Blog

Choosing a General Contractor – Local Business or National Franchise?

It’s easy to be impressed with the flashy advertising that big companies use. National exposure with the support of the biggest advertising firms sure can give them an advantage over a local family business. However, this doesn’t automatically make a national contracting franchise the best choice to handle your SoCal home remodeling. When it comes to choosing a general contractor, you need to know that the company will serve you and your community best. Big companies may have the monopoly on big advertising, but that doesn’t mean they monopolize talent, skill, service and community interests.

The Importance of Community Investment

A local business owner has a vested interest in the community that he serves. He lives in your area and raises his family there. Like you, he and his family want to see the community flourish and prosper.

Choosing a local, family-run general contractor supports other local businesses because it means buying supplies from them rather than sourcing them from afar. Many times this results in faster service by eliminating communication and order mistakes, cutting delays in supply and facilitating the fast exchange of materials.

An experienced local contractor has a regional referral network. If you’re given a referral by a member of this sort of network, you know it’s a good recommendation, because the referee is staking his reputation on his fellow network member delivering quality service and work.

By and large, a national franchise does not have the same kind of investment in your community. They are locked in to using nationally approved suppliers and you may not know where your materials are coming from, when they’ll arrive, and how much inefficiency there is in this. Very often, the franchise doesn’t even have an office in your area. Some may even charge mileage to travel to and from your home.

Hard Earned Reputation

A local family business will go the extra mile to build its reputation within the community it serves. Without extensive advertising budgets, it relies to a large extent on word-of-mouth. This means it simply must deliver top quality service and workmanship.

Ask around when choosing a general contractor. Get reviews from people in your community, and visit homes that have been built or remodeled to get an idea first- hand about a contractor’s workmanship and service delivery.

A national franchise that is not located within your community will most likely not have the same kind of track record as a local contractor. It’s also more likely to do “cookie cutter” work. They may not even treat your project with the level of priority it deserves.

Go Local

A local general contractor is familiar with your area, including supplies, transportation, local conditions, building codes, permits, and much more.

When you choose a family-owned general contractor, your money supports many local businesses. It also helps the team pay for their children’s school tuition and sports instead of lining the pockets of an anonymous CEO in a distant state and office.

If you are looking to remodel your home, you can’t go wrong by choosing a general contractor with a well-earned reputation and track record of delivering top quality service and workmanship in building design and construction.

Creative Commons Attribution: Permission is granted to repost this article in its entirety with credit to RWT Design & Construction.