Mistakes to avoidin Contracts and warranties
Contract mistakes builders make before they sign
Most contract disputes are set up before anyone signs. Close the seven gaps that cost builders money and start every job on firmer ground.
All articles
21 guides so far, newest first. New guides go up two or three times a week.
Explainerin People and leadership
Owner burnout: the warning signs
Burnout usually starts in the business before it shows up in your body. Spot the early signs in yourself and your managers, and change course in time.
Explainerin Safety and compliance
SWMS explained
Plenty of builders file a SWMS unread, yet it is the record a regulator asks for after an incident. Know when you need one and who signs it in your state.
Explainerin Finance and margin
WIP reporting explained
Your accountant says you made money, yet you still can't say which jobs did. A WIP report shows the real profit on every job while there is time to act.
Explainerin Contracts and warranties
Security of payment explained
Security of payment laws are one of the fastest ways to recover an unpaid claim. Every state runs its own Act, so learn yours before you need it.
How-to guidein Technology
How to choose construction management software
Most builders have plenty of software and too little use of it. Choose a system your whole team actually uses, and win back hours every week.
Mistakes to avoidin Customers, leads and referrals
Customer communication mistakes during the build
Most customer complaints during a build start with silence. Fix seven habits and keep your customers onside, and off your phone, all the way to handover.
How-to guidein Site operations and delay
A site supervisor's weekly routine
When a supervisor's week has no shape, the paperwork happens at night and problems surface late. Give it a rhythm that catches them while they are cheap.
Mistakes to avoidin Finance and margin
Estimating mistakes that eat your margin
Most margin is lost at the estimating desk, long before anyone sees it on site. Fix seven habits and price jobs that actually make you money.
Top 10in Business value and reporting
Top 10 numbers to track in a building business
Turnover and a healthy bank balance can hide a business that is losing money. Track these ten numbers and you will always know where the money is going.
Explainerin Preconstruction and admin
Paid preconstruction explained
Free quotes eat weeks of estimating and most never sign. Charge for preconstruction, filter out the tyre kickers and turn far more quotes into jobs.
Mistakes to avoidin Site operations and delay
Variation mistakes that cost you margin
Variations should add margin, yet on plenty of jobs the extra gets built and the money never follows. Stop the seven leaks and get paid for every extra.
How-to guidein Finance and margin
How to build a 13 week cash flow forecast
A profitable job can still empty your bank account. See every cash gap 13 weeks out and close it long before it turns into a missed payroll.
How-to guidein Customers, leads and referrals
How to qualify a lead before you quote
A proper quote can take weeks, and most never sign. Screen out the time wasters first and spend your nights pricing jobs you can actually win.
How-to guidein Site operations and delay
How to run a handover that sticks
Customers judge your whole build on handover day. Give them a finished home with no defect list waiting, and walk away with a review worth having.
How-to guidein Trades and supply chain
How to keep good trades when everyone is busy
When every builder is chasing the same sparky, the best trades choose who they answer first. Be the builder they pick, without paying over the odds.
How-to guidein Business value and reporting
How to stop being the bottleneck in your business
If every question, price and purchase order still lands on you, growth stops there. Hand the work over, keep control and get hours of your week back.
Explainerin Finance and margin
Margin vs markup
Adding 20% to cost does not give you a 20% margin, and the gap costs you on every job. Price from the margin you need and keep the profit you planned.
How-to guidein Site operations and delay
How to price a variation
Every extra your customer asks for should add to your margin. Get each variation priced, signed and paid while everyone still remembers asking for it.
How-to guidein People and leadership
How to keep apprentices past second year
Apprentices mostly quit over the site, and the site is the part you control. Keep yours through the second-year slump and all the way to their ticket.
Top 10in Finance and margin
Top 10 ways to improve your margin
Your margin is decided before the slab goes down. Ten proven ways to win more of it back, starting with your very next quote.