Contractor Evolution

Check out our easy-to-share list of AI tools: https://trybta.com/PCEP129 Let’s cut right to the chase. There are a gazillion AI tools out there, and new ones arriving every day. How many of them are ACTUALLY helpful to YOU? Not that many. That’s why Morgan Knox and I put together a short list of AI tools your contracting business might actually use.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP128 Check out FutureSight Labs and all of Seth’s work here: https://www.sethmattison.com/ My guest on the show today is Seth Mattison, CEO of FutureSight Labs, a research institute, organizational design, and transformation partner helping category-leading brands and peak-performing leadership teams prepare for the future.   He’s also a world-renowned keynote speaker and expert on the future of work.  In today's conversation, he shares his field report from the front lines of work, and we explore 5 emerging trends he’s writing about and speaking about with some of the biggest brands in the world, including Caterpillar, Adidas, Master Card, and Thomson Reuters.  He did a great job distilling this down and speaking to how these trends will affect YOUR contracting business!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP127 Austin’s Google Local Services Ads SOP: https://www.basecoatmarketing.com/learn/local-services-ads-for-painters/ Google Local Service Ads are a newish feature from Google that not enough business owners are taking advantage of.  Search ads have become insanely expensive as the algorithm has begun catering to the highest bidders.  Google Local Services Ads (or LSA’s for short) are Google’s answer for the small business owner who simply can’t compete, at least on the pay-per-click front, with national brands or massive lead aggregators. While you’re not going to scale your entire business on this one lead source, they’re a super easy-to-deploy marketing channel that more or less acts as an extension of your Google Business Profile. Leads that convert at around a 50% close rate for $20 to $50 a pop sounds like a pretty good deal to me. And this can be easily layered on top of pretty much any marketing strategy you’ve got going. Austin Houser is the owner of Base Coat Marketing, a Digital Marketing Firm for Painters. If you’re not a painter, don’t worry LSAs still apply to you.  Austin has been doing Digital Marketing since 2008, and his team of 25 in-house employees have become known for delivering exceptional results. Today, we talk about:  why lead aggregators kinda suck, and how Google Local Service Ads can be your antidote to effective lead gen online Austin gives us a super detailed walkthrough of how to get started with LSAs and a whole bunch of best practices to help optimize them over time. This lead source is a no-brainer! Get going on them now, and beat your competition to the punch.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP126 To buy David’s Book, click here: https://trybta.com/WisdomforFamilyEnterpriseSuccessors Our guest on the show today is David C. Bentall. During his tenure as President & CEO of Dominion Construction, the business doubled in size to just under $300 million in sales. He played a leading role in the development and construction of landmark projects across Canada, including GM Place (now Rogers Arena, where the Canucks play 🏒), the TD Centre Office Complex in downtown Winnipeg, plus many other notable buildings in the Vancouver skyline. David just authored his third book, Dear Younger Me: Wisdom for Family Enterprise Successors, and in today’s conversation, we focus on 9 transformational leadership traits that anyone can learn.   Expect to learn: Why the AI revolution will put an even greater premium on critical thinking skills How curiosity can drive innovation inside your business Why being impatient with your organizational growth always backfires If you want to level up your leadership, listen to this episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this engaging conversation, Mike Michalowicz, a best-selling author known for transformative business books like "Profit First" and "Fix This Next," dives into entrepreneurial prioritization. He introduces the Business Priority Pyramid, helping entrepreneurs discern the most impactful challenges from distractions. The discussion highlights the balance between profitability and philanthropy, the importance of self-care for leaders, and effective delegation strategies. Michalowicz's insights provide practical solutions for thriving in the ever-evolving business landscape.

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP124 Rhythmical and ritualistic meetings function like the war drums of your business by providing your team with a tempo and a beat to stay in sync with.  Without them, things become chaotic, disjointed, and you find yourself repeating the same conversations over and over. Brody Funk is one of our amazing Breakthrough Academy coaches and used communication cadences to scale and exit his two businesses, Super Plumber and 360 Comfort. Today, we dive into five levels of ritualistic meetings: Annual strategic planning sessions Quarterly reviews Monthly town hall meetings Weekly L10s And Daily Huddles (that must include a “win-the-day” number) Listen to the full episode to learn how to get your meeting schedule on track and keep your team paddling in the same direction.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP123 Check Out LMN here: https://golmn.com/ My guest on the show today is Mark Bradley, Founder and CEO of Landscape Management Network (or LMN for short). Since its inception in 2007, LMN has become the most trusted software in the world for landscape professionals, with over 250K users on the platform. What makes Mark different from most tech CEOs (who've spent most of their career on a laptop) is he’s actually rolled up his sleeves and done the work too.   Prior to launching LMN, he built one of the biggest landscaping companies in Canada, TBG Environmental. Through some highly strategic vertical integration and a penchant for taking on the hard jobs many other shops shied away from, he grew his company up to 50MM and 300 employees before selling off a few of its divisions and diving into the software world full time. This guy is a serious player.  Today’s conversation is about: How your leadership needs to evolve as you scale from 0 to 5MM and then from 5MM to 10MM Why revenue per employee hour is the most profit-inducing KPI and how lean manufacturing principles can help you drive it How to use visible scoreboards in your office to gamify production and keep your crews pushing the tempo on projects And his take on how AI will shape the future of the construction and trades space Listen to the full episode to hear about Mark Bradley’s incredible journey.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP122 Today’s conversation is about Conscious Leadership.   What it is.  Why it matters.  And how to access more of it.   And we’re going to delve into this topic through the experience of Mason Marquis. Mason started his business journey early, founding his painting company Spray Tex in Dallas Fort Worth at the age of 21.  In five short years, he scaled it up from 500K to north 5MM.  An insane drive and will to win drove Mason to grow his business at an unrelenting pace.   In the midst of building sales teams, dealing with customer issues, developing production managers, and implementing scalable systems, he began to realize something many of you can relate to.   Growing for the sake of growing wasn’t sustaining him.   The need to be validated and seen as a success was no longer motivating him the way it used to.  The inherent stressors of business were beginning to pile up inside him.  Frustration was turning into outright anger.   He didn’t recognize the hardened exterior that had begun to develop.  His business, his relationships, and his sense of purpose were suffering as a result.  Leading unconsciously was beginning to cost him dearly. The reason Mason is on the show today is because I know for a fact many of you are going through this inner journey as we speak, or are about to.   And sometimes hearing about someone else’s hardship can help you sort out your own.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP121 Learn more about Jeff's company Groundwork here: https://www.hellogroundwork.com/ If you’re using ChatGPT to write your website copy, create sales scripts, develop your brand, or outsource your critical thinking… guess what!? So are all your competitors! Your clients are looking for a thoughtful company that stands out from the crowd.  One surefire way to NOT achieve this is to use the same tool (which pulls from the same data set) as everyone else. GPT certainly has some utility for contractors (which we’ll discuss), but its blind over-utilization will commoditize your company and destroy your brand - neither of which are good things. My guest on the show today is Jeff Wraley, founder of Groundwork, a virtual sales tool that makes it easy for homeowners to send you a video of their project, letting you instantly qualify prospects and increase in-person close rates. Our conversation is about: How using video content in your pre-estimate nurture can help you get rid of tire kickers and boost your SR The risks of overleveraging AI and large language models like GPT in your contracting business And why personalization is the best way to stand out in a competitive market. Listen to this episode for the full conversation with Jeff.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stephen Osborne, owner of The Osborne Company and winner of the Turnaround of the Year Award, shares his incredible journey of resilience after the sudden loss of his father. He faced family conflicts and a tense business climate, seeing profits plummet. Through strategic leadership and a focus on core values, he revitalized his company, which is now thriving with a 15% net profit. Stephen highlights how seeking community support and fostering accountability transformed his business and team culture, making them a leading EV charging station installer in the U.S.