Almost every call I take opens with this question: Where is all the money going?
The people asking are not failing. They're winning jobs, their guys are busy, and they have built something people want. But at the end of the month, they can't tell you where the money went, and at the end of the year the number makes no sense for how hard they worked.
I have sat across from hundreds of subcontractors, from the first trades on site to high end finish work, doing anywhere from under $1 million to over $100 million a year. Almost every single one of them who is worried about cash has the same problem, and it's not revenue.
They do not have a financial operating system.
Two years ago I started writing that system down. It is a book called CONTROL, and it's out now.
Here is what is in it and how to decide whether it is for you.
What the Book Is
The book covers 8 proven steps, and it takes you about 60 days to install on your own.
We talk about:
Job cost structure. Equipment cost basis. Overhead calculation. Estimating system. Software and bookkeeping alignment. Project management standards. Monthly cadence. Standards and accountability.
Every chapter ends with a template or an action step, and there are QR codes to the tools we use with clients. It is a workbook more than a book. If you read it and skip the action steps, you have not done anything.
This is not a book about accounting. It's about knowing what your numbers mean and what to do when one of them turns red. It works with any software, any spreadsheet, or a legal pad, because the principles do not change.
Why the Order Matters
Every step depends on the one before it.
You can't calculate an overhead rate until your job costs are in job costs, because your superintendent and your small tools are probably sitting in overhead right now, making both numbers wrong.
You can't fix estimating until you have a job cost structure to map the estimate to, or you are comparing 2 documents written in different languages.
You cannot run a monthly cadence on data you do not trust.
That is why contractors who buy a tool to fix one piece of this usually end up back where they started. The tool was fine. But the numbers weren't.
What It Can Do for You
Projects making 22 to 30% gross profit. The company running 12% net. $650,000 or more in the bank at all times. You paying yourself a $180,000 salary and taking a week off without the business falling apart.
Those are not aspirational numbers. They are what I see when the 8 steps are all running at once in a business between $1 million and $12 million.
Here's something I unpack in the book, even though it does not make me look good.
I have 2 civil contractor clients, about the same size, who installed the exact same system. Both started the same way. Stressed, reactive, and up late every night before payroll.
The first one shows up every week. No exceptions, no excuses, even in the months when money isn't a stressor. If something comes up, they make the meeting up within a few days.
That company went from $500,000 to $5 million, then to $9.8 million in revenue with none of the stress. The owner just gave himself and his wife a raise to $310,000 combined, and the business pays out another $1,000 a week in profit sharing.
The second one stopped showing up. They make about 1 out of every 3 or 4 meetings, and there is always a reason. They are 3 months behind on month end financials and they may lose half their borrowing base this winter.
Working these 8 steps are like going to the gym. You have to show up if you want to see the change. CONTROL shows you how, step-by-step.
One More Thing
If this newsletter has been useful to you, the book goes a great deal deeper on every one of these, with the numbers, the templates, and the stories behind them.
CONTROL is out now.
You can get it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HBCSJY9G
