Buildr

"Financial forecasting can sometimes feel like running your business in the dark." We've heard variations of this sentiment way too often from GCs. Especially considering that the accurate prediction of your upcoming months, quarters, and years of business is what separates the successful GCs from the ones that aren't built for the long-term. You want to have the clearest view of your future revenue. You're looking at your WIP, your backlog. You're looking at potential jobs and taking educated guesses where things will land. Educated guesses, hunches, throwing darts at a moving dartboard. Pick your preferred phrasing—these are just semantics. This educated guessing game has to also account for the fact that not all pursuits are created equal. Of the 20 pursuits you're looking at, maybe only 4 actually deserve your attention. The most successful GCs are not getting distracted by bad-fit jobs that come across their desks. You deserve to focus on what matters most to your bottom line. With an utmost clarity of best-fit jobs, forecasting your project financials becomes a whole lot easier. And Buildr is the only way to get an outlook of your future revenue that you can trust. No more running your business in the dark.

It's nearly summer which means Buildr's headed to the beach— In the latest issue of our newsletter The SLAB, we try our hand at sports journalism to recant the very dramatic beach games that the Buildr team competed in during our most recent quarterly offsite. We also break down the 2024 ENR Top 400 and what the smaller GCs can take away from the big dogs' strategies (hint: honing in the precon process). Other stories this week include: - Fighting the labor shortage - Top construction events for the second half of 2024 - Strategies to unlock your business potential - AI decodes dog languages (!) - Nvidia passes Apple - "House of the Dragon" and "Rings of Power" return to take over our weekends Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter (clink on the link, you can't miss it) so the next edition of The SLAB makes it into your inbox.

Shout out to the team at GTL Construction of NJ, Inc. We absolutely love partnering with them because of their drive to knock their precon workflows out of the park. Software should always be led by process, not the other way around. We fit in with GTL's decision to break down silos, promote accountability, consolidate their contact lists, and send their spreadsheets directly to the trash bin (after, you know, uploading them into Buildr first of course). Keep it up guys.

Advancing Preconstruction put on by Hanson Wade happened last week in Denver and I’m still buzzing about it. I got to talk to so many BD, precon, estimating, and operations folks (and lots of familiar faces; shout out to some of our customers including MiNT Construction LLC, Erickson-Hall Construction Co., Key Construction, L.S. Brinker, GCS-SIGAL, KPRS Construction Services, Inc., Haydon Companies, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., and Windover Construction to name a few). No matter who I talked to, there was a familiar refrain: We want to eliminate the silos that exist between precon, BD, and operations. We want fewer point solutions and less opportunities for duplicate entry. We want to retain, attract, and foster better talent. We want to do precon better. I’m always trying to be a sponge and we're constantly working to provide better solutions to the most annoying precon pains. It was awesome to hear firsthand what mattered most to those leading the charge in our industry because it: A) validates the movement we’re championing at Buildr, and B) gives some direction to what we should lean more into. If you’re passionate about precon, this conference is a must-attend. The networking, workshops, and exposure to the latest and greatest precon tools is insanely valuable. This year’s Advancing Precon was the first I’ve attended and it 100% won’t be my last. (Bonus pic: Puttshack is a lock anytime we return to Denver)

The Buildr team's in Denver all week at Advancing Preconstruction! A bunch of our customers are here and we're excited to meet you all outside the context of a Zoom room so we can subvert each other's height expectations. Whether you're a partner, friend, or have no idea who we are, be sure to stop by booth 40 to say hey. You can get some free conference swag and try our putting green challenge for a chance to win one of our coveted golf towels. Even if you don't golf, there are countless uses for a golf towel. The patterns on these babies are good enough that a kerchief wouldn't be the worst option.

Preconstruction data should be prescriptive. Because collecting data for the sake of collecting data (see also: spreadsheets) isn't helpful. Let's go through 5 types of business insights to kickstart your precon analytics game so that your business can hit the level of success and reputation it deserves to. Pro tip: When you're vetting preconstruction platforms, be sure to ask if the precon insights that matter most to you are easy (or possible) to report on. Check out our deep dive blog on this topic in the comments ⤵️

Link in the comments—you have until 9:15am PST!

I’m hosting a webinar tomorrow, Wednesday March 6th at 12pm PST / 3pm EST (registration link in the comments) 👇👇 It’s called “Redefining Preconstruction Excellence: Strategies to Unlock Your Business Potential” I’m excited to feature our guest Matthew Mastrofrancesco, VP of Construction at Rycon Construction, Inc., Fort Myers where he built out a precon process from scratch and grew his business unit to building $100 million in just two years. If you’re in the preconstruction, business development, or operations worlds you can’t miss this one. Matt and I will be chatting all things precon—where it was and where it’s at now, as well as going through some practical strategies for process improvement. We’ll also chat about some of the ways that Rycon leveled up their business to stay relevant in an ever-volatile construction landscape. I have a special surprise for attendees so hope to see you there! PS if you can't make it, you'll still receive a recording if you register.

Link to register in the comments. Join Caleb Taylor and Matt Mastrofrancesco as they discuss the state of preconstruction and the steps ENR Top 400 GC Rycon Construction took to improve their profit margins and reputation in the market. Topics include: 😓 The challenges of preconstruction and why they persist 🤝 Ways to consolidate operations and business development efforts 💡 What steps Rycon Construction took in the last few years to unlock more accurate revenue forecasting, better hiring and workforce intelligence, and an all-around higher ceiling for business success See you on March 6! #webinar #construction #preconstruction #constructiontechnology

Happy belated Valentine's Day (we didn't forget, we swear)! As the dust settles from the Super Bowl, the latest edition of our newsletter The SLAB covers: -Slow planning momentum due to commercial & institutional playing tug of war -ABC's new AI guide for contractors -The trends for construction marketing in 2024 -Podcast on Advancing Preconstruction conference (we'll see you there in Denver!) -Paint-by-numbers: the activity that brings companies together -The dating app that matches based on credit score -The headset war between Meta and Apple -ChatGPT's respect toward not messing up AI Taylor Swift's hair Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter (clink on the link, you can't miss it) so the next edition of The SLAB makes it into your inbox. Have a safe and sound President's Day weekend, everybody.