Planning for the Future

All large companies plan for the future, but most small companies don’t. I am not necessarily referring to an exit strategy either. I am talking about planning for company growth.

Ask yourself… “Do I want my company to always be the same, or do I want it to grow? Will I continue to do the physical work myself, or will I look for someone to replace me?”

If you don’t want to be working in your business until retirement, you need to start working on that now. In the big business world, they call it building your bench. It’s a sports analogy but works in business too. You want to look for good people to hire so that you can train and mentor them. As you do this, you move yourself into a place where you can sell more or design more. You can do more networking to get your name out to more people. As you add work, you look to key personnel that are stepping up and taking responsibility. These consistent and responsible employees will be your future.

With a quality employee base, your responsibility becomes clear. Find work! The good news is that finding work becomes easier because the crews are doing quality work, and you can trust them for longer periods of time. Consistency is key to sustaining this, both from you and your employees. You keep them busy and let them know they are valued, and they should continue to do quality work.

Be mindful to continuously back fill your bench. You want to make sure you always have good people ready to work. Don’t settle for bad employees just because you are desperate for labor. Bad employees will distract other employees. They will also take valuable time away from your goals and momentum. Be patient! Go with leaner, more efficient crews until the right person comes along. Bad employees can set your company back in a lot of ways from liability, training, professionalism, and appearance.

Good Luck! ~ Dave Horton, 2024 CLCA OC Chapter President