Do you blink your eyes and the day is done? Do you often go weeks or even months without taking a day or two to see what’s new? This is a common problem for anyone who runs a small business. It is so easy to get wrapped up in daily tasks that you forget about professional development. However, investing this effort is the best way to avoid becoming obsolete and have a better guarantee of knowing what’s on the horizon. Here’s what you should be doing, and how to know if you’re putting in enough time.

Join Professional Organizations
Starting and running a business is a highly independent endeavor, but it helps to have assistance from professional organizations related to your field. Joining organizations may carry monthly or annual dues, so you’ll want to be selective. But if you pick one or two and participate, you may find a lot of opportunities you might not otherwise have had. For example, the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) features chapters all across the United States, with two in California. They offer training and networking opportunities, as well as discounts with partner businesses.

Attend Construction Conferences
Taking a few days off from projects to travel and attend a construction conference may seem like a lot of work. Really, it’s an investment in your business. When you sign up for a construction conference, you get access to the latest tools and tips from industry experts. You might be hesitant to adopt new technology immediately, but that doesn’t mean you can’t try it out. This is one of the best chances you’ll get to have a few days focused on what is new and interesting in your field. You may return with a lot of good ideas to implement and a few new contacts in your area.

Take Education/Training Classes
By the time you have invested the time it takes to qualify for a contractor license, you might think that you already know everything you need to do. Of course, then you blink and realize that all the technology has changed and there are a bunch of new building practices you’ve never heard of, much less used. Taking periodic training classes helps you keep your skills fresh and build on top of your experience over time. It can even help you prepare to add another specialty to your license, which could expand the services you can offer. Sending your employees to training when appropriate can also help ensure that they provide better work for you.

Maintain/Expand Your Licensing
Part of professional development involves keeping your licenses active. Contractor licenses in California need to be renewed every two years to remain active. Without an active license, you can still renew but it’s a more complicated process. You’ll get a notice that your license is about to expire 60 days before it runs out. If this feels like a ton of time, you should know that it isn’t. Take this opportunity to think about what you want to be doing with your business, and how you can best get it. This is a good time to think about adding classifications or changing them, if you’re working your way into a field that feels better for you.

Make Time for Professional Development
With all these tasks on your plate, it might seem like you have hardly any time for paid projects. In fact, you can find a balance that keeps you progressing without compromising on the work that pays the bills. Set aside a day or two each month toward meeting these obligations. When you can anticipate the winter slow season approaching, plan for longer training sessions or attending conferences. This helps you get a bigger bang for your buck and make sure that even periods without as much paid work are productive toward your bottom line.

Professional development is easy to forget, but it keeps your business running into the future. To build a foundation of a business that you can operate successfully for years, contact CSLS today!

It’s a fear that people have had for centuries. Develop a piece of technology that replaces a skilled worker, and soon it starts replacing skilled workers. This is why industries like construction tend to be so hesitant to adopt innovations. But staying stuck in the 19th Century or even the 20th Century isn’t the best way to go, either. Here’s a few ways you can incorporate technology into your business with less worry that it will render your services obsolete.

Why Is the Construction Industry Averse to Technology?
Most of the technological devices you use to do things used to be done by someone manually. You might not complain too much if you are able to use gasoline and an engine to power a vehicle instead of horses. The horses may not be upset by this, either. But if it’s a professional doing the work that can now be done by a machine, that’s where people tend to worry. Innovations in building practices, as well as technological developments, require fewer workers at the jobsite to accomplish bigger projects. In short, people tend to fear adopting technology if they think it might make their own positions unnecessary.

What Counts as Technology, Anyway?
If you ask people from different generations what counts as technology, you might get widely differing answers. Many people tend to look at tools that existed when they were young as just tools, while everything that came after is technology. In truth, everything from a hammer to your smartphone qualifies as technology. The tools you use nowadays might be far more advanced than your predecessors building in the 19th Century, but they’re still tools. If it makes your job faster, safer and more accurate, it’s worth considering.

Why Should Workers Learn to Use Construction Technology?
If you’ve already been working in the industry or even your chosen field for several years, you might wonder why you should change your processes at all. It’s a matter of remaining relevant. Think of something you use every day off the jobsite, like a smartphone. Clients and construction professionals in their 20s and 30s may be far more comfortable using their phones to communicate or fill out a quick estimate to provide concrete information in real-time. Pros who still need to go back to the office to fill out a form and mail it might be hours or even days behind. Even if you don’t choose to take in all the technology, it’s important to know what it is and how you might use it.

How Can Contracting Businesses Test Out New Technology?
There are so many tools out there for you to try that you might not ever get through them all. The Internet of Things is revolutionizing every aspect of our lives, so it’s not surprising that it has made it into construction. When you go to a construction conference, be sure to give yourself plenty of time to browse the floor. Many businesses producing tools for construction will demonstrate their latest products or let you try them out. This will help you determine which ones are right for your business.

How Quickly Should Contractors Adopt Technology?
Being willing to adopt technology doesn’t mean you have to incorporate every innovation the moment it comes out. That’s unrealistic if not impossible. Instead, keep an eye on the fastest-growing technological areas as they relate to construction. These include:

• 3-D modeling/printing
• Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality
• Artificial Intelligence
• Automation

Be careful about your purchases, especially if they commit you to using a proprietary system. This might limit your options if you decide to pursue something else. It’s easy to start with tools that work on devices you already own, like your smartphone or computer. Once you get more comfortable with the offerings in one area, you may have an easier time making a choice about other products.

Developing an understanding of construction technology is one way that your contracting business can meet the needs of construction in a new decade. To begin building your contracting career, visit CSLS today!

No matter where you work in construction, the right lighting is key. Light makes the difference between being able to see what you are doing and performing the job safely, or making costly and dangerous mistakes. There is a wide variety of lighting options you can use, from permanent light sources overhead to adjustable task lighting and wearables. Here’s how you can make an educated choice to meet your needs.

OSHA Work Lighting Requirements for Construction
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sets requirements for the amount of lighting you have to have a particular space. It is measured in foot-candles. Simply put, you need one lumen per square foot to have one foot-candle. In most areas of the construction site, you’ll be required to have 3-5 foot-candles. This includes warehouses and shafts. For a plant or manufacturing area, you need 10. By comparison, an office or first aid station needs 30 foot-candles.

The average incandescent 60-watt light bulb has 800 lumens. To meet the requirements of a plant that requires 10 foot-candles, you’d need 10 lumens per square foot. For an area that is 1,000 square feet, you’d need 13 regular light bulbs. This might not be sufficient, but it is OSHA’s requirement for that particular kind of work. You can always add more on an as-needed basis.

Incandescent, Compact Fluorescent or LED
The type of bulb you choose depends on a few factors. Incandescent bulbs are getting progressively harder to find, particularly as a result of phasing out by manufacturers. Since halogen is a type of incandescent lighting, you’ve probably noticed that those are much less common as well. You may be able to use incandescent bulbs while you still have them, but find it difficult to replace them. They tend to cost the least to purchase, but they use more energy and burn out faster.

Essentially, you’ve got to pick between compact fluorescent (CFL) and light-emitting diode (LED). CFL bulbs were one of the first alternatives to incandescent light and they’re still pretty easy to buy. They use less energy and last longer than incandescent, but they pale in comparison to LEDs. LEDs last even longer and don’t present the same kind of hazard in waste disposal, since they don’t contain mercury. Now that LEDs are mainstream, they have significantly dropped in price. And since they use so little energy, they run very well off batteries.

Flexible Lighting Options
Of course, you can use the standard lighting options that you might have in any warehouse. Lighting on the construction site requires flexibility, however. Choosing battery-operated products gives you the ability to run them regardless of the power accessibility on the site, with no cords to trip over. Adjustable task lighting helps you point the light in the precise direction, with the ability to move it at will. For lighting larger spaces, you can consider light towers or balloon lighting to provide better illumination, especially at night.

Nighttime Lighting Considerations
When you’re working at night, especially during the short days of winter, you need to pay close attention to your lighting needs. In this case, you may go much further than OSHA’s minimum, with a variety of lighting options that can be turned on and off as needed. Keep in mind that in dark places, you need to light more than just the work area. Install lighting on the path to and from the work area. Identify possible hazards between your vehicle and your work area and add a light there, as well. Check the batteries and plugs during the day so that you can ensure they will not run out or disconnect and leave you in the dark.

Safe construction work requires proper lighting. Making the right choices can protect your eyesight and make sure that you are able to do the job correctly. To start your construction career, visit CSLS today!