3 (Maybe 4) Ways to Innovate in a Legacy Industry Like Construction

As someone who’s essentially spent my entire life innovating, it’s no surprise that I find myself approaching business decisions with innovation as a driving force. Raised by a single mother and maintaining aspirations throughout my childhood to become the first in my family to graduate from college, I knew the odds were stacked against me. But the factors that made upward mobility difficult for me still didn’t prevent me from accomplishing my goals.

Today, I am grateful for the challenges I faced along the way. They made me more resilient, more tenacious, and more willing to not only figure out what’s not working well, but to try new methods until I find something that works better. It’s those same qualities that I’ve used throughout my career to find success.

Today, I’m a partner in a construction company called Curbed Construction, as well as an owner of Connolly Development and Roamstead, a collection of high-end campgrounds that opened its first location just outside Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2023. The success of every one of these endeavors has hinged upon our ability to identify weak spots in processes and procedures, and then workshop new ways to achieve better results.

The First Step to Change? Admitting There’s a Problem

I’m sure it’s no surprise to anyone reading this article that, even as a person who makes a living out of construction, I’ll be one of the first to admit the industry is flawed. You can probably come up with a few construction industry flaws on your own, regardless of your connection to the industry. Whether you’ve worked in construction or simply tried to hire a contractor for a small home remodel, I’d be shocked if you didn’t have a negative story to tell.

Trust me: I had stories, too.

When I got my start in real estate development, I realized pretty early on that competing against self-performing home builders was going to be a significant challenge. I was up against a lack of transparency, control of subcontractors, and other obstacles that stood in my path to completing successful projects.

But instead of spending time being frustrated with the situation, I channeled that energy into developing solutions.

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Forging Ahead, Despite Detractors

In a legacy industry, new ideas can be met with criticism. The old guard believes they’ve figured it out, while new players are left trying to determine how to insert themselves into the process. Construction, in particular, is rife with poor customer service, horrible communication, and skyrocketing costs, to name a few challenges. People accept these issues because they’re the norm, and you’ll find many legacy operators who likely wouldn’t invest the time or attention required to change them. But at Curbed, we knew that just because this poor level of service was tolerated across the industry, didn’t mean that’s how we cared to run our business.

Here are a few ways that we’ve achieved success at Curbed Construction by innovating within our industry instead of perpetuating the status quo.

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1. Identify the pain points (for yourself, your vendors, and your customers)

If you’re feeling pain, there’s a great chance your customers, vendors, and peers are, too. As a developer, forming Curbed Construction was the answer to the pain points I’d been feeling in that role. I was looking for contractors willing to approach projects differently and simply wasn’t finding them. My partners felt similarly.

Beyond solving our own headaches, we also looked to make things better for the people we interact with. We communicate proactively with our customers, we encourage and take care of our team, and we invest in our community. These efforts certainly aren’t rocket science, but you’d be surprised to learn how rarely subcontractors are treated with respect and gratitude on a job site. You’d also be surprised to learn how far word of mouth can spread to other great tradespeople when you treat folks well. Prioritizing people enables us to keep great teams on our jobs, which benefits all parties involved.

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2. Get your hands dirty (i.e., get in there and do the hard work yourself so you understand what’s required)

Remember the tagline from the show MTV Diary? “You think you know, but you have no idea.” Beyond being a great intro to our favorite Y2K tell-alls, this simple statement carries so much weight when it comes to business operations.

What are some things you’ve never done inside your business? Whatever came to mind, go give it a try.

For our team, “getting our hands dirty” might look like unloading windows off a semi-truck, sourcing fixtures and finishes directly, or helping a concrete crew tie rebar and pour footers. For you, it might mean asking who’s underwater inside your organization and offering to take a portion of that work off their plate. Losing sight of how work gets done prevents you from understanding how it can be improved.

Not only that, but demonstrating that you’re willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done sends a strong positive message to your team.

3. Be willing to take risks

I like to say, “You can’t hit a home run without swinging the bat.”

We live in a data-obsessed world. Sure, taking a data-backed approach is critical in certain scenarios. But you’re never going to try a new approach if you’re looking for someone else to do it and share the data-backed evidence of its success first.

Sometimes efforts won’t pan out the way you expect. Before trying a new effort, be sure you’re prepared to give it enough time to show results. Don’t just anticipate failure but have an understanding of incremental success. Know what events should trigger a pivot, and which milestones suggest staying the course.

4. (Maybe) find like-minded partners

In my case, finding partners was a perfect fit for Curbed Construction. My background as a developer, paired with my partners Nolan Woody and Gary Crowe’s experience in construction and real estate, respectively, made us a collective powerhouse right out of the gate. While we each brought a unique perspective, we shared a similar vision of alleviating the pain most people associated with a construction project.

Partners can open your eyes to your blind spots, and they may be able to provide perspective and skills that you lack. Complementary skillsets aligned to accomplish a shared mission can provide momentum a solopreneur might not be able to generate individually.

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