Infini Blog

Construction business or Job: Which is better for you?

Answer of this question depends upon who you are. ‘Who’ shall describe your personality or character and not just your qualification & gender or a family background. Many get fascinated by business; actually, by the authority that comes along with a ‘businessman’. Authority is misunderstood with power. Authority comes with responsibility which you forget. In business you are the boss- actually a ‘leader’ who is responsible to take right decisions & give direction, supervise & guide the crew to avoid mistakes, bring business & do timely payments, tackle market risk, look after HR, accounts, compliance, approvals, legalities etc. Many think the authority gives them a right to use power for accusing others. But it’s wrong practice. The authority is given to give justice to the responsibilities. You may agree that many civil engineers don’t want / able to do job and hence opt for some business. Beforehand you need to answer this- if I am not able be a good service person, what is the guarantee that I can be a good boss?

Most people connect job with punishment, hectic schedule, harassment, work pressure, delayed increments and slow promotions. They think that in job one has to always be a culprit to accept faults of others. There you don’t have your say but get exploited in the company politics. Some of you may have fear of job transfer, risks to losing it etc. Right? Let me correct you. Being a businessman, you think you will get rid of all above problems. You conveniently forget that every rose has its thorn. If in job there is risk to lose it, in business there is a bigger risk of losing it. In job you are worried about your salary and promotion, in business, you have to first think of salary of all staff and their promotion. In job you worry about your home or car EMI; while in business there are big loans, taxes and investments. You may say that in business growth is faster and bigger. True! But remember, not all start up ends in successful businesses. 90% of the start-up fails. Tensions, risks, profits, growth are all subjective things. It depends upon who you are, how you take them and motto of your business.

In business you shall have enormous patience, motivation, calmness, cognitive mindset, decision making skills, superb communication and teamwork. I am talking about a construction business like contractor, builder, consultant. So, if you are an introvert and shy, you may not fit into a role of businessman. Businessman is a risk taker, strong headed individual, supposed to be creative and innovative, principled and disciplined who also shall know the art of delegation. There are more sacrifices in his life as compared to that of a service person. While a service person needs to be a good follower, listener & executor. There you need to be focused on your task, precise, honest, loyal, good in oral, written and verbal communication & also in observation. You can become a most appreciable if you can prove to be a multi-tasking, good at people management and logical thinking. Some jobs demand you to be good at situational responses, analytical skills, trouble shooting and detail oriented. Aggression is needed in some profiles.

In short, you need to be self-aware to know what you are. Based on your response style and thought process you can choose the best option. Here you can’t blindly follow anyone. There are other businesses also like material, equipment & labour supply, concrete & estimation consultancy, arbitration services, liaisoning, material testing, ERP provider, BIM Modeler etc. which are related to civil industry. Point is that you need to first match the job skills requirement & your personality traits and then chose what suits you the best. Money, pride, authority, power, dignity, esteem, prosperity, satisfaction will all follow once you explore the best within you. What matters is ‘who’ you are & ‘what’ you love to do?

- Sameer Alone
Founder Director & CEO
BE Civil, ME (C&M), MIE, LMICI