Have you been thinking about starting a business in construction? Here a 9 easy businesses you can easily start:
1. Construction materials manufacture business
Construction is on the rise and there is always a need for more construction materials. Construction materials that can be easily manufactured include: Brick block, concrete blocks, paving, Cabro, precast concrete pieces such as culverts, bollards, Kerbs, drainage channels and the list goes on.
The cost of investment on this one could be medium to high because you need to buy the metal forms, materials, hire labour, buy/rent machines and so on. However, most construction materials do not decompose and therefore you can be able to keep stock for a while.
For this to work, you should either be very well placed in an area that has ongoing constructions or have strong networks that buy enough from you to keep the business going and earning profit.
2. Hardware store business
There is a lot of money in the provision of construction materials to contractors. Although this business is capital intensive it has high return. The licensing for this is not complicated. You will be required to have a physical store set up, and it will require you to hire personnel to help with the service provision. If you have access to trucks and pick – ups, you could also offer material delivery services.
3. Material delivery service business
This goes hand in hand with the hardware business. It works well if you have access to trucks and pickups. This means that you will be paid to deliver items from the source; hardware stores, quarries, workshops etc. It is especially beneficial if you have a good network of potential people or construction business that would need this service.
The margins made on this if well calculated are good. For this you will only be required to register a company. This can work with or without a physical address. For this, you need to have high organisational skills and time consciousness. It is a question of how well you can handle logistics.
4. Skilled labour provision business
Do you have access to a pool of skilled personnel that are looking for work? Do you know people who require these skilled personal skills but have no way of getting to them? This business allows you to make commissions on the introduction of skilled people to people who need them. If you have the opportunity to work with companies, the skilled people can be on your payroll with the companies remitting funds to your company account as per the agreement.
The problem with this is that due to the nature of the work that is handled by the skilled people, you have to ensure that your company is not burdened with liabilities. This business also requires you to do a background check on all the employees and ensure that they can offer what they are promising. A business like this relies on reputation and the quality of work.
5. Sub – contracting business
Are you able to take on a job, allocate resources and supervise it until completion? Do you have experience in this area? Do you have access to the labour and the machinery required to do the particular job or project? Can you manage accounting books with many moving parts? Do you understand the technical requirements for the specific field you are interested in entering?
Then you can become a subcontractor! This is essentially a small business where part of the main project, for example, in a school construction, the fabrication and installation of the windows that are going to be used in the classrooms. It is a good place to start if you are looking to get into the contracting business in future.
This also requires good networks to get going. The quality of work done is a major selling factor for this business. It is not very capital intensive. You will be required to be registered with official construction bodies. Local permits will also be required if you have a physical location.
6. Unskilled labour provider business
This is also the same concept as the skilled labour provision. This is a little less high risk because the casual labourers are not expected to have construction skills. However, you will still need to vet them keenly as cases such as theft are very common. It is typical to ask the casuals for up to date clearance forms from the police or other relevant authorities. With these too, you have to ensure that they are paid in accordance to the labour laws.
This business requires good people management skills, and good organisational skills to ensure that the construction workers are paid on time. This business is easy to start since unemployment is on the rise. It is also a business with a socially rewarding aspect to it.
7. Construction consultant business
If you are trained in a particular aspect of construction such as structural design, architectural design, interior design, project management etc. You can start a business that uses your intellect where you are paid for the service that you offer.
Some of these may require extra accreditation from the relevant bodies in the area that you are operating from. If you have a physical location, there may be some business licenses required too. This type of business requires you to go out of your way to network in order to ensure a good enough flow of work. It is an easy business to start.
8. Construction business consultant
Do you know what makes businesses tick? Are you able to explain business concepts to non finance business managers? Most construction businesses are run by people who have backgrounds in the technical field they are operating in but don’t have the business skills that are learned in school.
This can be a well paying job especially if you are good at numbers, understanding what they mean and are able to translate data gathered into meaningful information that can be acted upon to make profit. You will net a good network and a good track record to be able to get into this business. The good thing about this business is that you do not require a lot of funds to start it
9. Workshops and Fabricating business
Not all construction work is done on site. Especially with the construction sector shifting towards pre-made materials and items that are just assembled on site, there is room for a lot of businesses here. Workshops include: Metal works workshops and Timber workshops. These can be both structural and decorative pieces.
There are some structural workshop businesses for example that focus solely on cutting and shaping rebar required for concrete works for projects based on the bar bending schedules provided by the structural engineer.
I hope that this article has been helpful. Are you trying to figure out your home ownership plan? To rent, buy or build? Build Wisely!
