The KPIs that Subcontractors Need to Look at in 2024 and Beyond
The construction industry can be unpredictable, which forces subcontractors to adapt. This includes adapting the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) they use to measure the performance of their business. At any point in the year, it’s worth reassessing the health of your current KPI dashboard to gauge whether it’s giving you an all-encompassing look at your […]
How to Build Fail-Safe Revenue Targets for 2024
If you’re looking to grow your subcontracting business, it can be tempting to set a 20% or 30% goal and immediately start bidding on the projects required to make it happen. But in Clay Young’s 30 year experience as a subcontracting Chief Estimator, then Managing Partner, then Owner, anything less than a rigorous, long-term forecasting […]
How to Master Your Financial KPIs with The Trigger Point Strategy
Every year you start with a target bottom line and build a plan to achieve it. And every year tens of unexpected twists and turns – both in your control and outside of it – put that plan (and your bottom line) at risk. So how do subcontracting executives build a plan that is flexible […]
How MCAs Disguise Their Harmful Business Practices
We’re all pretty familiar with MCAs and how they can lead to a cycle of high-interest debt where the only way to repay your loan is to take out a new one. But what you may not know is that MCAs are really good at hiding in plain sight. They lean on deceptive terminology to […]
Banks as a Financial Option for Subcontractors: Billd’s Take
Softcore mayhem descended on America’s banking system in March 2023, when two big whig banks abruptly closed. Economists like AGC’s Ken Simonson were uneasy, fearing the uncertainty in financial markets could spill into the construction industry. With a lot of folks casting a critical eye on banks, Billd believes that now is a good time […]
How to Use Your Schedule of Values to Increase and Speed Up Your Pay App: An Industry Vet’s Perspective
As a subcontractor, you work with a schedule of values on every project, but you may not be using it as effectively as possible. In an industry where payment cycles are notoriously long and slow, perfecting your schedule of values can help you expedite payments and even increase them. We spoke to industry veteran Ernie […]
Supplier Terms: The Hidden Cost You Didn’t Realize You Were Paying
Supplier terms seem great on the surface, but not so much after looking under the hood. What do we mean by that? Well, as the old adage goes, nothing in life is free, and that includes supplier terms. Most contractors don’t consider terms to be a form of financing, but they are (we’ll unpack that […]
3 Wildly Successful Companies Using Debt to their Advantage (So Why Aren’t You?)
When you think about the features of a successful business, what comes to mind? Impassioned CEOs? Sky high sales? A robust bank account? Whatever you conjured up, we’re willing to bet “debt” wasn’t the first feature on the list. There’s a pervasive myth that only poorly managed companies take on debt. Few notions need to […]
5 Reasons Why Subcontractors Should NEVER Work With MCA Companies (And Who They Should Work With Instead)
Merchant cash advance, or MCA, has fully earned its awful reputation in the construction industry. To say it has a “negative stigma” would be putting it delicately. MCA is downright predatory, and using it can hurt a contractor’s reputation. Subcontractors turn to it only when they think they have to. It’s not exactly a loan; […]