How to Build Your Company and Team to Scale | RedTeam Roadshow Dallas

Industry leader insights on scaling a construction business, team-building, and company growth strategies at RedTeam on the Road Dallas

Industry leading entrepreneurs shared their insights on team-building, leadership, scaling a construction business, and company growth strategies at the RedTeam on the Road in Dallas. RedTeam welcomed the expertise of Jay Snyder, President of Big Blue Innovations, a construction technology and startup advisory and M&A planning firm in North Carolina; Laura Thomas, Project Coordinator with WestWind Building in Dallas; and J.J. Levenske, President of Bleuwave, an Arizona company that combines capital, ecosystem, construction, and facilities-based solutions.

Challenges in building a team and company to scale

Construction businesses are struggling to find qualified experienced operations and technology talent. And, while the demand for construction is still high, fewer workers are entering the field. Construction leadership needs to hire the best people who will grow and sustain their company – even if such people are expensive – in order to free up bandwidth to visualize and scale, instead of merely work, their business. Leadership managing the business instead of working the business is key to company growth strategy and scaling a construction business.

Companies must also grow and train the next generation of construction professionals and monetize technology, including AI. This involves hiring and investing in individuals with the necessary intangible qualities essential to construction work – which can’t be taught – who also fit with the company culture. To retain employees, companies must provide paths for employee growth.

Some construction leadership is leveraging Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) to incentivize employees to stay on by allowing them to own a portion or all of the company they work for while transitioning their company to the next generation. While ESOPs are complicated, they can motivate employees and accelerate company growth. Offering equity through options, profit sharing, or spot bonuses for performance or finishing a project early are other means to increase employee retention and company profits.

Employee buy-in to company culture and company identity is vital

When you are able to attract the right hires who enable you to strategize and grow your business, you need to engage and build your team with authenticity and transparency, and request their input on your company’s culture, vision statement, and technology. Employees are much more willing to buy into and own something they helped envision. Supporting and staying connected to your team with check-ins, even as casual phone calls, also lets you reinforce your company vision of best service to your clients. If you fail to achieve buy-in, your employees will likely be hired elsewhere.

While company leadership needs to assess the market climate, client needs, company strengths, and current company culture, about 80% of insights and feedback should percolate from the bottom up, from the diverse perspectives of your team. Again this reinforces the key of hiring the best employees and paying them as well as you can so you have the bandwidth to lead your company.

Valuing subcontractor and third-party relationships

Your relationships with great subcontractors such as architects and engineers, and even owners are also key to a growth strategy. Meet the GCs events can help you build relationships with trade contractors you may need in the future. AGC or ABC might be willing to sponsor such events locally. Also, always have an open-door policy and provide your cell phone number to your subcontractors. Plus, keep in touch with subs you aren’t currently using, because you may want to give them an opportunity in the future, even if only to give your favorite subs a rest. Periodically review your use of trade partners to determine if you’re over-leveraged anywhere. This will help you avoid overextending a favorite sub and being vulnerable to having too many eggs in one basket. Tracking software can help you analyze where your subs and your money are committed.

Implement technology for collaboration and company growth

RedTeam Go is great for tracking use of subs as you award contracts and schedule completions. However, a small company might start small with Teams via Microsoft Office 365 to help everyone in the company collaborate with each other via cellphone or laptop, and acquire additional technology to help scale and grow. Make sure your staff understand your expectations regarding software use and have full engagement before adding additional software to avoid the confusion of having the same data on multiple systems of record. Also generally avoid tools that have a slow utilization rate or that can’t be used or integrated by all parts of your team, and standardize and simplify technology as much as possible to ensure data can be aggregated and analyzed. Using construction technology for company growth again circles back to leadership and employee buy-in: Employees are much more likely to buy in to what (for example, the technology) they help envision, and technology in general can help construction leaders work on their business instead of for their business.

Scale and expand your services to offer clients more of what they need

There are endless opportunities for scaling a construction business. Keep a glass-half-full perspective and have personal, family, employee, and company goals. Try new solutions to see if they work out and monetize. For example, bring MEP in house, or send estimating or accounting offshore. Think beyond fabrication and installation to create a one-stop solution for your clients. More and more commercial real estate developers are taking on property management. Also realize that you may be building a relationship and then sending a bid to someone who is not the asset owner. Consider increasing efficiency and value in the project delivery process by offering, service facility condition assessments, facilities and property management, design build, technology systems inside the building you’re constructing, or other services your clients need. Your clients will appreciate your expertise and your offer to make their work easier, and you will grow your business.