Surviving the Economic Downturn

With the recent downturn in the construction industry, contractors are finding that competition is fierce. Homeowners have more choices of good contractors who are available and reasonably priced. We’ve employed a variety of methods to stay afloat during the housing crisis that has hit our Southern California market especially hard.

Down Time = Rebuilding Time

With more time available, we’re improving infrastructure to support our business. We revamped our Web site, www.goodhomeconstruction.com, creating a professional Web presence. After researching competitors’ Web sites, we focused on creating key content words for search-engine optimization, added quality project photos and updated testimonials, and provided helpful resource lists and information to attract potential customers to our site. We also added a tracking tool, which we analyze daily, to understand how customers find our site and what pages are viewed most. This enables us to tweak content and adjust our site to increase traffic.

At a separate blog site, http://goodhomeconstruction.blogspot.com, we showcase recent projects, before-and-after pictures, interesting articles and finds, and other pertinent information.

The Web and blog sites have been instrumental in generating new business, as more potential customers research contractors and remodelers on the Internet.

Sell On What Sets You Apart

We identified the qualities that truly set us apart from our competitors such as committing to taking on no more than two concurrent projects in any given week, being on the jobsite every day until the project is completed, not charging the customer any more money by getting things done right even if it takes longer than anticipated, and maintaining quality control by rarely using subcontractors.

We listed these company benefits in a professional-looking handout, which we give to potential customers during the initial visit, followed by a detailed estimate that breaks down step-by-step what we propose to do. The feedback we receive now from customers is that the helpful information from our handout and our extremely detailed estimates are what made them decide to select us as their contractor.

Broaden Your Niche

Although we specialize in remodeling vintage and custom homes, we found it necessary to broaden our niche to stay busy. This includes working on extremely small projects including maintenance repairs, starting up a garden maintenance service, and also working on modern tract homes. We have taken on many jobs that we probably would not have had the time to do a few years ago. Our mantra is, "You never know what these jobs can lead to." One client contacted us to build a couple of built-in bookcases. They were so pleased with the job that they ended up contracting us for a full exterior renovation, floor refinishing, kitchen remodel, and new driveway. This resulted from not turning away a $600 job.

Be Creative In Your Service Offerings

As business started to slow, we paid closer attention to what our potential customers were seeking and what our competitors were or were not doing. We added an interior designer to provide design services with each remodeling project, added a discounted hourly rate for consulting with do-it-yourself customers, offered to pick up and deliver the customers’ product purchases (locally) for no extra charge, and offered flexible payment plans. These creative offerings have led to more promising business opportunities in the long run.

Stay Connected and Network

During slow economic times, it is more critical for a small business to promote itself. For example, we have launched several mailing campaigns to existing customers and potential customers to remind them of our services.

It’s surprising, but we have received calls from these people and referrals that we hadn’t heard from in several years. Additionally, we also make sure to attend neighborhood functions, club and association meetings, and volunteer more time on nonprofit construction work; we donate more to causes that relate to our line of work and organize or participate in more local home-improvement seminars and workshops. Through these engagements, we have been able to continue to network and keep our names out there in the business community.