Working as a contractor in any industry is a combination of being your own boss, accountant, worker, chauffeur, and the list goes on and on! Contracting can be a good way of life for many, as you can dictate the amount of work you wish to do, and what time to clock off, but the life of a contractor comes with a few difficulties as well, and it’s about learning how to manage these difficulties with ease.
A common issue is a lack of communication, whether this is with other workers on a job, or it is with project managers, a communication breakdown can cause many speedbumps along the way. The answer to your problem is getting the right tech, from phones to the right software; it makes processes go a lot easier, and problems can get solved in real time. Tech can also help to solve an argument. For example, there can be problems when tallying up the bill for a job, and it can cause a lot of consternation when there is something that you have factored in which your customer did not, or they just plain forgot. There are many pieces of software such as at EnsignOnline.co.uk which are designed to be user-friendly, have all of your details in one centralised place, and they just make life easier for that reason. Using the best tools to communicate yourself with your peers and your customers will make everything much easier.
Another linking factor to a lack of communication is the blame game. In an industry like construction, fingers get pointed if there is a problem arising, which causes no end of grief, and the blame game means that nobody takes responsibility for their actions and it causes a massive hole in the project, and the best way to sidestep this is to have a risk policy in place. A builders risk policy is a property insurance that covers the whole project. Liability policies are a must in working on anything where a slip-up can cause terrible repercussions, and things like public liability policy or faulty workmanship coverage can be the saviour you’re looking for if something goes awry.
Surprisingly, another big problem facing contractors is a lack of skilled workers. In jobs like construction, the younger workforce are not being pushed towards this type of growing industry. Instead, they go into education as opposed to trades. To help reset the balance, you can take action as a contractor, and start to mentor young people to help them into the industry. It doesn’t just work for young labour, you can also mentor someone already working with you to take a more hands-on approach to the project management side of the job, which benefits you and gives you a possible business partner down the line. The other option is to go via a staffing agency for workers, thereby saving you the work in finding people with the right skills as that part will already have been done through their pre-screening process.