Once a contract employee in a construction company, Luis De La Cruz decided to change his life. And now, he shares his strategies in navigating the construction industry as well as his success story in building Andale Construction.

BACKGROUND 

Living in the federal housing projects in East Los Angeles with his single mother together with his four other siblings, Luis De La Cruz started to work on small jobs in their neighborhood to earn money and help his family.

De La Cruz used to mow and trim lawns, pull weeds, paint houses, wash cars, and others. He didn’t care what kind of work it was, as long as he had money in his pocket and he was able to do the job.

“That’s where I started to learn how to communicate, how to keep my word, and how to fulfill and satisfy clients.”

Then, as he grew older, he started working in construction companies at the age of 18 in order to provide daily support to his wife and his daughter. However, he didn’t want to just be a construction worker all his life.

“As an inspector, I had to be very observant, not just on the work operation, but everything around it. And that’s when my mind started to develop the ideas of learning how to manage a business, how to plan, how to communicate, how to visualize and see where it fits in my life. And at that time I said to myself, am I going to just stay being an inspector or am I going to do something with this?”

Because of this vision, he studied hard to pass the test so that he could get an engineering license in both Arizona and California and build a business. 

NAVIGATING THE MARKETPLACE

Luis De La Cruz knew that it is of utmost importance to find someone whom you can trust and you can share your vision with. So, he made some great contacts and network with some great people who have experience on how the federal site works.

“It’s all about picking the right partner that really does care about you, not just using you for a day because there’s a lot of that out there, but those really want to make an effort to help give you that guidance and make you a viable company.”

He also learned the benefits of diversifying his licences and working with not just one scope of work when the real estate market crashed in 2007.

Most importantly, he knew that he needed to understand the risks that he might face in the marketplace so even after building his business, he continued to go to training, joined organizations, and network himself.

“Understand where you go to work, understand the conditions, and understand the costs, logistics, and resources. All these things have an impact on that bottom line on what’s left for you as a company.”

ADVICE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

Luis De La Cruz believed that small businesses need to understand their business plan because this will help them find the value and purpose of their businesses in order to get to the next level. 

“It’s up to you as a decision maker on how you are going to bring that value to the stage and make it worth something. You know, you can do that with people with equipment, with hard dollars. You know, you could do that with negotiating skills. You know, based on your past performance, who you are. You know everything has value. It’s up to you as a salesperson to believe in who you are and to know reality and do things the right reason.”

Then, small businesses should also acknowledge and support growth because this will help them build a foundation towards success. 

Lastly, De La Cruz advised to build a team that will help synchronize the vision of the business. 

“Just ask for the help and guess what? They’re going to help you because they want you to succeed and you’re going to come back to them and thank them because now you’ve built a strong business relationship and together everyone can achieve more.”

RESOURCES

If you want to watch the full video of the interview with Luis De La Cruz as he shared his success story and strategies in navigating the construction industry, then be sure to click the links below:

043: Luis De La Cruz – Strategies for High Stakes Construction Contracting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1zlEgvdbsM

043: Luis De La Cruz – Strategies for High Stakes Construction Contracting

https://govcongiants1.wpengine.com/podcast/luis-de-la-cruz-strategies-for-high-stakes-construction-contracting/