Over the many decades that we’ve worked in the construction surety bond business, we’ve noticed time and time again that contractors often overlook business opportunities in favor of focusing on the immediate need in front of them. These oversights can leave untold sums of money on the table, and prevent construction companies from accessing bigger and better projects.
Our approach has always been one of collaboration and seizing opportunities to help contractors build their business. We reorient our clients on running their organization like a business, not a construction company. Through our collaborative partner approach, we show our clients how to get their financial house in order and identify strategies that promote long term growth.
Before we examine the steps our agency takes to help contractors evolve into better, more successful businesses, it’s important that you understand how the surety bond industry works at large.
The Surety Bond Industry Explained
Consider how you might choose an attorney. One may charge a $500/hour rate, while another attorney charges $700/hour. Reputation and track record aside, price is likely a motivating factor in your decision to hire.
The surety bond industry works a bit differently. Surety bonds are unique in that cost is not typically the motivating factor for choosing one surety provider over another. Premium rates are set by the California Insurance Department, so it doesn’t cost any more for a contractor to choose one provider over another. The differentiator becomes clear in the additional services offered by the surety bond agency.
What does this all mean to you, the contractor? The fact is, it doesn’t cost you any more to go with an expert than it does to go with someone who has very little experience in the surety bond industry. Your choice of bond provider should be based on the additional value offered by the agency. If you could receive a suite of additional business services, why wouldn’t you partner with someone who can help you realize your business’ long term potential?
The Added Value of CSBA’s Surety Bond Services
Since the beginning we’ve taken on the role as advisors and coaches who help contractors learn the ins and outs of the financial side of their business. We understand the California construction industry and the challenges business owners face when it comes to running their business. As the owner of your construction company, you know how to win and execute work. As successful as you have been all of these years, you may need help developing the financial strategies that larger, more established companies have already figured out.
That’s where the CSBA team comes in. Our advisors are finance industry experts with a keen understanding of the value and power of having clear visibility on your operations. We guide you through best practices and show you how to take incremental steps so that you can grow your business safely and access different types of work with less risk.
How We Help Grow Your Construction Business
We help our contractors structure their business to maximize their bonding capacity and open doors to opportunities they can pursue. At the same time we balance that with helping our contractors avoid suboptimal opportunities and pitfalls inherent in the construction industry. It’s the old saying, “Sometimes the best job is the one you didn’t get.”, which is just as important in building a profitable business. We use our decades of experience working with hundreds of contractors to help our customers think through the different projects they find to sort out true profitable opportunities and the ones with high risk and potential for pitfalls.
Developing financial literacy is another key factor in the success of your business. Understanding best practices for the amount of cash and debt you should have goes a long way in preventing bad situations. We take a proactive approach by helping you identify risks and get you oriented on working toward solutions so that you rely less on banks to drive the future of your business.
As an added service, we can bring an entire team of CPAs, bookkeepers and controllers to the table to help you properly set up your accounting. An expertly structured accounting plan sets you up for success and growth by giving you the gauges by which to understand your operation and steer the ship. Our team of finance experts work with you to establish an appropriate accounting system that works to improve your business, not just account for it.
The CSBA team not only gets the bond for your project, we equip you with the tools to structure your business in a way that is attractive to surety companies, so that you can access the level of bonding you’re looking for.
All of these valuable services are provided at no additional cost, and are unique to our business model.
Our elevative approach can take your business from “construction company” to “construction business.” For a personalized consultation, call us at 714-627-4587 or fill out our convenient online form.
