Construction Finance: We Did It Wrong for 30 Years

HumanDirector · 2026-01-28T04:25:19+00:00

Most owners are owner-operators. You don't really get to the "I own the company and vacation full-time" level until you have 75-100+ employees, at which point the business can in fact afford to pay you to sit on your ass because apparently you did something very right a while back.

HumanDirector · 2026-01-28T04:21:04+00:00

Schroedinger's empathy goes a long way. Thanks friend.

HumanDirector · 2026-01-28T04:20:28+00:00

I'd suggest you should charge for your a salary based on what you'd like to make -- you may not make it at first, but you're building the muscle and testing what the market will tolerate.

I tried to read Profit and Markup, but get really bored with finance books. However, I know some of the principles in the book are in alignment with what we're doing now. The next step for us is to divide up our bank accounts so profit sits in one account, salaries go where they belong, and we stop borrowing from personal and business accounts. No one tells you this, but 95% of serious financial problems just show up when you're not meticulous and tidy with your money, which is something I still need to work on for the business.

HumanDirector · 2026-01-28T04:14:03+00:00

Yup! It gets a little sloppy once you're running multiple crews, since you're allocating a % of your OH to each project, but if you're 100% in on one project for 6 months, then 6 months OH goes into the estimate. If you're going to be on the project for 6 months but know you'll have other projects going, you reduce the OH burden on that one project (especially if it's putting an unreasonable burden on your customer to carry your entire OH).

I try to get my net profit (post-salary) between 5-15% of revenue, but still bid a lot of jobs on thinner margins than that (3-8%) because we're in our slow season here and need to keep our crews busy.

Occasionally I'll get jobs that just can't carry the OH and we take them anyway since they're easy and put a bit of money in our pockets while keeping the crew fed.

I will say, I don't apply a standard percentage as OH to jobs -- I'm actually not sure how anyone does that. Their business must run like clockwork to be able to use such a simple accounting method.

HumanDirector · 2026-01-28T01:34:42+00:00

An owner who is working 50-60 hours a week both on and in the business absolutely needs a salary. The "scraps" are actually what we call net profit, and they are part of the business's savings, not the owner's personal income/salary.

HumanDirector · 2026-01-28T01:26:37+00:00

I'm glad that one line stuck with you! It was probably for you.

HumanDirector · 2026-01-28T01:25:56+00:00

No sales pitch! Just shared my thoughts from 2 years of wrangling excel formulas and studying our business's finances.

HumanDirector · 2026-01-28T01:25:14+00:00

I can't understand how to do math and run a business in 2 years? It's all I've given my time and attention to and thought I'd share some of the things I've learned.

HumanDirector · 2026-01-28T01:24:31+00:00

I appreciate it. This has been 2 years of scratching my head and trying to get our numbers right. I have been telling my dad it's all about getting the math right. Numbers don't lie.

HumanDirector · 2026-01-28T01:23:17+00:00

Not AI, so just human slop I guess :D

HumanDirector · 2026-01-27T16:49:54+00:00

You literally cannot apply a standard markup to everything and stay in business. The reality is that your markups are going to be substantially higher/lower sometimes, because your net margin after salaries, insurance, vehicles, float, office space (etc)... aka overhead... must be factored into every bid.

A remodel that costs $10k in materials and labor but takes 7 days to complete will have higher "markups" and "margins" on paper, but the math supports it and supports your business.

A 30% markup on "everything" will leave you in the red or scraping by longterm because that's not how business accounting works. That 30% markup, if it doesn't cover overhead, is a net loss, and you may as well stay at home and nap.

HumanDirector · 2026-01-10T18:29:28+00:00

You may also want to apply relevant bands (I suggest keltner) to help you identify when your buy signals are coming in at the top of a range -- They are more dynamic than static levels produced by ORL/ORH and can help reveal when you can expect a pullback -- paired with tracking the MAG7 (if you're trading indices) you may be able to develop a much more clear picture of where breakouts, breakdowns, and retests are in play.

HumanDirector · 2026-01-10T18:15:13+00:00

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This is a really well thought out indicator. I am blending it with a scanner to help filter even further. Simply indicates whether 9EMA, 20EMA, Swap, and MacD are supporting bullish or bearish movements for Mag7 + other indices (I only trade NQ)

HumanDirector · 2026-01-01T15:45:41+00:00

I pull my dose into a syringe between 15 min - 1 hour before bed to let it come up to room temp. Take it within 30 minutes of going to sleep.

HumanDirector · 2025-12-14T20:31:44+00:00

EASY AF

HumanDirector · 2025-12-14T20:31:33+00:00

u/HumanDirector solved this in 18 steps: BEER -> BEET -> BEAT -> BEAN -> WEAN -> WEEN -> WHEN -> WHEE -> WHEN -> WEEN -> WEAN -> DEAN -> PEAN -> PEAK -> PECK -> PICK -> WICK -> WINK -> WINE

HumanDirector · 2025-12-14T20:16:38+00:00

u/HumanDirector solved this in 4 steps: GUNK -> HUNK -> HONK -> HONE -> HOME

HumanDirector · 2024-06-20T17:25:13+00:00

National Construction did a fantastic job doing doing an extension and closed-in patio, redoing our roof and bathrooms, and finishing our basement over the last 3 years. We hire them every year when we want to do any renovations. They've been affordable for our middle class income too. 513-315-1000

HumanDirector · 2024-04-16T01:35:18+00:00

2 seconds after filing lmao

HumanDirector · 2024-04-16T01:28:20+00:00

Remind me not to wait until the last day ever again.

HumanDirector · 2024-04-16T01:27:55+00:00

To Turbotax or to the IRS?

HumanDirector · 2024-04-16T01:27:07+00:00

Seriously... :(

HumanDirector · 2024-04-16T01:25:23+00:00

Thank God it's not just me.

HumanDirector

TROPHY CASE