Contract after contract, team after team... Your company is growing fast.
These are very good signals - who doesn't dream of seeing their business take off? However, too rapid growth can sometimes lead to problems and increased risk of disorganization.
There are a number of issues that could ultimately lead to your company's downfall. These risks include
This is the first thing to bear in mind: when things move too fast, you can quickly lose control. In a company that's growing too fast, you can quickly find yourself losing track of what's happening on the job site: who's doing what, and where have all those tools you bought last month gone? Seeing your customer portfolio double is a good sign, but it also means that you're going to have to organize yourself differently.
Rapid growth means more work for everyone. At first, this is exciting, but it can quickly become a nightmare. It often means overtime, more mistakes, heatstroke, injuries... In short, in the long run, it's the perfect recipe for burn-out and employee resignation.
Rapid growth means hiring new employees. The company then finds itself with many new faces, who are not yet familiar with the company's values. Team dynamics can change, and it's important that this transition goes smoothly to maintain employee collaboration and keep your company productive and profitable.
Rapid growth usually means more expenses: more employees to pay, more equipment to buy, and so on. But don't be fooled by the fact that cash flow doesn't always keep pace, and you can quickly run out of cash. It's therefore important to anticipate this problem and to have impeccable accounting management.
The difference between healthy growth and growth that's too intense isn't always obvious. You may well be enjoying your company's growth to the full, without realizing that you're in serious trouble. To help you tell the difference, here are a few symptoms that should alert you:
If you start to lose track of your projects, make payroll errors or miss deadlines, it's probably because you're starting to become disorganized. And that's not a good sign! Your internal processes may not allow you to absorb so many customers at once!
Having more customers can quickly become synonymous with having less time. And less time probably means less polished work, and customers who are likely to start complaining. Quality is vital to your reputation and to winning new business, so don't sacrifice it for quantity.
If your turnover starts to rise, it's a sign that there's a problem in your teams, and more generally in your corporate culture. High turnover can mean, among other things, that your guys are stressed, overworked or demotivated, with an obvious impact on their personal lives. If you have to train new recruits all the time, it's going to take up a lot of your time and resources in this pivotal period. It's the wrong strategy.
If information isn't flowing well, or if your teams aren't talking to each other, it's probably because your growth is slipping through your fingers. Poor communication opens the door to internal conflict, project delays and extra costs. And that can lead to bigger problems, such as missed delivery deadlines or workers quitting.
As we've seen, rapid growth (or "scaling", to use startup parlance) can be a formidable trap for your business. Healthy, controlled growth is often slower, but far more sustainable!
Growing slowly means taking the time to adjust your processes, train your teams and make sure you maintain the quality of each project delivered, while maintaining a good working atmosphere within your teams. Controlled growth allows you to keep control of your projects! And we know: satisfied customers who speak well of you are the best marketing campaign of all!
But above all, growing slowly allows you to keep an eye on your finances. No hidden costs, fewer mistakes, just healthy growth that ensures you can pay your bills and employees on time. Controlling cash inflows and outflows, quietly, simply ensures better financial health for your business.
In the construction industry, there are a number of effective strategies for optimizing the operation and performance of your growing business. Of course, this is not the place for ready-made solutions, as every company is different and requires a tailored program, but you may find some interesting ideas depending on your outlook.
If you're planning to perform over the long term, taking the time to think about your objectives, your means and the steps you need to take to get there is going to be an essential step. For example, you can use planning software like Civalgo to forecast your projects and optimize the allocation of your resources.
Growth brings with it a host of new issues, and management tools are one of them. Gone are the days when you could rely on an Excel timesheet; now you need to be able to track the progress of activities on job sites in real time for greater efficiency! These tools may take some getting used to, and training for your employees, but most platforms offer turnkey training when you buy project management software.
In short, it's essential for a construction contractor to build on solid foundations to ensure the growth of his business and avoid growing too fast. In addition to a competent team and an efficient management system, running a construction company efficiently will most likely require changes to your internal processes. Remember to document these changes, so that your staff can adapt accordingly! This is a particularly important and sensitive issue for your site managers, who need to be able to track the progress of all construction projects in real time.
A small, well-managed company is better than a hyper-growth machine that's completely unmanageable. In the latter case, managing a construction company can seem complicated - and it is! For successful growth, opt instead for slow, controlled growth. This will enable you to adapt sustainably and healthily to the new configuration of your business.
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