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A practical summary of who you're looking to help, what to listen out for and some simple ways people can start the right conversation.
I wanted to pull together some of the things that stood out, particularly around the people you want to help, the situations that might prompt somebody to speak to you and how people like me can spot useful introductions.
You can help a wide range of people, but a few groups came through particularly strongly in our conversation.
Developers working on housing schemes, particularly those building around 5 to 50 properties. These are the projects you described as a particularly good fit for a complete groundworks package, including plant, labour and materials.
People involved in building new care homes, schools and other buildings who need a groundworks contractor. The useful introduction might be to the developer, the construction company or the person arranging the work.
Construction and civil engineering companies that have already secured a contract but need extra labour. JD could be considered when they need additional groundworkers without taking on more permanent employees.
Contractors whose labour requirements rise and fall between projects. They might have their own workforce but need subcontracted groundworkers for a busy period or a particular site.
What made things much clearer for me was how you described the two different types of work. One is a developer or construction company looking for a complete groundworks package. The other is an established contractor that simply needs more groundworkers on site.
That's an important distinction for referrals. A developer planning a smaller housing scheme could be a good conversation about a full package. A larger contractor with a busy site might be a better conversation about labour only. Knowing which situation we're listening for makes it much easier to introduce you to the right person.
These could become useful professional relationships around your clients, rather than simply sources of leads.
You mentioned architects as a useful connection. They may be involved while developments are still being planned and could know which developers are getting ready to build.
QSs are involved in pricing, tendering and project costs. Building relationships with them could help you hear about suitable groundworks opportunities and the contractors handling them.
These are particularly useful people to know when contractors need labour. As managers move between companies and projects, a good working relationship could lead to future conversations.
We talked about farmers, landowners and people involved in land sales. They may hear about proposed developments before construction begins. It's an earlier connection, but potentially a useful one.
These are the sorts of questions I'd listen for in everyday conversations. Nothing forced. Just simple ways to find out whether somebody knows a developer, a contractor or a person involved in getting a building project off the ground.
Something else that stood out was how much you understand about the way construction actually works. You came into it from a retail background, and you've learnt how the tendering process works, how contractors find labour and why relationships matter so much when you're trying to win work.
You said LinkedIn has been particularly useful for opening conversations and bringing in tenders. I think there's a lot you could talk about there without every post needing to be about JD or asking somebody for work. Your experience of pricing tenders, following up with contractors and developing Build Flow gives you plenty of useful things to share.
And I wouldn't overlook the way you explain things. You made the difference between labour only and a full groundworks package easy for me to understand. That's exactly the sort of thing that helps people remember what you do and recognise an opportunity to introduce you.
Danielle, I think the most useful thing from our conversation is having a clearer picture of who to look out for. Not just somebody who needs groundworks today, but the developers planning their next project, the QSs and contracts managers involved in the decisions, and the contractors who might need extra people on site. I'll keep those two routes in mind when I'm speaking to people. And I'm looking forward to hearing how things develop with JD, CCRM and Build Flow.