How to grow a plastering business

What is business growth?

Before you start trying to generate more leads and win more jobs, you need to understand that growing your plastering business involves more than just getting more work.

As your plastering business grows, you’ll need to ensure that you still offer the same high-quality service. To keep the high standards that you did when you first started out.

To do this, you need to create a business plan with realistic growth targets.

How can I get more work as a plasterer?

To successfully grow your plastering business, you’re going to need a business growth plan.

This will help you to set targets, develop a marketing plan, and review your business at regular intervals to track growth.

Beyond that, you’ll need a steady stream of work coming your way.

It’s where we come in. For example, in 2024 alone, we saw over 655,000 job searches for plastering work.** Sound like a level of interest you want?

Is plastering a profitable business?

First, let’s look at the potential earnings of your plastering business.

Plasterers are in high demand across the UK. Due to primarily working indoors, plasterers never need to cancel work due to the weather and can work on a variety of projects including:

• Home improvements
• Commercial sector work
• Housing developments

According to recent Checkatrade research, the owner of a successful plastering business in the UK will make a gross annual average of £45,472 .

This figure will vary depending on your location, skill level, and experience. It is, however, an excellent salary meaning that a successful plastering business can be extremely profitable.

How to set growth targets for your plastering business

Growth targets differ from business to business. You may want to focus on increasing leads and generating more work.

On the other hand, you may prefer to focus on employing more staff so that you can work on larger scale and more diverse plastering projects.

You may also want to expand your services to include other decorating and building work so that you can offer a more comprehensive service.

Whatever your end goals, your growth targets should be S.M.A.R.T.

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Time-bound

These simple criteria will help you to stay focussed on your goals as your plastering business grows.

Realising your growth targets

Achieving growth targets will provide a sense of success and control over your plastering business.

But what will you use to measure your growth?

• Increase to income/turnover
• More staff
• Higher rate of profit per job
• Larger jobs (such as projects over a certain amount)

Once you’ve set your growth targets, you’ll need a detailed plan to help you to achieve your targets.

Why not take a look at our free business development strategy template. It is expertly designed to enable you to develop a clear and concise marketing strategy to help grow your plastering business.

Marketing techniques for your plastering business

Marketing your plastering business involves all types of business promotion and advertising. A good marketing strategy will help you to get your name known to a wide range of potential customers.

Successful and well thought out marketing campaigns can have a hugely positive effect on business growth. So make sure to look for a range of plastering advertising ideas.

Using the key methods of marketing will help you find potential customers and increase your leads.

Want to learn more?

Increasing the scope of your plastering business

Once you’ve started your marketing strategy, you’ll soon see your plastering business grow.

At this point, you’ll need to consider the next steps to really scale-up your plastering business.

You might want to focus on large scale plastering projects

This could involve employing a team of skilled plasterers and working on new housing development projects either locally or nationally.

Many developers will pay excellent rates for skilled plastering teams who are willing to work at various locations and on different projects.

You might want to focus on home extensions and renovations

To maximise the potential of your home improvement scope, you will either need to employ other skilled tradespeople or develop a network of sub-contractors to carry out other home improvement works including electrics and plumbing.

You might take on a more managerial role

Remember, as the business owner, you are responsible for all parts of the project.

Therefore, you will need to have a good understanding of project management while retaining your essential plastering expertise.

Important considerations for growing your plastering business

Although growing your plastering business may seem like a daunting prospect, it can be extremely rewarding.

Whether you are trying to boost sales, grow your team or offer more services, it’s important to remember why you decided to set up your own business in the first place.

• To make a profit
• To provide quality work
• To be your own boss
• To develop your team
• To offer excellent customer service

Learning a skilled trade such as plastering can prove to be lucrative if done well. Aim for your business to grow, and put in the right steps, and you could benefit from a growing share of homeowner interest.

The only question then is – how do you find more work as a plasterer?

How to win more plastering leads as a Checkatrade member

One of the best ways to grow your plastering business is by becoming a Checkatrade registered trader.

All Checkatrade members gain access to a wide range of benefits to help their business to thrive.

As a member you gain exclusive access to:

• Discounts on tools and equipment
• Dedicated trades app for job management and more
• Professional support
• A trusted reputation

As part of your Checkatrade profile, you can also add your location and the areas you would like to target. This is a great way to attract customers in your area, focussing on the sales you want and attracting the right customers for you.

With over 655,000 searches for plastering work in 2024,** being part of the Checkatrade database is a great way to find more customers. When you want to promote your brand and grow your plastering business, we can help.

Join Checkatrade today to begin the vetting process and learn more about what we can offer you. Our fixed membership option lets you build the plan that’s perfect for you and your business needs.

* Data quoted January 2022 by Brand Rated on GlobalNewsWire (see here)

** Internal search data from users of the Checkatrade website in 2024