As a small trade business owner, you may be considering ways to grow revenue, draw in more clients, and accomplish your objectives of expanding your operations.
The answer might be closer than you think - in your workforce. Having a confident, skilled and motivated team will go a long way to helping your company achieve its goals.
Let's look at a few methods you can use to upgrade the skill sets of yourself and your crew and make sure everyone is working to the best of their abilities.
For starters, consider whether there is a job that needs to be filled in your team that could improve the skills of your trade company overall. Sometimes training in-house is a great method; however, as a growing firm, think, can you hire a new person with the necessary abilities to fill the position?
Could you, for instance, advertise for a hands-on team leader role in order to free up your time as the manager of the business? The saying goes, you have to spend money to make money and if your business is slowly but surely growing, investing in great employees that can bring up the standard of the rest is a great way to go.
Remember, they don't always need to be full-time employees. You could seek to expand your projects with the use of contractors and sub-contractors.
Next up, why not look at courses that would be useful to you or your staff? There are numerous online and offline courses available to tradespeople these days. Many add real value to different areas of your work.
Topics could include creating a website, how to manage your social media, developing invoices and processes for your business admin, or you could even branch out and train your employees in newer trade-related work - woodworking, plastering and so on.
You may find local colleges or training centres have plenty of useful courses or training days that you could attend. Alternatively, a Google search will show you plenty of different online course providers that offer expertise in business management, marketing, tax and much more.
It depends on the type of business you run; some training venues might be targeted towards specific trades or larger firms, while others might be suited for specialised SMEs and offer workshops in managing finances or administration, for example.
With this in mind, it can be helpful to talk to contacts, other tradespeople and your employees to understand how best to further yours and their training or specific talents.
Ultimately, it will be a win-win for both parties as it allows your business to offer more services whilst motivating and up-skilling the individual in question.
Being a trade business owner is a constant learning process. You are spinning various plates and learning to handle a variety of situations - whether that's health and safety, managing clients or how best to insure your assets.
While we don't suggest you copy everything other businesses do, you can draw inspiration from other small businesses in your area or online to help you achieve your own growth objectives.
The trade industry is incredibly helpful, open and transparent, especially the community that has been built on social media channels like Instagram. So instead of viewing others as rivals, you can seek help and better understand how others handle certain situations.
For example, if you run a local electrician's company, why not try presenting yourself in a different light to give your customers a whole new experience? Learn how to market yourself online by using video content on YouTube, seek reviews from customers to advertise on your website (or build a website in the first place), or just share what your company is up to on a day-to-day basis on Instagram.
Customers and clients buy into people, especially when it comes to the trades. They want to see what work you are doing, how presentable it is and how 'professional' you are. With this in mind, you can also appeal to bigger clients and even local businesses, organisations and councils looking for trade companies to work on large-scale contracts.
It's not against the law to watch what others are doing and learn from it, so why not start today? You could encourage your apprentice or contractor to start filming your work and posting it. Whatever your idea is, run with it. The trade world is your oyster.
There are many opportunities for specialised training courses, but have you ever considered offering to train an apprentice? Handing a young person the opportunity to learn a valuable skill in the trades whilst learning on the job is great for business and for the industry as a whole. Not only are you training the next generation, but you are contributing to a sector that is seriously lacking new talent growth and is experiencing a skills shortage.
At Rhino, we love seeing trade businesses all around the UK taking on apprenticeships and sharing their journeys online. To get a better understanding of how trade apprenticeships work and what is expected of you, i.e. training, funding and more. Read our apprentice-focused blog post here.
For any trade businesses looking to branch out and offer apprenticeships, whether they are Electricians, Plumbers, Carpenters or any other trades. You can sign up to show your interest via the government's website here.
Make sure you are completely insured as a trade business before recruiting any personnel. On top, if your business is growing, ensure you check your current trade insurance package is still providing you with enough cover, as often, when companies grow, their insurance will need updating.
Find out how Rhino Trade Insurance can help protect your business today by checking out the many forms of protection we offer, such as Tool cover, Employers' Liability Insurance, Public Liability Insurance and more.
If you require help with your policy, our website contains a wealth of resources to assist you in finding the appropriate cover for your trade. Thanks to our fantastic insurance calculator, getting a quotation only takes a few seconds. If you would prefer to speak to a real person here in the UK, call us at 0116 243 7904 and speak to a lovely Rhino team member today.
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