Have you finished setting up your own plumbing business plan and are wondering how to grow your plumbing business? If the answer is yes, be sure to complete reading this article to find all the secrets of expanding your business.
The long-term survival of a business depends on growth. Therefore, serious thought and dedication should go into developing strategies that would aid in the expansion of the business. After all, growth paves the way for future asset acquisition, investment funding, and higher profit margins, among many other benefits.
It takes discipline, dedication, and commitment to decide to become an entrepreneur and take the first steps toward creating your own business from scratch.
As you already have entrepreneurial skills to start your business, it is time to use them once again before any doubt arises on how to expand the plumbing business.
Be prepared to embark on a fun journey of opportunities and challenges as you continue discovering how to grow your plumbing business.
6 proven steps to expand your company operations
1. Evaluate the business plan to meet the current expansion requirement
Expansion means there will be changes in the core principles of the company. Consequently, it is essential that the business plan, drafted prior to establishment, be reviewed and assessed in light of the current market changes and requirements.
Without a realistic, timely, and updated plan, most things would tend to fail within a short span of time. Hence, go through, evaluate, and revise the document once again before moving forward with the expansion.
Important areas to examine and pay closer attention to require you to ask the following questions:
- Are your original goals for starting the company—your mission, vision, and purpose—still the same?
- Have the targeted niche and market research changed since the company was founded?
- Have the company’s strengths and weaknesses changed over the years?
- Do you still adhere to the same management principles, including the same hiring and firing procedures?
- Does the financial strategy tally with the current expansion strategy?
- Is the investment sufficient to carry out the expansion plan?
- Are the plumbing supplies and equipment sufficient for expansion?
2. Identify and create your own new marketplace
As most tasks can be completed using digital services, you must ensure that you consider this for increased visibility and revenue generation.
You will have the chance to show all of your services to customers online by setting up an e-commerce platform. This makes you one call away from them approaching you to fix their problems.
Having a plumbing website can help you become more visible online and earn the trust of potential customers. For instance, a customer only needs to do an online search and make an appointment with you if they have a leaky bathroom tap.
More importantly, you could also land influential projects from corporations and large businesses that are slated to happen in the future. Also, make sure to look into these functions when establishing the e-commerce platform.
- Uninterrupted, high-calibre speed
- Secured website – SSL Certificate
- Mobile-friendly website
- Book an appointment function
- Search button
- Testimonials
- Live chat
- Blogs
- Infographics
If you want to significantly scale up your business and have the money to do so, you should think about launching a dedicated mobile application.
Deciding whether to launch a mobile app depends largely on your targeted audience and niche.
The features of an application and an e-commerce website are almost similar. Nevertheless, it would be a fantastic idea to establish a marketplace for all of the local plumbers. You can build an app, integrate local plumbers and their services, and launch it to the market.
Although this is a form of cooperation with your rivals, you are now acting as a go-between for the plumbers and the clients. Now all services can be streamlined and provided through a simple platform owned by you.
This mechanism does not just increase the brand’s visibility but also allows you to earn monthly fees and commissions from all vendors. The opportunities for generating revenue are endless. This can be your solution to how to grow your plumbing business.
3. Invest in the right technology
Unlike the traditional days, technology is now advancing in all professions across the globe. So, investing your capital in the right technology can benefit your business enormously. To surpass clients’ expectations, plumbers today use technologically advanced products and services.
There are two ways to leverage technology to benefit your company. The first is integrating software services based on your company’s personalised requirements. These services can include:
- Automatic scheduling of customer appointments
- Creating automated estimates, invoices, and payments
- Offer competitive consumer financing
- Accept debit, and credit cards, and track checks and cash.
- The comprehensive sales tracking function
- Inventory management
- Automated analysis-based reporting
- Assign plumbers and estimators to the calendar
- Keep in touch with and dispatch team members in real-time
- GPS tracking
- 365-day phone and live online support
i4T Business platform is one such solution that can help you manage your workflows better, collaborate with your teams in realtime and keep on top of your cash flows.
The second is investing in technology-based products, which are currently in high demand. You can expand your services by providing these products to high-end clients. This will help you generate more income while getting new customers on a daily basis.
- Smart irrigation: Using a wall panel connected to an app to synchronise the systems with the current weather.
- Greywater Systems: Recycling the water that has already been used.
- Tankless water heaters: These heaters heat water with an electric component or gas instantly, without the use of a storage tank.
- Leak detectors: Like smoke detectors, leak detectors warn if their premises have a water leak.
- Touchless Faucet: A sensor detects when a hand is placed under the faucet and water flows.
- Smart pipes: Detects and warns if the pipe is to burst or leak toilet
- Smart toilets: Some smart toilets even have features like heated seats or air drying. They can flush, open and close, or clean themselves automatically.
4. Expansion of training and recruitment
You must expand your training programmes and hire processors if you want your business to provide efficient services and increase productivity. Unfortunately, the number of skilled professionals is shrinking as older generations retire and too few are joining the industry to replace them
So, how to grow your plumbing business without knowing exactly what kind of employee you could hire? The team plumbing you can employ is as follows:
- Apprentices: A plumber trainer brings a lot of skills to the table, which is unidentified to them. By hiring them, you will have the chance to receive assistance and refine your industry knowledge. If they demonstrate exceptional skills, you can hire them permanently.
- Subcontractors: You can use subcontractors to complete tasks based on the needs of the client rather than hiring full-time employees for very specific tasks. This will eliminate the financial and administrative burden.
- Management team: The core team that will lead the business into glory. Make sure to recruit based on their experience, skills and their attitude towards people.
- Full-time employees: The key individuals that will make sure to do client serving and improve the business reputation. The size of your workforce is a sure sign that your company is expanding.
- Consultants: It is also recommended to have a freelance consultant who can evaluate, criticise and give expert advice to improve the business.
Moreover, here are a few ideas to keep in mind:
- Have clear and well-defined job descriptions
- Maintain effective hiring and training procedures
- Build room for growth within the company
- Implement apprentice programmes that reward employees for sticking with the business
5. Extending the marketing tools and platforms
Even with the best technology, innovative technological services, and a solid business plan, without marketing, a company's growth can become very stagnant.
An approach to increasing website traffic. A solid SEO strategy should be put in place to accomplish this. Start by including pertinent keywords in the website content to increase lead generation.
You must focus on the four pillars of plumber SEO services in order to rank on the first page of Google for plumbing searches:
- Website code and structure
- SEO-optimised content
- Local SEO (local directory listings, Facebook, etc)
- Off-site authority
Every individual always has their phone in hand. According to recent research, companies have nearly three hours a day to reach their target customers with their products and services.
Popular social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and even YouTube are excellent places to build stronger online connections and win and keep customer trust.
To boost your brand's visibility and produce more leads, it's time to scale up your social media marketing.
One of the greatest ways to attract new customers is through review generation. Did you know that more than 90% of internet users search for online reviews, and the majority of them choose companies with higher ratings?
Therefore, just by providing the best quality services to all clients, you will be able to freely market your company. Request customer feedback on Yelp, Google Business, or Facebook after the job is finished. This will give your company an advantage over its competitors in the market.
6. Partnering with local tradespeople
One of the best ways to expand your plumbing company is to collaborate with local builders to gain access to large, recurring plumbing jobs. Local vendors can be a resource you can tap into to make sure you have the products and appliances you need in a timely fashion.
Moreover, you could also approach and employ plumbers who have exceptional skills. Therefore, look for developers of residential and commercial properties in your area and work together with them on all plumbing projects.
Final remarks
While there are many factors to how to grow your plumbing business, focusing on excellent customer service, will make most of the difference.
Start by offering customers excellent service at their residences and places of business. However, make sure to continue this even after your company becomes the number one plumbing service provider in your country.
It takes courage, dedication, and determination to start what you are doing right now. So, never demotivate yourself or let anyone put you down because you are amazing. With cut-edge technology, loyal employees, and a robust business plan, your dream of how to grow your plumbing business to new heights can be achieved.
Make sure to befriend technology as you expand your business operation, in order to provide exceptional customer service and keep your processes streamlined. So if you are thinking how to grow your plumbing business, i4T Business can help you with this. Register today.
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