Construction companies have always been affected by the larger economy. Of course, all businesses are impacted in one way or another, but construction companies seem to be the canary for economics. Therefore, predicting what the next few years hold for construction companies is hard. Currently, the economy is looking more positive than initially thought, with investment going into large nonresidential construction companies. However, for residential companies, with energy costs and the living crisis putting a drain on personal finances, the outlook isn’t so good. With fewer jobs around and more competition, it’s important that you can use your company’s finances as fully as possible. So how can you manage your cash flow and make life that little bit easier?
Spread Your Costs
Cash flow should be as consistent as possible over as long as possible. This makes it easier to predict how much money you will have available at any one time. To do this, you should look into ways of spreading purchase costs. Hiring equipment rather than buying it outright can be a good way to do this. Hiring equipment such as a Doosan forklift can allow you to use a much better piece of equipment than you would have been able to afford outright as well. You might also want to consider looking into finance options. This will depend entirely on your company and the way you work, as you will be liable for interest rates and so on, but some suppliers have good finance options which might work for you.
Use Software to Help You
Many construction companies (particularly residential) start small, with only a few employees, and then grow to handle larger jobs. When you’re constantly competing for work, moving from one job to the next, keeping track of finances, invoices, and taxes can be a headache after a long day on site. As you get busier, this only gets harder. Taking time out of the workweek to set up relevant software for your business might seem impossible, but it will be worth the time investment. Inputting details into a software package as you go takes less time and is less of a headache than devoting an afternoon a week to the job. You should also be able to send automated invoices immediately – if there is a barrier to doing this, you simply put off the job, which is not good for your cash flow.
Train Your Employees
Again, if you started off small, controlling all the finances personally, and your company has simply gotten bigger, this might not have even occurred to you. However, in larger companies, it’s still neglected. Training your employees in basic finance management can lead to better decisions made at every level of the business. They will be able to spot better deals and determine whether it is likely someone will bail on a bill. The one person who should be trained as thoroughly as possible is the project manager. So much cash generation and restriction comes from work in progress that it is important your project manager is doing everything possible to boost it for the company.
