Construction & Engineering Subcontractor Payment Problems
Professional Support to Help Specialist Contractors and Trade Contractors Solve Payment and other Problems
The most important question!
One of the most important questions you will be asking in the challenging months ahead is – who is going to be looking after our commercial and contractual interests?
Please do not leave it to chance when it comes to subcontractor payment problems, there are some very important things Specialist Contractors, Trade Contractors and Sub-contractors need to consider when choosing how to get professional support to help them solve payment and other problems.
The quality of the support you have to hand will determine how you get through – or don’t get through this Recession. It is absolutely vital that you and your team are up to speed and have the right level of support at your fingertips.
- How are you going to ensure you get paid on time?
- Are you checking contracts properly?
- What should you do if you are being delayed and disrupted?
- Can the Contractor really set off all those costs?
Our web-based information and membership services are second to none, and if you aren’t already a member then please check out exactly the right option for you. Come and see how me and the team at Streetwisesubbie can help you to get paid properly, protect your profits, and look after all the key elements of your business.
You can find more information here regarding subcontractor payment problems: How We Can Help
You cannot go into the months ahead un-prepared. It’s just too dangerous. There is a solution for you. I hope you’ll be joining us soon.
And if you’re already a member please ensure all your team know where to find the information they need.
Here’s that link again: How We Can Help
Getting The Right Commercial & Contractual Advice
If a complicated piece of machinery like the engine in your car needs fixing, do you get out the manuals and the tools and set about it yourself? In the days when I was much younger and engines were much simpler, I have been known to change the odd set of points. Some of you probably aren’t even old enough to remember “points”, let alone know how to change them.
Now, however, I wouldn’t have a clue how the complex mass of pipes and wires crammed under the bonnet of my car works, let alone how I could fix it if it went wrong!
The point is that like all things in life, business gets more complicated by the day and it is almost impossible to be an expert in every single field that affects your business. In addition to the traditional professions such as banking, accounting and law, there are now experts in health and safety, public relations, marketing, computers, e-commerce etc, etc, etc.
Unless you are one of the really big players in Specialist Sub-Contracting, it is unlikely that you will have in-house expertise in each of the fields that affect your business. However, failing to take appropriate professional advice at the appropriate time can be disastrous.
The long and short of it is that from time to time you will need to take professional advice about some of these issues. But before you do, think very carefully about how you are going to choose who to take advice from.
Here are a few things you might want to consider before engaging a particular firm or individual from whom to take advice:
- Credentials, qualifications and experience.
- Relevant experience. Have they had experience in your particular specialism?
- Who will actually be doing the work? Will it be the person you meet and strike up a relationship with or just one of their team?
- Can they provide names and addresses of clients who they are happy for you to contact? If they can’t, ask yourself why. If they can, make a few calls and check them out.
- Is the size of their organisation important to you? Can they handle the volume of business you are going to generate?
When the time comes to engage someone, do what you can to make their appointment cost effective. Professionals sell you their time and you should make the best use of it. I once had a client who brought me a carrier bag full of correspondence documents that looked like it had just been picked up off the floor after a burglary.
As politely as possible, I suggested that I was a very expensive filing clerk and encouraged him to put the documents into some sort of order prior to me starting to look at it.
Prepare in advance for meetings and decide exactly what you need to discuss and what the meeting is expected to achieve. Make sure you have all the relevant information to hand so that you don’t waste their time and your money whilst the information is found.
If you are going to have a meeting either virtually or face to face, make sure that you are not interrupted. Again, time spent taking phone calls that could wait, is simply costing you money whilst your consultant sits and twiddles their thumbs.
Please Remember
If you have subcontractor payment problems you can speak to one of our experts free of charge on our friendly helpline on 01773 712116 or email info@streetwisesubbie.com for a free no-obligation initial discussion, so that you can get a very quick idea of what we can do to help you.
And please do not think that if you are the boss you should automatically have all the answers. This is simply not the case, we have years of professional and practical experience of dealing with this stuff every day, and we are here to help you.
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