Tile Words to Know
- Niche — A specialized market
- Client (vs. customer)
- Error Margin (this specific instance)
This week’s article is about some advice that seems a bit counter-intuitive but can allow you, in any industry, to decrease the whirlwind and increase quality and productivity. This advice, as you may have gathered, is “Get Rich In A Niche.” Not just for my fellow contractors, but for anyone looking to create better value in their lives and the lives of others.
Most people think, especially in the construction industry, that they’ll gain more business if they tell everyone they can do everything. I have been guilty of this. But when I started listening more closely to the people I looked up to in business, they all spoke about the same idea.
Focus.
Focus on one thing and make that thing work before expanding. I was lucky that this was around the time I decided to quit running around, always being lost with no idea what I was doing, to start and run a business that produced as much value as possible to the people I served.
As I started to take note of this idea, I realized that I had been the jack of all trades and the master of none. How could you possibly learn everything there is to know about framing, but also about electrical, plumbing, trim, stonework, and foundations!
The answer is you can’t!
It takes skilled tradesmen years and sometimes decades to learn not only everything they need to know from a knowledge standpoint, but also the process and system used to complete jobs quickly, efficiently, and effectively. Once I realized that I was working at a lower price, but taking much longer, and not producing quality work. I took a step back to rethink my production model.
When you take the time to develop these skills and focus on your niche, you not only start to earn more but begin to expand and keep happier clients. You can make more because your time, materials, and error margins have been reduced. You can maintain more satisfied clients as you provide them with a higher level of service. This is done through less time in their house, cleaner work environment, better finish quality, and the knowledge to provide clients with the education they need to know what you are doing and how you are doing it.
This can also be utilized by being able to provide different tiers of service and, in the case of my specific industry, being able to offer design services that most contractors can’t or aren’t willing to offer.
Once you’ve honed your process, decreased your error margins, and kept those clients happy, this is where it gets good! Now you can take on students, hire someone else to do what you’ve been doing! From there, you can grow. You can explore new products or services, you can keep replicating, or you can manage a few employees and enjoy the extra revenue.
Get rich in a niche is some of the most reliable advice I’ve ever heard. While it can take some thinking to wrap your mind around, once you start to harness the power of the niche, your life will never be the same!
So do your homework. Find your niche. Get rich!
WRITTEN BY: T. HUNTER BULLOCK-Hunter has been a tile contractor for over ten years and has recently joined the NTCA. He is always looking for ways to improve his skills and help give back to the Tile industry.
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