Practical insights on running a construction business and understanding building science — from someone who's done it for 35+ years in the field, in First Nations communities, and in the inspector's seat.
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I didn't lose a good carpenter to a higher wage. I lost him to a more thoughtful operator — one who offered Fridays off in the slow season and an early finish to pick up his kids. Flexibility costs less than a raise and is harder for a competitor to match. Here's what you can actually offer a crew, within the real constraints of the trades.
Read the full postA year at full capacity, $1.2 million in revenue, and 4% net to show for it. The year hadn't been unusual — which was exactly the problem. Where the margin actually goes: unbilled project management time, absorbed material increases, scope creep, and the overhead you stopped questioning.
A confirmed delivery that didn't show up on a project start morning taught me I'd been treating my suppliers like vending machines — and getting vending machine service back. Most material delays aren't bad luck; they're a relationship problem and a procurement problem, and both are within your control.
A contractor I know wired $38,000 to a spoofed supplier account because he thought his company was too small to be a target. Small trades shops are prime targets — because of their size, not despite it. Here are the four things that actually protect you, none of which need an IT budget.
Most trades owners think financing means walking into the bank and getting told no. The real landscape is wider — equipment financing, invoice factoring, government-backed programs, and conventional credit once your books support it.
A seven-a.m. call from a PM asking which sheathing to order was the moment I should have seen it: every decision in my company waited on me. A candid look at the day I learned I was the constraint — and how I finally got out of the way.
One January I added up every estimate we'd produced that never became a contract — three hundred and forty hours of my estimator's time, gone. Here's the qualification framework that cuts wasted estimates and lifts your close rate.
He was skilled, fast, and clients liked him — and for almost two years I told myself that's what mattered. The cost of keeping him never showed up on a payroll line. Here's what a toxic high-performer actually costs.
Quality work, on time, on budget — I've read those exact words on two hundred contractor websites. They blend you into the crowd. Here's the one thing that actually makes a client pick you instead of the next guy.
A builder announced he was done with renos on a Friday, turned down three contracts that week, and torched his pipeline on a plan he'd never tested. Here's how to change direction deliberately — without the freefall.
Revenue up almost 20%, profit barely moved. A contractor slid his year-end numbers across my desk, genuinely confused. The problem wasn't the business — it was which part of the P&L he was reading, and how often.
A negative review I wanted to fight, a lawyer I almost called, and the response I'm glad I didn't send. What I learned about reputation in the trades — and the silent reviews you should worry about more than the public ones.
Wrong materials, crew turnover, a client who changed direction twice a week, and a BC winter that arrived early. The project that almost ended my career — and what actually pulls operators through the hard stretches.
Four projects running, full crew, invoices going out — and a bank account going the wrong way. The cash-flow gap that takes growing contractors down, and the discipline that prevents it.
A frustrated homeowner braced for a fight. We came back in 48 hours and fixed it — and the call that ruined my Tuesday turned into a referral chain worth multiples of the original job.
I once had a site super who knew everything — until he didn't work for me anymore. The two weeks that followed taught me what undocumented knowledge actually costs a construction business.
I used to dread the sales part of this business. Then a client told me why they hired me — and it wasn't the pitch. Here's what actually closes high-ticket construction work.
I priced a custom addition at $85 a square foot, won the bid, and finished $22,000 in the hole. Here's what that loss taught me about estimating, contingency, and pricing for profit.
I turned 52 this year and my oldest just moved out. It made me stop and ask whether the evenings missed and weekends lost were worth it — and whether the people I did it for actually knew me.
I used to be the first one on site and the last one to leave. Then I got sick for two weeks — and the jobs kept running. Here's what that taught me about delegation, trust, and getting out of your own way.
Two crews, same scope, opposite outcomes — and the difference wasn't skill. Here's what a real crew culture looks like, and how to build one that holds when you're not on site.
The skills that make you a great builder will actively work against you as a business owner. Here's what to do about it.
A short note from Eddy with a link to each new post — every two weeks, nothing else.
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