CONTRACTOR SUCCESS STORY
credit – how you handle your finances is what banks and vendors will look at in determining your credit worthiness for loans and lines of credit . This is also an important factor in getting approved for bonding .
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No matter how small you are , contact your city and local agencies to ask about small business and construction-focused programs and resources .
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Network with others in the industry and be open to learning as much as you can .
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Even if you initially have to put in a lot of time to get organized , track all your receipts and hours . If you need it , get help setting up and accurately doing your business accounting . You need to know exactly how much you are spending and how much you are making on each project , as well as what all of your other business expenses are .
Despite many early obstacles , Manny and Angie prevailed , experiencing a big boost once they started providing landscape construction services to schools and parks , through agencies like the Oakland Unified School District and Department of Parks and Recreation , as well as taking on other public contracting work for the City of Oakland . Originally doing $ 30,000 to $ 100,000 contracts , their company was completing $ 800,000 contracts in the two years prior to the pandemic .
As was the case for most small businesses , COVID-19 negatively impacted Native Soil ’ s income when projects were paused or cancelled and some of their competitors started submitting below-cost bids and taking a loss , just to have some money coming in . Although they couldn ’ t find enough work for all ten employees they ’ d had prior to the pandemic , Manny and Angie were able to stay in business by finding other opportunities in the private sector . While waiting for the economy to recover , they opened a residential design division to expand their services to past clients and friends .
Certified as a Minority Business Enterprise ( MBE ), Woman-Owned Business Enterprise ( WBE ) and Small Local Business Enterprise ( SLBE ), Native Soil also holds Small Business certifications with the State of CA , Port of Oakland and the City of Oakland . “ The certifications have really helped us get government contracts ,” says Angie , and with public works construction finally under way again , prime contractors have been reaching out to the company to fulfill their subcontracting goals .
Also key to Native Soil ’ s ongoing success has been the mentorship Manny has received from Rafael Zamora , owner of
Tulum Innovative Engineering , Inc ., an Oakland-based communications and electrical company . Manny and Rafael met at a City of Oakland networking event for local vendors , where Rafael , who has extensive government and public sector experience , introduced Manny to former Turner Construction Community Outreach Director , Elena Anaya .
Manny and Angie both completed the 7-week
Turner School of Construction Management Program , designed to help small contractors strengthen their managerial , technical and administrative skills , which is also where they first learned about the Alameda County Contractor Technical Assistance Program ( CTAP ).
From the start , Rafael encouraged Manny to get into public works construction . Having previously managed large projects for landscaping companies , Manny knew that
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