/biz/ - Business & Finance

[Anonymous No.51469014]

My Father had a construction company but there's pretty much zero assets leftover from it and I don't know anything about construction(besides the basics)

We have insane name recognition though, there are towns where my family built like a quarter of the shit laying around

So I was wondering how I could revive the business and if it would be worth my time, I really just want something grounded and to be able to hand down to my kids if they want to continue it when they're older

I'm 20, I figure working in a construction crew for a bit to get a reminder on how everything flows would be a good move but beyond that I'm not sure what the right steps would be

[pls help No.51470224]

>>51469014
become a preferred vendor with the local department of transportation. construction projects are the only way governments pull out of recessions and depressions. if you already have the recognition and notoriety you are more than half way there.

Study:
>how to write RFP responses
>how to become a preferred contractor in your state
>where they post contracts

[Anonymous No.51470970]

>>51469014
I work for my dad's construction company and I can probably help you out.
>there's pretty much zero assets leftover from it
what do you mean? no one running the business anymore? construction can be very lucrative, but it comes with a lot of headaches. if you have a type-a personality and the drive, you can do well. start with learning the trade and get a contractor's license once you can.
how much revenue does the company pull in? is it a general contracting company?

[Anonymous No.51471432]

>>51469014
still monitoring thread if you ever decide to come back

[Anonymous No.51471657]

I work for my dads const company as foreman. We’re unique in that we are highly specialized in a certain niche high end product. There’s only three or four other companies in the US that do what we do, and we’re the best by far. Profit margins are much higher than general construction. Sometimes we’re able to finish a $250,000 contract in just 2 or 3 weeks. We work mainly in Silicon Valley doing high end tech headquarters/law firms/VC offices. My advice to you is to figure out how to be better than your competitors at one certain type of construction. Also, being based in a major city is an obvious benefit too

[Anonymous No.51471830]

>>51471657
>trades

they're okay. Its more lucrative than unskilled production jobs and the training is straightforward enough but less lucrative than jobs that actually require you to be smart and work hard, like an engineer, lawyer, banker, or doctor.

That must be why there's a shortage of these craft professionals, because people are either lazy or have lofty goals of becoming those high end professionals.

I'm currently moving from being an industrial maintenance technician to a Industrial Millwright/Electrician, which is like going from an LPN to a BSN (nursing)

[Anonymous No.51471867]

Hire a social media manager, boomers love this shit

[Anonymous No.51472233]

>>51470970
>there's pretty much zero assets leftover from it
Tools, machinery, trucks, property, etc all got sold off.
>no one running the business anymore?
It's just sitting around, my Dad got too sick to run it and just kind of dropped everything
>how much revenue does the company pull in? is it a general contracting company?
It's very much a family company, in general we were pulling in around 150k a year profit for us but my Dad was always lazy and tried to do the bare minimum

His brother and cousin worked with him and my Grandpa was the one who got everything started way-way-way back

Like I said, It'd be a revival of the business. But to me it seems like starting from the ground-up with a name to back you is way easier than starting from the ground up with nothing.

[Anonymous No.51472274]

>>51469014
lmao daddys boy. Of course you lost your familys wealth. It usually takes a generation or two for a family's wealth to go boom and bust. Even moreso if your if you have a poor mindset (ie. you)

kys op fucking faggot

[Anonymous No.51472323]

>>51471657
>2022
>bidding on anything less than $500,000,000

NGMI

[Anonymous No.51472467]

>>51469014
My brother and I did the same thing OP.
Work a few years in the field to figure out what the fuck is going on and how a project progresses from start to finish.
Then start estimating projects. This is the biggest impact a younger person can have in construction. You know what's going on well enough to give quotes, and you get to schmooze clients instead of doing manual labor.
We bought out our dad in 2018. The company was doing right around a million a year in revenue. This year we're projecting to bill for $14mm

Don't listen to the retards telling you to do work for the government. We avoid any and all government projects.
>bid out every project to 30 contractors and go with the absolute cheapest number
>hire street shitter engineers who fuck up literally every aspect of the job and refuse to fix mistakes you point out
>require you to get bonded for the work, which you will eat because you have no shot of winning the project if you include that cost
>you have some sheboon diversity hire with the city holding up work because she doesn't understand what's going on
>you will receive 5 pages of retarded punch list items per page of drawings
>government holds retainage (10% of the total) for a MINIMUM year after final inspection
>congratulations, you either took a bath or broke even on the biggest pain in the ass project you've ever done

Focus on industrial work OP, like big concrete warehouses with offices. We average 10% more margin on those than any other type of work.

[Anonymous No.51472575]

put me in the screencap when anon starts a real business on /biz/

[Anonymous No.51472634]

>>51472467
forgot to mention. sub out your labor on a itemized basis. makes it 10 times faster to estimate and you shed some tax burden because the labor is 1099 and not technically on your payroll

[Anonymous No.51472663]

It's a worthy career and a nice way to ensure your father's legacy. Good luck anon.

[Anonymous No.51473644]

>>51472233
what kind of construction?
If i were you, i would probably learn as much as you can about construction as you work the job. Pay close attention to the amount of labor it takes to complete different tasks, and take note of the material you use. This will give you an idea about how to estimate jobs and put you in the right headspace. Try to move into the business side of construction and learn more about estimating and bidding jobs, and get your contractors license as soon as you're able.

[Anonymous No.51473721]

>>51472467
>Work a few years in the field
I doubt he'll put in that much time unfortunately

[Anonymous No.51473849]

>>51472467
cash flow is pretty bad with government projects too. paying prevailing wages eats up your cash pretty fast. retention sucks too, but we have retention withheld all the time working for gc's.

[Anonymous No.51473953]

>>51470224
>construction projects are the only way governments pull out of recessions and depressions
you have it backwards mate

[Anonymous No.51474069]

>>51472233
If you're not into construction you could try hiring out work and just being a middle man for contractors. i.e. customer comes to you, you send them a contractor for a $X finders fee.
Would be a matter of having contractors you know that are looking for work and are capable, and positioning your business in a way that customers will reach out to you, with a website or advertising or something.

If you have the capital you could hire construction workers though and handle all the billing and accounting, that gives you more control about the quality of people and work done which protects your name/brand, and could give you a bigger slice of profits if its successful, but it's certainly a lot more work.

[Anonymous No.51474191]

>>51469014
franchise the brand name nation wide absorbing smaller independent construction companies until you're one of the biggest in the industry. tell them theyll be under the brand and be assisted by X number of years industry experience then you take the lion's share of income.
will also need the name of the company so I can invoice you for this consulting work, thanks

[Anonymous No.51474222]

>>51472233
>claiming the company had built things in multiple towns
>150k in profit/year

You're either lying or live in literally bumfuck nowhere. A company that has it's name on 1/4 of entire towns would be generating far more than a measly 150k in profit.

[Jealous No.51474254]

Is there a fake Ireland?

[Anonymous No.51474598]

>>51474222
It probably built most of that under OP's grandad and then scaled down to a smaller operation under OP's dad since he wanted a better work/life balance and already had enough wealth to be comfortable. The same thing happened to my grandfather's construction company.

[Anonymous No.51474942]

I've always wanted to do something in lumber/construction. I'm an SEO ace and make a very good amount doing that, but it's not the same as "building something you own".

[Anonymous No.51475789]

I sold software to construction companies at a blue chip tech firm for 2 years. It's a dirty business and everyone is fucking each other over at every possibility. Though there's a shit load of money to be made in it.
Goodluck anon

[Anonymous No.51476023]

>>51474942
Can you teach me SEO?

[Anonymous No.51476805]

>>51472233

>Put all your money, pull your cousin and dad money and get he basic tools and a pickup. Contact the old crew if you need more bodies to start.

>Start doing general repair and upgrades, scale up to full out construction.

>As soon as you can get youself on estimating projects, getting new customers, etc. Doing the construction youself will not expand the business.

[Anonymous No.51476823]

>father never taught son how to run the family business
>sold off into the sunset
lol boomers

[Anonymous No.51476833]

>>51471432
SHOLVA KREE

[Anonymous No.51476861]

>>51469014
Come up with a business plan and try for a loan to get some new equipment, a place to store it, and some money for salaries as well. Perhaps your dad can show you the ropes/lend you some credibility in terms of dealing with the bank if he is still around.

[Anonymous No.51476865]

>>51471432

[Anonymous No.51477963]

>>51471830
>Its more lucrative than unskilled production jobs and the training is straightforward enough but less lucrative than jobs that actually require you to be smart and work hard, like an engineer, lawyer, banker, or doctor

I agree. But this thread is about owning a construction company, not just being a trade worker. I know a few const company owners , and they all make between $250k-$1million+ per year in profit. One guy that my dad is friends with started a construction company and grew it into a 500+ employee behemoth. The dude owns a jet and has like 12 houses all over the world

My point is that owning a successful construction company can easily make more money than most doctors or lawyers