a well-respected builder, this company has established an excellent reputation within the local marketplace in which it operates based upon several years of successful trading. It carries out all manner of works within a twenty to twenty five mile radius of its base in middlesex including extensions, renovations and refurbishments as well as smaller maintenance jobs which are taken care of by this business’s teams of highly skilled, sub contract tradesmen. Working in both the domestic and commercial sectors, projects have varied from the putting up of some shelves or pictures right through to the demolition and re-building of a house!
high quality workmanship and finishing together with reliability and competitive pricing means the services of this business are always in demand with many clients considering this business to be ‘their builder’. Repeat work and its steady stream of referrals are such that this business has little need to look outside its existing customer base for work.
the owner of the business works in a project management role with a trainee/labourer the only direct employee however the business has numerous contacts in the sub-contractors field, across the full spectrum of trades, many of which work almost exclusively for this business. All are highly skilled and well qualified to ensure they are capable of completing the tasks in hand.
large enough to cope but small enough to care could easily be the motto of this business. It is careful to manage the expectations of its clients, involving them as much as possible throughout the length of the project. As a result this company has an excellent reputation for delivering on time and to budget with any problems dealt with promptly and always to the customer’s satisfaction. With some clients with very large and valuable properties it is an approach that pays significant dividends with regular on-going work.
with a turnover for the 2009 financial year of almost £175,000 generating gross profits of almost 30%, this is an excellent opportunity for an existing building contractor to acquire a well established general builder with a healthy level of turnover and profitability or for a new entrant into the marketplace to establish a foothold in the sector via the acquisition of a thriving building operation with a significant, affluent, loyal and on-going client base.
key strengths:
this business believes in providing a high level of personal service and such is its reputation amongst its existing customer base that it receives work simply because it’s there and there is always someone on hand to answer the telephone. This business doesn’t just set out to match expectations but to exceed them. All staff are required to be polite and friendly and strive to minimize the upheaval their work is causing the client. This business simply delivers what the customer wants, involving them closely throughout the project to ensure completion on time and on budget. As a result it has a loyal and satisfied customer base which returns time and time again – ensuring this business has work stretching months ahead at any one time.
this business is quite diverse in the range of services it provides and prides itself on its ability to adapt to suit the customer’s exact requirements. Whilst it has a proven track record in small works, it is equally as comfortable with half a million pound plus projects. This flexible approach ensures this business is never reliant on any one particular contract being placed with it or the revenues coming in from any one particular contract since cashflows consistently arrive from many different directions simultaneously.
key opportunities:
there is an outstanding opportunity to build on the existing services and customer base of this company. With a strong demand for services combined with a capacity to increase turnover, a new owner contributing fresh ideas and investment in resources will have every advantage of building on an excellent platform.
this business maintains an extensive base of satisfied clientele who appreciate excellent workmanship and high levels of service. The vast majority of work comes from existing relationships and there are many opportunities for further growth from sales to new customers, which the existing company management has chosen not to pursue due to current workloads and a desire to maintain high levels of personal service on existing projects. Such has been the workload to date that the business has had little opportunity to follow up the quotations it makes – additional work that could easily be secured with a little negotiation. This could easily be addressed by strengthening the business through the recruitment of additional contracts/projects managers.
the company has done little or no marketing in the past relying on strong word of mouth recommendations to generate additional business. More assertive marketing and promotion within the appropriate market sectors could secure an even larger slice of the local market and further increase turnover.
customer service:
the owner of the business acting as project manager is ultimately responsible for the quality of the work done. However the business is also an accredited member of the local better business group which operates an independent customer satisfaction survey on behalf of its members, in which this business consistently scores levels of customer satisfaction in excess of 90%.
