How Do You Get Work?

osborneconst

How does everyone get their jobs? Do you just advertise and wait on calls or do you use something to find leads for jobs? I am looking to take on more work and more types of work and need to know what everyone does.
Thanks
Mark

rino1494

Haven't advertised in over 15 years. We got hooked up with a builder and we do all of his houses. Plus he is a developer and we do his infastructures. He builds about 25 houses a a year. We do most of our work in one area that is booming with growth. There are tons of builders and now all of our work is word of mouth. We do work for 5 different builders.

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denick

Mark

Why don't you tell us something about your business? Are you a long established family business looking to diversify? Do you do residential, commercial, industrial? Do you run dump trucks? Do you own a materials pit? Are you a grading company or a pipe installer? Do you develop land?

These guys are great on this site but they are so diverse its hard to give good specific help without a little background.

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Nick

"Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving" Albert Einstein

osborneconst

Thanks for the replies. Right now we install septic systems, dig footings and basements, build driveways, do grading and clearing. We only do these things for residential construction and I would like to get into some commercial site work or just get some bigger grading jobs in general.

denick

Mark,

I don't know the area of the country and the volume of work you are looking to expand into near you its hard to say what source to approach.

Are you set up insurance and bonding wise for this bigger work? Can you deal with the retention requirements in the payment schedules? The schedule requirements are also very tight.

Many commercial jobs are listed by some company like the Blue Book for bid information. There always seems to be 1 or 2 engineering firms that are in on most of the bigger work in an area, are you good at cold calling on a perspective client. Some of the large GC's will put you on a bid list for plans and spec's when they are bidding a job if you approach them.

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Nick

"Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving" Albert Einstein