5 Hidden Killers of Construction Profit Margins | Ep. 431

Join the Subcontractors Boardroom - ⁠⁠⁠⁠Here⁠⁠⁠⁠Need help with your contracts? - ⁠⁠⁠⁠Here⁠⁠⁠⁠Get The Subcontractor's Edge Book - ⁠⁠⁠⁠Here⁠⁠⁠⁠This episode is a re-run. It was originally published in June 2023.Good subbies go out of business every day.Not because they can't build. Because they didn't understand how much the contract mattered.They figure if they do great work, the contract stuff sorts itself out. It doesn't. Paid late. Paid less. Change orders rejected. Made to look late on jobs that were never their fault.The contractual game is being played whether you're playing it or not.Learn to play it. Timestamps:(5:44) - In the last 5 to 10 years, standard contracts are few and far between(6:09) - Cost plus is beneficial to the builder and it can be beneficial to the owner in a different circumstance(9:56) - The concern is not the lowest price. The concern is I need to get that thing done and that's my number one priority(10:54) - What costs a lot more money is the job not being done(15:47) - You need to be looking at risk as a real factor in your business because eventually something will go wrong

Join the Subcontractors Boardroom - ⁠⁠⁠Here⁠⁠⁠Need help with your contracts? - ⁠⁠⁠Here⁠⁠⁠Get The Subcontractor's Edge Book - ⁠⁠⁠Here⁠⁠⁠This episode is a re-run. It was originally published in June 2023.If you've ever told yourself "I can't negotiate this contract, I just have to sign it," read this.That belief is the single most expensive thing in your business.The biggest subs in your trade negotiate every contract. Not because they're difficult. Because they know the margin lives in post-award and the contract is what protects it. Signing without pushing back doesn't make you easy to work with. It makes you look like you don't know the game.Timestamps:(3:25) - A lot of the smaller companies, they're often of the opinion that they can't negotiate a contract and they have to just sign the contract(3:58) - The bigger and more advanced construction companies know that the margin is in post-award(4:22) - If you start off submitting a notice within your variations quickly, EOTs quickly, and following a contract perfectly, they just look at you as very professional(5:15) - You want to be in the they know what they're doing camp, rather than they'll do whatever we say(5:27) - They also know that companies like yours, if you are contractual, are actually going to be able to deliver the work because ultimately you're getting paid

Join the Subcontractors Boardroom - ⁠⁠Here⁠⁠Need help with your contracts? - ⁠⁠Here⁠⁠Get The Subcontractor's Edge Book - ⁠⁠Here⁠⁠This episode is a re-run. It was originally published in June 2023.I'll be honest with you.Most of the subs we work with come to us already inside the vicious cycle. Margins getting thinner. Bidding harder. Hiring whoever they can get instead of who they want. Reputation quietly slipping.And the worst part is they don't see it. They think it's just the market. Or just construction. Or just bad luck.It's not. It's a system. And once you see it, you can get out.More of this in the episode - tune in!Timestamps:(13:01) - Every major builder will have their own contracts because they are pushing risk(13:14) - If you are lowering your risk as a builder, then you are without a doubt improving your long-term prospects(15:34) - You will definitely get a higher margin if you deliver the projects on time within budget(17:29) - People who are subcontractors that charge less tend to be at a higher risk in one way or another(29:04) - Understand what happens. If you’re not happy with them, try and get them changed

Join the Subcontractors Boardroom - ⁠Here⁠Need help with your contracts? - ⁠Here⁠Get The Subcontractor's Edge Book - ⁠Here⁠This episode is a re-run. It was originally published in June 2023.Leading a team is more like training cats than dogs.Cian Brennan sits down with Matt Wilk from Builderpedia for a two-parter on leadership, project management, and the game of contracts most subcontractors don't even know they're playing.Why projects always blow the budget, what your contract should say when they do, and the one question that changes every client meeting: "what are your objectives?"Give it a listen.Timestamps:(4:31) - In a leadership position, you're more of a servant to the organization(9:32) - Every project has a combination of things that go right or wrong(15:25) - Our success actually looks like silence, because if you sign a contract that has less risk or sets you up for success, there's no outcome(18:05) - There's a lot more to be gained from just saying how it is(23:02) - Being able to deliver your service to a high standard is just the price of admission

Join the Subcontractors Boardroom - HereNeed help with your contracts? - HereGet The Subcontractor's Edge Book - HereThis episode is a re-run. It was originally published in May 2023.A construction dispute is a race to see who loses the least amount of money...Even when you're 100% in the right..That's the part most subs work out too late.Tune in to learn more about effective strategies in navigating construction disputes.Timestamps:(2:48) - Once you understand how to interpret that contract honestly, most of the risk and understanding the risks that you're taking on goes away and you understand how to make more money in post-award(3:17) - We win projects at a loss knowing that we have the contractual experience in the post-award phase on change orders to get our margin back and to make money(8:52) - The key learning from the disputes is it's pretty simple. It's a race to see who loses the least amount of money(9:44) - The key to a construction dispute and I know this sounds a bit painfully obvious, is to not get into a construction dispute(12:28) - It's a lot easier when you're trying to work with everybody versus fight

Work With Me - ⁠Click Here⁠Get The Subcontractor's Edge Book - ⁠Click Here⁠(Book comes with the free audiobook and a full video masterclass)- 0:00 Why your construction profit margins are really this low- 1:05 Killer #1: The hole you start every job in- 2:06 Killer #2: The free loan you're handing your clients- 3:30 Killer #3: The work you keep doing for free- 4:32 Killer #4: The document you sign without reading- 5:52 Killer #5: The one behind all the othersThere are five things killing your construction profit margins. Your work isn't one of them. You're probably brilliant at the actual job - it's the money side where you're getting walked on.In this video, Cian Brennan breaks down all five. Get even two or three under control, and there's a 5 to 10% margin sitting there for the taking, every single year. Ignore them, and you're handing it straight to the main contractor.

Work With Me - ⁠Click Here⁠Get The Subcontractor's Edge Book - ⁠Click Here⁠(Book comes with the free audiobook and a full video masterclass)- 0:00 The biggest cost with no line item- 0:24 The patterns that quietly kill construction businesses- 1:05 Your number — and the six places it leaks from- 2:52 What you've already lost before lunch each day- 3:16 The system that stops the leakThe most expensive mistake in your construction business doesn't have a line item. Your accountant won't find it. Your P&L won't show it. But it's quietly costing you around $400,000 a year, and most subcontractors never even know it's there. In this video, Cian Brennan will show you exactly where that money leaks from, how to put a real number on your own business, and the simple system that plugs it.Most subs treat this as the cost of doing business.  The best ones treat it as a system problem and fix it.

Work With Me - ⁠Click Here⁠Get The Subcontractor's Edge Book - ⁠Click Here⁠(Book comes with the free audiobook and a full video masterclass)This episode is a re-run. It was originally published in May 2023.What happens if your head contractor stops paying you next month?If you read your termination clause, the answer might be "nothing." They can terminate you for convenience. You can't terminate them at all.So you keep working. Keep spending. Keep hoping. While the rumours about their cashflow get louder.That's the trap most subs don't see until they're in it.Listen to the full episode now.Timestamps:(5:28) - The worst contract in the whole chain goes to the guy that hasn't got the resources to deal with(5:44) - That is probably the systemic issue in the construction industry where so many subcontractors actually don't understand how to negotiate and they don't understand what to negotiate either(8:15) - Successful companies in construction have a long-term view(12:18) - You got to look at your local laws as far as payment terms and things like that because you can leverage those laws on your behalf(14:28) - Whatever you prefer to put up as security, you want to make sure it's tied to your own specific contract and not to the head contractDISCLAIMER: 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.

Work With Me - Click HereGet The Subcontractor's Edge Book - Click Here(Book comes with the free audiobook and a full video masterclass)- 0:00 The lie killing your construction profit margin- 0:33 What every losing subcontractor project has in common- 2:16 What a mentor in Iraq taught me about real margin- 3:11 Two electrical subs, same $10M job only one made money- 5:00 Margin isn't priced. Margin is managed.- 5:23 Pre-award: how to negotiate a contract worth signing- 6:57 Post-award: the day-one habit that protects every variation- 8:27 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: HereGet The Subcontractor's Edge Book: HereTimestamps:(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 documentsDISCLAIMER: 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.