Let’s be real – construction is tough enough without shooting yourself in the foot. But if you wanted to lose a job, burn a client bridge, and watch your profits disappear faster than a box of donuts on the job site… here’s the blueprint.
Day 1: Bid the job based on “gut feel.”
Why waste time calculating actual labor and material costs when you could just throw out a number that feels right?
Day 2: Write your bid in the Notes app at midnight.
Bonus points if you misspell “concrete” and forget to include labor.
Day 3: Send your bid via text message.
And don’t include your name. Or scope of work. Or dates. Customers love that.
Day 4: Forget to follow up.
Because obviously they’re going to call you back. Who wouldn’t trust a random guy who texted a price?
Day 5: Don’t track your hours.
Who has time for paperwork? Just guesstimate your crew’s time at the end of the week. It’ll be fine.
Day 6: Let the customer add “a few things” for free.
“You’re already here, right?” = the seven most expensive words in construction.
Day 7: Never check your costs during the job.
If you’re still breathing and the truck has gas, the job must be going fine. Right?
Day 8: Assume the crew knows what to do.
No plan, no problem! Just yell “get to work” and trust the universe.
Day 9: Lose receipts in your glovebox.
Also known as “the black hole of profitability.”
Day 10: Deliver the final invoice… two months late.
That should go over real smooth. Especially when you realize you underbid by 30%.
The Moral of the Story?
You don’t need to sabotage yourself to relate to this list. You’ve probably done at least a few of these things. We all have.
But here’s the good news:
You don’t have to keep operating like this.
ProfitDig makes it easy to build accurate bids, track your actual costs as the job progresses, and stay profitable without spreadsheets, guesswork, or lost receipts.
Let the other guys wing it.
You’ve got better tools now.