In what is likely to be a difficult next couple of years , efficiency is going to be key . That ’ s because if times get tough , it ’ s businesses that run most efficiently that will survive . The old saying that “ it ’ s only when the tide goes out , you see who has been swimming naked ” may well apply here .

Probably the most important route to efficiency lies in self-examination . The efficiency of our business is almost certainly impacted by the way we are individually . Some people are naturally very efficient . Others may have greater strengths in customer relations , creativity and so on . It ’ s hard to change the way we are .

If you are one of those who struggle with being efficient , it may be important to team up with someone with complementary skills . This might be your spouse or special other , a bookkeeper or maybe a business partner . Playing to your strengths might be the most helpful decision you can ever take . Either way , if the ideas in this article seem repellent – that may mean it ’ s not you that should be implementing them !

Collect everything that ’ s due

Of all the business crimes of inefficiency that can be committed , failing to invoice for work already done must come top . Remember , this is where the client has asked for the work , any materials have been bought and paid for . Then the work has been completed . Unfortunately , you haven ’ t been paid because you never asked for the money !

The key thing is to bother raising invoices for these small amounts . It ’ s so important because this is all pure profit and can add up to quite a lot over a year .

Be organised for the job – especially with respect to materials

The easiest way to be well organised for a job is to do some planning beforehand . This may simply take the form of thinking about it for 5 minutes . While doing this , you note down the tools and materials you will need . You might also consider whether any special skills or additional muscle will be required .

It ’ s all so that everything can be lined up to the point that when you arrive on site the job goes smoothly . If things aren ’ t lined up , a lot of time will be wasted .

This is one way problems can manifest themselves . Several times , you have to leave the job , drive to a builder ’ s merchant , park the van , walk around collecting materials , queue at the checkout , pay , take the materials back to the van and drive back to the site . This is all dead time .

If you are working to a fixed price quote , it ’ s your time that ’ s being wasted . If you are charging by the hour and charge this time , you are becoming less competitive . If you were more efficient you could charge more per hour and still win more business with keener prices .

As said earlier , the way to avoid the problem is to spend some time ahead of starting the job thinking about what will be needed and when .

Remember the seven P ’ s . That is Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance .

Use a trade account

Amazingly , a friend of mine , who is a former marketing director of B & Q , once told me just how high a proportion of trades people that walk in off the street to buy from B & Q at retail prices . This can hugely eat into the margins that you will make on the job .

Having a trade account and when necessary pushing hard on price can help a lot . And an equally important factor is the credit that you get . It means that you don ’ t have to fund all of your work-in-progress from your own pocket until you get paid .

Get back to customers quickly

Another way of being inefficient is throwing away new business by responding to prospects too slowly .

It ’ s hard to believe that when the coronavirus crisis is over , employment won ’ t be lower for a while . With airline pilots on part time , hospitality and the arts likely to be in tatters , there will be quite a few homeowners looking to cut costs in every direction . They won ’ t be ordering new kitchens or boilers and will probably be skimping on boiler services too .

Given that , you must make the most of every chance for new business that comes along .

To be efficient , you have to make the most of every opportunity . And when it comes to

winning new business , here is an iron rule . You need to get back to all initial enquiries and requests for quotes within 24 hours . Lots of homeowners complain how hard it is to get quotes from trade companies . Addressing this complaint immediately puts you in the driving seat to win the deal .

Just remember that you mustn ’ t drag your feet just because you are busy . I have had quotes from people who were both high priced and asked me to wait three months . What that communicated was that they were good .

Your pricing will be much more defensible if you are very busy . It ’ s much better to have too much work and a queue , than no work and twiddling your thumbs . And too much work also opens up the opportunity to expand , take on employees or use subbies .

Automatic selling

With 70 % of business coming from repeat customers and recommendation , there is a lot of scope to make the process of organising repeat business better . For instance , if your customers can be reminded when they might want to book some more work , they may come to you when they previously wouldn ’ t have done .

Obvious examples include gas safety checks and servicing boilers or other appliances , especially when this is required to maintain warranty coverage . Providing an online booking option with this can make it even more compelling .

Use the web

Most of the 30 % of business that doesn ’ t come directly from word-of-mouth comes across the Internet . This includes when people ask on Facebook or Nextdoor for recommendations . Or they may search on Google or look at Checkatrade or one of the other equivalents .

potential to be very _efficient

Having your own web site can help and is a necessity once you have a few employees and are intent on growth . Methods of generating leads include advertising on Google or Facebook as well as joining Checkatrade or using one of the lead generation companies .

The point about all of this is that it is electronic and has the potential to be very efficient .