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Why Let Experience Win Out All of the Time?

Who indeed? As I’ve stated before in this column, at the top of my list of criteria is trust. But you can’t trust someone you don’t know, so for this search, trust was out. Next was experience.

I wanted to find a builder with at least some gray hair — a person who’s been around the block. Which got me thinking, why not use a young person?

I thought back to my own experience as a young man struggling to carve out a niche in the engineering business. Green as a gourd, I really didn’t have much going for me, but I put on my best face and entered the marketplace anyway. I quickly discovered that the only people who would hire me were the very ones I did not want to be hired by. Deadbeats and wannabes, those were my main clients for the first few years. I swear I spent as much time collecting fees, often in vain, as I did actually working.

Back then, I thought I was pretty hot stuff, and that my profession was handing me a raw deal. Why couldn’t I get the big-time clients — the ones who just handed you work and paid on time, without haggling? But now that I’m the one with the gray hair, I have a different point of view.

My cull-clients got what they paid for — cull-work.

Okay, so it wasn’t that bad, but certainly my early work would not have won any awards. For example, if you read my recent column on over-engineering (NBN Online, Aug. 9, 2004), some of that was based on first-hand experience.

How could I have done better? How can any green entrepreneur in the construction industry do better? The blunt answer is that you can’t expect to achieve greatness until you’ve gotten a lot of experience under your belt. There is no substitute for experience — not school, not seminars, not fancy equipment, not anything. But how do you get that experience when no one wants to hire you? This is the classic Catch-22. Here are a few tips:

• Be trustworthy — always. Whatever you say, make sure it is the bold-faced truth, beyond reproach. Break someone’s trust and you’re doomed. Trust is the most important tool in your belt. Never forget that.
• Be friendly. People like working with friendly people. In general, the older they get, the more jaded and impersonal business men and women become. Young people need every edge; this one is a gimme. Be nice, be enthusiastic and smile. It pays.
• Go the extra mile. When you’re done with a job, you want your clients to be so thrilled that they sing your praises (loudly). This won’t happen unless you go above and beyond, and your costs stay in line.
• It’s who you know. I’ve hired contractors just based on who they knew. When you’re talking with prospective customers, don’t be afraid to drop a few well-respected names. Of course, if you drop a name, be prepared for the prospect to follow up on it.
• Flaunt what you’ve got. If you don’t have experience, perhaps you’ve got education. Or maybe you previously worked for a large, well-known company. Or maybe you’ve got a lot of impressive equipment or machinery. Though not as good as experience, whatever bragging rights you have, let your potential clients know about them.
• Lastly, be sure you’re really ready for the role of business owner before you jump. Some of us seem to be born with the entrepreneurial spirit, just itching to jump into the game. I was 32 when I made the leap. It certainly wouldn’t have hurt me to wait a few more years, especially if I would have been able to spend those years working under a seasoned pro, learning like a sponge.

To summarize, would I hire a young person? Not normally. However, for small jobs, if he or she met all the criteria listed above, I might. And if I do, that young person had better dazzle me. That’s the way to establish a position on my preferred list — a place highly coveted by his or her competition.

Tim K. Garrison P.E. of ConstructionCalc.com has authored books and short courses and lectures on topics relevant to builders. Got a technical or management issue? E-mail buildersengineer@constructioncalc.com. Tim reads every one.

This column cannot be reprinted without permission from the author.

The views expressed in this article represent the personal views, statements and opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent the views, statements, opinions or policies of the National Association of Home Builders. NAHB does not necessarily endorse any of the views expressed by the author and NAHB is not responsible for any direct or indirect consequences arising out of the views expressed in this article.

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