This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
This Website Uses Cookies
By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Learn More
This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
Subscribe
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • Home
  • Classifieds
    • Drill Rigs
    • Drill Rig Parts
    • Drilling Industry Jobs
    • Equipment
    • Pump Hoists
    • Services
    • Support Vehicles
    • Tools
  • Markets
    • Environmental Monitoring
    • Foundations
    • Geotechnical
    • Geothermal
    • HDD
    • Mining & Minerals
    • Oil & Gas
    • Water Wells
  • Equipment
  • News
    • Industry News
    • New Products
    • Product of the Week
    • You Know the Drill
  • Opinions
    • Drilling Fluids Tips
    • Editor's Blog
    • Editor's Notes
    • Tech Topics
    • Schmitt's 'Let Me Tell Ya'
    • World According to Wayne
    • Guest Columns
  • Resources
    • Construction Group
    • Custom Content & Marketing Services
    • eNewsletters
    • Events Calendar
    • List Rental
    • Market Research
    • National Driller Store
    • Product & Literature Library
    • Partners
  • Drill Edu
  • SourceBook
    • Take a Tour
  • Multimedia
    • Drill Channel
    • Webinars
    • Photo Galleries
    • Parting Shot
    • Drillers @Work
    • Drilling History
    • Polls
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Digital Edition
    • Back Issues
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Subscribe
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
Home » Tips for Growing a Drilling Business
Editor's NotesOpinions

Tips for Growing a Drilling Business

business improvement

If you’re not making it so that your business can run without you there every single day, you’re building a job not a business.

September 3, 2018
Jeremy Verdusco
KEYWORDS business tips / drilling jobs
Reprints
No Comments

Let’s think about pain points. Businesses large and small hit pain points that stop growth. If you want to grow a business to $1 million in revenue, any number of pain points could derail that goal: lack of processes, a limiting mindset, you name it. It could be a combination of factors. But small contracting firms can minimize or eliminate most pain points with a little creativity and, sometimes, outside help.


Proper Processes

I use my own business in a lot of examples in this column, but I know people who run other types of businesses and they all solve the same problems. They identify pain points, and put in place proper processes to proceed through them.

Investing in real estate can create a lot of work if you let it. I’ve met landlords who drive around each month picking up checks. Yes, it’s easy money to spend an hour driving around, getting checks and depositing them. But why do it if you don’t have to? For our business, it was a pain point.

Pretty quickly after forming the family real estate company, we set up tenants on an automatic payment system. Landlords use the term “mailbox money” to refer to the rent checks they receive every month: They get paid for going out to the mailbox or visiting the tenant to pick up cash. Automatic payments fall into the “inbox money” category, which is even easier. We get an email monthly when each tenant pays, and that “you’ve got money” joke between my wife and I never gets old. We solved a pain point with a one-time process change.

Small contractors can tackle their own pain points in the same way. Hate paper invoices you have to deliver by hand, mail or fax? Stop it. (Who even faxes anymore? It’s 2018.) Make a template once and fill it in with the details of each work order. Often, accounting software like QuickBooks includes invoicing templates. Set them up and use them.

The thing to remember about processes is that, if you find yourself doing the same thing more than a few times, set up a process to make it easier the next time. Your future self will thank you for easing the workload.


Hire It Out

Business owners who are any good at what they do know they have two major limitations: time and skill. If they try to do everything, they run out of time and family life suffers. Likewise, owners of growing businesses quickly learn that some tasks sit outside their core skills.

Repeat after me: Hire it out.

Do you have a phone full of unanswered messages from potential customers? Get a virtual assistant to route calls through. Better at selling drilling services than accounting? Get a bookkeeper. Hate hiring people? Use a staffing firm. It is money spent, which can terrify tight-wad business owners, but it is money well spent. It frees owners up to focus on higher-quality problems that make growth possible.

In my case, our family’s time is precious. Fixing the handle on a tenant’s toilet shouldn’t even make my to-do list. In order to grow our portfolio, we’ll have to spend less time on toilet calls and more time finding new properties to boost revenue. We’ll eventually farm out property management. When the time comes, that will solve a pain point for us.

The bottom line: If your business would collapse if you didn’t show up every day, you’ve build a job not a business. As a business owner, focus as much time as possible on things you enjoy and that you’re actually good at. Let processes and other people handle what you don’t have time or skill for, and you’ll grow right past every stumbling block in your way.

What pain points do you have in your contracting business? What processes or outsourcing strategies helped? Tell me your story. Send an email to verduscoj@bnpmedia.com.

Stay safe out there, drillers.

subscribe to National Driller

Recent Articles by Jeremy Verdusco

What is the Latest on Groundwater Policy?

How Can Drillers Take Care of Themselves?

Failure Offers Lessons for Drillers

National Driller’s Top 5 Products of the Week 2018

Starting a Drilling Company? What’s the Worst-Case Scenario?

Jeremy_verdusco_200px
Jeremy joined BNP Media in late 2012 as editor of National Driller. In addition to that role, he now also serves as editorial director of POB and GeoDataPoint. He’s worked in publishing since 1997, including stints as a reporter, copy editor, page designer and technical writer.

Related Articles

How Can Drilling Contractors Grow their Business?

For Drilling Contractors, Business Success Shouldn’t Be a Secret

Would You Rather Business Find You For a Change?

For Drilling Contractors, New Year Can Be a Time for Review

Related Products

Water and Wastewater Treatment: A Guide for the Nonengineering Professional, Second Edition

Formulas and Calculations for Drilling, Production, and Workover, 4th Edition

Formulas and Calculations for Drilling Operations

Optimizing Social Media from a B2B Perspective

Related Events

Building Blocks to Think Like a Driller

SPE/IADC International Drilling Conference and Exhibition 2019

Geothermal Summit

California Ground Water Association-Water Well Construction Regional Workshop

Related Classifieds

CANADA DRILLING COMPANY FOR SALE

FOR SALE - PLUMBING & WATER WELL BUSINESS

PACIFIC NORTHWEST PUMP COMPANY FOR SALE

FOR SALE: WYOMING VAC TRUCK BUSINESS IN THE POWDER RIVER BASIN

WELL DRILLING BUSINESS FOR SALE - ARIZONA

WELL & PUMP BUSINESS FOR SALE

Related Directories

A & D Drilling Supply Corp.

Northeast Drill Supply

Hammer Drilling Rigs

Watson Drill Rigs

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Subscribe For Free!
  • Print & Digital Edition Subscriptions
  • eNewsletters
  • Online Registration
  • Subscription Customer Service

More Videos

Popular Stories

drilling jobsite assessment

Virtual, Physical and Mental Aspects of Site Assessment

Envirocore team

You Know the Drill: A Driller's Journey

Epiroc Welldrill 3062

Epiroc Welldrill 3062

Moab

Moab Bit & Tools Reverse Circulation Drag Bits

Epiroc 900

Epiroc Acquires Noland Drilling Equipment

 

Show Us Your Rig

Events

April 30, 2019

AEC BuildTech

Join us for the inaugural AEC BuildTech Conference & Expo!
December 30, 2030

Webinar Sponsorship Information

For webinar sponsorship information, visit www.bnpevents.com/webinars or email webinars@bnpmedia.com.

View All Submit An Event

Poll

How Long Are Your Hours?

Drilling can demand a lot of drillers. How many hours a week do you put in?
View Results Poll Archive

Products

Water Quality Engineering: Physical / Chemical Treatment Processes

Water Quality Engineering: Physical / Chemical Treatment Processes

By carefully explaining both the underlying theory and the underlying mathematics, this text enables readers to fully grasp the fundamentals of physical and chemical treatment processes for water and wastewater.

See More Products

Driller Classifieds

National Driller Magazine

ND February 2019 cover

2019 February

In our February edition of National Driller, find out how you can get the best results when assessing a project site. Also in this issue, learn what's new in groundwater policy.
View More Subscribe
  • Resources
    • Order Reprints
    • Partners
    • Survey And Sample
    • Classifieds
    • Events Calendar
    • Editorial Guidelines
  • Want More?
    • Connect
    • Subscribe
  • Advertise With Us
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright ©2019. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing