I know that a lot of contractors are complaining that there is very little work out there. I also see some of them turning down jobs that they could do but they have not done these type of jobs in the past, so they still turn them down. For example, some contractors still turn down small jobs just because they don’t want to do them. This could turn out to be a big mistake in this economy. Other times they may pass on a job just because they don’t want to do that job or it is inconvenient to work it into their schedule at that time.

I do recognize that there is less work out there than there used to be, but that doesn’t mean that I have to do less jobs or that my income has to suffer. I will do what it takes to get the work and provide for my family. Let someone who turns down jobs that they  don’t want to do decrease their income. I will be happy to take the work away from them. Now there are a couple of ways that you can expand your horizons to get more work. One way is to expand what you do for customers. For example, I recently had one contractor tell me that he is doing small jobs that he would have turned down before. In this economy there will be a lot more small jobs and less large jobs, so if you want to stay busy, you better be prepared to do them.

You also might be prepared to do more types of work than you used to do. We did not used to do much painting at all. But now if a customer asks for painting to be done, we will be glad to do it. Other ways I have expanded what I do is my brother bought a pump to do concrete leveling. I partnered with him to advertise it and send business his way when I can. For that, I get a cut of the jobs. We also do a lot of handyman type of jobs and some plumbing and electrical. In addition, I sub jobs from a large box store and I get some jobs from them. Now doing all of these things does take a little more work, but I can keep my guys busy most of the time. This helps a lot to keep the income coming in.

Another way to expand your horizons is to expand the geographical area that you do business in. I used to do 90% of my business around my small town of about 10,000 people. Now I have expanded to include many areas around me, even up to an hour and a half away from my home. I am accepting jobs that I used to would have told the customer that we didn’t go that far. I recently had a good customer of mine ask me if we would go to a small town some distance away from me. I told him that I would for him. You see he does a lot of business with me and he had a lake cottage he needed work on. I certainly did not want him to get used to calling someone else for his work.

So, if you are struggling to find enough work for you or your crew, you might want to consider expanding what you do or where you do business. That may be what it takes to build and run a solid business in these economic times. To learn other great ways to boost your busienss, go to www.contractorriches.com and  sign up to recieve free tips by e-mail and get the free offer of “How to Prosper in This Economy.”