Bidding jobs is one of the most important parts of running a construction business. You can be the best builder in the world, but if your bids are wrong, you are going to lose money before you even set foot on the job site. The tricky part is that many contractors screw up bids without even realizing it.
Here are three of the most common mistakes.
1. Guessing instead of tracking costs.
It is amazing how many contractors bid work based on gut feelings instead of real numbers. If you do not know what your last job really cost, how can you expect to know what the next one will? Every project is different, but patterns always show up. If you track labor, materials, equipment, and overhead on each job, you will know exactly what to expect next time. If you do not, you are just guessing. And in construction, guessing usually means losing money.
2. Forgetting overhead.
A lot of contractors only think about labor and materials when putting together a bid. The problem is, those are not your only costs. Things like insurance, fuel, office expenses, phone bills, and even your own time have to be covered. If you are not building overhead into your bids, you are cutting your own profits out before the job even starts. Successful contractors treat overhead as part of every single bid.
3. Not adjusting for reality.
Prices change. If you are still using numbers from last year, you are already in trouble. Materials, fuel, and labor costs can swing wildly in just a few months. A good bid is not just a repeat of what you charged last time. It is an up-to-date reflection of the real world right now. That means calling suppliers, checking current labor rates, and double-checking everything before you send that number to a client.
The good news is that avoiding these mistakes is not rocket science. All it takes is building good habits. Track costs on every job. Include overhead every single time. Update your numbers before you send a bid. Tools like ProfitDig make this process easier because you can pull in real cost data from past jobs and build accurate bids fast.
The bottom line: contractors who take bidding seriously are the ones who stay in business. If you want to avoid working for free, stop guessing and start tracking. Your bids will get sharper, your jobs will be more profitable, and you will sleep better at night.