Starting a construction business is a significant undertaking anywhere, but it’s especially challenging in areas with high competition. It makes perfect sense, right? Economies work on supply and demand and often-times many companies compete for the same supply. It’s similar to competitive sports. The best crush the rest.
I often converse with entrepreneurs in highly competitive regions like the Bay Area. Usually they’re asking me for advice on how to get more customers using online marketing. I always take a look at their business and their market. When I see someone is basically starting from scratch in a super competitive area, I use a simple analogy.
“This is like you going from highschool ball to the NBA.”
It’s true. In high population areas there are always many contractors and construction companies that figured out, a long time ago, how important online marketing is and have been going hard at it for years, sometimes decades. To come in fresh and expect to compete is silly.
If it’s someone starting a brand new business, sometimes I’ll ask them if they would ever consider moving and relocating their business efforts. I have clients all over the country and it’s very clear that you can still quickly take over a low competition area with some simple online marketing. This almost always happens in rural areas, however. Not in major cities.
I do have one client in LA who happens to be in a niche where other companies aren’t too good at online marketing. It’s rare, but it does happen sometimes. However, if you’re a remodeling contractor, plumber, electrician, or any common type of contractor, you’re going to be facing some steep competition.
That’s not to say you should give up hope just because you’re not able to move. If you’re in a very competitive city, aim to dominate your neighborhood first. Google Maps works off of proximity first so it’s possible for you to beat strong competitors when someone searches closer to your location than to your competition. This is the blessing of Google Maps and being able to get customers through this platform as a local business. It keeps it somewhat competitive, even for the small guy.
If you don’t live in the area you want to work, you’ll need to talk to me in order to get my advice.
