Stop Slashing 15% Off Your Bid and Do This Instead

When work starts to slow down, panic sets in fast.

You look at the calendar. You see gaps between projects. Payroll is coming. Equipment payments do not care if you are busy or not. So you do what a lot of contractors do when they feel pressure.

You slash 10 or 15 percent off the bid and hope for the best.

That move feels aggressive, but in reality, it is one of the fastest ways to wreck your margins and create bigger problems down the road.

Let’s talk about why cutting a flat percentage off your bid is dangerous and what to do instead.

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Why Cutting 15 Percent Is Worse Than You Think

When you knock 15 percent off the bottom line of your bid, you are not just trimming profit.

You are cutting:

• Materials

• Subcontractors

• Labor

• Equipment

• Overhead

Most of those costs are fixed. You still have to pay for materials. You still have to pay your subs. You still owe rent on equipment whether the job goes well or not.

Materials are especially untouchable. If you stop paying suppliers on time, word spreads fast. Suppliers remember who pays and who does not. Once your reputation is damaged, getting materials for future jobs becomes a real problem.

You might win one job cheap and lose the ability to operate smoothly on the next one.

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The Real Reason Contractors Slash Bids

Most contractors do not cut prices because they want to.

They do it because they need cash flow.

There are slow seasons. Weather delays. Gaps between projects. Sometimes you just need work to keep crews busy and the lights on. That reality is not wrong. It is part of running a construction business.

The mistake is thinking the only lever you have is price.

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What You Actually Control in a Bid

Here is the truth most contractors overlook.

You do not own material costs.
You do not own rental equipment costs.
You do not own subcontractor pricing.

The one thing you truly control is labor production.

Labor is where you can get aggressive without destroying everything else in the bid.

Instead of cutting 15 percent off the total, the smarter move is to ask one question:

How can I increase production enough to be more competitive?

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Production Is the Lever That Matters

If you can increase production by 20 or 30 percent, you can effectively lower your cost without cutting material or supplier pricing.

That might mean:

• Tighter crew coordination

• Better scheduling

• Smarter sequencing of work

• Eliminating downtime

• Adjusting crew size for specific tasks

This is not about shortcuts or unsafe work. It is about efficiency.

Yes, it creates pressure. Yes, it requires planning. But it keeps your business intact.

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Your Crew Needs to Know the Plan

If you take a job knowing it is tight, do not hide that from your team.

Your people are part of the solution.

Explain the situation clearly. Let them know:

• Why the job matters

• What production targets need to be hit

• How everyone benefits from keeping work steady

Most crews understand reality when it is laid out honestly. Clear expectations lead to better results than silent stress.

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Change Orders Are Where Bad Jobs Can Turn Good

Another key point from the discussion is change orders.

Fast-paced projects and incomplete drawings create mistakes. Many hard bids are based on plans that are only 80 percent complete. That means issues are coming.

Smart contractors look for those issues early.

If your base bid margin is tight, change orders become your opportunity to recover and even improve profitability. That does not mean being unethical. It means being thorough, documenting issues, and pricing changes correctly.

A job that looks weak on paper can turn into a strong performer if managed aggressively and intelligently.

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Do Not Guess. Use a System.

You cannot make these decisions by gut feel alone.

You need to see your numbers clearly. Line by line. Task by task.

When you can break a bid apart and test different production scenarios, you stop guessing and start choosing. Instead of blindly cutting 15 percent, you can see exactly where you can realistically make it up.

That is how experienced contractors bid under pressure without blowing themselves up.

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Final Thought

Cutting 15 percent off your bid feels decisive, but it is usually lazy math.

Smart contractors dig deeper.

They protect materials.
They protect supplier relationships.
They focus on production.
They plan for recovery through efficiency and change orders.

If you need work, go get it. Just do it with a plan instead of panic.

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