TIM Blog
Practical guides on estimating, project management, sales follow-up, and office operations â written for service business owners between $1M and $5M in revenue.
Latest articles
Job Costing & Margin
Three hours over on one task. At a loaded labor rate of $52 per hour, that is $156. Across twelve similar variances on a fourteen-week project, that is the difference between the margin you expected and the margin you made.
Job Costing & Margin
The project closes Thursday. The invoice goes out Friday. Three weeks later you find out you made 11% instead of 23%. Here is why that number was fixed before you ever saw it.
Operations & Growth
Most contractor businesses plateau between $1.5M and $3M not because of leads or crew quality â but because the owner is filling four operational roles simultaneously.
Estimating
Most contractors asking this question are solving the wrong problem. The estimating bottleneck is almost never about headcount â it is about structure. Here is what to build before you hire.
Estimating
At 5 hours per estimate and 8 estimates a month, that is 480 hours a year â 12 full work weeks. Most contractors have never calculated this.
Sales & Follow-Up
Price is the reason contractors assume they lost. Research says it is the deciding factor in fewer than 20% of lost deals above $20K. The real reason is almost always follow-up.
Project Management
Most contractors hit a ceiling at 8 to 10 active projects when the owner is the single point of coordination. Here are the four methods -- and which one moves the ceiling.
Job Costing & Margin
A $180,000 renovation was estimated at 22% gross margin. The actual came in at 9%. Thirteen points gone -- and the owner could not tell you where most of them went.
Coming next
Project Management
How Small Contractors Manage 10+ Active Projects Without a Project Manager
Coming soon
Operations
What a Part-Time Office Manager Actually Does in a 10-Person Construction Company
Coming soon
Cash Flow
How Contractors Get Paid Faster Without Awkward Conversations
Coming soon
Client Communication
How to Keep Remodeling Clients Updated Without It Becoming a Full-Time Job
Coming soon
Reputation
Why Most Contractors Never Get 5-Star Reviews (It's a Timing Problem)
Coming soon
Project Management
How Scope Creep Quietly Kills Contractor Margins
Coming soon
Estimating, project tracking, sales follow-up, office admin â without adding headcount.