constructconnect.com | ©2024 ConstructConnect® All rights reserved.
Step-By-Step
Guide
Winning
More Profitable
Construction
Projects
Step 1:
constructconnect.com | ©2024 ConstructConnect® All rights reserved.
Step-By-Step
Guide to Winning
More Profitable
Construction
Projects
Utilize the tools and digital resources offered in this book to gain quality business leads, simplify your bidding
process, and extend your project pipeline.
Competing & Winning in Today’s
Construction Landscape
Construction is a tough industry to succeed in. Of the 46,719
construction businesses opened in 2012, only 52.1% were still
in operation five years later, and only 38.8% survived 10 years,
according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The construction bidding landscape is extremely competitive.
Being able to consistently find, bid, and win profitable projects can
determine a company’s success or failure. The key to building a
successful bidding strategy lies in knowing which projects give you
the best chance of winning and being profitable.
Step-By-Step Guide to Winning More
Profitable Construction Projects
Introduction
constructconnect.com | ©2024 ConstructConnect® All rights reserved.
Your bid-win ratio is the number of projects you must bid on to win one job. Knowing your bid-win ratio helps you know how many projects you need in your pipeline and allows you to weed out the opportunities that you don’t have a high probability of winning.
Let’s say your overall bid-win ratio is 7:1. After performing your analysis,
you discover that your bid-win ratio for medium-sized private office
projects is 4:1, and your ratio for large, public-school projects is 10:1.
In this scenario, you have a better bid-win ratio on the private office projects, so you should focus more effort on those opportunities and less time bidding on school projects.
To further leverage your bid-win ratio, do an in-depth analysis of the work you’ve bid on. Group the projects you bid on into specific
categories to make analysis easier.
Example:
For example, consider the following criteria about your projects when conducting your bid-win analysis:
Public versus private
Building type
Scope of work
Project Location
Contract size
Client
Estimator
By categorizing and analyzing your bid-win ratio, you get
better insight into which types of projects to pursue, which will require more effort, and which ones to avoid.
Step-By-Step Guide to Winning More
Profitable Construction Projects
Understanding Your Bid-Win Ratio
Step 1:
constructconnect.com | ©2024 ConstructConnect® All rights reserved.
Don’t rely on just one channel for securing project leads. A healthy mix of the methods mentioned will help ensure you have a continuous flow of new opportunities to choose from.
Although everyone’s end goal is the same—win the bid and begin the work—how each contractor gets there is different. An important
component to consider is where you’re getting your project leads.
Industry
Associations
Sources
of Qualified
Leads
Government
Bidding Sites
Networking
Construction
Leads Service
It’s important to employ a healthy mix of project lead sources to ensure you aren’t missing out on opportunities to keep your bidding pipeline full. So, how do you identify qualified project leads?
Go to the next page to learn more.
Chart the Path to Finding Quality
Lead Sources for Your Business
Step-By-Step Guide to Winning More
Profitable Construction Projects
Step 2:
Finding Construction Project Leads
constructconnect.com | ©2024 ConstructConnect® All rights reserved.
Start Your Qualified Leads Journey
Construction lead services
streamline the preconstruction
process, save you time, and improve the quality of projects you bid.
ConstructConnect Project Intelligence offers access to 750,000+ active
public and private commercial
construction projects in your area.
Focus on finding the best fit for your
business and building relationships.
Consider joining a trade association
related to your specialty in the industry. Joining the Associated General
Contractors of America (AGC) is an
option. You could also look into the American Society of Professional
(ASPE) or a local trade association to increase your networking opportunities and gain access to project leads and
industry news.
Resources, such as SAM.gov or state procurement and purchasing sites, help you find project leads and opportunities on the local, state, and federal levels.
New bidding opportunities come up frequently, and some sites allow you to create accounts and new projects for free. Diverse representation is critical on government sites, your chances of being selected increase significantly if you qualify as a minority-owned or women-owned business.
Whether you connect face-to-face
or digitally, there are many ways
to network, learn more about the
industry, and discuss business.
Attending conferences, professional events, webinars, or maximizing connections through ITBs are just
a few ways to meet your peers and
exchange information. Once you reach a certain level of success, your
reputation will garner word of mouth.
Step-By-Step Guide to Winning More
Profitable Construction Projects
Step 2b:
Finding Construction Project Leads
constructconnect.com | ©2024 ConstructConnect® All rights reserved.
By combining data from your bid-win ratios and your profit-margin analysis you can focus on bidding the most profitable projects.
Now that you know which types of projects you’re most likely to win, let’s examine profitability. After all, you’re in business to make money, not just win jobs, right?
Did I factor in my profit and overhead markup
correctly?
Did I include all the job costs in my estimate,
including bonding, supplies, and equipment?
Were my estimates for labor and materials accurate?
If not, why?
Was my contingency budget adequate?
Review past projects and determine which ones were profitable. Compare your actual costs to your estimates and ask the following questions:
Make sure you’re recording accurate job costs for materials, labor, equipment, etc. If your profit margins aren’t what you expected, there are two possible reasons: your estimates are too low, or you’re having productivity issues on the jobsite, causing job costs to be higher. Either way, you must work to resolve the issues to get your profit margins where you want them to be.
Step-By-Step Guide to Winning More
Profitable Construction Projects
Reviewing Profitability
Step 3:
constructconnect.com | ©2024 ConstructConnect® All rights reserved.
Fully review the plans, specifications, and project documents to determine everything required to bid on the project and complete the work.
Is there a pre-bid meeting or site visit scheduled? If so, is
attendance mandatory?
Are there participation goals for minority business enterprises (MBEs) and women-owned business enterprises (WBEs)?
What bonds are required? (Bid bond, performance bond,
payment bond, maintenance bond, etc.)
If you are unclear on any aspect of the project, it’s your responsibility to ask questions and get clarification. Making assumptions is no way to submit a winning bid.
Are material substitutions allowed in the bid?
Are you required to be prequalified to bid on the project?
Are prevailing wages required on the job?
What is the cutoff date for questions and requests for
information (RFIs)?
Step-By-Step Guide to Winning More
Profitable Construction Projects
Step 4:
Understanding the Project’s Scope
constructconnect.com | ©2024 ConstructConnect® All rights reserved.
By taking a data-driven approach, you will be able to make smart, informed decisions to prioritize bids.
Now that you understand project leads, profitability, and scope it’s time to decide which ones you’re going to bid on. Don’t rely on your gut instincts to decide which projects to pursue.
Click through the resources below and check off the statements when
making your bid/no-bid decision on each project.
CLICK TO EXPLORE MORE
Step-By-Step Guide to Winning More
Profitable Construction Projects
Bid/No-Bid Decision-Making
Step 5:
Bidding & Financial Resources
We have the resources to bid on the project.
We have the bonding capacity for a project this size.
We have the insurance capacity for this project.
We have the financial capacity to take on this project.
constructconnect.com | ©2024 ConstructConnect® All rights reserved.
Unique site conditions can impact your costs for transportation,
equipment, material storage, and labor. Attend the site visit to
ensure you fully understand any existing site conditions that may present challenges that must be addressed and factored into
preparing your bid.
Site Visits are a great opportunity to get face-time with key stakeholders.
Skipping this step could affect your bottom line.
Pre-bid meetings are held by project owners for prospective bidders to clarify any concerns they have with the solicitation documents, scope of work, and other project details. You should always attend pre-bid meetings and site visits and go prepared with questions.
Step-By-Step Guide to Winning More
Profitable Construction Projects
Step 6:
Attending Site Visits & Pre-Bid Meetings
constructconnect.com | ©2024 ConstructConnect® All rights reserved.
How do you ensure your takeoffs are complete, precise, and plan for
issues beyond the scope of the project? Performing manual takeoffs can be time-consuming and have a high risk of error. Suppose you miss items during takeoff or don’t get accurate measurements. In that case, you’ll either overestimate the project and not win the bid or underestimate and risk winning a project that won’t be profitable.
Save time and deliver precise estimates.
Getting your takeoff measurements correct is key to accurately
estimating your job costs for materials, labor, and equipment.
When estimating a project be sure to account for all your direct costs, which are the costs to complete a specific project, and indirect costs, which include operational costs such as insurance, office staff salaries, and safety equipment.
Leverage takeoff and estimating software to save
time and deliver accurate quantity measurements
and detailed estimates.
Step-By-Step Guide to Winning More
Profitable Construction Projects
Step 7:
Performing Takeoffs &
Estimating the Project Costs
constructconnect.com | ©2024 ConstructConnect® All rights reserved.
Click
to Flip
Click
to Flip
Click
to Flip
Click
to Flip
Click
to Flip
Estimating Project Costs
Use these cards to help track each expense for your next project.
CLICK TO EXPLORE MORE
Step-By-Step Guide to Winning More
Profitable Construction Projects
Performing Takeoffs &
Estimating the Project Costs
Step 7b:
constructconnect.com | ©2024 ConstructConnect® All rights reserved.
Bid Confidently to Win More Profitable Projects
Step-By-Step Guide to Winning More
Profitable Construction Projects
constructconnect.com | ©2024 ConstructConnect® All rights reserved.
You’ve completed all your estimates for the job, now it’s time to
go for the win. Even with the preparation and time it takes to get
to this step, you should resist the urge to rush through compiling
your proposal, which could result in mistakes that undercut your
profits. Rushing a proposal together can easily lead to mistakes
that could cost profits.
In addition, remember to budget for any contingencies that
might affect your bid price by carefully reviewing all probable
risks associated with the project and determining how much
they would cost to address and/or mitigate.
We’ve walked through steps to help you find, select, bid, and win
more profitable construction projects. Bidding is not a one-size
fits all process; however, the fundamentals presented here can
be used by anyone to create a successful bidding process.
Get another set of eyes to review your bid and make
sure you didn’t leave out any documents and verify
that all information has been included.
Get prequalified to bid on a
project when it’s required.
Attend all mandatory pre-bid
meetings and site visits.
Double-check all your
takeoff and estimates.
Submit all the necessary
documents.
Be mindful of your timeline
and submit your bid by the due date and time.
Fully complete the bid form.
Step 8:
Preparing & Submitting
Your Bid Proposal
A successful bidding strategy sets any construction business up for a bright future. It starts with locating quality project leads bidding right now in your area.
Our product suite enables you to find qualified project leads, build more
accurate estimates faster, and streamline the construction bidding process.
So, how do you find quality project leads?
Construction Cost Estimating
Step-By-Step Guide to Winning More
Profitable Construction Projects
Step 9:
Using Next Level Resources
constructconnect.com | ©2024 ConstructConnect® All rights reserved.