The Contractor's Profit Hackz

Foundation Accounting & Consulting
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The Contractor's Profit Hackz

  1. 6d ago

    Why I Wrote "You Suck at Profit"

    Check out my book "You Suck At Profit (And It's Not Your Fault)" https://a.co/d/05VO98tl https://www.foundationacs.com I wrote You Suck at Profit because I made a lot of mistakes as a construction business owner. I was good at math, but I couldn’t understand why my accounting never seemed to tell me what I actually needed to know about my business. After my landscape company went through bankruptcy, I decided I was going to figure it out. I studied bookkeeping and QuickBooks, went back to school, took upper-level accounting courses, completed my MBA, worked as an auditor, and read everything I could about accounting, finance, and money. But I approached all of it from one perspective: Does this actually help a construction business owner? That eventually became the foundation for You Suck at Profit. This isn’t accounting written in accounting language. I wanted to explain these concepts the way I wish someone had explained them to me when I was running my construction company. Accounting is really just addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The important part is knowing which numbers matter and what to do with them. 00:00 Why I wrote You Suck at Profit00:43 Kindle, physical book & audiobook plans01:27 The mistakes behind the book02:18 Why accounting frustrated me as a contractor02:46 Bankruptcy changed everything03:41 Nine years of learning accounting from an owner's perspective04:53 Accounting is third-grade math05:31 Explaining accounting in construction language06:13 Tools you can actually apply to your business06:58 Why I want contractors to read this book Question for the comments: What part of accounting or your financials has always been the hardest for you to understand?

  2. Oct 21

    Would Your Construction Business Survive Another 2008?

    https://www.foundationacs.com Is the construction industry headed for another major correction? I’m intentionally leaving that question open because I want to hear what you think. In this episode, I look back at what happened to my own landscape company during the 2008 downturn and what I wish I had done differently. At the time, I was buried in the work. I wasn’t looking far enough ahead, preparing for what might change, or building other sources of recurring revenue that could help carry the company through a slowdown. Looking back, I believe having a maintenance side of the business could have made a huge difference. The bigger lesson is that business owners need to occasionally get out of the trenches, look at what’s happening around them, and start preparing before a problem arrives. I share my perspective on what I learned from 2008 and some of the questions I think contractors should be asking about their businesses today. 00:00 Is construction headed for a major correction?01:19 What happened to my business in 200802:50 Fighting to keep the company alive03:30 Who survived the downturn?04:01 What I believe could have saved my company05:04 The recurring revenue I wish I'd built05:56 Get out of the trenches and look ahead07:12 What's coming down the track?08:19 Preparing your business for uncertainty Question for the comments: What changes are you seeing in construction right now, and what are you doing to prepare your business for whatever comes next?

  3. Oct 14

    Don't Spend More on Marketing Until You Know This

    https://www.foundationacs.com When business gets tight, should you cut your marketing or go all-in? The answer isn’t as simple as either one. Before you spend another dollar, I want you to answer a few questions. Do you know which marketing sources are actually making you money? Will getting more jobs actually solve your problem? Do you know who your ideal customer is? And is your marketing actually getting in front of that person? I share the story of a solar company that tried to market its way out of financial trouble. The problem was that they were losing money on the jobs they were already doing. Putting more jobs through a broken machine just made the problem worse. We’ll break down when investing more into marketing makes sense, when it doesn’t, and why sometimes your time may be a better investment than throwing more money at ads. 00:00 Cut marketing or go all-in?01:39 Are you tracking where your customers come from?02:40 The solar company that went all-in on marketing04:16 Why more jobs made their problem worse05:31 Will more work actually solve the problem?06:37 Do you know your ideal customer?07:33 Are you reaching the right people?08:44 Why relationships can be your best marketing10:08 Paid marketing vs organic marketing11:13 Sometimes investing time beats investing money Question for the comments: If business got tight tomorrow, would you cut your marketing, invest more money into it, or invest more of your time?

  4. Oct 7

    The Trap Keeping Contractors on the Jobsite

    https://www.foundationacs.com I’m going to say something that might make a few contractors mad: Most of you don’t own a business. You own a job. In this episode, I tell the story of a contractor I’ll call Bob. He did incredible finish carpentry, had plenty of referrals, and was making decent money. But there was one major problem. Everything depended on him. He eventually found himself working around 80 hours a week because he believed nobody else could produce the same quality he could. That’s not freedom, and it’s not a scalable business. We’re talking about the difference between doing the work yourself and investing the time to teach someone else how to do it. Yes, training takes longer in the beginning. But that investment can eventually give you your time back and allow the business to grow beyond your own two hands. Get out of the truck. Teach your people what you know. Build the machine. 00:00 You might not actually own a business01:15 Meet "Bob" the finish carpenter02:29 More employees created more work for Bob03:06 Why Bob actually owned a job03:37 The income ceiling he created05:47 Working 80 hours a week06:54 The difference between a job and a business08:10 Why training employees is an investment09:16 What happens when you stop doing everything yourself10:10 Get out of the truck11:27 Do you own a business or a job? Question for the comments: Be honest: do you currently own a business, or have you created a job for yourself?

  5. Sep 23

    Do You Actually Know Your Job Costs?

    https://www.foundationacs.com I once completed a landscape project worth around $1 million. It had full-grown trees brought in from Oregon, custom stonework, water features, a pool house, outdoor lighting, a heated paver driveway, and just about everything else you could imagine. But ask me how much profit I made on that job? I have no clue. In this episode, I’m talking about one of the biggest problems I see with contractors: pricing jobs without actually knowing what they cost. We’ll talk about why unit pricing can get you into trouble, the four things I want to know before submitting a bid, and why two jobs with the exact same square footage can have completely different costs. Revenue sounds cool. Profit is better. But what I really care about is how much money actually ends up in your pocket. 00:00 The $1 million landscape project03:16 The number I never knew03:45 Why contractors are undercharging04:37 The problem with unit pricing06:22 My four goals when building a bid07:35 Knowing your profit before the job starts08:46 How your price compares to the market09:32 The tile pricing example11:45 Why identical square footage can cost completely different amounts12:14 Are contractors losing money because they don't know their costs? Question for the comments: Do you think most contractors are losing money because they don’t actually know their job costs?

  6. Sep 19

    Why Contractors Can't Find Good Employees

    https://www.foundationacs.com Is it really impossible to find good employees, or are contractors rewarding the wrong behavior? In this episode, I’m talking about the Cobra Effect and what it can teach us about building a better team. If you pay someone hourly, what are you technically rewarding? Hours. But what do you actually want? Quality work, efficiency, happy customers, five-star service, and results. Those aren’t necessarily the same thing. I break down why I believe there are still great employees out there, how one contractor I work with has built high-performing teams, and why paying more for the results you actually want can completely change the type of people you attract. Don’t reward the wrong thing and then get frustrated when you keep getting more of it. 00:00 What is the Cobra Effect?01:11 How people started gaming the system02:45 What the Cobra Effect teaches us03:22 Can contractors still find good employees?04:24 What are you actually rewarding?05:50 Why paying for hours can create the wrong result06:47 Define the result you actually want08:01 Building a high-performance team08:57 Why top employees want to work for this contractor10:16 Reward the desired result Question for the comments: What results do you reward on your team, and how do you reward them?

  7. Aug 26

    Stop Guessing If Your Ads Work

    https://www.foundationacs.com If you've ever wondered whether your Google Ads, Meta Ads, website, referrals, or other marketing efforts are actually making you money, this simple setup can give you the answer. I'll walk you through how to organize your customers inside QuickBooks so you can see exactly which marketing channels generate the most revenue and profit. It's a simple process that can completely change how you invest in your marketing. 00:00 Why marketing matters00:57 The Yellow Pages lesson03:02 The marketing tracking problem03:32 The QuickBooks customer setup trick05:18 Using sub-customers to track leads06:10 Running a Profit & Loss by customer07:35 Tracking Google Ads, Meta Ads & more09:12 Using the data to make better decisions10:03 Final takeaway

  8. Aug 19

    Why Competing on Price Will Destroy Your Business

    https://www.foundationacs.com Is competitive pricing ruining the construction industry? In this episode, I share the story of my hydroseeding business and the expensive lesson I learned about pricing. We talk about what it really takes to become a low-cost leader, why being the second cheapest has no strategic advantage, and how contractors can win more profitable jobs by communicating value instead of racing to the bottom on price. If you're tired of competing with low bids, this episode will change the way you think about pricing forever. 00:00 How I lost my front tooth01:27 Starting a hydroseeding business04:06 The pricing mistake that cost us06:31 Is competitive pricing ruining construction?07:35 The two requirements to be a low-cost leader09:06 Why being second cheapest never works09:43 Competing on value instead of price11:03 Why cheap competitors eventually disappear12:17 Final advice

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The Contractor's Profit Hackz

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  • Creator
    Foundation Accounting & Consulting
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    75
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Foundation Accounting & Consulting
  • Show Website
    The Contractor's Profit Hackz