Can't find bid opportunities ...

[oldsparky52]

It’s all about building personal relationships.

And not just with the owner, but with their estimators. Take them out to lunch or just call them and ask if you can stop by the office.

You need someone within the company pushing your name. A lot of them usually have some small jobs going on; try to work your way into those to get in the running for the larger jobs.



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I agree with all of that and would like to add one more thing. When you get a job, perform it better than expected. Communication is paramount.

I had to leave a job I was doing for 2 weeks to work on something else (I was mostly a 1 to 3-man show on my own). I assured the super that I would be back in 2 weeks and reminded him that the owner delayed this project and this job I was going to was scheduled now for many months, the conflict was driven by the owner's failure to perform (environmental permits he forgot to get).

Well when I returned on the day I promised, Bill came up to me and said "Lou, that's what I like about you. You tell me what you are going to do and you do what you tell me." If I had just not showed up instead of informing him, it would have been bad. We got along great the whole project.