As a general contractor, each day puts you deep into meetings with clients, estimating and following up, negotiations, and trying your best to herd your teams into the right place at the right time. The sheer volume of activity packed into each day places you and your fellow GCs among the busiest business leaders. When the responsibilities become overwhelming, you can benefit from having a new perspective that sets you in the right direction. That perspective lets you know you don’t have to go it alone. Needlessly, too many of you are trying to do it all yourself.
The struggles of a general contractor
General contractors often take on too many of their company’s administrative tasks. This is where the entrepreneurial spirit misdirects its energy. Instead of focusing on the overall business – its growth and potential — they get lost in the weeds of operations. You can build structures with your bare hands and you get in the habit of confidence that you can do it. However, when you’re the leader, it’s not about if you can do it, it is about if you should do it because it is the highest and best use of your time.
You may also be afraid to delegate accountability. You might not know how to allow others to take on the tasks you find it hard to let go of – even if you struggle with them yourself. This makes your life twice as difficult as it should be because:
- Your expertise as a GC is distinct from the expertise needed to run a business.
- Those who could help run the day-to-day operations aren’t on your staff or aren’t being given those responsibilities.
As you’ll see, a business coach can help you get past the mental blocks and routines that are stressing you out and holding you back.
How to be a better general contractor
Your business coach will help you see your business from an outsider’s perspective. You’ll get deep insight into how your general contractor business runs and the best practices you can apply to have more time for the things you want to do.
It can also be refreshing to share the challenges with someone you trust that you can’t share with your own team. You’ll also find insights from someone who has the perspective of different industries and best practices. Along your journey of learning, you will discover:
- Successful business practices like the ability to set new goals based on profit growth over your previous baselines.
- Productive team building and increased accountability.
- A mindset that changes the way you handle daily struggles and fire fighting.
- The big picture beyond your daily operations. You’ll learn how to focus on things that will really drive your company’s growth: sales forecasting, growing profitability, attracting top talent and benefitting from changes in the marketplace.
By being able to disconnect, you have more time to reinvigorate yourself and do the things that bring you pleasure outside of the business.
You may even create a new position for someone to take on common, time-intensive processes. Think it’s going to be hard to let go? It may be at first, but a great coach will show you how it can be done.
Work with ActionCOACH Tampa Bay
ActionCOACH Tampa Bay has the expertise to provide both business and executive coaching. Contact us and let us know the areas where you feel you could use an objective point-of-view. We look forward to accelerating a change that will inspire and keep you well ahead of the curve – and your competition.