Thinking of starting a concrete business? You made the right decision. It can be extremely profitable. With proper planning, execution, and effort, success is easily attainable. But to do that, you need to learn how to start a concrete business first.
The advantages of running your own construction business include the ability to determine your own schedule, salary, and clientele. In the construction industry, starting a concrete business is a popular option because learning the fundamentals of concrete work takes only a few months. Understanding the specific business and how it operates may help you understand the requirements for beginning a career with your own company.
In this blog, we will give you a complete guideline of how to start a concrete business in 11 easy steps. Read on to learn more.
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A concrete company is essentially a construction company that specializes in concrete work. This may involve mixing, pouring, and forming concrete into residential and commercial structures. Concrete contractors typically begin their careers as concrete laborers, where they learn how to mix, pour, and shape concrete and how the material functions.
Typically, to start a concrete business, you need at least some experience in the concrete or construction industry, as well as business savvy to help you organize your company effectively and manage daily operations. In today’s age of digital transformation, however, that task has become way easier than it was ever before. You can easily streamline your processes using a digital business tool such as a concrete business management software solution, also known as concrete software. You can promote your business online and try to attract new customers. But no matter how convenient running a business is these days, you need to know how to start your own business first. There is a lot of technicalities and regulations that you must take care of, and also some rudimentary management strategies you need to follow.
If it sounds challenging, don’t worry. You will find everything that you probably need to know right here. Just follow these steps and you are ready to start a concrete business.
1. Conduct A Market Research
Market research will tell you if there’s an opportunity to turn your idea into a successful business. It’s a way to gather information about potential customers and businesses already operating in your area. Use that information to find a competitive advantage for your business.
Based on the research findings, determine what kind of concrete business you want to do before you start making your business plan and hiring contractors. Residential and commercial concrete construction share many similarities, but also differ in a few key areas. Residential concrete work often involves smaller projects and less liability, which can mean fewer permits or licensure. Depending on your skill level and comfort working with concrete, residential work might be a good starting point. Research each option to determine startup costs, what kind of labor needs each kind of concrete work requires and what materials and equipment you might need.
2. Write A Business Plan
Once you identify your niche or market, start creating your business plan. A business plan is a document that outlines the business’s structure, function and other details about its operations. This document can serve as the primary plan for your business and also helps banks, investors and potential partners better understand your goals for the company. A well-organized and professional business plan might help you get the funding to get started through loans or investments. If you’ve never made a business plan before, you can hire a business attorney to help you craft a good plan.
Your business plan should include the following sections:
Executive Summary – this section should summarize your entire business plan so readers can quickly understand the key details of your concrete business.
Company Overview – this section tells the reader about the history of your concrete business and what type of concrete business you operate. For example, are you a concrete pumping, concrete cutting, concrete grinding, shotcrete, or a precast concrete business?
Industry Analysis – here you will document key information about the concrete industry. Conduct market research and document how big the industry is and what trends are affecting it.
Customer Analysis – in this section, you will document who your ideal or target market are and their demographics. For example, how old are they? Where do they live? What do they find important when purchasing products or services like the ones you will offer?
Competitive Analysis – here you will document the key direct and indirect competitors you will face and how you will build competitive advantage.
Marketing Plan – your marketing plan should address the 4Ps: Product, Price, Promotions and Place.
Financial Plan: Finally, the financial plan answers questions including the following:
- What start-up costs will you incur?
- How will your concrete business make money?
- What are your projected sales and expenses for the next five years?
- Do you need to raise funding to launch your business?
3. Choose A Name for Your Business
The first step to starting a concrete business is to choose your business’ name.
This is a very important choice since your company name is your brand and will last for the lifetime of your business. Ideally, you choose a name that is meaningful and memorable.
Here are some tips for choosing a name for your own concrete business:
Make sure the name is available: Check your desired name against trademark databases and your state’s list of registered business names to see if it’s available. Also check to see if a suitable domain name is available.
Keep it simple: The best names are usually ones that are easy to remember, pronounce, and spell.
Think about marketing: Come up with a name that reflects the desired brand and/or focus of your business.
4. Choose A Suitable Business Structure
Next, you need to choose a legal business structure for your new concrete business and register it and your business name with the Secretary of State in each state where you operate your business.
You may choose from the four standard business structures:
- Sole proprietorship
- Partnership
- Limited liability company
- Corporation
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5. Register Your Business with the State
Once you’ve picked the perfect business name and structure, it’s time to make it legal and protect your brand. If you’re doing business under a name other than your own, you’ll need to register with the federal government, and maybe your state government, too.
6. Obtain Necessary Licenses and Permits
Certain state permits and licenses may be needed to operate a concrete business. Here are the general permits you must obtain before you start your operations:
- Register your business name: Work through the Small Business Association (SBA) to register your business name
- Get your EIN: Your EIN is your Employer Identification Number. It’s like a Social Security Number (SSN) for your business. Your EIN provides you with multiple benefits, so get yours right away.
- Get your business license: Check with your state to secure your business license
- Achieve Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) compliance: Review OSHA’s specific training requirements and ensure that you have fulfilled them all to 8. maintain compliance.
7. Open A Business Bank Account and Credit Card
Using dedicated business banking and credit accounts is essential for personal asset protection.
When your personal and business accounts are mixed, your personal assets (your home, car, and other valuables) are at risk in the event your business is sued. In business law, this is referred to as “piercing your corporate veil.” Additionally, learning how to build business credit can help you get credit cards and other financings in your business’s name (instead of yours), better interest rates, higher lines of credit, and more.
8. Get Necessary Insurance
Just as with licenses and permits, your business needs insurance in order to operate safely and lawfully. Business insurance protects your company’s financial well-being in the event of a covered loss.
There are several types of insurance policies created for different types of businesses with different risks. If you’re unsure of the types of risks that your business may face, begin with general liability insurance. This is the most common coverage that small businesses need, so it’s a great place to start for your business. Another notable insurance policy that many businesses need is workers’ compensation insurance. If your business will have employees, there’s a good chance that your state will require you to carry Workers’ Compensation coverage.
9. Set Up Your Marketing Strategy
Marketing materials will be required to attract and retain customers to your concrete business.
The key marketing materials you will need are as follows:
i) Logo: Spend some time developing a good logo for your concrete business. Your logo will be printed on company stationery, business cards, marketing materials and so forth. The right logo can increase customer trust and awareness of your brand.
ii) Website: Likewise, a professional concrete business website provides potential customers with information about the products and/or services you offer, your company’s history, and contact information. Importantly, remember that the look and feel of your website will affect how customers perceive you.
iii) Social Media Accounts: Establish social media accounts in your company’s name. Accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and/or other social media networks will help customers and others find and interact with your concrete business
10. Stock Up on the Right Equipment
To start a concrete business, you’ll need a few essential pieces of equipment. A mixer is necessary to blend the cement, sand, and water together. You’ll also need a wheelbarrow or a concrete truck to pour the concrete mixture into molds. Finally, you’ll need a saw to cut the concrete products to size.
Additional equipment that can be helpful includes a trowel for smoothing the concrete, a broom for cleaning up, and a wet saw for cutting precise angles. With the right equipment, you’ll be able to produce high-quality concrete products for your customers.
11. Invest in the Best Concrete Management Software
Just as you need the right equipment to run your business, you will also need some digital tools to carry out your operations seamlessly. And the most important tool that you can leverage for your business is a concrete management software solution.
Essentially, it is a tool that systematically automates your business processes and helps streamline your operations. Using the tool, you can increase efficiency in tasks like scheduling and dispatching, monitoring, time-tracking, business analysis and reporting, billing and invoicing, and so on. It also offers some advanced features like GPS tracking to track your employees in real-time, cloud storage to manage and access databases from anywhere, and QuiockBooks integrations. It can also serve as your concrete estimating software, thanks to its superior estimating feature.
In a nutshell, using this software will dramatically improve your productivity and increase profitability. But more importantly, concrete dispatching software will simplify your workflow so that you can focus on more important tasks, such as growing your business and attracting new customers.
Wrapping Up
In this digital age, you cannot make the most of your resources unless you invest in some digital tools. Automation is a must if you want to run your business efficiently and productively. In today’s market, you will have plenty of software solutions and mobile apps to achieve this goal. This includes accounting software, concrete estimate software, ERP software, measuring apps, planners, and so on. But the best software you can invest in for your concrete business is Field Promax. It provides all of the features on one single platform at the most affordable rate.
A little pro-tip here, start using a concrete management software from the get-go if you want to make the most of your resources.
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