Top 6 mistakes earthmoving businesses make and solutions

Earthmoving is big business – big machinery, big jobs, and big capital investment in new equipment and new machinery. Due to the scope of earthmoving work, the on-the-job mistakes that may occasionally occur can also be sizeable.

So if you own your own earthmoving business, what all of this means is that it’s important to understand the common mistakes that may be easily made by earthmoving companies. Forewarned is forearmed, so here are some common mistakes that can happen to earthmoving business operators and how to reduce the chances of such events occurring.

1. Ignoring the little jobs

When compared to the larger and more lucrative or prestigious projects, small jobs may seem insignificant. But if you focus only on going all in and tendering for larger tier one projects, while you’re at it you may be missing out on smaller opportunities that may provide regularly recurring work for your earthmoving business.

A more ideal approach for your earthmoving company, especially if you’re still establishing your presence in the market, may be to accept any job that comes your way and that you have the resources and expertise to successfully deliver. Doing so could help build your networks, provide steady cash flow, and improve your bottom line.

2. Ignoring tender opportunities

Some earthmoving businesses opt to only deal with confirmed jobs and avoid jobs that are put out to tender. And that can be understandable given how intensive and time-consuming it can be to complete a successful tender application for a major project.

If you run a smaller operation or don’t have the resources to submit tender applications, it’s perfectly fine to only seek out confirmed earthmoving jobs for now. But in time, when you feel you are ready, you may consider testing the waters with tender opportunities. You never know how you’ll go until you throw your hat in the ring.

5. Overestimating or underestimating what jobs you can deliver

Entrepreneurs and small business owners can occasionally fall into the trap of overestimating what they can deliver for clients. And that’s understandable – after all, small business owners by necessity are required to be determined and ever-optimistic about their business.

But as a small business owner, in doing so you may wind up failing to meet the expectations of your client, which will only come back to haunt you. And when that happens, you also risk harming your reputation in the eyes of potential future customers.

4. Lack of financial acumen

You may well engage a contract financial advisor to help guide the financial decisions you make in your earthmoving business. But if not, it’s worth noting that the financial landscape in the earthmoving industry can be complex and a challenge to navigate.

If you personally have some experience in business finance you may attempt to go it alone. But in time it might worth outsourcing it to a finance professional such as a Chartered Accountant. Doing so will also free up more time of your own time to work on your business.

6. Poorly maintaining your machinery and equipment

Machinery and equipment downtime is the bane of productivity, especially in the earthmoving industry where much of the work may simply be impossible to deliver with heavy your machinery out of order.

Recommended reading: Complete Guide to Earthmoving Equipment

To avoid such business inconveniences, as the proactive owner of an earthmoving business, you may establish a schedule and create a budget for machine and equipment maintenance. Such preventative measures will help maximise the useful lifetime of your machinery and keep your equipment in good working order to handle the next job.

As you navigate the path to success for your earthmoving business by avoiding these common earthmoving mistakes, you may also consider reducing your businesses’ exposure to risk through business insurance. BizCover offers business insurance* for earthmoving businesses, including Public Liability Insurance. Get earthmoving insurance online or call 1300 920 864 to discover how we can help your business.