Looking for free help running your building company? If you’ve ever typed something like that into Google at 10pm after a long day on site, you’re not alone. A huge number of small building companies across the UK are run by brilliant tradespeople who are great at the work – but who never signed up to become business managers. It just kind of happened.
The gap nobody talks about
Most builders learn their trade through years of graft – apprenticeships, experience, watching how good tradespeople work. What that process rarely includes is how to price a job properly, manage cash flow, market your business, or organise a project so it doesn’t bleed money and stress.
They’re skills. And like any skill, they can be learned.
The problem is that most business training isn’t built for builders. Generic courses aimed at office-based SMEs don’t relate to construction work, the quirks of quoting, or the very specific pressures of running a small building firm in a volatile market. So builders either don’t bother, or they try something that doesn’t really fit.
So who actually helps builders with this?
The HBXL Skills Academy is one of the very few training providers (if there are any others?) in the UK that has built free courses specifically to help builders running a small building company. They’re not generic. They’re designed around the day-to-day reality of construction: estimating, pricing, project management, cashflow, marketing your firm, understanding where profit goes on a job. Even CAD training for extensions, loft conversions and new builds. Real stuff, taught by people who know their stuff and know the construction industry.
The courses are delivered online in the afternoon, two hours at a time, twice a week – so you’re not sitting in a classroom for a full day, taking a big chunk out of the working week. You can do it from home, or the office, wherever you get a bit of quiet. And we cover ground that could genuinely change the way you run your business.
And yes – it can be free
If you’re self-employed or a sole trader (basically not running a payroll) the Skills Bootcamp courses from HBXL are fully funded by the government. Free. As in, nothing to pay. The only catch is that funding is allocated by region. So you need to live or have work in the region that is providing funding. Here’s the current list of regions we work with.
If you run a small limited company with employees, the government covers 90% of the cost – your business pays just 10% of a course that’s worth approx. £4,000. Again, you need to be in a region with funding.
The funding comes through the Department for Work & Pensions, and HBXL handles all the paperwork for you.
There’s also another route. If you’re already registered with the CITB – or would consider joining – this is a well-worn route for HBXL’s skills training. HBXL can help you navigate the application. The CITB covers 50% of the cost of the course, subject to meeting the application requirements.
What do you actually learn?
A lot – handily in bitesize chunks. The Business Management Skills Bootcamp for example, covers the kind of stuff most builders wish someone had told them years ago: how to cost a job accurately (including labour, materials, plant and subcontractors), how to price for profit rather than just to win the work, how to manage projects so they don’t overrun, how to market your business so you attract better clients, and how to build a firm that’s sustainable – not just busy. You also get CITB Site Supervisor Safety Training Scheme accreditation (applicable to the Skills Bootcamp not the CITB course.)
There’s also an Estimating Skills Bootcamp, a Project and Job Management Skills Bootcamp, and a CAD for Construction Skills Bootcamp – so depending on where the gaps are in your business, there’s likely something that fits. And it doesn’t have to be you going on the course – a relation, a partner, a colleague – whoever needs skilling up and meets the eligibility criteria.
“I finally understood my business – and everything changed”
That’s a real quote from someone who completed the Business Skills Bootcamp. And it perfectly sums it up. A lot of builders who go through this training don’t just pick up a few tips – they come out with a fundamentally different understanding of their own business. Where the money goes. Why certain jobs feel profitable but aren’t. How to quote with confidence instead of guessing and hoping.
HBXL have been rated a ‘Good Provider’ by Ofsted, with two ‘Outstanding’ ratings – which matters if you’re going to give up time to do this. It tells you the training is solid, not just surface level.
Where do you start?
The simplest first step is to visit the HBXL Skills Academy website and check whether your region currently has funding available. If it does, you could be starting a course that costs you nothing and teaches you more about running your business than anything you’ve picked up in years.
The CITB route is another option, if the Skills Bootcamps aren’t available in your area right now (worth chatting about going on a waiting list – HBXL are always adding regions). And HBXL’s short courses – available from around £25 – are another way to start building the skills you need at your own pace.
The many builders over the years who have signed up to these courses, have all benefitted in one way or another. It could be your turn. Express your interest now.