Construction Secrets

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- 0:00 The lie killing your construction profit margin
- 1:25 What every losing subcontractor project has in common
- 2:44 What a mentor in Iraq taught me about real margin
- 3:40 Two electrical subs, same $10M job, only one made money
- 5:28 Margin isn't priced. Margin is managed.
- 5:50 Pre-award: how to negotiate a contract worth signing
- 7:22 Post-award: the day-one habit that protects every variation
- 8:52 Why the best subs bid lower than you and still win

Most construction business owners think their profit margins get locked in the day the contract gets signed. They don't. The subcontractors winning the bids you can't compete with and still making money figured this out years ago.

In this video, Cian Brennan breaks down the lie quietly killing margins on subcontractor jobs: the idea that margin gets priced. It doesn't. It gets managed.

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

If you've ever held back on a notice or a variation because you didn't want to "rock the boat," read this.

The subs who get taken advantage of are the quiet ones. The ones who absorb the hits, mitigate the delays, and never tell anyone.

Lovely humans. Terrible business owners.

You've got to tell everyone. Every delay. Every variation. Every notice. That's not being difficult. That's the job.

Don’t miss out - listen now.

Struggling with unfair contracts or slow payments in construction? With 6,000+ contracts reviewed and $20 billion in contracts managed, Quantum Contracts' proven framework is designed to help you negotiate fair contracts, secure faster payments, avoid disputes, and improve cash flow.

Work With Us: Here

Get The Subcontractor's Edge Book: Here

Timestamps:
(4:17) - If you want to be seen as professional and you want to be respected and have a good reputation, you don't get that from rolling over and doing what you're told nonstop
(9:59) - If you're contractual, you will be more profitable
(15:37) - Being contractual in inverted commas for the listener is not something that you shouldn't do. It's something that you should do because it completely and utterly protects you
(16:04) - No main contractor is going to come to you and start attacking you for being contractual if you're delivering on your promises
(20:04) - It's better to get a bad document in than waiting to get a perfect document because you can always revise about documents

DISCLAIMER: The content of this podcast does not constitute legal advice, is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice, and can not be relied upon as such. You should seek legal advice or other professional advice in relation to any matters you or your business may have.

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

You can sit at the table having spent 500 grand. Or you can sit at the table having spent a tenner.

Same argument. Very different leverage.

That's the whole game when a variation isn't getting approved.

Tune in!

Struggling with unfair contracts or slow payments in construction? With 6,000+ contracts reviewed and $20 billion in contracts managed, Quantum Contracts' proven framework is designed to help you negotiate fair contracts, secure faster payments, avoid disputes, and improve cash flow.

Work With Us: Here

Get The Subcontractor's Edge Book: Here

Timestamps:
(5:46) - It's about getting an outcome, getting paid, getting stuff approved
(11:18) - The transaction of money more and more is bound by the contracts and less by handshakes
(11:46) - Too often subcontractors get the short end of the stick, and that's largely because their resource is not the resource of whoever they go after
(18:54) - The first thing in catching that fundamental problem is going into the contract and negotiating that out and saying, no, no, we're not doing that
(19:47) - When I'm talking about contract and I always say it's not just contractually it's about strategy

DISCLAIMER: The content of this podcast does not constitute legal advice, is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice, and can not be relied upon as such. You should seek legal advice or other professional advice in relation to any matters you or your business may have.

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

The truck driver on the mining site who heard about self-driving trucks had two choices.

Do nothing and get made redundant. Or learn the tech and end up running five trucks from a joystick.

That's where construction is with AI right now.

Hit the play button now.

Struggling with unfair contracts or slow payments in construction? With 6,000+ contracts reviewed and $20 billion in contracts managed, Quantum Contracts' proven framework is designed to help you negotiate fair contracts, secure faster payments, avoid disputes, and improve cash flow.

Work With Us: Here

Get The Subcontractor's Edge Book: Here

Timestamps:
(4:17) - It's a race to see who loses the least amount of money
(7:12) - The law is above the contract and the contract falls as part of that
(11:25) - Just control what you can control
(16:53) - Media is leverage
(18:39) - By using AI, you can deliver things quicker
(25:04) - If you can get that business to pay for itself, you're essentially getting relationships and leads for free

DISCLAIMER: The content of this podcast does not constitute legal advice, is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice, and can not be relied upon as such. You should seek legal advice or other professional advice in relation to any matters you or your business may have.

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

Three things the longest-lasting subs all do:

They negotiate hard, every single time. They walk away from risky contracts, even good ones. They protect their margin like it's oxygen.

That's it. That's the whole game.

Listen up.

Struggling with unfair contracts or slow payments in construction? With 6,000+ contracts reviewed and $20 billion in contracts managed, Quantum Contracts' proven framework is designed to help you negotiate fair contracts, secure faster payments, avoid disputes, and improve cash flow.

Work With Us: Here

Get The Subcontractor's Edge Book: Here

Timestamps:
(2:46) - I was seeing so many companies losing money and going out of business because they didn't understand the contract
(15:12) - Lowest price technically qualified doesn't mean you're going to have the lowest total cost of ownership
(16:28) - If you've got a reasonable margin, you can afford better people
(23:43) - The most successful ones tend to be family-run businesses like full-family businesses
(24:47) - Making a reasonable margin on a low-risk job is better than making a high margin in a high-risk job over time

DISCLAIMER: The content of this podcast does not constitute legal advice, is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice, and can not be relied upon as such. You should seek legal advice or other professional advice in relation to any matters you or your business may have.