Product design plays a major role in a home builder’s ability to be competitive and profitable. It’s also a common blind spot. Two common mistakes home builders make with product design include having too many plans and designing homes for themselves instead of their buyers. Builders can boost profits while improving the affordability of their homes by implementing simple solutions to these common problems.

Dump the Duds

Eliminating plans that are underperforming in terms of sales or profitability is the obvious solution to having too many plans. Underperforming plans drain resources. Maintaining too many options, especially those that don't resonate with buyers or generate strong margins, creates inefficiencies in production, marketing, and customer service. 

By cutting out the "duds," builders can streamline operations, reduce costs, and concentrate on promoting and refining the plans that are most popular and profitable. In today’s market, builders need to focus their efforts and resources into areas with the highest return on investment. Holding onto underperforming plans is detrimental to a builder’s bottom line.

Engineer for Performance

Builders often overlook the small design changes that can make a big difference in the affordability and profitability of their homes. Basic performance reviews and elevation reviews are valuable exercises for controlling costs, reducing waste, avoiding the trap of over-engineering, and finding the perfect balance between performance and affordability. With performance engineering, it’s possible to make cost-saving design modifications and still attract buyers. 

Oddly enough, some builders fail to consider their buyers in the design process. They needlessly oversize and overspend which leads to higher construction costs and higher sales prices. Does the buyer really want to pay a higher price because of the expensive components included in the rear elevation of the home? Using performance engineering strategies in the design process allows builders to eliminate unnecessary costs without sacrificing market appeal.

Shinn Group is here to help. Our upcoming online Product Design and Performance Engineering workshop on August 28, is loaded with valuable insight on design concepts, materials and methods to help builders design profitable homes, outperform their competition, and become the Builder of Choice™ in their market. Space in the workshop is limited. 

Did you know we have a Be the Builder of Choice podcast? If you missed our recent Design for Success series, check it out on Spotify (or listen on your favorite platform).

Ed Hauck is a senior consultant at Shinn Group. He specializes in helping builders around the country reduce direct construction cost, streamline operations, and guide new product design towards efficiency and cost control.