In this article, we will help you understand how Augmented Reality can help you improve your roofing business and what necessary precautions to watch out for.

What Is It?

In case you are not familiar with the term, Augmented Reality (AR) is a computer-generated image that is superimposed on your physical environment. Mixed Reality is another name for AR.

For example, when roofing a house, augmented reality glasses can superimpose a digital image of completed roof on an ongoing construction site. So, your client will get to have a real-time experience of what the proposed roof pattern will look like. This will enable you both to discuss, make any required adjustments, and see the outcome instantly.

This technology will minimize the possibilities of your client introducing new requirements after the project has commenced. You’ll make suggestions and adjustments, and outcomes viewed in real-time.

Protect And Improve Your Roofing Business

Whenever you take innovative steps to improve your roofing business, you will face some new challenges. While you already have insurance to protect your roofing business from the effects of project changes, it would be much easier not to have to deal with shifts in project scope and the chaos that can ensue because of it.

This doesn’t mean that you won’t need insurance coverage for your roofing business in the future. It does mean that, with innovative AI tools, your insurance needs may change. You should adjust your coverage accordingly. You don’t want to discover that you don’t have cover for things you thought you were. We recommend that you assess your insurance program once a year.

The Benefits of Augmented Reality For Roofers

Augmented reality is not just another irrelevant technology that seeks to increase the running cost of your roofing business unnecessarily. AR will help you drive efficiency and optimize workflow on your construction site. Let’s take a look at some of the many benefits:

1. Automated Measurement

AR gear can measure physical properties such as height, length, and breadth of any space quickly and accurately. With this information, you can create models, do quantitative analysis, and have a complete idea of how the project will look.

You can determine accurate measurement for materials and labor requirements. In construction it is critical. AR can be programmed to allow your workers to take onsite readings of work in progress.

This information can be automatically compared to the model design and cross checked for any disparity. This way, inconsistencies can be quickly identified and corrected before it becomes a major issue. This will save you cost and unwanted delay in project completion.

2. Team Collaboration

Effective collaboration is key to ensuring that a project is completed according to the proposed financial budget and time.

However, it’s always challenging to have all the relevant decisions making bodies onsite at the same time. Especially if you are running multiple projects simultaneously.

With Augmented Reality for roofers, your workers can record videos, make notes, and forward it to you remotely. They can ask questions about errors or design issues and get a response from you or a remote team in real-time.

Improve Your Roofing Business, Innovate Your Way to Success

As a small business owner, how well you pay attention to innovation goes a long way in determining the future of your roofing business. Using AR to increase team collaboration and automate basic tasks, like measurement, will help drive efficiency in your business. This, in turn will improve your roofing business.

Augmented Reality is for roofers looking for ways to improve their business. One of the major things clients look at when selecting from the pool of available roofers is how well your business operates at industrial standards.

We run an insurance company that helps you with risk management and advice on some basic industry standards that you may have been overlooking in your business.

Call us today to find out how to protect your growing company. Or get a free fast quote now!

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Quick bonus idea: Make sure your website has an online application for services. In this modern age, it’s a great way to connect with younger homeowners or busy business owners that don’t have time to call or visit you wherever you may be.

Being a Handyman Business in the Internet Age

We hope you know by now how useful the internet can be in everyday life. Chances are, you also know how useful it can be in running your business and everyday services. As an online insurance company, we are experts in utilizing the internet to help others. We do this through the selling of liability coverage, worker’s compensation, commercial auto, umbrella insurance, and more.

What may be getting clear is that the internet is a great place to market your handyman services as a handyman professional.  Small businesses such as yours rely on using the internet to find jobs and perform their handyman services each day. Finding handyman work with your computer can be as easy as two simple steps.

1. Social media for small business is a must. You can and should use all the big sites like Facebook, Linkedin, and Instagram. However, make sure you don’t overload yourself and make sure you theme your social media presence are relevant to your type of work performed. Keep a set of guidelines so that you always create the same voice for your company and don’t have to worry if someone else is helping you.

2. Use websites that allow customers to ask for work they need to be done. On sites like TaskRabbit, Craigslist, and Indeed you can find and bid on these handyman jobs. You can put in your handyman services, offer your pricing, bid, advertise and even get long-term gigs based on which site you use and the jobs you are looking for.

Once you start to bid and obtain jobs, be careful about your schedule. Make sure you have enough time to complete all the jobs you have won. Completing these jobs as promised is what will make customers happy. Going above and beyond the call on your job site handyman work can ensure referrals, but remember you’ll need to have time to do that.

Government Handyman Work for Steady Income

Working for the government is a sure way to get steady work and steady work provides reliable income. This route is as simple as it can get. Head over to USAJOBS.gov to get take a look at jobs with government agencies. Though simple, this will be competitive and slow so don’t get put discouraged. Make sure you have all your paperwork in hand before you get started to save time. The government can ask for more than say, a homeowner. You’ll want to be sure you have your proof of insurance/proof of coverage from your insurance agency as well as any bonds and licenses you may need to prove you can work.

Bidding on Handyman Services from General Contractors and Home Owners

One way to grow that isn’t always internet based is bidding. If you have ever worked with a general contractor this may not be new to you. However, if you haven’t, it’s a wonderful way to get jobs. Remember to keep your bids reasonable, especially when you are specifically being called due to interest in your services. It can be a wonderful thing to get the calls, texts, and messages, just remember that you probably aren’t the only one getting them.

On that same note, make sure the price you ask for will still allow you to complete the job. You’ll still need to cover your expenses and earn enough profit whether you get the job or not. This means that you need to account for overhead like equipment insurance, commercial auto insurance, accounting, website costs, medical bills, and even property damage should the worst happen.

Other Considerations When Looking for New Handyman Work

As an insurance agency, we care deeply about keeping you protected as you look to grow your business. That said, when you are actively looking to grow your business, you need to make sure your business is ready for that growth.

Your paperwork and practices should be checked for growth readiness. If you only charge hourly, you might look into making some procedures for project-based work in case someone calls.

If you are thinking this might be the year to hire your first employee, you need to make sure you’re ready for that. You might need to look into things like workers compensation or general liability coverage if you don’t already have it.

You should try to schedule meetings with your insurance agent or insurance company, your accountant, and even a lawyer if you don’t already have one. By meeting with these people, they can prepare you for some of the lesser thought about things of business ownership and growth.

It’s important to know that as your business grows, your overhead will grow as well. Insurance cost will increase, your taxes might go up and in that way, your accountant might charge more as well. Overall, if you put your mind to grow, growing will happen.

The post How to Find Handyman Work in Order to Grow Your Business appeared first on Contractors Liability.

• What’s the first step?
• What kind of insurance policy to I need?
• What are the laws I need to know as a small business?
• What type of work will I do?

They are all important questions and simple enough when you have the right information. In this post, we will talk about handyman work. In specific, what services you offer, the laws you should look up, your business plan, and how that will all affect the most important question, how much insurance coverage you need.

STEP 1: Type of Work Offered

When you first came up with the idea to start a handyman business, you might have thought about what type of work you want to offer. If you didn’t, now it the time to think about it. This will affect everything from what marketing you need to do to how much handyman insurance you will need and of what kinds.

You might think that you can do everything. On the other hand, you might think you are supposed to do everything.

In reality, most handymen can’t do it all, even if they wanted to. That’s what specialization is for. It’s true that you can do more things than the average person on a jobsite, but that doesn’t mean you can do everything.

Take some time to list everything you know how to do. Then, look at that list and think about what you would like to get paid to do for others. Then, move on to the next step!

STEP 2: Look Up the laws

Laws differ in every state. Some require you to have licenses to do HVAC work while others need you to have proof of coverage in certain areas based on the job site you work on and the work you do. One of the best ways to end your career as a business owner is to start a business and then realize you don’t have the right license.

Take that list you made. It’s time to do some reading on the laws in your state or the states that you want to work in. You’ll need to find out which services will fit with the laws you have to work by. When you run into laws requiring insurance, you’ll need to keep in mind your startup costs. Equipment insurance, commercial auto insurance, umbrella insurance, and general liability insurance can build up quickly when you are just starting. If there are cost limitations or job limitations, think about how you could grow in the future as well as plan for today. Use all this information to narrow your list.

STEP 3: Write Your Business Plan

Not everyone is your client. Not all marketing will work. Know what you need to charge.

This step is the easiest to explain but the hardest to do. You will need to come up with a business plan that outlines what types of insurance coverage you will need, what you will charge, who your target market is, and how you plan to get to them.

There are many online templates that can help you with this. In fact, writing a business plan is the best way to make sure your idea is a viable company. Once you’ve written your business plan, sit on it and give it to someone to read. Once you’re sure you’ve got it right, it’s time for the most important steps.

STEP 3.5: Get Your Business License

When you wrote your business plan, you probably saw that you needed some kind of business license. This is easy and can be gotten by either doing yourself online or by going to a lawyer or accountant. In fact, these are the people that can give you the best advice on how to file and how to keep your business operating paper wise.

STEP 4: Insurance Coverage

WIth your business plan, business license, and services in tow, it’s time to talk to an insurance company or insurance agent. You’ll need to think about things like the likely hood of property damage to your job site, bodily injury to yourself or your employees, even things like stolen tools or the cars you’ll drive.

In the past, we’ve written about the types of handyman insurance a handyman business will need. These can include things like:

• Workers Compensation

  which helps pay for the medical bills of you and your employees that receive personal injury or bodily injury while on site.

• Commercial Auto Insurance

  that covers your business cars and trucks in case of accident or worse, they get stolen.

• General Liability Insurance Policy

  Great for protecting against a myriad of things and sometimes the only type of insurance you will need.

• Umbrella Insurance

  Usually used as an extension of your handyman liability insurance.

No matter what type of business insurance you choose to get to protect yourself, it’s always smart to obtain a free quote on the insurance cost and coverage from multiple reputable insurance agents. Talking to an insurance agency in person will make sure that you receive an insurance quote that best fits with your offered handyman services and needs.

They will be able to provide you with explanations and answers for each of your handyman insurance coverages and insurance premium questions as well as provide you with any proof of insurance that you may need.

The post Starting a Well Protected and Fully Covered Handyman Business appeared first on Contractors Liability.

What do you do for those times when you’re all rested up with no new job to work?

SELL SOMETHING!

Do it yourself (DIY) art pieces or handy gadgets are in – so why not take advantage?

I did a quick survey on Facebook with a few thousand of my friends to find out what some American’s would buy custom made from a Welder. There are some pretty good ideas in this article so read on.

1. Adjustable Pot Rack

My mom said she would want one that moves up and down. My Aunt Betty was devouring a plate of nachos at the time and said it depends on what kind of pot. I think they both have a good idea. A small, cool box might be easier.

2. Curvy Artistic Shower Curtain

My artist friend Marshella suggested this one. If you’re like me, you may be thinking “wouldn’t that make the curtain bunch up where the curve dips?” Then I figured she must have meant a soft, elegant curve that follows the perimeter of the basin. After I went through some of her posts, I noticed she was eating the same nachos my aunt Betty loves so much, so I think she really did mean curves that go up and down. In your shop you get to be king, so it’s up to you.

3. An Indestructible Mail Box

My friend Matt lives in a neighborhood with a lot of drinkers. Every Monday there’s at least 1 mailbox scattered across the lawn between some skid marks. I think he actually drove into his own box last weekend. I went on a search for some good how to links. Man. What a rabbit hole. Five hundred pictures of mailboxes and a few crummy youtube videos later I decided you could probably figure out how to make a box on a post. But I did find this cool clock!

4. Steel Beam for a Seismic Retrofit

An old school buddy posted this idea. He lives in San Fransisco now, so I thought he was talking about some kind of wand to complete an outfit for pride week. Turns out there really is a need for this important item in homes built over faultlines. Watch for a future post…

5. Aerated Plant Underliners

Aunt Betty again.

6. Beautiful Dish Rack.

My friend Dawn wants this made from stainless steel. Her plastic one falls apart “every year.” I don’t know what kind of dishes she’s washing, I’ve had my plastic one for years. But it is an eye sore. If you take on the curvy, artsy shower rod, you might make notes for towel rods and dish racks while you’re at it.

7. Refrigerator Shelf

Dawn again. She has a lot of kids. Apparently they don’t care what happens in the fridge. But in their defense, refrigerators can waste a lot of space, and a small washable shelf should be fairly easy to make.

8. A Magical Chandelier

This bright idea was posted by my creative friend Suzy. Seems complicated. A visit from Aunt Betty might be easier, but a more lasting solution is possible.  A cool lighting solution could be really popular.

9. A Dog Bed

This idea was posted by my friend Joe. He actually wanted a cat bed but I edited since I’m a dog man. The advantage of a welded steel dog bed might be that they don’t pull it all over the house, although my pit bull Gracie would probably disagree. Or if you’d rather make a cat bed, you could elevate it and make a cozy nook. Just leave room for a plush cushion.

10. Picture Frames!!!

Who’da thunk. This one came up more than once. My mom has pics of her kids and grandkids all over the place. Betty too, but a few of her frames still have the store photos in them.  Construction guys don’t usually get a Christmas bonus. This could be a way to sell easily made stuff for the holidays and make your own…

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