Beers With Contractors

In this recap episode of Beers with Contractors, the hosts discuss why many companies leak around 20% of profits and how willingness to change affects savings. They identify common profit leaks: poor utilization (unused software licenses, vacant office space, misused labor), employee spending culture and incentives, and decentralized contracting without a cost-management center. The conversation distinguishes profit from cash flow and warns against managing by bank balance, emphasizing forecasting timing of receivables, payroll, inventory, and reserves. Key metrics for evaluating a home services business include margin by service line and mix, labor efficiency, accounts receivable velocity, and marketing spend by...

In this episode of Beers with Contractors, Will apologizes for the delayed “Beers with Contractors Tradies” episode and references the prior episode on setting 2027 goals using hard-edge metrics (sales, leads, staffing, equipment, finances). This episode shifts to the soft edge of business—people and culture—focusing on how owners in home services and construction must navigate and institutionalize change to hit growth targets. He outlines planning change with a written roadmap and a “pre-mortem” to anticipate failure points, warns against abandoning initiatives within 30–90 days, and cites a 2023 Prosci study on why employees resist change (unclear reasons, job/income fears, lack of trust...

In this episode of Beers with Contractors, Will opens an October episode by encouraging comments and explaining his annual goal-planning process: start in October, collaborate with the team, and lock budgets by mid-November, noting the first budgeting year is often messy but improves control. Using a MidCon home-service case study, he shows how to reverse-engineer a 2027 target from installs (not sales): $3M with a $12,500 average job requires 240 jobs, 727 qualified appointments at a 33% close rate, and 807 leads at 90% lead-to-appointment conversion. With an 8% marketing budget ($240,000), allowable CPL is about $297, and the sales team must hit about $4,126 average dollars per appointment. He...

In this special solo episode of Beers with Contractors, host Will encourages contractors to start Q4 annual planning early and then walks through how to handle vendor price increases without guessing, using a crawl space vapor barrier example where material cost rises from $0.25 to $0.27 per foot and the customer price moves from $4.50 to about $4.88 to maintain margin, potentially improving net profit due to fixed costs. He discusses a contractor plateauing at $2M by analyzing market size, homeowner-occupied rates, and estimated niche market capacity (~$14M), concluding that growth may require expanding territory, diversifying services, and focusing on profitability over ego...

✈️ Safety isn’t just another box to tick on your to-do list.

If you’re running a construction or home services business, your job is to make sure everyone gets home safe.

In this week’s Beers with Contractors Flight Sampler, Will and Terry talk about why safety has to start with leadership and become part of your company culture.

Because it’s not enough to have safety talks sitting in a folder. Your team needs to know they have the power to speak up, stop som...

In this episode of Beers with Contractors, host Will and Terry welcome host Christopher Rice of Builder Prime to clarify how CRMs, ERPs, and field service management tools fit together in home services and to explain Builder Prime as a “business operating platform” managing the customer lifecycle from lead intake through scheduling, estimating, invoicing, production, and final payment. Chris emphasizes Builder Prime’s reporting and AI-driven insights, recent focus on improving estimating and integrations (including Windows-related integrations), and the importance of listening to both paying customers and frontline end users, especially for mobile-first field teams. They discuss key contractor metric...

✈️ Your banker should be more than just the person you call when you need a loan.

In this week’s Beers with Contractors Flight Sampler, Will and Terry break down why building a real relationship with your banker can become a serious advantage for your business.

From credit lines and business loans to your next investment property or simply managing cash flow, the right banking relationship can help you move faster when opportunities come up.

And here’s the part most tradies overlook:

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In this episode of Beers with Contractors, hosts Will welcomes Terry back to Beers with Contractors, joking about his absence, then they discuss construction headlines and trends. They note US construction spending fell 0.5% in July 2026 (down 3.8% year over year) with residential especially soft, while commercial remains active, increasingly driven by AI data center work that may be overly concentrated for some contractors. They cover data-center MEP demands, cost-driven efficiency efforts, rising steel prices and lead times, and growing interest in mass timber. The hosts argue specialty subcontractors (especially electrical/mechanical) offer strong opportunities, and that AI is reducing sales...

✈️ What if you could quickly tell whether an investment property is worth the risk?

In this week’s Beers with Contractors Flight Sampler, Terry breaks down the 1% and 2% rules—a simple way to look at rental income potential before putting your money into a property.

For example, a $300,000 property using the 1% rule means targeting $3,000/month in rent.

But the numbers are only part of the equation.

Your risk tolerance matters, too. Whether you’re investing on your own or with a bus...

In this episode of Beers with Contractors, hosts Will interviews Scott Pierce, founder of Third Edge Consulting and a certified Pinnacle business guide, about why growth often creates chaos for contractors and why “better” matters more than simply getting bigger. Scott emphasizes differentiating through a great customer experience, watching for warning signs like shrinking profitability and outdated systems, and creating organizational clarity by defining where the company is going and what success looks like. He explains Pinnacle’s “Basecamp” process for aligning purpose, values, long-term goals, and 90-day priorities, and contrasts Pinnacle’s flexible, guide-based approach with EOS, including how individu...

✈️ Why do some contractors go from $1M to $5M… while others stay stuck at $3M?

You’ve probably seen it yourself. Two companies in the same market, doing similar work yet one keeps growing while the other seems to stay in the same place.

So what’s the difference?

In this week’s Beers with Contractors Flight Sampler, Will challenges contractors to look beyond systems, processes, and market conditions and ask a much harder question:

Are you willing to become the l...

In this episode of Beers with Contractors, hosts Will interviews Daniel Stark, founder of Stark Foundations (2009), about improving foundation repair engineering through better field diagnostics, communication, and faster processes. Stark describes common contractor mistakes such as misidentifying pier-and-curtain-wall foundations and placing piers on curtain walls, and he shares examples where repair recommendations changed, including replacing a pre–Civil War dry-stacked rock foundation and using poly lift instead of numerous piers on a light slab garage. He outlines three essentials for contractors: understanding load path, properly documenting framing and structure (with photos and software), and probing/documenting footings to avoid co...

✈️ Your next great hire might be closer than you think.

Every contractor is looking for good people. But what if the best way to find your next hire isn’t through a headhunter or another job posting?

In this week’s Beers with Contractors Flight Sampler, Terry talks about a different way contractors can start building their talent pipeline — and why getting involved in your local community could be one of the smartest investments you make.

Because just like you’re constantly looking for your next cu...

On Beers with Contractors, Will welcomes Kristen Bulza to discuss why having women in leadership is a “cheat code” in construction and home services. Kristen shares her path from running a small construction crew in Los Angeles and working as a police and fire dispatcher—where she learned to avoid micromanaging, embrace learning from mistakes, and lead with empathy—to managing an install office and subcontractors in Arkansas, then leading sales and production at Vesta with seven crews and six salespeople. They discuss earning respect by getting in the trenches, using direct but thoughtful honesty, and building trust through open-doo...

✈️ Do you know the numbers your managers should know in your home services business?

Most contractors know they need to track their KPIs. But are you tracking the right ones?

In this week’s Beers with Contractors Flight Sampler, Will breaks down the key numbers that can tell you what’s really happening inside your business — from your financial health to the levers that directly impact your profit.

And here’s the challenge:

👉 Do you know your numbers?

👉 Do your managers know them...

On Beers with Contractors, Will interviews multifamily real estate specialist Aubrey Noblitt about how contractors can build long-term wealth by owning and rehabilitating real estate and tapping local incentives many don’t know exist. They discuss financing options like DSCR loans, FHA two-to-fourplex opportunities, house hacking, and why multifamily vacancy can be lower than other commercial sectors. Aubrey explains that many city grants (often reimbursement or match-based) are housed in planning departments and Main Street boards, citing Ponca City’s HIP 2.0 and stacking programs like Main Street, CDBG, historic tax credits, and local housing incentives. They cover using real esta...

In this episode of Beers with Contractors, hosts Will and Terry welcome Shannon Weinstein, a CPA and fractional CFO behind Keep What You Earn, to address contractor financial pitfalls that spark debate online. Shannon explains why many $5–$10M home service businesses feel broke: owners confuse profit with cash flow and rely on bank balances instead of cash-flow projections. She outlines key metrics she’d want before investing, including margin by service line, labor efficiency, accounts receivable collection velocity, marketing spend by lead source, and net cash flow. Shannon describes her coaching approach—telling owners hard truths to cut through ego an...

✈️ How much does your business actually need to make before you’re profitable?

If you don’t know your break-even number, you’re flying your business blind.

In this week’s Beers with Contractors Flight Sampler, Will breaks down the simple formula every contractor should know:

Fixed Expenses ÷ Gross Profit Margin = Break-Even

Sounds simple, right? But knowing your number can completely change how you look at your business, your sales targets, and your profitability.

So here’s you...

In this episode of Beers with Contractors, Will reframes in-home sales for contractors by using movie roles to shift mindset: the customer is the protagonist (hero) of their own story, and salespeople should avoid trying to be the hero or the customer’s best friend (deuteragonist). Instead, contractors should act as the guide/mentor—helping customers understand the problem, solution, and price while letting them reach conclusions themselves. He explains that mentors think three steps ahead by anticipating “villains” like low bids, financing constraints, multiple decision-makers, and other estimates, and preparing tools like references, value education, and financing options. He refer...

In this episode of Beers with Contractors, hosts Will and Terry talk with Meghan Ritchie of Trustal Recruiting about hiring for locally owned home services companies. Meghan shares her background from marketing agency work to becoming a GM in Atlanta, managing 26 trucks, and explains how recruiting should be treated like marketing: budget a consistent percentage of projected revenue, stay focused year-round, and proactively pursue passive candidates. She stresses pre-hire preparation—clear job descriptions, defining success, and having a training/onboarding plan—to ensure recruiting ROI and reduce turnover. The conversation covers moving fast to hire, competing in a tight labo...

In this episode of Beers with Contractors, host Will and Terry banter about Terry’s Florida trip and a new studio they joke is a “death trap,” then welcome Ryan Weiss, Director of Business Development at ArcSite. Ryan explains ArcSite as a mobile-first drawing, estimation, takeoff, and proposal platform used in the field on an iPad to create project drawings, drag-and-drop products from a robust library spanning 50+ industries, auto-calculate quantities and pricing, and generate polished proposals with payment and digital signature options. The discussion covers how proposal presentation and visuals build trust, how onboarding customizes products, calculations, margins, labor, and ta...

In this episode of Beers with Contractors, host Will and Terry welcome Cory Boehs of Kool Foam and discuss his path from framing and starting Kool Foam in 2007 to building a higher-integrity spray foam business with his wife Suzanne (now 51% owner). Cory explains how the industry shifted from customer education to commoditization, with poor installs driven by low training and lack of understanding that foam is “manufactured” on site and must be on-ratio and to depth. They cover verification tools and tech like Accurate Dynamics equipment, reporting, density tests, and blower door testing, plus barndominium pitfalls like thermal bridging and...

In this Q&A episode of Beers with Contractors, Will and Terry discuss common contractor business challenges: profit margin vs. markup (including how material-based markup and costly callbacks destroy gross profit), marketing ROI (using an 8% budget target, prioritizing Google/search, SEO, CRM and call tracking, and avoiding billboards/TV), and branding basics like truck decals and lead tracking. They address hiring, arguing mindset and consistent recruiting/branding matter, and cite construction grad starting pay around $75,000. Compliance topics include excavation safety, MVR checks, subcontractor insurance/additional insured requirements, and documenting performance to reduce wrongful termination risk. Will describes slowing growth...

In this episode of Beers with Contractors, host Will and Terry recap meeting listeners at the National Foundation Repair Association Conference and discuss Will’s Bedrock Academy event, then welcome guests Rachael and Leslie from Oblyss. They explain how Oblyss was created to solve foundation repair contractors’ pain points with disconnected tech stacks by consolidating scheduling, estimating, production tracking, and data into a single “ecosystem” with one login, integrating with other tools via APIs. Rachael describes funding and developing the platform over several years and focusing on contractor feedback, while Leslie emphasizes canonical data, rapid development, and simplifying onboarding by pulli...

This episode of Beers with Contractors highlights common mistakes contractors make when starting and running their businesses and the lessons learned from costly real-world failures. Key themes include using clear, adequate contracts instead of informal paperwork, staying on top of lien timelines, and structuring payment terms to maintain leverage and avoid paying too early. Guests discuss trade-specific pitfalls like misdiagnosing foundation issues, improper roof ventilation that damages materials and voids warranties, and misunderstanding building science in areas like spray foam and attic ventilation. The conversation also covers safety and quality-control lapses, from electrical verification to measurement errors and jobsite...

In this remix episode of Beers with Contractors, the guests discuss why contractors should treat financing as a company-level commitment rather than leaving it to sales reps, including absorbing associated costs appropriately and marketing payment options early so customers expect them and can choose between cash, promotions, and monthly payments. One host shares an HVAC quote experience where added fees for credit card and financing, unclear terms, and lack of options led to a lost $30,000 sale, illustrating how friction kills conversions. They cover why contractors avoid financing (fear, fee reluctance, and customers not asking), when to introduce it (marketing...

In this episode of Beers with Contractors, host Will and Terry recap their fifth Construction Camp for Kids event and welcome longtime friend Alfonso Nieves of Fox Blocks (Airelite Plastics), an insulated concrete form (ICF) expert who trains contractors nationwide and with the National Home Builders Association. Alfonso explains how he entered the ICF industry, the technology’s origins in Canada in the 1960s, and why above-grade ICF excels for energy efficiency. They discuss ICF benefits including continuous insulation, fire rating, sound attenuation, storm resilience, fewer foundation issues, and faster construction (about 15% faster than finished CMU), plus typical cost pr...

In this episode of Beers with Contractors, hosts Will introduces employment attorney Tracy Melvin of Melvin Law to discuss common employment-compliance pitfalls for construction and home services companies, especially around payroll and overtime. Tracy explains her HR-to-law background, employer-side focus, and ties to construction, then highlights frequent mistakes like misclassifying workers as independent contractors and miscalculating the “regular rate” by failing to include certain bonuses and other pay when computing overtime. They cover how audits and claims are triggered (disgruntled employees, random agency audits, state focus areas like Illinois), why early legal help can reduce fines, and examples where empl...

In this episode of Beers with Contractors, Will and Terry discuss how contractors can build effective systems and processes by borrowing from academic training models Terry uses in construction education. Terry explains the importance of designing training around different learning styles (auditory, visual, hands-on), using a repeatable sequence of explain/demonstrate/do/feedback, and running an assessment “cycle” each time training is delivered to measure what worked and make corrections. They note many new workers lack basic tool knowledge and that AI may push more inexperienced people into the trades, increasing the need for intentional onboarding. Terry describes collecting feed...

In this episode of Beers with Contractors, Will and Terry catch up on summer plans and progress on a bar build, then run a Q&A from their audience. They discuss why offering customer financing matters in home services, question the value of 0% options, and mention using GreenSky while noting alternatives like Hearth and Interbank, plus why they don’t discount for cash payments. They compare change orders and slim commercial margins, then dive into documenting and training safety using OSHA guidelines, periodic OSHA/Department of Labor visits, and storing SOPs/MSDS in Slack, emphasizing a fun safety committee to...

In this episode of Beers with Contractors, host Will and Terry welcome Jae Wells, founder of American Standard Foundation Repair and president of the National Foundation Repair Association (NFRA), to discuss his path from medical school to building a foundation repair company approaching 20 years and his long involvement in the association. Jae explains why the $26B foundation repair industry lacks unified education and standards, and how NFRA is updating its National Certified Foundation Repair Specialist program with a class-based curriculum and testing model that can rapidly incorporate new technology. They preview the 34th annual NFRA conference in Oklahoma City...

In this episode of Beers with Contractors, Will discusses how contractors should navigate employee raise requests by benchmarking wages to local market data and using performance pay to tie higher earnings to measurable results. He clarifies performance pay versus historical piece-rate pay, referencing the Fair Wages Act (1938) and compliance risks around minimum wage, overtime, and worker classification (W-2 vs 1099). He outlines three incentive types—spiffs, KPI-driven bonuses, and labor-driven performance pay tied to budgeted labor hours or labor percentage—and stresses understanding job costing, cost of goods sold, and gross profit margin before launching any plan. He notes reported outc...

In this episode of Beers with Contractors, Will and Terry discuss Terry being “voluntold” to judge the Oklahoma Parade of Homes, touring about 60 homes from Edmond to Blanchard around a $1.2M price point and evaluating categories like staging, layout, craftsmanship, finishes, technology, and lot desirability, while noting energy efficiency wasn’t a focus and that judges largely agreed on top picks. They then shift to Terry and Carrie’s real estate investing, including acquiring mostly off-market properties through networking and direct outreach, and renovating a 1908 building purchased for about $150,000 with estimated renovation costs around $225,000, emphasizing doing much of the work the...

Will introduces a “mix-up” compilation episode of Beers with Contractors after a multi-city speaking sprint, focusing on lead generation and marketing takeaways from past guests. The clips cover how home-service contractors should approach a first $5K–$10K marketing spend by setting up Google listings, using Google/Facebook ads, building listings across sites, and layering PPC/SEO/SEM, home and garden shows, and even direct mail while tracking cost per lead. Guests emphasize scaling through marketing and sales, prioritizing fewer but higher-quality leads over cheap unqualified sources, raising average ticket to grow without more leads, and using AI to launch campai...

In this episode of Beers with Contractors, hosts Will welcomes back Jeff Gabelsberg of Jolly Goat Garage Doors, a central Oklahoma residential and commercial garage door company, to discuss his background and how he grew the business through systems, processes, and knowing his numbers. Jeff recounts a difficult childhood, limited formal schooling, and entering the trades through a remodeling job that led to garage doors via a mentor connection. He explains why he rejected early private equity interest due to cultural disruption, and what made a later “strategic partnership” with Guild Garage Group appealing, including shared values, resources, collaboration with...

In this episode of Beers with Contractors, hosts Will and Terry discuss why contractors form partnerships and the different types—family, operational, financial, and strategic—emphasizing that partners should share a clear end goal and defined contributions. They stress setting an operating agreement before formation to establish equity splits, decision authority, deadlock resolution, salary/work expectations, distribution thresholds, buyout/exit triggers, and what happens if a partner dies. They warn against desperation-driven money partnerships and “three F’s” funding, advise vetting investors by checking prior partners, and highlight the importance of managing-member control and NDAs. The episode contrasts banks as capital...

In this episode of Beers with Contractors, hosts Will and Terry share updates ranging from Terry’s restaurant renovation project—featuring a massive black walnut bar slab and plans for event/office space—to Terry’s trip to the AGC National Convention in Orlando with four OU Construction Science students. They discuss conference highlights including AI tools for bidding, accounting, inventory tracking, jobsite documentation, and safety reporting with translation and incident trend analysis, plus emerging ideas like integrating video capture. They also cover tool trends such as improved battery technology, manufacturers moving away from corded tools, and safety shutoff drills...

In a combined episode featuring Christian Olson of Footprint Capital with hosts Terry and Will, the group explains the difference between private equity (PE) and investment banking and why contractors should understand it when considering a sale or partnership. Olson describes PE as capital raised from institutions to invest in privately held businesses on a 3–5 year return timeline, while investment bankers represent contractors to structure and run transactions (full exit, minority growth, control sale, ESOP) typically over 6–12 months, sometimes longer to build management depth and buyer-ready KPIs. They discuss a recent M&A slowdown tied to higher rates, consumer fina...

In this episode of Beers with Contractors, hosts Will and Terry interview Jeff Peters, a national home service sales trainer and host of the Elevate In-Home Sales podcast, about what actually drives success in in-home sales. Jeff shares how he entered sales through a foundation and concrete repair company, became a top producer, and moved into coaching. He challenges common misconceptions that being “good with people” means talking more, arguing elite reps ask better questions, listen, and follow a consistent process—even when it’s boring—because process is scalable unlike owner-driven selling. He emphasizes building value before discussing price, rej...

Hosts Will and Terry discuss construction workforce recruiting, arguing that young people aren’t lazy but approach work differently due to technology and changing expectations. Terry, now at the University of Oklahoma after OSU, shares how many students secure internships as early as freshman year and how companies that show loyalty often lock in top talent through repeat internships and part-time school-year work, with average starting salaries around $74,000 for OU grads. They emphasize culture fit, reputation, and being present at career fairs, including sending relatable recent graduates and providing branded swag. Terry explains what a formalized internship program can in...