Interestingly, a recent US government-funded research study found that, in 2023, the vast majority of construction companies were only awarded between 15% and 20% of the projects that they applied for.
Logically, the more potential projects your company bids on, the faster your company will grow and expand. However, if you are looking to move into the large-scale sector, there are several additional ways to improve your chances, with the three main methods explored in this article.
1. Engage in Value Engineering
When involved in complex and larger construction projects, it becomes necessary to engage in value engineering, where all opportunities to increase the value while reducing the cost are maximized.
Value engineering is most effective in the following areas:
- Materials: Evaluate your current choices in materials and consider whether an alternative would be more sustainable or else provide more flexibility and/or durability for the project.
- Speed: Could you save manpower and money on bringing completion dates forward?
- Labor: Would hiring specialty manufacturers and alternative contractors mean their expertise would add value to the scope of a project?
2. Minimize Inconsistencies
There is no faster way to reduce your profit margin than regularly-made errors that remain undetected, and as you will be aware of how such errors can impact your smaller-scale construction business, imagine how expensive they could be on a larger-scale project.
Sourcing heavy equipment machinery from renowned and reputable expert suppliers is an excellent way of ensuring that you build a strong and unwavering reputation for sticking to a schedule, so make sure machinery is well-maintained and rented or purchased in this way.
Regarding your estimation process, it is essential to standardize, which results in timely and detailed estimates crucial for large-scale jobs. You may also want to consider switching to a database-driven cost catalog, which is populated with every one of your common assemblies.
3. Customize Each Report & Estimate
Not only the competitive nature of the construction industry and the current level of accuracy your own company provides are stopping your business from expanding into large-scale projects; tailormade estimates also go a long way.
Details such as formatting, content, delivery methods, and metrics will vary considerably from project to project, so make sure you learn as much as you possibly can about both stakeholder and the owner to ensure reports are as customized as they can be.
Look into the influence level of each stakeholder and their specific role, as well as their learning methods proven by past projects; perhaps it is widely known that a certain stakeholder chooses graphics and visual aids to support a bid over pages of written text.
Successful and well-known construction companies who solely bid on large-scale projects, without exception, all rely on data-driven methods to increase their level of productivity. In addition, competing for larger projects also requires a detailed assessment of your current core business processes and the bravery to make decisions that may not be popular with individuals.
