The ProfitDig Blog

Excerpt from Digging for Profit: Secrets to Success in the Construction Industry, by Jeff Spencer and Jerry Work   There are going to be times when you can’t self-perform every part of a project yourself. It’s very common to be looking at a project, especially something you really want to bid on, that is above […]

Excerpted from the book \”Digging for Profit: Secrets to Success in the Construction Industry\” by Jeff Spencer and Jerry Work.   So you have just bid on a job, or part of a job as a subcontractor, and you’ve received a contract back from the general contractor, or whomever you’re going to be working for. […]

In construction, “GMP” stands for “Guaranteed Maximum Price.” It is a contract whereby the General Contractor guarantees that the total cost of a project will not exceed a set amount. It is often a sort-of design-build kind of thing because the GC and its subs do the design work along the way (especially during the […]

Constructiondive.com recently published an article that we thought did an excellent job of explaining the surge in lumber prices. You can read the complete article here. Here is a bullet point summary of the items discussed in the article: Many sawmills closed down during the recession of 2008 – 2009, reducing supply. Tarriffs on Canadian […]

We talk a lot about job bidding because it is an absolutely critical skill if you want to start and grow a successful construction firm. This article summarizes some of our best job bidding advice and contains several videos in which we discuss various aspects of the bidding process. Research the Job Thoroughly I would […]

One thing that you’ve got to be aware of is something my Dad always warned about (even though we ended up falling into the same trap), which is putting all of your eggs in one basket. Put another way, avoid too much dependency on a single customer for business. That was the downfall of my […]

As we discussed in our last issue, 2021 is going to be a competitive year. If you want to succeed, you need to manage your business well (professional job bidding, accurate costing, etc.) AND you need a marketing plan to create new business! So let’s talk about the basic components of a solid marketing plan: […]

You need to have relationships with multiple suppliers. After you have worked a few jobs, you can look back and compare the quotes you have received from different suppliers and see what your potential savings are working with one supplier or another for different materials. When you contact a supplier for a quote, try to […]

Construction activity is slowing down in some places, so this is a good time of the year to evaluate your business from a high level standpoint and begin considering what you can do to build a bigger, more successful company. We talk often about strategies for better performing the actual work, but today we thought […]

Here are some of the major recent upgrades to the ProfitDig system that will save you time and make your job easier: Project Manager viewing restrictions. There was some concern from larger companies that Project Managers had too much visibility on employee hourly rates/salaries. The company owners do not want all Project Managers to know what […]