatives or holding staff meetings is essential to many businesses in the contracting industry. Some interior designers have suggested that meeting rooms should be designed so that each person attending the meeting has 30 to 35 square feet of space; therefore, if you anticipate meetings with two to six people, a 12 by 16 room should be adequate. If you do not find affordable office space with a large enough meeting area, or conference room, keep in mind that many cities and communities have meeting spaces available for rental. Regus (at www.regus.com) offers meeting rooms and offices in hundreds of cities as well, as virtual offices.
Storage space is often overlooked when planning a new office. Office supplies, machinery, and financial data archives take up quite a bit of room. In addition, most offices have spaces for coffee makers, microwave ovens, and book shelves for industry-specific publications. Of significant concern is having enough outlets for computers and other equipment as well as wifi and/or other means of online connectivity. Make sure you can connect from any place in your office.
Office Specifications and Details
Now that you’ve got a place for your stuff, you have to decide what that stuff is. A well-stocked and organized office runs much smoother and more successfully than one in a continual state of disarray. If good organization is not a strong suit of a contractor-owner, then she should consider hiring an experienced office manager or executive assistant to keep the office and support staff working smoothly and efficiently. Some of the physical items every contracting office should have follow.
The ability to communicate clearly and promptly with both co-workers and clients is critical to any business, especially a contracting business, so the first order of business is installing a telephone system that meets the needs of the business. You should have a landline with an answering machine and a professional greeting.
Ultimately, as an office evolves, a PBX (private branch exchange) system may be necessary. These sophisticated systems, usually costing several thousand dollars, provide a network within an office that offers automatic answering, call transfer, individual voice mail, intercom systems, conference calling, the ability to forward calls to another location, and to make telephone calls over the internet (referred to as VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol). Typically, these systems offer callers menu options for their calls: By pressing a series of numbers, the caller can be transferred directly to the person or department sought.
While a PBX telephone system increases the efficiency and usually the professional image of a company, care must be used when relying on one. Many potential clients are turned away by menu options; most people prefer speaking to a “real, live person.” They become impatient or angry when forced to listen to a long list of instructions and options. You want to make it as easy as possible for customers and/or potential customers to reach you. The first call a potential client makes is often his introduction to the company, so the method of greeting is crucial. A poor first impression can easily turn away potential clients. A simple answering machine message, having someone (or a service) answer your calls, or having them forwarded to you on your cell phone (if you will be available to take calls) are all possibilities. Most significantly, if you get a phone message, you should respond promptly, within an hour or two.
Over the last few years smartphones have all but taken over the world. They are now sophisticated enough to serve as a mobile business control center. Along with the obvious voice services and texting, you have email, web browsing, cameras, and an MP3 player at your disposal. Apps can enhance your user experience, but be forewarned that for every valuable app, there are probably 25 that are quite unnecessary for your business needs—so don’t get caught up with endless apps.
Nonetheless, the latest features have turned smartphones into mobile computers. In fact, in recent years, surveys have found that more people are using their phones for computers than they are using their laptops or tablets.
Cell phones are valuable tools for businesses of all sizes. At the typical mom-and-pop contracting company, the owner is frequently on a job site all day. At various times over the course of a day or week, the owner must be able to communicate with clients to ensure that work is proceeding properly, with the office for a wide variety of reasons, with suppliers to verify deliveries or order materials, with future clients to schedule meetings, and with an architect or designer to ask questions about the work.
Larger companies also rely on cell phones to coordinate work among several work crews, to locate a piece of machinery that had to be shared by two crews, or to find someone to repair machinery breaks. If the owner is not present on the job site, the cell phone is an invaluable tool for the crew foreman to verify details of an installation or get approval for changing the plans.
Finally, cell phones are a safety tool. In the event of a serious injury on the job, medical help can be called, and the injured worker treated without unnecessary delay.
Websites such as www.myrateplan.com and http://smartphones.specout.com