Before we begin
Determine whether you have sufficient funds, the ability to take out a loan to start on your own, or whether you need to attract investors. If you already have funds, you can create an individual entrepreneur; to attract a large amount from outside, the best choice would be to organize an LLC.
Research the demand for real estate in your area. Depending on this, you should choose the direction of activity: construction of townhouses, cottages for sale or wooden houses to order.
When drawing up a business plan, you should take into account seasonality, the average cost of housing in your region and the purchasing power of the population. The demand for housing construction is very high, but it is better to start with a narrow specialization and choose the most popular options that allow you to achieve payback in the shortest possible time.
Selection of materials for construction
When selecting materials, take into account climatic features, number of storeys, and direction in construction. If you plan to build small private houses, it is better to choose wood, gas block and brick. The construction of cottages is carried out using the frame method using special insulated panels.
The roof is covered with profile sheets, metal tiles, flexible tiles, and ondulin. The last two options should be used with care in hot climates: at high air temperatures, building materials soften. Slate is sometimes used, but not all buyers like roofs made from it.
It is important to select high-quality finishing materials:
- Plastic panels, tiles in the bathroom and kitchen;
- Laminate, parquet, linoleum;
- Wallpaper or other types of wall covering.
In utility rooms, the flooring is often finished with concrete tiles.
Frame and gas-block houses are the cheapest. But, unlike brick and wood, after construction you will have to finish the exterior with siding or plaster - decorative or for painting.
Main risks
Competition in the construction industry is high. A beginner needs to choose a narrow specialization and offer clients the highest level of service. Your advantage is the ability to concentrate on the little things. Large construction companies do not have this opportunity due to the peculiarities of the management organization.
Depends on the season. All stages of cottage construction can be carried out in spring and summer. If the work is properly organized and there are sufficient funds to ensure turnkey construction in full, you can start selling your house in the fall. If these conditions are not met, the risk of freezing construction until the next season is very high. When starting work, make sure that you have everything necessary to complete the project by the scheduled date.
Starting a full-scale business
I worked at my last job for another month. It was the season, advertising was running, orders appeared, and the business required full employment. I decided to quit and devote time to my business.
When I quit, I took the brigade with me
When I left, four more people left with me. They started working with me. At first, we earned about the same amount of money as we did working at the company. The only difference was that the employment was no more than four days a week. We also had prospects for development.
The first large order came from a workshop for the production of metal structures. Entrepreneurs had to install 200 metal pavilions at the market under construction. They paid 2,000 rubles for the installation and assembly of one pavilion. The contract amount was 400,000 rubles.
This was a lot of money for me at that time. The deadline for completing the work was one month. It was necessary to install 6–7 pavilions per day. I took a risk and agreed. The subcontractors took care of the documentation, delivery, tools and lunches. All I had to do was install the pavilions on time and hand over the facility.
It doesn’t matter how they pay, it’s important how they appreciate it!
This order fell to me because in the construction business the amount of 400,000 rubles is not exorbitant. According to my data, competitors asked 200,000 more for this work.
I took on the job. To begin with, I invited three more people to do this job. I decided to distribute the amount as follows: I will divide 300,000 rubles among seven people, provided the work is completed on time. As someone who is responsible for what is happening, I take the rest for myself.
Work was in full swing. Sometimes I had to work 14 hours a day. There were no days off. There were only short days on Saturday and Sunday.
I needed to complete this work on time and efficiently. This was my first contract, and it was important to me how I would be evaluated, and not how much I would be paid. It was a real baptism of fire for a builder.
Use cunning to gain the trust of subordinates
We placed the order with a two-day delay, but I attributed this delay to the lack of electricity at the customer’s site. According to the terms of the contract, the customer had to ensure an uninterrupted supply of electricity to the facility. There were no interruptions in the electricity supply. I just resorted to a trick.
After three weeks of work, I realized that I was missing two or three days. To get these days, I chose the weekend when no inspectors would come to the site. On Friday evening I called the customer and warned him that there was a power outage. He, of course, got very angry and said that he would send an electrician to the site. The electrician didn't show up over the weekend, but we successfully worked those two days.
On Sunday evening, I turned on two welding machines at full current at the same time and deliberately burned the sockets in the switchboard. Maybe this is wrong, but when there are seven people behind you, you need to think about your reputation in front of your team. If I failed and penalties were imposed on me, people would not follow me in the future.
In this case, all the deadlines in this order were conventions and had nothing to do with the actual launch of the facility. For failure to comply with them, I could have been fined 25%, but I did not allow this.
Completing this order made me appreciate my strengths and feel like a leader.
Location
The company's office must be located in the central or business district of the city. This is where you will hold meetings with clients and partners. Also, designers, accountants, managers for working with clients and suppliers will work in the central office.
The facility for storing equipment and producing prefabricated wooden houses should be located in an industrial area or on the outskirts of the city. Industrial and warehouse premises are suitable. An important point is convenient transport interchange and the ability to provide communications necessary for activities.
If you specialize in the construction of cottages or townhouses and their subsequent sale, the question of finding a site for construction is added. Study the city's development plans. It is unprofitable to build houses in a remote village that lacks modern infrastructure and convenient transport links. Look for vacant plots in a crowded area, with communications and in close proximity to schools, shops, medical facilities and other infrastructure facilities.
Enter into an agreement with a realtor who will provide you with information about the average cost of housing in each area. Having selected interesting areas, order a soil analysis from the geodetic service.
Equipment
There is no need to purchase expensive construction equipment. Depending on the project, at each stage of work you can rent the necessary equipment and personnel from companies specializing in providing such services. Buy only those tools and equipment that are necessary for your work on a regular basis.
If you plan to sell finished wooden houses, the situation looks different. The lumberjack team must be equipped with chainsaws and other equipment for harvesting wood. Equipment for transporting wood to the assembly site can be rented. Assembly, which is best done in winter, is also carried out using chainsaws, electric planes and a standard set of carpentry tools. To operate, you need a mini-power station. The approximate cost of a set of equipment for the work of one team is 50-60 thousand rubles.
Personnel
To build frame houses, it is necessary to hire a team of lumberjacks (5 people) in the summer. The assembly must also be carried out by 5-6 qualified specialists, whom the company owner hires full time.
To work permanently in a company specializing in the construction of turnkey houses, a few people are enough:
- Supervisor. - Foreman. - Manager. - Accountant. All other employees can be hired on a contract basis depending on the stage of work. Look for companies and teams with a narrow specialization:
— Design. - Excavation. — Construction of walls. — Internal work. — Laying power supply and communications. - Water supply. - Finishing work. — Landscape design.
There are a lot of proposals for each item. Having chosen the best options in terms of cost of services, quality and timing of work, you can subsequently enter into cooperation agreements with each of these teams or companies for the construction of the following facilities.
Step-by-step plan for starting a business for the construction of country houses
To begin with, the customer must determine what to give preference to: a summer house or a country winter house?
To choose the most suitable location and method of constructing a country house, you need to decide on its intended main purpose.
If you want to build a small garden residential building intended for seasonal living, an excellent option would be to build a small one-story cottage using thinner walls and saving on finishing work.
Documents and licenses
For low-rise construction, you do not need to obtain a license or become a member of the SRO. The owner of the company just needs to register an individual entrepreneur or LLC with the tax office and choose a convenient type of taxation.
If you have permanent employees, you need to register a company with the employment and social insurance service. Construction permits are issued by local authorities. When designing a facility, you must coordinate all the nuances with the architectural bureau and fire safety service.
Payback
Much depends on the average cost of housing in a particular region. On average, the cost of building a small house for one family, subject to cooperation with wholesalers of building materials and proper organization of work, is about 2 million rubles. The sale price of such houses fluctuates around 3 million rubles. During one season, you can earn 1 million rubles from the construction of one house.
The profitability of building finished wooden houses reaches 30-40%. With proper organization of the company's activities, it is possible to achieve payback in a year and a half.
Features of a wooden house
Over a long period of time, there has been an increase in demand for houses built from wood. Today, more than 40% of all houses under construction in the Russian Federation are made of wooden houses. And there is an explanation for this. Firstly, wood is an environmentally friendly natural material that provides a person with a comfortable living environment. A house made of wood has increased air exchange, so a person’s well-being in such a house is much better. Secondly, a wooden house is something closer to man by nature. Having your own country house made of wood allows a person to get away from the bustle of the city and become closer to nature. Thirdly, building a small wooden house does not require large expenses. A wooden house measuring 6 by 9 m, ready to move in, will cost only 600 thousand rubles. Thanks to these three factors, the demand for wooden houses is only increasing every year.
And if previously the demand for wooden houses was restrained by the idea that such a house is difficult to manufacture, shrinks and becomes deformed after construction, then modern technologies available in construction today make it possible to avoid these negative aspects.
Marketing
Advertisements in the media, banners, street advertising, website on the Internet - all methods can be used to attract buyers. Cooperate with real estate companies, they will provide a constant flow of potential clients.
The main condition for success is quality, comprehensive service and speed of work.
