Construction Secrets

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Need help with your contracts? - ⁠⁠Here⁠⁠
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This episode is a re-run. It was originally published in June 2023.

I'll be honest with you.

Most of the subs we work with come to us already inside the vicious cycle. Margins getting thinner. Bidding harder. Hiring whoever they can get instead of who they want. Reputation quietly slipping.

And the worst part is they don't see it. They think it's just the market. Or just construction. Or just bad luck.

It's not. It's a system. And once you see it, you can get out.

More of this in the episode - tune in!

Timestamps:
(13:01) - Every major builder will have their own contracts because they are pushing risk
(13:14) - If you are lowering your risk as a builder, then you are without a doubt improving your long-term prospects
(15:34) - You will definitely get a higher margin if you deliver the projects on time within budget
(17:29) - People who are subcontractors that charge less tend to be at a higher risk in one way or another
(29:04) - Understand what happens. If you’re not happy with them, try and get them changed

Join the Subcontractors Boardroom - ⁠Here⁠
Need help with your contracts? - ⁠Here⁠
Get The Subcontractor's Edge Book - ⁠Here⁠

This episode is a re-run. It was originally published in June 2023.

Leading a team is more like training cats than dogs.

Cian Brennan sits down with Matt Wilk from Builderpedia for a two-parter on leadership, project management, and the game of contracts most subcontractors don't even know they're playing.

Why projects always blow the budget, what your contract should say when they do, and the one question that changes every client meeting: "what are your objectives?"

Give it a listen.

Timestamps:
(4:31) - In a leadership position, you're more of a servant to the organization
(9:32) - Every project has a combination of things that go right or wrong
(15:25) - Our success actually looks like silence, because if you sign a contract that has less risk or sets you up for success, there's no outcome
(18:05) - There's a lot more to be gained from just saying how it is
(23:02) - Being able to deliver your service to a high standard is just the price of admission

Join the Subcontractors Boardroom - Here
Need help with your contracts? - Here
Get The Subcontractor's Edge Book - Here

This episode is a re-run. It was originally published in May 2023.

A construction dispute is a race to see who loses the least amount of money...

Even when you're 100% in the right..

That's the part most subs work out too late.

Tune in to learn more about effective strategies in navigating construction disputes.

Timestamps:
(2:48) - Once you understand how to interpret that contract honestly, most of the risk and understanding the risks that you're taking on goes away and you understand how to make more money in post-award
(3:17) - We win projects at a loss knowing that we have the contractual experience in the post-award phase on change orders to get our margin back and to make money
(8:52) - The key learning from the disputes is it's pretty simple. It's a race to see who loses the least amount of money
(9:44) - The key to a construction dispute and I know this sounds a bit painfully obvious, is to not get into a construction dispute
(12:28) - It's a lot easier when you're trying to work with everybody versus fight

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Get The Subcontractor's Edge Book - ⁠Click Here⁠
(Book comes with the free audiobook and a full video masterclass)

- 0:00 Why your construction profit margins are really this low
- 1:05 Killer #1: The hole you start every job in
- 2:06 Killer #2: The free loan you're handing your clients
- 3:30 Killer #3: The work you keep doing for free
- 4:32 Killer #4: The document you sign without reading
- 5:52 Killer #5: The one behind all the others

There are five things killing your construction profit margins. Your work isn't one of them.

You're probably brilliant at the actual job - it's the money side where you're getting walked on.

In this video, Cian Brennan breaks down all five. Get even two or three under control, and there's a 5 to 10% margin sitting there for the taking, every single year. Ignore them, and you're handing it straight to the main contractor.

Work With Me - ⁠Click Here⁠
Get The Subcontractor's Edge Book - ⁠Click Here⁠

(Book comes with the free audiobook and a full video masterclass)

- 0:00 The biggest cost with no line item
- 0:24 The patterns that quietly kill construction businesses
- 1:05 Your number — and the six places it leaks from
- 2:52 What you've already lost before lunch each day
- 3:16 The system that stops the leak

The most expensive mistake in your construction business doesn't have a line item. Your accountant won't find it. Your P&L won't show it. 

But it's quietly costing you around $400,000 a year, and most subcontractors never even know it's there.

In this video, Cian Brennan will show you exactly where that money leaks from, how to put a real number on your own business, and the simple system that plugs it.

Most subs treat this as the cost of doing business. 
The best ones treat it as a system problem and fix it.