Notes on quoting and running a service business
How to Do a Construction Takeoff
The takeoff is the quantities. The estimate is the money. Mixing the two together is why bad numbers are so hard to find later.
What Your Bid Win Rate Should Be, and What It's Telling You
Winning too few bids is an obvious problem. Winning too many is a less obvious one, and usually more expensive.
How to Follow Up on an Estimate Without Sounding Desperate
Most contractors give up after one follow-up. Most sales need more than that. The gap between those two facts is a lot of lost work.
What to Include in a Contractor Estimate
The sections that make an estimate persuasive and the ones that keep you out of an argument are mostly the same sections.
How to Write a Change Order That Actually Protects You
Undocumented changes are one of the most reliable ways contractors lose money on otherwise good jobs. The fix is a form and a habit.
Estimate, Quote, Bid, Proposal: What the Difference Actually Is
These words get used interchangeably right up until there's a dispute, at which point the difference turns out to matter quite a lot.
Overhead and Profit, and Where They Belong in an Estimate
Overhead keeps the lights on. Profit is what the business earns for taking the risk. Merging them into one percentage hides which one is failing.
What Labor Burden Actually Costs You Per Hour
The wage is not the cost. For most contractors the real hourly number is 30 to 60 percent higher, and estimating from the wage guarantees you lose.
Markup vs Margin, and Why Confusing Them Costs You Money
A 25% markup is a 20% margin. If you've been treating those as the same number, you've been working for less than you think.
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