When you think about starting a business, it’s easy to wonder how you could possibly build the right skills. The good news is that your whole life experience can be a resource to help you succeed. For example, your experiences spending time with friends can help set you up to work well with clients, employees and other contractors. Here’s how.

How to Solve Problems as a Team
Building and maintaining friendships gives you a lot of insight into what you’ll need to solve problems in your contracting business. Even if your business has you as the only employee, you’re still going to need to find ways to collaborate. In many cases, you’ll need to negotiate with clients to find the right solution to the problem. And once you have a few employees or subcontractors, you’ll just be extending those skills. The ability to find common goals, make sure that you’re all on the same page, and ensure that everyone’s needs are met is a crucial part of your long-term business success.

Ways to Overcome Different Communication Styles
You and your friends might have similar preferences for communication, but it’s likely that they don’t match up perfectly. Everyone knows someone who never responds to text messages, just as they know someone who sends about a million of them every day. Communicating with clients isn’t just about using the right language. You also need to choose the correct format. Figuring out how to talk with your friends without generating unnecessary conflict can give you a lot of insight into what your clients may expect.

How to Resolve Conflicts Without Losing Your Cool
When you’re among friends, you may feel much more comfortable getting competitive or expressing your unpopular opinions. But your friends are also more likely to call you out on it. This type of conflict is great in preparing you for your contracting business. When you have a conflict with a client, you must be far more careful in your tone and word choice. As such, you have to find ways to keep your cool, even if you’re not feeling it in the moment. Friendly debates, and even the ones that are not so friendly, provide an excellent source of practice in maintaining your position without steamrolling your opponent.

How to Maintain Good Boundaries
Good friendships are often built on a foundation of mutual respect. Mutual respect requires boundaries. Sometimes, the experiences that you have with friends that are good or not so good can help you to figure out the best way to engage with clients. For example, if you have a friendship that doesn’t have mutual respect or boundaries, you may feel like you are constantly compromising to please the other person. As a business owner, you have to be able to set good boundaries or your clients may run right over you. Learning what works and what doesn’t in your friendships set you up for better success when your income is on the line.

The Value of Commitment
The people that you consider your best friends earn that position by making a commitment to you. You earn that role by doing the same. In business, the ability to make a commitment and stick to it is vital. Without it, your clients can’t trust you and you may not be able to trust them, either. Commitment isn’t always easy, and it’s far better to pick up that lesson outside of a business setting. Learning the value of a commitment, and the responsibilities that you accept by making one, will help you become a better business owner.

You can pick up a lot of business skills from your friends, but you can’t get all of them that way. For expert training in preparation for the contractor licensing exam, visit CSLS today!

Security on the construction site is a big deal. If anyone has access when they should not, you may have problems with theft. It’s more common than you might think, and it’s the last thing that you want. But if you prepare ahead of time, you can minimize your risk. Here’s what to do.

Enclose the Jobsite
One of the best ways to improve the security of the site is to enclose it. You may be able to build temporary fences around the site, so the people have to go through designated openings to get in. Thieves can scale fences, but it will act as a deterrent for people looking to grab and go. If you’re working on a smaller project for a personal property owner like a homeowner, it’s a good idea to find a place to secure tools and materials. No one wants to leave expensive equipment in an open backyard only to discover that it’s missing the next day.

Track Who Enters and Leaves
On a larger construction site with many teams working at the same time, developing a monitoring system is paramount. Everyone who enters or leaves the site should be required to sign in and out. There are plenty of systems that use identification badges to the same effect, for faster processing. If you have visitors to the site, like clients or inspectors, you can track their participation as well. The existence of such a system on the site often acts as its own deterrent. People are less likely to come on the site and steal something if they know that somebody is tracking their presence.

Maintain an Inventory of Tools and Materials
Although you might expect that construction site theft is only done by random people, you may also have to be careful with the workers who are on the site legitimately. You don’t have to assume that all of your employees are going to steal from you, but there are ways to minimize the risk. One of the best methods of guaranteeing that everything stays put is to maintain an inventory of tools and materials that you are using on the site. Track who uses equipment and make sure that they put it back when they’re done. At the end of work each day, take a moment to review the site-specific inventory and confirm that everything is in place.

Don’t Let Materials Sit for Days
A big pile of materials, sitting apparently unmonitored, is an enticing prospect for thieves. These days, practically any construction material could make a handy sale for quick cash. If you’re in the habit of delivering all the materials that you need to the site at the beginning of the project, it may be worth rethinking that process. With few exceptions, you can have materials delivered a day or two before you need them without causing interruptions to the work. Time your deliveries earlier in the week, and make sure that you put them in a secure place that is out of sight from the street.

Add Security Features
Ultimately, ensuring the security of the jobsite and your business may require a few additional security features. You might be surprised how much additional lighting on the jobsite can help to discourage thieves from breaking in. Similarly, it may be worth investing in:

• Motion sensor lights
• Security cameras
• Alarm systems, when needed

The existence of these features makes thieves less likely to try the site, because they know that they are likely to generate attention.

Keeping your contracting business safe from theft can save you up to hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. You just have to make the right investment. For more information about building your construction career, contact CSLS today!

When you are working on a jobsite, you need your senses to work for you. It’s tempting to avoid using all the protective gear that you need to preserve your ears, hands, face and more. But if you don’t, you may end up in a situation that is beyond all sense. Here are five reasons to stay sharp.

Sight Increases Accuracy
When you are working in a dimly-lit space on the jobsite, your ability to see is crucial. Sometimes, the tight nooks and crannies of a building require work, but they don’t make it easy. You’ll need adequate lighting to do the job with a high degree of accuracy. If you don’t have that lighting, you’ll spend most of your time squinting and straining to see. That puts you at a higher risk of mistakes or injury. It can even make it more difficult to see what you’re doing in regular light, if you let it happen long enough.

Sound Is Important for Awareness
Unlike your sight, you can use sound all around you. The noises of the construction site give you a sense for what is going on in various places. You’ll need that kind of awareness if you are walking in areas where you can’t see completely in front of you. Wearing protective headphones can help to keep your hearing sharp, especially if you are using loud equipment. It’s also good to have the ability to hear sounds happening behind you. That way, if someone isn’t paying attention to your presence for some reason, you may still be aware of theirs.

You Need to Smell Trouble
There’s a reason that a lot of toxic solvents or materials on the jobsite smell bad. If something smells terrible, that’s an important reminder to you that it exists and it may need to be managed. For example, chemical cleaners smell sharp and they may burn. If they are dumped or leaking into a space unseen, you may not have any indicator other than the horrible odor. It’s easy to think of your sense of smell as the least important one, but you would find life very difficult to live without it. When you’re working with toxic materials, be sure to wear appropriate protection for your mouth and nose.

Touch Improves Precision
Your skin has a way of getting used to certain stimuli, like very hot water or very cold surfaces. Eventually, your skin might not be as reactive to these things. While that might seem like a benefit, especially if you’re tired of hurting your hands, you should know that it’s not a good thing. Your skin is an amazing organ because it remembers what it feels. You can use that to inform you about the state of the task that you’re working on. But the more you push it, the more likely you are to dull that sense. Eventually, you might notice that you can’t feel certain things anymore. And that makes you more likely to get seriously injured.

You’ll Be Safer With Your Senses Intact
You may think of your senses as five separate abilities, but it’s better to think of them as a complete package. Your body uses all five at once to gain information about your environment and keep you aware of things that you might not be able to see or hear. Losing one can make it harder to use the others to your maximum ability. In short, it’s easy to skimp on protective gear when you think you don’t need it. But all it takes is one minor slip to trigger a lifelong problem.

Keeping your senses about you is an important part of running a contracting business. For expert guidance on passing the contractor licensing exam, visit CSLS today!

Like any other piece of equipment, a vehicle is a major investment for your contracting business. Although there are many circumstances in which you might just use your own for travel to the job site, there are other ways that buying a vehicle for your company may make a lot of sense. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

Equipment and Material Storage
For many small business owners in construction, it’s not possible to do everything and leave all the equipment at the job site. You may have tools that belong to your business that you need to take with you at the end of the day. In addition, you may be on the hook to deliver certain materials to the site. If your personal vehicle does not allow you the space, you may need to consider buying a vehicle specifically to hold this equipment and materials. Fortunately, this approach also gives you a convenient and portable place to store them. That way, they are always ready to go when you are.

Carpooling Capability
As a contracting business owner, you might work by yourself or with a handful of employees. When you’re commuting to a job site that is some distance away, you have to decide if you will ask people to take their own vehicles or find a way to carpool. Many vehicles meant for construction have space for multiple passengers, which would make carpooling a possibility. If you’re trying to cut costs on commuting, or if you have limits on the number of cars you can bring to the job site, the ability to carpool may solve a lot of problems.

Brand Development
One of the best ways to get your name out there as a contracting business is to literally get your name out there. You can post advertisements in a variety of places, but you can also use a construction vehicle as part of your brand development plan. Few people would deck out a personal vehicle with their contracting business name and logo on the side. But it’s commonplace to do that with a business vehicle. If you’re trying to get attention in specific neighborhoods or communities, it could be a good way to generate familiarity with your business.

Improved Driving in Difficult Conditions
California features a variety of weather conditions that can make driving difficult, like floods, snowstorms, or wildfires. While you might not be willing or able to invest funds to buy a personal vehicle that can handle these conditions, that’s not necessarily the case for your business. If you need to commute to locations that might be difficult to access at certain times of the year, having a vehicle with better control might be a matter of safety as well. Even if you just have a lot of freeway driving, something with better mileage may prove to be a great business investment.

Less Wear and Tear on Your Personal Vehicle
Ultimately, when evaluating a major purchase for your contracting business, it’s worth considering how you pay for the alternatives. If you don’t buy a construction vehicle, then you’re probably going to be using your own. That might not be a big problem if you’re only commuting a few miles each way and not using the vehicle for actual work. On the other hand, if you are driving up to 150 miles a day five days a week to various client sites, you’ll notice that mileage on your vehicle. You’ll pay more for gasoline, but also for oil changes and tire replacement. Having a dedicated vehicle for your business can keep those expenses tied to your company, not your personal finances.

When you run a contracting business, you’ll have to make lots of decisions, like whether to buy a business vehicle. If you’re ready to get started on your construction career, visit CSLS today!

Watching someone go off the script on social media can be a delight to observe. Going through it is another matter entirely. Knowing how to engage on social media for your contracting business is tricky, and there are a lot of possible problems. Here are five ways you can keep yourself from becoming the next viral nightmare.

Separate Business and Personal Accounts
One of the biggest problems that businesses have with social media is the inability to keep their personal and business accounts separate. Even if your business name is also your own name, you probably have a different approach to engagement on your business accounts than you do on your personal accounts. It’s important to make sure that you are distinguishing the two, especially if your engagement with social media can be controversial at times. If necessary, make sure that you only use your business accounts on certain devices. Create a different login for each one. That way, you’re less likely to post from your business by accident.

Be Selective When Assigning Posting Privileges
Every now and then, you’ll read a horror story about what happened when a social media manager for a small business went rogue in the off-hours. You definitely don’t want this to happen to you, because it’s your credibility and reputation on the line. As such, if you decide to hand off social media responsibilities to an employee, make the decision carefully. Even if you completely trust the employee to make good choices, you’ll still want to follow up with it on occasion. If something goes wrong, you’ll get an early warning that way.

Take Time to Reply
For many consumers, social media is a way to engage with businesses and provide feedback. You might encourage your clients to give you a review on sites like Facebook or Yelp. When you get good reviews, positive replies could be easy and quick to create. On the other hand, if you get negative reviews, you might feel pressed to provide your side of the story as quickly as possible. Instead, take time to think through your reply and how you want others to see it. It’s better to wait a day or two to craft a reasoned response than it is to reply off the cuff and wish that you had taken more time.

Ignore Trolling Comments
Of course, social media is full of bad-faith commenters. On the surface, they may look like former or potential customers, when in reality they are just random people jumping on the bandwagon. While it is a good idea to respond to the questions and concerns of real clients, you should be careful when choosing to engage with people who are trying to give you a difficult time. Some people see frustrating others as an entertaining pastime. It’s better to ignore them and let their posts sit empty than to fall into the trap and waste a lot of time trying to fix it.

When In Doubt, Log Out
The thing about social media is that you don’t need a big following to go viral, especially not when it’s something bad. So even if your social media is relatively new and you don’t have a lot of followers, it’s a good idea to take care of your overall engagement. If you’re not skilled in social media management, ask a friend or family member with experience to periodically check in on your social media accounts. They may be able to let you know when an account has gone off the rails, and they can give you valuable feedback about when to disengage and take a break.

Social media is a great way to engage with customers and find more opportunities for your contracting business. You just have to make sure not to get yourself in trouble. For more tips about becoming a licensed contractor, contact CSLS today!

There are dozens of construction fields. If you’re not sure which one to pursue, how do you decide? The trick is to think about which areas have a lot of growth potential, and which ones are well-suited for the kind of career you want to have. You might have to try out a few directions before you are sure which one will be the most appropriate for your goals. With this information, you’ll know the most popular construction fields.

Electrician
One of the most in-demand fields for construction at the moment is electrical. Becoming an electrician is hard work. You don’t necessarily have to get a degree like engineering, but it can help you break into niche specialties and earn a higher wage. Because of the trickiness of the job and the necessity of getting it just right, electrician tends to be a higher-paid career compared to most in construction. And considering there are tons of electricians heading to retirement without as many to replace them, it’s an ideal time to get started.

Plumber
If you want a fast-growing field that has a high demand, consider becoming a plumber. The Bureau of Labor Services estimates that this position will grow in demand by more than 10 percent over the next several years, which is far outpacing most industries. And you know that it’s not a trend that will become obsolete over time. People will always have plumbing and it will often need professional repair or upgrades. You may have to get used to digging in the trenches, literally, but you can expect reliable business and a decent wage for your work.

Construction Inspector
If you have an eye for detail and you love to review, being a construction inspector might be the rewarding career you’re looking for. In this job, you’ll review plans and look at various stages of the construction project to confirm that they meet building codes and other requirements. While you might spend a fair bit of time behind a desk, you can also expect to be all over the construction site. This job usually requires several years of experience, so you know what to look for and which regulations need to be met. But as a tradeoff, it’s one of the higher-paying jobs.

Equipment Operator
If you dreamed about operating a crane or an excavator as a kid, you might be surprised to learn that this is a reliable job with plenty of flexibility and room for growth. Becoming a heavy equipment operator often starts with an apprenticeship or training program, but you might also learn while you’re on the job. Some types of equipment call for special licenses that you’ll need to obtain before you can take on the role. But those tend to have a higher average annual income, in exchange for your work.

Solar Installer
If you’re dying to get into a field that is constantly on the move and improving every year, becoming a solar installer is definitely one to consider. This job involves putting together, installing and maintaining solar panels. It’s a booming industry right now, as people look to take advantage of sustainable energy and tax credits to cut their expenses. It’s rated as one of the best jobs in construction, and even among various industries, because of its growth potential and the fact that you don’t need a degree.

Finding the right construction job for you is an ideal way to build a career you can keep for decades. To get started on your career path, visit CSLS today!

As you work on a construction project, sometimes you can’t help but notice the wildlife around you. Some of them may act as pests on the jobsite, while others are merely helpless bystanders. Since some animals and insects are crucial to human survival, it’s important to take care when you’re working around them. Here are a few things you can do.

Inspect the Site Before Work
On most construction sites, you don’t quite know what to expect until you get there. If your company is doing most of the construction or you’re acting in a supervisory capacity, it’s important to inspect the site before you begin work. This includes looking for signs of wild animals, birds or insects on the property. This is also important if you are performing demolition or renovation work on existing structures. When buildings aren’t inhabited for months or years, animals and insects may build nests in occupied spaces. Taking care to identify possible infestations and make a plan for them can help to avoid damaging beneficial species by accident.

Secure Site During Construction
Once you begin work on the jobsite, you need to ensure that nothing creeps in when you’re not expecting it. Site security involves keeping everyone out who does not belong there. But since bees and rats don’t read signs and can easily get past fences, you may need a different approach. Identify likely sources of infestations on the site. Then, take the time to think about the materials on the site that may be enticing. Putting up mesh fencing, closing buildings, and making sure that you put sources of food in airtight spaces, can minimize the likelihood that birds or animals will come to the site looking for them. Keep in mind that they love debris, so cleaning up is an ideal and safe deterrent.

Call Services When Necessary
When you find a beehive or a bunch of birds’ nests, it’s tempting to call an exterminator or another form of pest control. Well this can certainly mitigate the problem for you, it isn’t always the wisest thing to do. California is home to many varieties of endangered species. Without bees to pollinate the huge farms across the state, food output would be dramatically decreased. As such, it may be better to seek out a local organization that can help you move the nests without harming them or their inhabitants. This gives you a solution to your problem in a way that causes the least damage.

Use Bird-Friendly Construction Practices
The major problems that humans have with insects and rodents is that they like to set up housekeeping in the same place as where humans live. By comparison, birds are more likely to sustain injury or even death based on the type of construction practices that you use. For example, reflective windows confuse birds and make it more likely that they will collide into them. This kills up to 1 billion birds every year. By changing the design slightly, such as adding lines or dots on the glass, the birds can tell that it is an obstacle and fly around it. Some researchers estimate that this may also help building owners save on their energy costs.

Dispose of Waste Properly
When you think about proper waste disposal, you’re often considering what happens if the soil, water supply or air is contaminated for human use. However, there are many animals and insects who also live in the same spaces. Proper waste disposal is an important way to protect them as well. This means:

• Handling hazardous substances with care
• Disposing of harmful byproducts or excess substances in the correct receptacle or location
• Minimizing accidental spills
• Mitigating the effects of harmful contaminants already present on the property, like mold

These practices helped protect you, but they can also help to ensure that no one is poisoned as a result of the construction process.

Controlling your environment is a big part of construction project management. With the right approach, you can avoid hurting yourself and all the beings around you. To learn more about how to start your own contracting business, contact CSLS today!

As a business owner, you’re probably accustomed to using smartphones for communication and research on the job site. But what about smartwatches? These devices are smaller, handy and attached to you at all times. Here are a few ways to determine if adding smartwatches is a good idea for your contracting business.

Is Your Smartphone Accessible During Work Hours?
Before you make another device purchase, it’s worth considering how you use the ones you already have. If you’re like most people, you and your employees have a smartphone. You might use it to pull up information about a project that you’re working on, communicate with other people on your team, or let clients know about your timing. If your smartphone is easily accessible while you’re working, you might not need to add another device. However, if you’re constantly finding that you missed a call or an important reminder because your phone isn’t where are you can easily get to it, a smartwatch might be a worthwhile investment.

What Do You Need to Do With the Smartwatch?
There is a pretty wide range of smartwatches on the market. The right one for you depends on the tasks that you need to do with it. On the lower end, some offer little more than telling you the time or covering distance. They may be rugged and built for heavy use, but they might be more practical for hikers than the construction site. On the other end, smartwatches may be able to meet most of the functions you get from a smartphone, such as:

• Tracking calendars
• Communicating with clients via phone, text or email
• Looking at construction plans

Keep in mind that the most capable smartwatches may have a variety of features that seem interesting but that you don’t need. If you’re going to buy one in particular, make sure that it can do everything that you are most likely to use it for.

How Would You Use a Smartwatch During Regular Tasks?
Using a smartwatch is supposed to be a lot easier than working with a smartphone, especially if your hands are busy when you get an important phone call. It’s worth testing out different options to see how they would work while you are engaged in particular tasks. For example, if you want to be able to receive reminders so that you don’t miss an important meeting, a smartwatch connected to headphones may be quite useful. If you wouldn’t be able to hear someone talking due to the noise from the equipment, then you might not be able to take phone calls with it. Don’t forget that the clothing and protective gear you wear may affect how you interact with a smartwatch. You might need to purchase gloves that will allow you to operate the watch while wearing them.

Do You Need to Sync the Smartwatch with a Particular System?
As you’re looking at all the tools that smartwatches can give you, you need to make sure that you have the right equipment or system to make them work. Some watches will work with either iOS or android. That gives you a lot of flexibility, especially if you’re considering the same watch for multiple people. Others require you to sync them with a particular smartphone in order to access those features and services. If you’re just buying for yourself, it could be easier to make a choice. If you’re considering them for your company and team, you might want to call for some collaboration, so that you get an option that everyone can use.

Smartwatches are just one tool that contracting business owners used to keep every aspect of their business is running. To find out more of what it takes to become a licensed contractor, contact CSLS today!

In early April, Governor Gavin Newsom announced a $500+ million spending plan to help prevent damage from wildfires in California. Many aspects of the plan relate to building new construction and retrofitting existing buildings to minimize wildfire spread. Some experts believe it is necessary, while others worry that it could negatively affect the construction industry. Here are a few things you should know, so you can see how the plan may affect your contracting business.

Fire-Resistant Building Materials
One of the chief components of the new plan, as it relates to the construction industry, is the use of fire-resistant building materials. This change may seem fairly obvious, as something that is less likely to catch fire will also be less likely to spread it. However, fire-resistant building materials also change building practices and the costs involved with the project, according to industry experts. If your contracting business is obligated to use steel or concrete instead of lumber for building, your estimates will change. In many cases, they could go up significantly. On the other hand, many of these practices are already in use in certain parts of the state. For example, many regions require new construction to include fire-resistant features like fiber cement siding or fire suppression sprinkler systems

Fire Safety Standards for Development

Limits on development may create complications for the construction industry as a whole. The governor’s plan includes requirements on developments at the edge of cities and suburbs. These are the areas that are closest to wildlife and vegetation, and more likely to be first burned during a wildfire. The plan indicates that these developments must include a fire break, which creates a specific distance that builders must maintain between a development and surrounding vegetation. Opponents of the plan say that these regions are already the heaviest focus for development in California at present. With these limitations, it may be harder to get approval for new construction, which is desperately needed in the state. Of course, these limits would be much less likely to affect construction in urban areas.

Home Hardening Retrofits
Setting rules for new construction is an effective way for the state to minimize the risk of wildfire damage, but it is not sufficient. There are millions of homes in the state that may not have the protections necessary to minimize a wildfire. For example, older homes often use inflammable materials as part of construction. Roofing or siding made out of wood has accounted for significant damage from California wildfires in the last 20 years. Newsom‘s plan includes funding to promote what experts call “home hardening” retrofits. Home hardening is a process wherein a professional inspects a home and identifies several upgrades that could decrease the likelihood of burning, such as:

• Installing fire-resistant roofing and siding
• Upgrading to multi-paned windows or tempered glass
• Installing fire rated doors
• Building decks with fire-resistant materials and minimizing fire-prone décor

A complete retrofit may not necessarily set an existing home on the same level as new construction, but it could make a big difference. Contracting businesses that focus on safety retrofits may be able to find a steady source of projects as part of the plan.

How Your Contracting Business Can Plan for Change
Changing the way that an industry works in order to prevent environmental disasters is usually going to spark controversy. And regardless of the side you choose, your contracting business is likely to be affected by it. It’s worth considering whether you might change course or look for opportunities that come as a result. In either case, you may want to:

• Update your experience working with fire-resistant building materials
• Research common retrofits that you might be able to offer during renovations
• Stay current on the latest building guidelines, particularly as they relate to your region

That way, you can see where the industry is headed and ensure that your business is ready to meet it.

Maintaining a contracting business in an area that’s prone to wildfires takes creativity and innovation. For more information about how you can take advantage of the latest knowledge available in the construction industry, contact CSLS today!

Let’s face it: Few people are starting with such wealth that they can begin a business without having to scrimp or go into debt. While opening a ton of credit lines and borrowing lots of money isn’t necessarily the best choice, neither is avoiding debt as if it were the plague. Like most parts of business management, a good balance is key. Here’s how to determine when going into debt is likely to be good or bad for your business.

Sources of Funding
When you start a business, you’ll usually have a few sources of funding, such as:

• Savings
• Other income
• Investor funding
• Loans

Before you have clients, you may not necessarily have income. Some people choose to keep a side job or even a full-time job while they build their business. This isn’t necessarily an easier task, depending on the type of work you do. Savings can be difficult to accumulate, but has the benefit that it’s freely available and never needs to be paid back. Maintaining a variety of possible funding sources, including crowdfunding or investment money, makes debt less of a risky proposition.

Steady Income
One of the first things you have to establish before you take on debt is how you will pay it back. In some industries, people can start a business and find paying clients very quickly. This depends heavily on your location, your competition and the type of work you do. Otherwise, you’ll need to figure out how you plan to pay yourself and your debts, plus other overhead expenses like equipment or materials. This is why a lot of people will build a contracting business more slowly at first, so they can keep other income opportunities flowing at the same time.

Limited Spending
If you’ve been waiting for years to be able to start your own contracting business, it’s tempting to start spending as soon as you have the opportunity. But if you rack up a bunch of debt before you have reliable clients and income to pay it off, you’re going to find yourself with too much overhead and not enough profit. Getting into debt on a limited scale to help you get established can be helpful. It will be easier to manage if you can stick to what you need instead of what you’d like. For example, you’ll spend less to pay for rentals on equipment that you don’t need daily than you would to buy them.

Type of Loan
When it comes to getting into debt for your business, the type of loan matters significantly. There are a variety of lending options for businesses, including:

• SBA loans
• Secured loans for vehicles or other equipment
• Credit cards or other lines of credit
• Cash advances

The interest rates that you’ll pay vary depending on your credit and the type of loan. For example, a loan that is secured by an asset, like an auto loan, tends to have the lowest interest rate. Credit cards and cash advances usually carry a higher risk to the lender, so they have higher interest rates. This affects how much you have to pay each month and how long it takes to pay it off. As such, getting one type of loan may be more practical than others, depending on the purpose.

Plan to Pay Off
As a good general rule, you should develop a plan to pay off all debts that you accumulate for the business. This is true for revolving debt like credit cards, as well as loans with a set amount and a defined term. The last thing that you want is to spend the next 10 years making minimum payments on a debt that you could have paid off within a year. Formulate a plan in advance to handle the debt before you take it on. This can help you make sure that you actually need to make the expense, as well as give you a path to manage it.

Funding your business wisely is one way you can ensure it will last. Getting a great education is another. To start building your contracting business, contact CSLS today!