Built to Build: Blog

If you would love to learn how to manage your business’s cash better, and turn profit into a habit, then check out Episode 38 of Builder Funnel Radio. Listen and learn: What the profit system is The importance of budgeting Why profit is critical and how to make it a…
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WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW. Do you ever get nervous or feel uncertain when your potential customer asks you to provide line item pricing? I used to feel the same way until I realized that providing line item pricing usually causes confusion with my customers. LINE ITEM PRICING CAUSES CONFUSION The…
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Join me in Las Vegas, NV at the NAHB International Builders’ Show to learn why… “Being the ONLY is Better than Being the Best: How to Differentiate your Construction Business through Social Media Marketing.” Location: Jeld-Wen Booth – C5230 Tuesday – FEB 19th at 3:30pm or Thursday – FEB 21st…
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If you sell construction services, then you have had to deal with the following question from a client: “Can you break out the price of each line item?” How you respond to this question can determine your customer’s level of trust and affect the project’s margin. Many types of construction…
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I love books.  I read a few every year, and I listen to a lot more. Since 2016, I have set a goal to read or listen to a certain number of books every year. The goal in 2018 was 52 books. I hit 62 last year. Consuming that many…
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In this episode of The Modern Craftsman Podcast, Shawn discusses how to grow your construction business by digging into the math of your business, why you need to hire a bookkeeper earlier than you think, and how to properly estimate jobs in less time.

Shawn joins Spencer Powell for a second time on Episode 27 of the Builder Funnel Radio Podcast. Listen and learn all about recruitment for the construction industry: Is a lack of skilled labor really the problem? How to advertise to your ideal EMPLOYEE. Defining/Creating your company culture. Show gratitude to…
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Learning how to accurately price a construction project involves more than just calculating the costs of the labor, material, subcontractors, and equipment, and applying a markup to those costs. Pricing a construction project also includes developing a repeatable and scalable system to account for producing a precise scope of work…
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I spoke at PCBC in San Francisco and discussed how to overcome the skills gap in the construction industry. You can watch the entire presentation below: After the seminar, I sat down with Justin and Brian at the Fine Homebuilding booth and discussed in further detail the main point of…
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Finding the right certified public accountant (CPA) for your construction business can be an intimidating task. Hiring a CPA can be confusing because you might not be sure what you should expect from a CPA and exactly what they do. Sound familiar? Like your customers, homeowners know they need a…
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I love books.  I have found that reading (or listening to) books has been the best investment I have made in the past few years.  The ROI from books is enormous. Now that the summer is upon us, I hope you have plans to step away from your construction business…
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In theory, cost-plus contracts (also known as Time and Materials contracts) are a win-win for the contractor and the owner. The contractor’s risk is lowered because the price the owner pays is the cost the contractor incurs plus a predetermined rate. This “plus” is exactly what the contractor needs to…
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SELLING VALUE IS MORE PROFITABLE THAN COMPETING ON PRICE Customers say they want the lowest price, but what they really want is the best value. Construction businesses that compete on price are racing to the bottom.   YOU NEED BETTER CONSTRUCTION SALES STRATEGIES Construction businesses that focus on identifying and…
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As I have written before, there’s only one way to be successful in pricing construction projects — know your numbers. PRICING STRATEGIES FOR CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS Construction is a cost-based business. You have to know your costs for any given project, and mark up those costs by the appropriate amount to…
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Taking measurements and creating estimates for your customers is a faster, easier and more efficient process with Go Figure and Spike. With the Go Figure app for iPad, you can generate accurate stock lists, estimates and invoices all while on site with your customer. Using Go Figure with Spike, you…
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Web-based construction project management software gives you the ability to manage your work no matter where you are. Whether you are in the office or in the field, Web-based (a.k.a. “cloud-based”) services and applications allow you to manage the flow of information required to successfully communicate, coordinate, and complete your…
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Below is a transcript of an interview I had with Todd Dawalt, host of The Construction Leading Edge podcast and owner of ConstructionLeadingEdge.com. Todd and I discuss a simple yet profound planning strategy he calls Right To Left Thinking. In construction, we often plan our projects and our businesses from…
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WATCH THE SHAKER TABLE PRICING VIDEO BELOW I don’t always get things right.  In fact, I mess up all the time. Here’s an example of where I got something wrong, but I hope you can learn from my mistake. HOW NOT TO PRICE A SET OF SHAKER TABLES I am…
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In Episode 13 of the Builder Funnel Radio Podcast, Spencer Powell and Shawn discuss how to best qualify your incoming leads, finding your specialty, getting to the budget quickly, and how not to work for free. In this episode you’ll learn: Should you be a Generalist or Specialize? Getting to…
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This is the final article in this series on how to grow your construction business. In my previous articles for Fine Homebuilding.com, I discussed how to grow your construction business in sustainable and profitable ways by understanding your margins and your markup, how to track your labor costs, and how…
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In my previous two articles, I discussed how to grow a construction business by using the margin required for your business to determine your markup and tracking your labor costs using billing codes. In part 3 of this series for Fine Homebuilding.com, I outlined a method to analyze the data that…
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In my previous article, I discussed how to grow a construction business by using the margin required for your business to determine your markup. In part 2 of this series, I am going to show you a simple method to measure your labor. Labor is usually the largest cost for…
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Learning how to grow a construction business profitably and in a sustainable manner requires more than selling more work. In fact, doing more work could be limiting the growth of your construction business. The goal of many construction businesses is growth, but undisciplined growth will put you out of business…
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The Skills Gap – the lack of available skilled labor – is a real problem for every construction business in the United States. There simply aren’t enough people pursuing a career in the trades and obtaining the necessary skills needed to fill the vacancies created by the recession and an…
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On this episode of the Contractor’s Secret weapon, Shawn details how to attract the right people to work for your construction business and fill your skills gap.