Contractor Evolution

To apply for a Business Assessment with Breakthrough Academy click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP69 On this episode of Contractor Evolution, we’ve brought in Anthony Langdon of Asset Roofing in Seattle WA.  It wasn’t too long ago that Anthony’s business hit a ceiling because he was always stuck on the roof.  No pun intended.   In 2018 his business was doing 400k a year in revenue while he worked 80 hours a week due to a lack of systems.  Anthony was making money, but he was breaking his back for it.   He owned a job, essentially. Today, only 4 years later, his business is trending to do over 10 Million dollars in revenue with a net profit margin north of 20%. How? Listen as Anthony breaks down the most critical business systems that lead to this remarkable growth - both in mindset and in revenue. Episode Highlights: The first system Anthony built that led to his epiphany moment The most fundamental systems that Anthony implemented in his business which led to exponential growth Of the hundreds of systems you can implement in a business, Anthony shares where he started and what he tackled in order after that What to do if your entire team isn’t buying into the changes you’re trying to make for the health of the business Outside of systems, Anthony shares 3 key areas that required a complete overhaul and despite pressure, he didn’t compromise in What Anthony’s life looks like now in the day-to-day after completely re-inventing the way he ran his business See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To apply for a Business Assessment with Breakthrough Academy click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP68   Your business is a “For-Profit Entity”.   Profits are a slippery business though. Sometimes it can feel like what you made on paper and what is in your bank account don’t quite line up.   Sometimes top-line growth doesn’t translate to bottom-line growth.  And sometimes it's only a few expense categories on our P&L that are giving us all the headache. Listen to the full episode and we’ll show you where and how contractors most commonly destroy their year-end profits Episode Highlights: Why it’s so easy for your overhead efficiency to spiral out of control and the best way to track your overhead deliverables The difference between managing expectations in your "Ditch Diggers" vs managing expectations with your more abstract roles Managing increasing material costs and why you NEED to take action in your business to mitigate them and not just accept tightening margins The two kinds of companies when it comes to addressing inflation and why one thrives while the other fails Why writing off big expenses at the end of the year to offset your tax bracket is a bad move How your ego can tank your financials if you aren’t very careful See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To apply for a Business Assessment with Breakthrough Academy click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP67 Tradie Web Guys - https://www.tradiewebguys.com.au/BTA   “Create Content” is such an easy thing for some marketing guru to tell you to do.  But those people are the same A-holes that sit in front of a screen all day and have no realistic clue what goes into running the average contracting company.  On top of that, why on God’s green earth would you take the time you don’t have to bring in leads when you’re flooded with work already? I’ll tell you why. Demand. Creating a list of 1000’s of people that want to work with you allows you to raise your prices SIGNIFICANTLY. Demand is the reason some contractors are able to charge 3 to 4 times more than average. In order to show you how to create that kind of demand (without eating up your entire work day filming selfies) we have plumber turned marketing expert Matt Jones on the show. Listen to the full episode to learn some stupidly simple things you can do to dial in your content strategy and build your brand presence.  Episode Highlights: What it means for a contractor to have a "Content Strategy" in 2022 and what you can expect for results if you get it right An easy way to tell your story in a way that leads to sales (even if you think you’ll be terrible at it) How much work it (really) is to produce content as a contractor and the easy incentive to get your team to produce content for the business so you don’t have to The communication mediums you should use in 2022 to target an upper-middle-class demographic Why it’s a huge advantage to produce content even if you have more than enough work The obvious “RED FLAG” mistakes on contractor websites that actively push ideal clients away See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To apply for a Business Assessment with Breakthrough Academy click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP66 As you might have guessed by the title, we’re talking about books in this episode of Contractor Evolution? Why?  Because someone way smarter than you has devoted DECADES of their life mastering a principle that will significantly impact you in a positive way. And you can choose to ignore that fact…or you can absorb a lifetime of learning in roughly a day. There’s a reason we say leaders are readers. Leaders have accumulated hundreds of lifetimes of wisdom and then are able to apply it to their specific circumstances. Simply put, leaders that read have a huge strategic advantage. And if you don’t like reading, guess what, all the books we’re talking about have audio versions. So click the icons below for a fresh list of 9 books from our contractor top picks. Episode Highlights: Learn to see and stop problems before they happen so your days of firefighting can come to an end A framework for making better decisions in work and life The best way to make huge changes in your life through small, everyday actions Why you should never believe you’ll be happy "Once you make it" and why you’re selling yourself short on the possibility of a fulfilling life starting now Everything in you life is a negotiation - here’s how to master the art of creating win-win scenarios Navigating the road ahead by finding your centre and coming back to what’s true when the world is an ever changing tumultuous mess See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To apply for a Business Assessment with Breakthrough Academy click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP65 Do you ever feel like a fraud? In certain situations do you ever feel like you are one minor mistake, one missed detail away from being found out by everyone as a phony?   Do you sometimes feel totally under qualified to occupy the position that you do? Flawed, imperfect, error-prone, human? If you do, that CAN be healthy. Or, it can ruin you. Either way, you aren’t alone. Click the links below to get my take on Imposter Syndrome and why it affects so many contractors. Episode Highlights A definition of imposter syndrome and some of the key signs to look out for in yourself of others An anecdotal observation about imposter syndrome after speaking with over 1000 contractors and diving deep into their mental and emotional challenges The surprising reason that an unusually high number of contractors are prone to feeling imposter syndrome and why it might be a sign you’re on the right track Why you shouldn't block out your negative emotions and how to listen and act on them in a healthy way 3 Practical steps to manage imposter syndrome if you think you have it The dangers of trying to mask a lack of confidence by being overly confident See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To apply for a Business Assessment with Breakthrough Academy click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP64 To download “LEAN in a nutshell” click here: https://trybta.com/PCDLEP64 To learn more about Paul Akers click here: https://paulakers.net/ To learn more about Fastcap click here: https://www.fastcap.com/ The average American worker (across industries) outputs about $150/hour worth of value a day.   Our guest in this episode, Paul Akers, runs a company called Fastcap who’s workers now output $500-$700 a day and are happier than when the company started. He’s been so recognized for his work that he’s been invited to speak and consult with companies like Mercedes Benz, Amazon, and the US Navy. So what’s his secret sauce? It’s a concept he stole from Toyota and applied to his business. He tells us only 2% of contractors ever ‘get it’ and he wants to share with those who will listen. Episode highlights: How LEAN production revolutionized the job site and the 8 areas where you can eliminate wasted time, material, costs The state of the average job site in North America and why it’s not where you want to be How to apply LEAN principles to a contracting business model with specific examples The "Quick Wins" you want to start with to see some immediate results The best way to retrain your team to see the waste and what needs to happen to create an ongoing culture of continuous improvement What to do about the team member that fights the change and get them totally bought in  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To apply for a Business Assessment with Breakthrough Academy click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP63 To download the Sales Handoff Project Charter and DECA analysis click here: https://trybta.com/PCDLEP63   Misaligned expectations between contractor and client are the route of all evil when it comes to: Hitting or missing budget Finishing the project on time or way behind schedule And creating a happy customer who will refer you for years or not. Sales handoff is one of the most critical links in the overall chain that is your business’s workflow.   Get this right and producing the job you sold can, believe it or not, go off without a hitch.   Get it wrong though and your production team can be stuck in a hellish nightmare for way longer than planned, hurting the project’s profitability and team unity.   Your sales handoff can seem more straightforward than it actually is though, which is why we’ve got Paul Atherton, one of BTA’s most senior coaches on for this episode. Click the icons below to learn the 6 things Paul tells us your sales team needs to share with your production team for a headache free job. How to prevent "I thought you guys would do this too" from the customer (and end death by 1000 requests) What it looks like to set “bumper guards” on the job so things like deadline and expenditures don’t get out of hand The common assumptions that will kill your project The best way to avoid false promises during the quoting process from being made in the first place How to use a Project Charter to insure everything is communicated properly at key points along the project Using a DECA Analysis to be able to ask the right questions at the start of the job See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To apply for a Business Assessment with Breakthrough Academy click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP62 You can find Barrett’s Company Cadence Real Estate at: https://www.cadencere.com/ Just 13 years ago, Barrett was working as a bags-on carpenter fresh out of school.  Since then, he has not only built an extremely successful construction company but has also become a full-blown multi-family developer.  His company, Cadence Real Estate, which is actually composed of 4 subsidiaries, now owns over 380 Million dollars worth of Real Estate in the Seattle area and is expanding beyond. NBD. To learn Barrett’s somewhat unique approach to business development click the icons below. The 2 core systems Barrett implemented that really moved the needle in his business How to run effective Strategic Planning when you run 4 companies How to select the leaders and leadership traits for the business you run 2 Key lessons learned going from 0 to 380M and what Barrett would change if could start again Barrett's strategy for managing capital and investment in a business that has huge swings in revenue Barrett's advice to young contractors today and his reflection on opportunity in 2022 sharing similarities to opportunity in 2008 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To apply for a Breakthrough Academy Business Assessment click: https://trybta.com/PCEP61 Aleph Holdings: https://www.alephholdings.com/ This painter crushes it by buying into his competition You may have, at some point, pondered the idea of supercharging your growth by buying another business. Entrepreneurs naturally see opportunity all around them - owners that don’t know what they’re doing, older guys trying to get out, young untapped potential rising up. And to be clear, your intuition isn’t wrong, the opportunity is out there. What we want to do is make sure you don’t get blown up by the hundreds of proverbial landmines that can lay hidden under the surface of those businesses. Learn from our guest Jason Paris, who’s built a 10M+ painting empire and shares many of the red flags to watch out for, by clicking the icons below. Highlights: The pro's and con's of buying out other businesses within your industry The types of businesses and people you should be looking looking to partner with and the red flags that mark the ones you should avoid How to value businesses when you're looking to buy them out The internal systems in the seller's business that matter when you are the purchaser The buying process from start to finish The first goals/systems/structures that you should implement in a business once you've purchased it See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To apply for a Breakthrough Academy Business Assessment click: https://trybta.com/PCEP60 Perficut Website: https://perficut.com/ Ballard Inc Landscaping Products: https://www.ballard-inc.com/ If you have ever wondered what it takes to expand into a new market, begin operations in a new city, or even a new state, this episode is a must-listen.  Our guest for this episode is Kory Ballard, founder of Perficut Site Management.   Kory started as a teenager, borrowing his dad's mower to do his neighbor's lawns and save up for a moped.  Fast forward a couple of decades, and Perficut would become a massive full-service commercial landscaping company with nearly 200 employees operating in 3 different cities across 2 states.   Quite recently, Kory sold Perficut to a national site management brand…kind of the dream exit actually.  He now focuses 100% of his time on Ballard-Inc.,  an equipment and accessory manufacturing company for landscapers.   Kory is a classic entrepreneur: successful enough to retire, but so driven he can’t - at least not yet. We wanted to have Kory on to share his lived experience. What is it ACTUALLY like to push your brand to its limit and expand into new territories? What is unexpectedly hard about it?  What are the financial implications and risks? How do you choose where to go? How does your role as a leader change?  And What systems make this possible? Like many things in life, actually doing the thing is many orders of magnitude harder than daydreaming about it.  And that's why this episode is a good one.  Kory gives us the unpolished reality of what it takes to expand geographically. In this episode we learn: How to determine when you've saturated your current geographic market What is the best way to pick your next market The business systems to you need to have fully functional before you consider opening a new branch The financial implications of starting a new branch How you as a leader will need to change to lead multiple locations The challenges you don't think about when you decide to expand See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.