Episodes

Today Mike reviews what he has distilled as the 16 most important take home messages from his 17 interviews with contractors, consultants, accountants, and authors of the construction industry. He also highlights messages from the 20 topical episodes he produced based on his 16 years as a general contractor.

In this second installment of my talk with Kyle Hunt of "Remodelers on the Rise", we hit upon the importance of being genuine with your clients but then we turn to working your numbers once under contract. This continuation from the previous episode dives into tracking your numbers from estimate to actual, i.e. job costing, through daily logs. All grippage and no slippage! Then it's a brief rapid fire on change orders and the final 5% (which you have to hear to find out about). And finally we wrap up with Kyles plea for you to keep in touch with your clients even after you are paid!

Today, Kyle Hunt, host of Remodelers on the Rise (podcast) and founder of Remodel Your Marketing joins Mike for a lively chat about running your contracting business. Kyle has been coaching his clients for 14 years and really cuts to the chase! In this first installment of the interview, Mike and Kyle discuss the perfect marketing scheme from scratch. Kyle really drives home the importance of always keeping that in mind. They talk about taking action steps and giving yourself deadlines to hold yourself accountable and end imploring you to always be recruiting new help even if you dont need new help. Why? Listen to find out.

In the second installment of my talk with Kendra Ferguson, we delve into finances and accenting best practices from the perspective of a general contractor and that of a CPA raised by contractors. Kendra's insight into construction specific accounting practices are vast. She explains job costing to determine whether you are estimating properly to achieve target margins bc most contractors expectations for gross profit are overstated when its actually calculated correctly by job costing. Then it's more about our bad habit, as contractors, of bank account balance accounting. She is explicit in her terms of explaining balance sheets and income statements. Mike got schooled a bit about cash flow and kept quiet as she explained how to understand positive cashflow. And, finally, we chatted about forecasting the financial future of your company to know where you need to go and when to raise your rates!

In this talk between Mike Knoche and Kendra Ferguson they discuss why you should hire accounting out immediately. The story unfolds with Mike sharing how he finally realized he needed someone else to do this (Uncle!) and Kendra shares a recent story about a roofing company that had been losing money but those losses were masked by loans. The story is a great example of how things can go sideways if you don't have your finger on the pulse of overhead costs! It's a great segue into the final section of the interview where Kendra explains how to seek out the right CPA for you and why it is important that they have experience in contractor accountant because IT'S DIFFERENT.

Wow, I can't believe a grown can do so many unacceptable things on a job site! Here I list ten of my top actions that happen on job sites that I try to convey before they happen. The challenge is that it seems like these things should be instinctual but THEY'RE NOT FOR SO MANY PEOPLE!I sound angry, but I'm not!

In this episode Mike draws on his 16 years experience listening to customers on cold calls, at first time site visits, under contract and between contracts and the signals that scream for you to get out!

In this episode there is advice on setting wages and talking about how you find employees. Mike tells you his preferences and some good stories about wages in other countries and being part of the Bad News Bears of finish carpentry

Author and remodeling consultant, Jim Molinelli joins Mike to talk about his work in preparing clients for contractors. This information is invaluable to contractors because we can glean from his techniques how to prepare our clients for their budgets. We go on to discuss his book series. I've read both of his books and I am saying that, from someone who has read every book tangentially related to running a small contracting company, this series is the best I've read. I've recommended his book to friends and clients. This book would have really benefited me as a young contractor even though it's written for our potential clients. We also let the cat out of the bag...we chat a bit about the manuscript for my upcoming book....

Today, Mike tells some stories about his employees and asks you to think about how you're going to use them. It's not that good.

In the second part of this interview, we get into a discussion on scope of work as it relates to budget and billing. Daniel has a great sense of how to manage money, client expectations, subcontractors, all while managing his own time to keep up with his wife and 8 children!

Today, Daniel Preston of Clay Contracting talks with Mike about his start as an apprentice to a mason, his years wearing tool bags and then moving into a management position for new custom home construction. His company is a cost plus builder with no employees and subcontracts all of their work. We talk about boundaries with clients, estimating time for proposals, how the keep clients in the know about project progress through the use of cameras, hard conversations with clients, and more. Daniel values integrity and honesty above all else.

Here, I outline ten essential tasks to do on Fridays!

Andy Bannister tells Mike what he loves most about his work. His response? Maybe somewhat unexpected. Mike and Andy talk about burnout in the industry, life-work balance, and health in the construction industry. It's a personal conversation and probably a conversation not many builders have with one another. Then, Mike takes a hard right and asks Andy about soaring demand, soaring prices, and how its effecting business.

Andy Bannister describes how his company went from 1 to 67 employees. We talk about what factors allowed him to grow that business. Then Andy tells Mike about how they survived the crash of 2008. It's an interesting story of making a bold move and having it pay off. We spend a large part of the talk sharing our perspectives on expectation management for residential builds and how that differs from commercial work. Then we shift into change orders and the challenges of identifying and executing them. This episode wraps up with a conversation about "mindful building", the idea that not only should we attempt to control the wastefulness in the construction industry and invest in green building, but incorporate being socially responsible into the business model...

Mike tells couple stories about working with friends and the lessons learned.

In this second installment of my talk with Kat Willer we talk about the importance of good communication, woman in the trades, and women owned general contractors. There's a story about sticking to her guns with a contract. Dealing with men as a female contractor. Did you know that only 3% of general contractors in the US are women owned? And only 1.5% of the construction work force are women? Here, we discuss the reasons behind that phenomenon, the women we have hired (the only ones that applied), and much more. It's the elephant in the room and we take a good picture of it!

Today, Kat Willer tells her story about how she came to run her remodeling company, Revision Remodel and Design. It's a great tale of a self made contractor. She asked all the right questions. She is passionate about her career and respects her customers hard earned money. She's a quick study in this industry. She sets boundaries with her clients, sets realistic goals for project completion, respects her employees, and excels in creativity. She doesn't let ego get in the way of learning and growing as a builder! Learn more about Kat at her handle @revisionremodel

This episode is a description of how to take the information gained at your sight visit and transforming it into an informative, attractive, comprehensible presentation in the form of a proposal for you clients. It relies on the listen of Episodes 12, 22, and 27 as well. Employing this good practices will win you more contracts with fewer mistakes!

In this episode, Matthew and Mike talk about supply chain issues relative to managing expectations and contractual clauses. Matthew has a good story about that! They go on to talk about what keeps Matthew inspired and motivated today after building and running his firm for the last 15 years. He shares advice for up and coming architects and thoughts on the talent market. See more of Matthews work @coates_design on Instagram or their website www.coatesdesign.com

In this episode, Matthew Coates describes his current business structure and it's evolution. Matthew describes biophilia and its relation to building and design. He goes on to describe the architects role in the project in relation to the client and the general contractor. Mike and Matthew have a rousing conversation about that architect-contractor relationship!

In this episode, I line you out on how to best estimate time for your proposals. I outline best practices to avoid the costly mistakes associated with under estimating time involved in a job!

Today, Mike talks to Vinnie Vecchio of The Unstoppable Tradesman about nutrition and health of construction workers. In this second installment, Vinnie talks about our excuses for not making changes and healthy lifestyle choices, key strategies for stress management, and nutritional strategies for mental health. So much fascinating info here!! Check out Vinnies success stories @theunstoppabletradesman on Instagram

Today, Mike talks to Vinnie Vecchio of The Unstoppable Tradesman about nutrition and health of construction workers. Vinnie explains the basics of nutritional lifestyle change, weight loss, fitness, and how they are influences by sleep and stress. Vinnie is full of eye opening information about how our habits and physiology relate. And Mike knows from experience how to not take care of himself but in recent years has made lifestyle changes, listen to his journey to losing 45lbs (20kg). Check out Vinnies success stories @theunstoppabletradesman on Instagram