Sometimes, you bid on a project and you don’t win. It happens from time to time, and it’s hard to know why. The good news is that you may have a second chance to make a first impression. In some cases, you only missed out because the client was looking for something you didn’t offer, or even that they made a choice they would later regret. Here are a few ways that you can help turn it around.

Keep Them on the Mailing List
If you’re working primarily with clients who aren’t businesses, you don’t necessarily have to trash their contact information once you learn that you didn’t land the project. Clients go with different contractors for a variety of services. Just because you weren’t the right fit for the first one, it doesn’t mean you’re out of the running forever. If they signed up for any kind of mailings that you offer, printed or electronic, continue to send it to them. This is one way that you can stay on their radar for future projects.

Request Feedback
If you have the ability, it’s always worth asking them why they chose someone else other than your business. In this case, you have to be prepared to hear some constructive criticism, and possibly some less-than-constructive criticism as well. Nobody wants to hear about the mistakes that they made, but you won’t be able to improve unless you’re aware of them. Sometimes, it’s simply a case of who arrived first and landed the job. In other cases, a few simple decisions on your part could have made the difference between coming in first and coming in last.

Identify Obvious Problems
Based on that feedback, identify obvious problems with your workflow as it relates to your bid for that particular project. For example, many contractors take too long to return client phone calls or emails. Clients might still be interested in getting a consultation for comparison, but there’s not much you can do if you show up after they have mostly made the decision. Similarly, clients may expect that most of the transactions will happen in a digital format. If you’re still working off paper and pencil mostly, it might be time to upgrade.

Keep Lines of Communication Open
When you’re interacting with colleagues and larger business clients, keeping the lines of communication open is key. In a world of construction labor shortages, coming in second as a subcontractor on a contractor’s list isn’t necessarily a disaster. It just means that the next time they need to hire a subcontractor, you may still have a chance. Assuming that you know why you weren’t chosen, it’s worth following up with the contractor to thank them for the opportunity. Treat it as a long-term professional relationship, and they’ll be more likely to do the same.

Stay Positive
It’s OK to admit that losing out on a project is really frustrating. However, letting it take over your mood and make it difficult for you to interact with others can create problems long-term. Keep in mind that many business owners hear the word “no” many times before they start to consistently hear the word “yes.” It takes practice to learn how to create a fair bid that clients are likely to accept. If you can take your early experiences in a positive light, you’ll be more likely to learn from them and improve over time.

Learning how to fail and bounce back even stronger is a big part of running a contracting business. You’ll get better with practice, especially if you get the right foundation. To discover more about starting your construction career, contact CSLS today!

Your contracting business might just be you at first, but you should plan to change that over time. After all, if it’s just you, then you have no one else to help you shoulder the load of running all aspects of the business. You don’t need to hire a huge staff, but a few specific hires could be a big help. Here are five roles that you may want to consider hiring for your contracting business.

Project Manager/Team Lead
Working in construction often involves wearing multiple hats for different roles, and this is how a lot of businesses can end up in trouble. If you are trying to work on multiple projects at the same time, there’s a chance that you may accidentally overbook yourself or your equipment. A project manager can oversee all the people working on the project, as well as equipment that you need to buy or rent and supplies for the job. If you don’t have the ability to have a dedicated project manager, even designating an employee as a team lead with appropriate responsibilities can help to ensure that the project finishes with fewer problems.

Office Manager
There are tons of administrative tasks that you need to do in order to run your business. Without them, you may not be getting paid, paying your bills, ordering supplies or responding to clients. An office manager has the ability to ensure that all of these administrative tasks get done, even if you are outsourcing certain services like marketing or accounting. They can also serve as a point of contact for these services so that if there are questions or concerns, you are not interrupted in the middle of your project.

Accountant/Bookkeeper
Making sure that you are up-to-date on your expenses and taxes is crucial. Without it, your business may come crashing to a halt. There are a variety of different services that you may need in this area, including:

• Invoicing
• Accounts payable
• Payroll
• Year-end reconciliation
• Tax preparation and filing

There’s a lot of software out there that you can take advantage of to help you keep your cash flow under control. For some of these tasks, you’re going to need someone who is trained and has the appropriate expertise. The good news is that by making an investment here, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and stress trying to figure it out on your own.

Marketing Manager
In order for you to get clients on a regular basis, customers have to know that you exist. And while word-of-mouth is a practical tool in many construction industries, it may not be sufficient. Marketing is the way that you promote your services and ensure that you have a steady stream of possible leads. Sales provides qualified people who can answer questions for potential customers and explain how your company beats the competition. This is another field that requires expertise, so it’s worth hiring someone to make sure that you can get it right and keep up with the latest trends.

Labor Support
Once you have at least a small team of employees, you need someone who can support them. Otherwise, you’re on the hook to answer phone calls or respond to text messages when people have to call in sick or have questions about their paychecks. Being responsible for all of your employees can take away from the time that you need to work on projects. Hiring a human resources manager or even someone who is dedicated to labor support can save time and ensure that your employees get the answers and assistance that they need.

Running a business sure involves a lot of roles. If you feel the most important ones, you’ll have more time to focus on a great finish for each project. To start on the path of becoming a licensed contractor, contact CSLS today!

Getting your contractor license is a major step toward being able to run a contracting business. But did you know that the way that you work toward your goal can also affect the way you run a business? Here are five ways that improving your approach to studying can help increase your business prospects.

Investing Time
At some point in time, even the people who did very well as young students will have to learn how to study. In fact, investing time into learning the craft and all the details that go into it can set you up very well to run a business. Although you may discover that some things about a business feel relatively effortless, lots of them will be a hard slog with a lot of time involved. There will be moments when you feel like you aren’t going to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but you keep going. The ability to make the investment and see it through will give you more opportunities to succeed.

Learning to Focus
There’s a difference between performing a repetitive task and learning a large amount of information. For the former, you can develop an understanding of how to do the work and let it help you complete the task without necessarily requiring a lot of focus. If you want to do well in your studies, focus is a major priority. It’s easy to check out and think that you are picking up details, but the exam will be the final arbiter of your success. The more focus you have, the faster you will learn and the quicker you will achieve your goals. And when you go to start a business, you’ll be able to take that focus to the next level.

Attention to Detail
When you run a business, you are the one who was ultimately responsible for every detail. Studying for an exam is similar. You can’t have someone else take it for you, and you’ll be on your own on the day of the test. Your ability to refine your attention to detail is what will help you earn a passing grade. Once you start to establish a business, you will quickly learn that there are a lot of details that you simply can’t miss. Mastering the finer points of your studies translates into evaluating contracts and ensuring the quality of your finished work.

Solving Problems
Of course, studying for the exam and running a business often involve dealing with problems. At points during your exam preparation, you may notice that there are certain faults in your study habits. If you can’t overcome them, you will struggle to do well on the exam. Similarly, you’ll encounter plenty of problems in your business that require you to look inside yourself and change the way that you do things. Your ability to be flexible and make changes to improve yourself will show you and your clients what kind of business you can run.

Accomplishment
Becoming a licensed contractor is more than something that you need so you can perform certain kinds of work in California. It’s also an accomplishment and one that not everyone is able to achieve. When clients are looking for a reliable contractor, they want to know that the person that they hire is committed to the success of the project. Knowing that you have seen your goals through to completion will give them a greater assurance that you will do the work that you propose. In time, you’ll find that history of success makes it easier to create more success.

Getting ready for the contractor licensing exam may feel like a temporary process. In fact, it’s getting you ready for your contracting business. To learn more about expert exam preparation, contact CSLS today!

If you’re like a lot of contractors, you’ll have a vehicle that you often use for business. Having everything you need makes life easier. Here are five things to put inside the vehicle, to keep your workflow running smoothly and safely.

Tools and Materials
If you do most of your work at client sites, you will need to bring a variety of tools and materials with you. Big equipment and supplies may be shipped directly to the location, but the things that you bring from your workspace will probably go with you. Install a storage system that allows you to keep the most common tools and materials in your vehicle. A checklist will make it easy to confirm that you have everything before you leave. Make sure to create an inventory of materials, and update it as you use them. That way, you don’t have to worry about arriving to the client site and realizing that you don’t have what you need.

Extra Documentation
If you’re not doing virtually everything electronically these days, you’ll need extra forms. You can’t always anticipate when you will need to write out an estimate by hand, or create a contract for a client to sign. Even if you plan to take most of your work back to your business for preparing and sending out, it’s a good idea to have a way to take notes on the site. Being able to explain what you’re talking about might require you to draw it out, and it will be a lot easier that way.

Record-Keeping System
Having a way to keep track of your records is important, particularly if you go to multiple client sites every day. It’s easy to lose a copy of an estimate, particularly if you do it in writing. Choose a filing system that you can grab and go, that won’t take up too much space in your vehicle. Better yet, consider upgrading to an electronic filing system that you can access from a laptop or other device. If you do plan to work with an electronic system for estimates, payments and other records, make sure that you have Internet access wherever you go. A mobile hotspot is usually sufficient, but it’s not always enough.

Vehicle Maintenance
One of the best places to keep the maintenance tools for your vehicle is in your vehicle. Make sure that you have all the items you need for regular upkeep, such as:

• Tire pressure gauge
• Spare tire and jack
• Road hazard cones
• Jumper cables
• Cleaning supplies

Many contracting business owners practically live out of their vehicles during the day, which means that they can get pretty dirty by the end. Of course, the last thing that you want is to show up to a client site with a huge mess. Keep a small quantity of cleaning supplies, especially single-use cleaning wipes and garbage bags. That gives you an easy way to tidy up in a hurry, without leaving a lot of used supplies behind.

Safety Equipment and Supplies
It’s hard to tell when you’re going to get caught in some kind of weather-related disaster. As a general rule, you should always plan to keep a handful of safety supplies in case of an emergency. These include:

• First aid kit
• Blankets
• Water bottles
• Shelf-stable food
• Battery-operated radio with spare batteries
• Spare phone charger

Remember that if you ever get stuck in your vehicle and you’re unable to leave it during very hot or very cold weather, your best bet is to stay put and call for help. The vehicle provides protection that you won’t have if you get lost trying to get to safety.

Working out of your construction vehicle can be a great idea, as long as you have everything you need. For more tips on starting a contracting business, contact CSLS today!

Like it or not, inflation is a factor in the construction industry at present. If you want to keep it from cutting into your profits, you have to find a way to manage it. Try these five methods to keep an eye on the situation and provide greater protection for your contracting business.

Research Prices
Inflation doesn’t tend to run at the same rate for everything. As a result, you might notice a significant increase in prices for certain materials, while others remain stagnant or even drop in cost. The only way that you are going to know what to expect is to do that research on a regular basis. Now is a good time to keep an eye on what you can expect to pay for common building materials in your area, particularly things like steel and lumber. It’s best not to look at it every day so that you’re not riding on a roller coaster of shifting expectations. But updating your information every couple of months can make your estimates more accurate.

Buy at a Strategic Time
You can’t always anticipate what the market will do in six months, but you may have opportunities that allow you to buy equipment and materials at a better time. Read expert forecasts about pricing, and check the news for information about delays in the supply chain. If you wait too long to order something for a project, you may realize that you can’t get it. Inflation happens when supplies are harder to get, so prices go up. If you see a good deal on something that you know you’re going to need, now might be the time to go for it. This presumes that you have sufficient cash flow to purchase materials a bit before you need them, but ideally, you should.

Protect Cash Flow
You can’t always pass on increased costs to your clients, so it’s a good idea to protect your cash flow as much as possible. Cash flow is the money that you have available between your income and your expenses. If your expenses are too high, you might not have enough cash flow to keep paying your bills or staying ahead of projects. Take a look at your expenses, and see if there is anything that you can trim back. Selling equipment you don’t use is an easy way to increase your cash flow. If you signed up for services that you don’t really need, canceling them or switching to something less expensive can dramatically lower your overhead.

Raise Prices
Of course, inflation often translates into higher prices for clients. It’s tempting to keep your bids at the bottom, as a way of securing more clients. But if inflation eats into your profits, you don’t want to end up in a situation where you are working for inadequate income. Your clients may be aware of worldwide problems with the supply chain, particularly as it relates to building materials. Be frank with them about what you are expecting for those costs, and make sure that your estimates are flexible enough to accommodate changes. That way, you’re not taking a hit for inflation that happens from one month to the next.

Work With Your Clients
There will be moments when prices are changing so radically that you feel like you don’t know what to expect. In those cases, it’s a good idea to get input from your clients. Some clients are prepared to pay more, in exchange for the ability to have the project done at the perfect time. Others may need to stick to a budget more than they need to stick to a timeline. Some might be flexible in the types of materials that you use or be willing to allow you time to source alternatives. You won’t know until you ask them, so it’s wise to get their opinions before you make big decisions that change the nature of the project.

Keeping inflation from damaging your business can be tricky, but it’s not impossible. To learn more about running a successful contracting business, visit CSLS today!

You’re probably aware that businesses can operate at any time during the day or night, particularly in construction. At times, you may consider bidding on projects that require you to work on the weekends. You might even decide that you’d prefer to work a weekend schedule. Here are a few things to think about before you determine your availability.

Worker Availability
It’s easy to think that running a business on the weekends could be an easy way to complete more projects and possibly even start your business while you still have a full-time job. But unless you are planning to do all the work by yourself, you’ll need to confirm that you have workers available to do projects on the weekend. Construction can happen at any time, and in some cases it’s better to operate on weekends or weekday evenings. But that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to find people who want to work that schedule. It’s worth asking potential employees what works best for them before you make a decision.

Reasonable Working Schedule
Before you start counting all of the extra projects that you could do with weekend work, it’s a good time to evaluate what you consider a reasonable working schedule. As a general rule, most people expect to work no more than 40 hours per week. That is usually spread out across several days, and some of those days could include the weekend. But if you’re also thinking that you will be doing work during the week, you might be setting yourself up for more than you can manage long-term. Think about the number of hours that you can reasonably work, and see how that affects the number of days you want to be operating your business.

Project Constraints
Once you start lining up projects, you can evaluate the logistics of scheduled labor to see how weekend work might fit. In some cases, operating more than five days a week provides you with the ability to stagger work schedules. That way, if you have tasks that must be completed in tandem, you’re not losing the weekend in order to get them done. But again, you’ll need to make sure that you can schedule those tasks in such a way that the workers or professionals you’ve hired are available at the time that you need them.

Local Guidelines
You may have the ability to operate your business seven days a week. But you should consult local guidelines to determine if they place any limitations on the type of work you do, and the time you’re most likely to do it. Local guidelines usually set restrictions on the things you can do in particular areas as they relate to these categories:

• Noise
• Traffic
• Environmental Concerns

For example, if you’re mostly working in residential areas, you may have a shorter duration of work that you can do on the weekends, particularly if it generates a lot of noise.

Personal Preference
Running your own business does give you a lot of opportunities to choose your own path, so it’s smart to evaluate your own personal preference. Many people like to work a schedule that includes the weekend, because it affords them more opportunities to do things in their off-hours during the week. If you’re used to working a schedule like that, or if you’d like to work a schedule like that, you may be able to make it a priority. Just make sure that you can get enough projects to run through the weekend, without having to compromise too much on the type of work you want to do.

Choosing to work on the weekends isn’t necessarily a requirement for running a contracting business. But for some people, it’s a perk. For more information about how you can become a construction professional, contact CSLS today!

In order to run a business, you need a balance of business skills. You don’t necessarily have to go to college to get a degree, but your business is more likely to survive if you aren’t starting the process at the entry-level. Here are five skills you can start developing now to help ensure that you’re ready to begin strong.

Simple Budget Management
You don’t need financial expertise to be a successful business owner, but you do need to master the basics. In the early years, you may rely a lot on your own ability to:

• Set a budget
• Track income and expenses
• Balance a budget
• Plan spending to maintain cash flow

Accountants can be expensive. And while you’ll probably need to hire one on occasion for some tasks, you may be left to do several aspects of financial management on your own. Try it out with your own finances, so that you can test your skills before your business goes live.

Business Communication
Learning how to communicate with your future colleagues and prospective clients is an important aspect of running a business. The tricky part involves understanding the best way to communicate as a part of your field. Every industry has its own preferences, but it’s reasonable to start researching how to:

• Bid on projects
• Respond to business inquiries
• Send invoices
• Provide updates to business or residential clients

If you tend to rely a lot on spelling and grammar checkers to find typos and other problems in your writing, consider using a free or paid service that evaluates your writing first. Create a few templates that you can use regularly so that you only have to change names and relevant details.

Basic Technology
In a connected world, people tend to assume that they already know all the technology that they will ever need to use. And while this may be true for a lot of people, it isn’t always the case. Research the standards in your chosen field. Look up software options and test out ones that are free or low-cost to use. If you aren’t accustomed to working with spreadsheets or PDFs, now‘s a good time to start. This investment gives you an opportunity to figure out how it will work for you well in advance of needing to use it in relation to projects.

Research
If you ever wanted to know when you would need all the research practice you got in high school, running a business is a good example. Before you can even start your business, you should probably write a business plan. And for that, you’re going to need to do tons of research:

• How to open a business in your area
• Who your competition is, and what they charge for services
• Target customers’ preferences

Fortunately, you don’t have to spend ages at the local library hunting down periodicals. Most of what you need may be readily available through an online search, assuming that you know how to do it. Practice using different combinations of keywords to find what you need, and get more comfortable with Boolean search techniques. This work makes it easier to learn without wasting your time clicking on useless links.

Project Management
In order to run a business wherein you complete regular projects, you’ll need to pick up some skills in project management. It’s not enough to know your own role in the task and be able to fill it. As a business owner, you may need to manage several people completing different aspects and ensure that the final result meets specifications. Pick something that you’d like to do around your home or a friend’s home. Make a list of every aspect that you have to manage over the course of that project. Create detailed plans to handle each one. Once the project is done, make a few notes on what worked and what didn’t. That way, you can increase your likelihood of success in the next round.

Starting a business may take years of preparation, and these skills can help. For more assistance about what you need to open a contracting business, visit CSLS today!

When you think of residential construction, you might imagine a combination of single-family homes and multi-family units like townhomes or apartments. With rising home values and a continual demand for housing, there are many reasons to think that multi-family housing will become a major trend in residential construction. Here’s what you need to know.

Housing Prices Continue to Rise
The pandemic prompted a boom in the housing market that spread nationwide. As a state, California saw double-digit gains in home values from 2020 to 2021. In other parts of the country, metro areas saw home price increases of 20 to 30 percent. More people realized that they needed to choose a home that is more appropriate for living around-the-clock, which prompted millions to move. Lower interest rates and a generally strong economy made home-buying more efficient, which has driven demand to unprecedented levels. As prices grow with no anticipated downturn, the emphasis on affordable housing makes multi-family properties more practical for the long term.

Housing Demand Gets Tighter
As prices continue to go up, the demand for more affordable housing also increases. The National Association of Realtors reports that much of California’s coastal areas are suffering from some degree of housing shortage. Of course, this is not surprising to most people living in the state. It seems like there will always be more people looking to live in California than there are available housing units. Part of the recent increase in demand is competition from investors. Investors often have greater access to funds, making it easier to offer cash as a way to bypass homebuyers who need a mortgage. The rise in investment also drives up prices.

Rental Demand Continues to Grow
High housing prices and low housing inventory force many people to rethink their plans to purchase a property. The apartment industry took a hit in the middle of 2020, but it didn’t take long to rebound. In fact, many metro areas saw increases of 10 to 20 percent in the price of rent throughout 2021. Experts say that prices are likely to level out, depending on regional home prices and availability. The need for more housing in areas that are growing fast highlights multi-family housing as a practical long-term solution to a chronic problem.

There’s a Change in Scope for Commercial Construction
Of course, comparing different types of residential housing does not provide a complete picture of the entire construction industry. That’s where changes to the commercial sector come into play. At present, as the country copes with occasional surges of COVID-19 that force many offices to close, the need for commercial workspaces is changing. Industrial construction has a stronger market, like housing, because people generally cannot do industrial work from their homes. Expert suggest that the commercial industry may see a shift into multi-zoned construction, to account for a need for different kinds of commercial spaces.

Multi-Family Housing Makes a Reliable Investment
One of the reasons that the construction industry saw a dip in 2020 was that investors weren’t sure if their projects were going to be viable, once construction was complete. Multi-family housing presents a solution to a variety of problems, specifically access to affordable housing. Multi-family housing tends to be a more reliable long-term investment, because investors can spread out the risk across multiple units. That predictability in the context of a tight housing market offers more opportunities than it does concerns. In short, there’s little reason not to do it.

Multi-family housing is likely to be a big part of the next wave of construction. To take advantage of a future in the construction field, visit CSLS today!

If the last couple of years has taught anyone anything, it’s that you deserve to have a job that you actually want to keep. If you have been working hours in an industry that you feel is going nowhere, you might start thinking that now is a good time to change. Although there’s a lot of upheaval in the world, there are also plenty of reasons to be optimistic. Here are five ways that 2022 could be the perfect time for you to change your career and get into construction.

Labor Shortages Are Everywhere
Every time you go to the store and see that one aisle is nearly completely empty, you realize that that job can’t be outsourced or assigned to a machine. Although automation is a popular topic as a way to replace workers in various industries, it’s not a major part of our present reality. Limited service hours and periodic outages are all signs that there are a lot of industries who are in desperate need of workers. You don’t have to come up with a reason to switch from one to the other, because all industries are hurting and needing more people to get involved.

The Great Resignation Is Real
If it feels like everyone you know is quitting their jobs, there’s a reason for that. In fact, throughout much of 2021, US workers quit their job at an average rate of 4 million per month. That’s significantly higher than any other year prior, and more than twice as high as the low in 2009. Workers these days are already less likely to feel as if they have to keep the same job from early adulthood until retirement. But the great resignation is definitely making people in all industries rethink the jobs that they have and whether they are worth keeping. So if you felt like now is a good opportunity to change, you’d be in great company.

Unemployment Is Down
All those people quitting their jobs doesn’t mean that there are a huge quantity of people who can’t find work. In fact, unemployment is much lower than the annual average. Unemployment hit a high of nearly 15% in April 2020, as many companies laid off workers in the early months of the pandemic. At present, unemployment is hovering around 4%. When you compare these figures to the statistics around people quitting their jobs, you get a more complete picture. People are leaving jobs that don’t work for them, and finding new ones in much less time.

There Are Tons of Growth Potential
At the same time as all this upheaval in the labor market, there has been tons of growth in different industries. Construction is a good example. The pandemic highlighted a lot of traditional approaches to building that don’t really work for society as it is now. That’s forcing a lot of renovation and rebuilding in both the residential and commercial building sectors. It provides a lot of opportunities for people who are interested in innovation to find a good career and grow with it.

Construction Is Waiting
In a way, the construction industry has been primed to handle the 2022 reality better than other industries. Construction has had a significant labor shortage for more than a decade. While that presents possible complications for existing businesses, it also offers great opportunities for people who invest the time now. You don’t have to worry that your current industry is more stable, because basically none of them are. Instead, you’ve got a chance to start building a career that can take you as far as you would like to go.

If you’re thinking about changing jobs, you couldn’t have picked a better time. For more information about building your own business in construction, visit CSLS today!

When you run a contracting business, you’ll have to review a lot of paperwork. Understanding the fine print is key because it can affect the way that you handle projects or interact with clients. Use these tips to get more out of your reading.

Take Your Time
When you read through a document before signing up for a service in your personal life, it’s easy to gloss over the details and just assume that you’ll be in good shape. As a business owner, you need to make sure that you understand what you are committing yourself to. Avoid signing a document under pressure, particularly if you feel like you’re in a hurry and need to decide quickly. Instead, take the time to read through it completely and ask questions if necessary. For the most important contracts, take a copy away from the meeting to review in-depth before you agree.

Read in Pieces
The thing about fine print is that it can be difficult and tiring to read. Even if you start out with the best of intentions, you may find yourself skimming over parts as time wears on. Get yourself a pair of reading glasses or a magnifying glass, if the font size is particularly small. Otherwise, plan to read it in pieces. For example, you might choose to read one page, then take a short break to rest your eyes or get a drink of water. This will allow the information you’re reading to sink in a little bit, which may raise important questions or concerns that you need to address. For large documents more than a few pages long, ask for a copy a few days in advance so that you have enough time to read it in stages.

Highlight Important Points
If you have ever put together a contract before, you know that they can include a lot of details in a few paragraphs. Extend that to a document of several pages, and there might be a lot of important information to remember. A good way to increase your retention of those details is to highlight them or take notes. If you have the ability, you can use a highlighter much as you would for a personal textbook. Otherwise, bring a notepad and pen to make notes in your own words. This repetition will help to ensure that you understand the details and can help identify aspects that are confusing.

Write Down Questions
When you spend 15 or 20 minutes reading a document before you sign it, you may think that you will remember everything that came up during your reading. Unfortunately, that probably isn’t true. By the time you reach the end of the document, you may be so relieved to have finished that you don’t remember the questions that you thought of at the beginning. As you read, write down all questions. If they are addressed at a later stage of the document, you can easily cross them out. The questions that are left deserve asking. Don’t feel bad about asking for clarification or for more information before you make a decision. It’s your business, so you deserve to be fully informed.

Ask for Help
If you’re worried that you might miss important details that could change the way that you normally run a project, it’s a good idea to have somebody else look at the document before you sign it. Make sure that the person you choose is someone that you can trust, but also someone who will read through the document as carefully as you. It’s no good to ask for a second pair of eyes, only to have them zoom through it and raise no issues at all. Many business owners keep a lawyer on retainer just for the ability to have an educated eye to review documents on their behalf. It could be well worth the money, particularly for the most important contracts.

Running a business often involves reading and reviewing a lot of documents. It’s a good skill that will help to keep you out of conflict. For more information about how you can build a successful contracting business, contact CSLS today!