Contractor Cuts

ProStruct360
  • 5.0 (19)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

Join the ProStruct360 team on the Contractor Cuts podcast as we delve into the ins and outs of building and sustaining a thriving contracting business. Gain valuable insights and actionable tips from our experts who have successfully grown their own contracting company from the ground up. Our show is dedicated to helping contractors like you unlock the secrets to increased profitability, efficient organization, and seamless processes within your company. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting out, our episodes cover key topics essential for your business growth and long-term success. Make the most of your time between job sites by tuning in to our podcast and learn firsthand how to navigate the challenges of the contracting industry. Get ready to transform your business with valuable information that can potentially change the trajectory of your success. Don't miss out on this opportunity to gain the knowledge and strategies you need to take your contracting business to new heights. Subscribe to Contractor Cuts today and empower yourself with the tools and insights to thrive in the industry.

  1. 1d ago

    Are You the Bottleneck in Your Contracting Company?

    When you’re a one-man show, every decision runs through you — that’s the job. But once you hire, if every question still lands on your phone, you haven’t built a company. You’ve built a bigger job with assistants. In this episode of Contractor Cuts, Clark and James break down why owners become the bottleneck as they grow, why it feels good to stay there, and how to build the systems that let your team make decisions without you. They cover: Why “I’m just a control freak” usually means “I don’t have systems I can trust”Checks and balances that let you verify work without walking every job siteThe moment Clark realized James wrote better estimates than he didWhy no one wants to be your assistant forever — and what that costs youOwning a job vs. owning a company you could someday sell or hand downWhen to hire an office manager to actually buy back your timeThe three-month handoff for training your first project managerTraining your team to bring solutions, not questionsDiscipline over dopamine: why the job site visit that feels good can undercut your PMIf every decision in your company still needs your sign-off, this is the episode that starts to change that. 🚧 2027 Growth Conference — Austin, TX | Jan 10–12. Two days diving deep into your company — what's working, what's broken — ending with your 2027 blueprint. Day 3: hands-on electives like financial management and estimate writing to make it real. Early Bird (very limited): 30% off + 3 hotel nights covered. Sign up at contractorcuts.com Contractor Cuts is a weekly podcast for contractors who want to build a better business — covering sales, operations, hiring, finances, and everything in between. 🔗 Book a free call: contractorcuts.com  🔗 ProStruct360 software + coaching: prostruct360.com

  2. Oct 19

    Are You Too Loyal to Fire? How to Know When It’s Time to Let an Employee Go

    You know he’s not working out. You’ve known for months. But you like him, his kids come by the office, and if he leaves, all his work lands back on your plate. So you wait. Clark and James have counted the cost of that waiting — and on more than one employee, it ran six figures. In this episode of Contractor Cuts, they lay out how to make the firing decision with a system instead of your gut, so it’s neither rushed nor years too late. They cover: The four reasons employees fail — and why the first one is usually the ownerHow to tell a skills problem from an apathy problemUsing regular reviews so feedback isn’t only negativeWriting a performance improvement plan with measurables someone can actually pass or failThe keeper test: if they quit tomorrow, would you fight to keep them or feel relieved?Why subs should be cut faster than employees — and why emailing a sub agreement isn’t onboardingThree rules before you fire: never correct when you’re heated, set a decision date, and get an outside opinionIf you’ve got someone on your team you already know needs to go, this is the episode that helps you stop putting it off. 🚧 2027 Growth Conference — Austin, TX | Jan 10–12. Two days diving deep into your company — what's working, what's broken — ending with your 2027 blueprint. Day 3: hands-on electives like financial management and estimate writing to make it real. Early Bird (very limited): 30% off + 3 hotel nights covered. Sign up at contractorcuts.com Contractor Cuts is a weekly podcast for contractors who want to build a better business — covering sales, operations, hiring, finances, and everything in between. 🔗 Book a free call: contractorcuts.com  🔗 ProStruct360 software + coaching: prostruct360.com

  3. Oct 12

    Why Good PMs and Subs Start Dropping the Ball

    They were great for the first few months. Now things keep slipping — missed follow-ups, half-finished tasks, the stuff you told him to do last Tuesday still sitting there. So you start thinking maybe he’s just not the guy. Before you go there, look in the mirror. In this episode of Contractor Cuts, Clark and James break down why good project managers and good subs start dropping the ball — and why, most of the time, it’s the way the owner communicates and delegates, not the person. They cover: Why an employee will never have the same motor you do, and why that shouldn’t offend youThe “that’s just common sense” trap — and why you can only hold people to their job descriptionThe work order details that keep subs from missing thingsOnboarding a new PM with tight calendar accountability before giving them freedomUsing a weekly PAL meeting to coach instead of gradingOne task, one owner, one deadline — and why “can someone handle this?” failsBatching instructions instead of firing off 17 things during a driveSay it, then send it: getting every ask into a task or calendarWhy “we” is a warning sign that you’ve taken the job backNext week, they cover what to do when it really isn’t you — and how to make the call on firing. 🚧 2027 Growth Conference — Austin, TX | Jan 10–12. Two days diving deep into your company — what's working, what's broken — ending with your 2027 blueprint. Day 3: hands-on electives like financial management and estimate writing to make it real. Early Bird (very limited): 30% off + 3 hotel nights covered. Sign up at contractorcuts.com Contractor Cuts is a weekly podcast for contractors who want to build a better business — covering sales, operations, hiring, finances, and everything in between. 🔗 Book a free call: contractorcuts.com  🔗 ProStruct360 software + coaching: prostruct360.com

  4. Oct 5

    How to Change Your Systems Without Crashing Your Company

    You know your processes need to change. But you can't pause every job for three months to rebuild the company — and changing everything at once feels like a good way to break what's already working. In this episode of Contractor Cuts, Clark and James walk through how to swap out the engine while the plane is still in the air: rolling out new systems without losing jobs, momentum, or money. They cover: Why you never change the rules halfway through an active jobRunning "version 2" of your company on one pilot job before rolling it outHow the approach changes for a one-man show, a small team, and a 10-person companyRewriting roles first when you're bigger, so decisions don't live in three people's headsWhy trying to fix everything at once is the most common way rollouts failUsing your calendar to trick yourself into discipline when dopamine pulls you to the job siteWhy every new system needs an owner, training, and a way to measure itThe accountability gap that shows up the moment you have employeesIf you know what needs to change but can't figure out how to change it without breaking things, start here. 🚧 2027 Growth Conference — Austin, TX | Jan 10–12. Two days diving deep into your company — what's working, what's broken — ending with your 2027 blueprint. Day 3: hands-on electives like financial management and estimate writing to make it real. Early Bird (very limited): 30% off + 3 hotel nights covered. Sign up at contractorcuts.com Contractor Cuts is a weekly podcast for contractors who want to build a better business — covering sales, operations, hiring, finances, and everything in between. 🔗 Book a free call: contractorcuts.com  🔗 ProStruct360 software + coaching: prostruct360.com

  5. Sep 28

    The 10-Day Test: Can Your Contracting Company Run Without You?

    Most contractors take vacation one of two ways: they work the whole time from a hotel room, or they unplug completely and come back to a month of damage. Either way, ten days off turns into a thirty-day hit to the business. In this episode of Contractor Cuts, Clark and James walk through how to leave for ten days without the company stalling — and why that vacation is one of the best diagnostic tools you have. They cover: Why a 10-day vacation can quietly turn into a 30-day revenue dropHow a one-man show preps every active job before leavingCutting 28 fires a week down to five you can handle from the roadBuilding the re-entry before you leave, so you come back to work, not planningThe vacation tracker that lets a project manager cover your jobs without guessingSetting spending limits and pre-planning crew payments while you're goneWhat your time off reveals about your team — who steps up and who doesn'tWhy the habits that make vacation possible should become how you run every weekIf you haven't taken a real vacation in years, this is the episode that shows you how. 🚧 2027 Growth Conference — Austin, TX | Jan 10–12. Two days diving deep into your company — what's working, what's broken — ending with your 2027 blueprint. Day 3: hands-on electives like financial management and estimate writing to make it real. Early Bird (very limited): 30% off + 3 hotel nights covered. Sign up at contractorcuts.com Contractor Cuts is a weekly podcast for contractors who want to build a better business — covering sales, operations, hiring, finances, and everything in between. 🔗 Book a free call: contractorcuts.com  🔗 ProStruct360 software + coaching: prostruct360.com

  6. Sep 21

    How to Present an Estimate So Clients Say Yes

    You send the estimate over email and wait. They compare your number to two others and pick the cheapest one. You never had a chance — because you were never in the room. In this episode of Contractor Cuts, Clark and James walk through every point of contact between a lead coming in and a signature going on the estimate — when to call, when to Zoom, when to go face-to-face, and why you should never send new numbers by email. They cover: Why speed on the first contact matters more than anything else you doCapturing scope, budget, and the why behind the renovation on that first callThe either/or questions that reveal a client's budget without asking for itHow to turn down a job you don't want without burning the relationshipWhen the desk estimate helps the sale — and when it just adds frictionWhy you always schedule the next contact before ending the current oneThe real story of a $250K job they almost lost to a bad framing number — and won anywayGiving every lead 100%, even when 100% means "I can't take this one"Why the $5,000 job deserves the same process as the six-figure oneIf your estimates keep going out and going quiet, this is the episode that fixes the gap. 🚧 2027 Growth Conference — Austin, TX | Jan 10–12. Two days diving deep into your company — what's working, what's broken — ending with your 2027 blueprint. Day 3: hands-on electives like financial management and estimate writing to make it real. Early Bird (very limited): 30% off + 3 hotel nights covered. Sign up at contractorcuts.com Contractor Cuts is a weekly podcast for contractors who want to build a better business — covering sales, operations, hiring, finances, and everything in between. 🔗 Book a free call: contractorcuts.com  🔗 ProStruct360 software + coaching: prostruct360.com

  7. Sep 14

    Why Fall Decides Your Winter: Filling the Pipeline Before It's Too Late

    From Thanksgiving to New Year's, homeowners aren't calling. Nobody's booking a bathroom demo two weeks before Christmas. Which means the work you'll do in December and January has to be sold right now. In this episode of Contractor Cuts, Clark and James break down why September and October are the most critical months for growth — and exactly how to fill your winter calendar before the phone stops ringing. They cover: The stair-step revenue pattern that separates growing companies from ones that reset every springWhy you should be selling three to four months out right now, not oneSorting every lead into booked, probable, and pending — and knowing which to chaseWorking your list of past clients and dead estimates from two or three years backBuilding referral relationships with realtors, designers, architects, and engineersReal reasons a client should sign now: beating the frost, extending pre-con, permit timingValue-add follow-ups that beat "just checking in"Finding a material savings you can use as a foot in the doorLow-cost canvassing in the neighborhoods you're already working inBlocking dedicated office hours to be a salesperson, not a contractorIf your winter dips every year and you start over each spring, this is the month that changes it. 🚧 2027 Growth Conference — Austin, TX | Jan 10–12. Two days diving deep into your company — what's working, what's broken — ending with your 2027 blueprint. Day 3: hands-on electives like financial management and estimate writing to make it real. Early Bird (very limited): 30% off + 3 hotel nights covered. Sign up at contractorcuts.com Contractor Cuts is a weekly podcast for contractors who want to build a better business — covering sales, operations, hiring, finances, and everything in between. 🔗 Book a free call: contractorcuts.com  🔗 ProStruct360 software + coaching: prostruct360.com

  8. Sep 7

    Who's Wrong Is It Anyway? The Shower Pan That Cost $6,800

    A contractor's regular tile guy gets buried on another job. He finds a replacement, they show up clean, finish in four days, and ask to get paid early. He walks it, it looks fine, he pays them. Two weeks later the client's brother-in-law puts a level on the shower pan. It holds water. The tile crew's phone goes straight to voicemail and never comes back on. Now the contractor's out $6,800 minimum, the clients have stopped paying at 80% complete, and they want the whole thing torn out plus a third-party inspector for every other trade — because if the tile guy was that bad, how do they know anyone else was any good? In this episode of Contractor Cuts, Clark and James break down where the line is and how you draw it. They cover: Why you don't send a crew back out before you have a game plan and a payment agreementSeparating the work conversation, the money conversation, and the relationship conversationOwning what's genuinely yours — and holding firm on what isn'tWhy a client doesn't get to rewrite the scope because something went wrongHandling the third-party inspector demand without losing control of who inspectsThe "confusion over conflict" approach to pushing back without a fightThe trust reset conversation that saves a job — or ends it cleanlyHow to vet a new tile crew before they're on your job siteWhy the real mistake happened weeks earlier: no bench, no benchmark walk, and paying earlyIf you've ever been one bad sub away from eating five figures, this one's going to sting. 🚧 2027 Growth Conference — Austin, TX | Jan 10–12. Two days diving deep into your company — what's working, what's broken — ending with your 2027 blueprint. Day 3: hands-on electives like financial management and estimate writing to make it real. Early Bird (very limited): 30% off + 3 hotel nights covered. Sign up at contractorcuts.com Contractor Cuts is a weekly podcast for contractors who want to build a better business — covering sales, operations, hiring, finances, and everything in between. 🔗 Book a free call: contractorcuts.com  🔗 ProStruct360 software + coaching: prostruct360.com

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
19 Ratings

About

Join the ProStruct360 team on the Contractor Cuts podcast as we delve into the ins and outs of building and sustaining a thriving contracting business. Gain valuable insights and actionable tips from our experts who have successfully grown their own contracting company from the ground up. Our show is dedicated to helping contractors like you unlock the secrets to increased profitability, efficient organization, and seamless processes within your company. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting out, our episodes cover key topics essential for your business growth and long-term success. Make the most of your time between job sites by tuning in to our podcast and learn firsthand how to navigate the challenges of the contracting industry. Get ready to transform your business with valuable information that can potentially change the trajectory of your success. Don't miss out on this opportunity to gain the knowledge and strategies you need to take your contracting business to new heights. Subscribe to Contractor Cuts today and empower yourself with the tools and insights to thrive in the industry.

Information

  • Creator
    ProStruct360
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    210
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Contractor Cuts
  • Show Website
    Contractor Cuts

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