August 19, 2025 • 19 mins
Behind every beautiful renovation reveal and perfect new build lies a reality most contractors never talk about—the cash flow nightmares, the endless punch lists, and the crushing weight of running a construction business. Chris Kirby breaks through this wall of silence in this deeply personal episode that speaks directly to the hidden struggles of contractors everywhere.
When a friend shared their business troubles, it struck a chord with Chris, highlighting how contractors battle their challenges in isolation. From clients withholding $75,000 payments over minor caulking issues to weather delays that cascade into financial strain, these universal struggles remain unspoken as contractors maintain polished professional facades. The competitive nature of construction creates an environment where supporting fellow contractors feels risky, yet it's precisely what the industry needs.
This episode serves as both confession and call to action—challenging contractors to find trusted colleagues with whom they can share burdens and celebrate victories. Chris extends a personal invitation to connect with contractors struggling in silence, offering his own experiences as proof that you're not alone. Whether you're a seasoned builder facing cash flow issues or a homeowner wanting to understand what your contractor really experiences, this raw, honest conversation illuminates the human side of construction that social media perfection never shows. Ready to break the silence in your contractor journey? Email the show to share your story or connect with others walking the same path.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Home Building and Remodeling Show.
Let's go.
Welcome everybody to the HomeBuilding and Remodeling Show.
My name is Chris Kirby and I'llbe your host.
(00:21):
I am the owner of threeconstruction companies on the
Alabama Gov Post.
The show is about residentialconstruction.
We're going to cover topics ofhome building and remodeling.
Are you thinking of doing aremodel or building a home?
Are you a contractor looking toimprove your knowledge base or
grow your business?
Have you ever done a remodelproject or built a home?
(00:42):
There were so many things youwish you knew or that you could
have done differently during theprocess.
Then this show is for you.
We break down the process ofbuilding and remodeling and how
to have the best results duringyour project.
Whether you're a DIYer lookingfor tips, someone looking to
hire a contractor to do aproject, or a contractor looking
(01:04):
to expand your knowledge baseor your business, welcome aboard
.
Glad to have you.
Stay tuned.
We kick off the show with mythoughts on home building and
remodeling.
I'll share best practices andtalk about some of our
experiences in business and outin the field.
These shared thoughts andlessons learned are meant to
help you on your very ownjourney.
(01:25):
Let's go.
Thanks for tuning in everybody.
This week I just wanted to kindof talk about something that
it's been on my heart man.
I had a friend come by justdiscussing business and talking
about some of the stuff thatthey've been going through, and
I kind of hit this spot where Icould relate so much to some of
(01:47):
the troubles they were havingand some of the things that they
were saying and it made merealize that we don't take care
of each other enough ascontractors and so I wanted to
talk about that this week.
We get in our heads.
We're going through this battleof business alone.
Being a contractor isn't easy,I understand that, but we fail
(02:09):
to take care of each other.
We're so competitive yet wefail to take care of each other.
There's so many of us sufferingin silence, and even me.
I do the home building show.
I own multiple constructioncompanies, but times are so hard
.
I just enjoy doing the contentand showing people what it is
about.
We try to be real, we try to beraw, we talk about delays and
(02:32):
we talk about things that we gothrough.
We show you our step-by-stepprocess.
But this one kind of hits hardfor me because I do not like to
see other contractors go throughstuff that I feel like I could
help them with, but I also knowthere are a lot of you out there
who have similar stories,similar experiences, and we
(02:54):
could help each other.
So that's what I wanted to talkabout and kick off the show
with this week.
I wanted to get a littlepersonal.
You know we struggle as acompany all the time.
People don't understandcashflow issues.
They don't understand when youhave 10 people at the door
waiting for money, plus bills,plus everything else that goes
(03:15):
on, and then you have a delayand can't get your draw, or
there's some issue on the jobsite that the client won't pay
or doesn't pay, and then youhave to figure it out whether
it's getting a loan, getting apersonal loan, getting a
business loan, borrowing money.
We need to do better abouttalking about the realities of
(03:38):
being a contractor, and I wantedto say you know we are so
competitive and I wanted to sayyou know we're so competitive.
(04:01):
We always are competitive,especially if it's same industry
, right?
So electrician versuselectrician, plumber versus
plumber you know things likethat, where in our world it's
remodeler versus remodeler.
Homebuild have the home buildersassociation.
Yes, it's fun to get together,but let's be honest, we're all
competing for the same clients.
We're all competing for thesame work home build, remodel,
home addition, whatever it maybe, and what I see and it's not
everybody.
I have a lot of goodrelationships with local
(04:21):
contractors and I do this showso the client, consumer, diyer,
other contractors can have andshare this information and know
that we're all going through thesame thing.
As far as the talking portionof what we do, then we have the
how-tos and things like that,and that's just to show the
process to better educate theconsumer.
(04:44):
This isn't to tell a seasonedcontractor how to do their job.
That's not what this show isabout.
Okay, if you're a seasonedcontractor, you know this stuff
right.
So we get comments all the timeoh my gosh, do it this way, do
it that way.
I've been doing it for ahundred years and you're doing
it wrong.
We understand You're alwaysgoing to get that.
We're going to get negativityon our page.
(05:06):
There's always a hundred waysto do something in construction.
But we don't.
We just look past all thenegativity and we continue to do
what we do and we love it.
Okay, and a part of loving it islistening to stories from other
contractors and remodelers andtradesmen and women, and that's
(05:26):
guy and girl, both right, we'reall in this world together,
interior designers.
I just want to make sure thatwhen they come on this show they
give you some of the reality,the reality check, some of the
stuff that actually goes onbehind the scenes, not just the
I built this big, beautiful homeand sold it for X amount of
(05:46):
dollars and the client's happy,or you know, those stories are
great and the how to's are greatand the stories of how to get
you know a before and an afterand the product is right for the
client.
Those are great stories butit's not reality.
It is so hard to do what we doas contractors.
(06:07):
It's so hard to manage thepersonnel, to manage the cash
flow and that's probably one ofthe biggest things is when a
client is not paying ornon-paying because of a small
object or a small issue.
Right, let's just say, forinstance, we've had this happen.
(06:28):
Let me know if you have hadthis happen as well.
We build a house, the house is Idon't know.
Let's just say it's $750,000.
It could be 300.
I'm just throwing a number outthere.
It could be 300,000.
It could be 350.
I'm just throwing a number outthere, it could be 300,000.
It could be 350.
That's relevant, right?
(06:53):
We go through, we build it.
We're 95% complete, right?
So you've captured the majority, or what you think is the
majority of the money throughthe draw schedule with the
client that you've worked out.
You may have a 10% left on theend once everything's done and
you get that certificate ofoccupancy.
You're expecting that pay,right?
Wrong, the client is not goingto pay that last little bit
until they feel 100% comfortableand they want to make sure
(07:16):
everything on that list.
They do these punch lists andyou've got 10 items of caulk and
paint and now they're holdingup $75,000 because of some paint
or some caulk.
Right, and it may be asituation.
We've had this happen.
I can't state this enough.
We tell these stories based onour experience in the field.
(07:40):
We have had this happen.
Everybody has.
I don't care how good of acontractor you are.
You have had a payment disputewith a client, but anyway,
you're going to get thenever-ending punch list.
You're going to get thenever-ending situation where
there is a small bit of paint, asmall bit of caulk, a small bit
of trim, something like that, asmall bit of mortar, a small
(08:03):
bit of cleanliness, okay.
I could go on and on with theissues that we have had and
heard.
That may take a day, may taketwo days, may be a reason the
contractor, you can't get to itand the client is holding up
that much money becauseeverything isn't 100% complete.
(08:28):
99 isn't good enough?
Okay, they want it 100%complete.
99 isn't good enough?
Okay, they want it 100%complete.
And this could string along andstring on, for I don't know how
long.
Sometimes it actually goesyears, okay.
I haven't had one happen.
I've had plenty of clients notpay, and not even just because
they weren't satisfied, butbecause they just basically said
(08:52):
we don't have the money orwe're not going to pay you, or
we're not satisfied, even thoughthe job you know, in your
opinion and everybody else inthe world's opinion, was
immaculate.
But everybody goes throughthese situations and we do not
take care of each other.
We do not share those storiesin fear of hurting our image,
(09:17):
because our beautiful work isalways at the forefront of what
we do, right?
Great pictures, before andafters, especially in what we do
kitchen bath, all that stuff.
Beautiful work, happy client,happy life.
That's just the business.
But that is not true.
The reality is we're sittingand suffering in silence because
(09:39):
we have cash flow issues, wehave an unhappy client, we have
employees not showing up, wehave subs not showing up, we
have delays due to weather.
I'm sitting in a weather delayright now on a slab that we
cannot get the compaction testdone, the footers dug because it
(10:00):
continues to pour.
Here in the deep South, we'reon the Alabama Gulf Coast and so
this every time a delay happens, it compounds right, and we, as
contractors, we don't talkabout that stuff.
When you're selling yourself,when you're selling your company
, when you're marketing, whenyou're out there, you're not
(10:21):
telling the story of what youcan't do or how the delay
happened or anything like that.
Well, we are, and that's whatthis show is about.
We want you to know.
It doesn't matter how perfectyou think a build is going to go
, how much you vet that builder.
Ok, they've been doing it for 5, 10, 15, 20, however many years
(10:42):
, 50 years, guess what.
There's going to be a hiccup,there's going to be a problem,
there's going to be a delay.
There's going to be an ordermissed.
There's going to be a delay.
There's going to be an ordermissed.
There's going to be so manythings that happen.
But how are we as contractorshelping each other out?
Right, we are trying to pleasethe client.
(11:02):
We are trying to complete apunch list.
We are trying to make sure ourname stays strong in the
community as a contractor right,because there's so many bad
actors out there taking money,doing things.
So we are trying to combat allof that, and so any crack in our
system, any flaw in what we do,comes off as you're not a good
(11:26):
contractor.
But that's not true.
All contractors battle thisstuff and we don't do it
together, we do it alone.
That Home Builders Associationthat, right, there is another
front for all the positivitythat's going on these business
(11:47):
groups, all of those things andhey, they're great, I'm a part
of the Home Builders Association, I'm a part of those things,
and hey, they're great, I'm apart of the Home Builders
Association, I'm a part ofbusiness groups.
I applaud people who do that tomarket their business, to help
each other out.
I have no problem with that.
But where are you getting thereal help?
And that's where our story andour show comes in.
(12:07):
We want to be real, we want tobe raw.
We want you to watch it, not soyou can dog us and talk about
well, they're showing theirsystem flaws.
No, that's not what it's about.
We do this because I want torelate to you.
I know there's somebody outthere watching and listening to
our podcast and they'relistening so they can get better
(12:29):
.
Well, part of getting better istaking care of each other and
being real about your situationwith another contractor, with
somebody that you can trust, notjust your personal, your family
or whatever it is.
And you know, sometimes wesuffer in silence so much that
not even our employees are awareof the full situation of what's
(12:51):
going on.
Not even our employees areaware of the full situation of
what's going on.
And the one thing that hashelped me so much was opening up
to my leadership team so theycan share the burdens and the
load.
You should not carry the loadof business by yourself.
Okay, no matter what you do,you need to find some people you
(13:12):
trust that you can talk to andthat you can relate to and share
those experiences.
All right, and as contractors,we have to stop tearing each
other down.
You know, I see it all the time.
We have these local group pageswhere people are constantly
asking for referrals forbusiness, and what I mean is we
(13:35):
have a community page and thecommunity page there might be
somebody asking for a kitchenremodel.
You're going to get a wholelist of names right Of different
companies that do kitchenremodels, ours included.
Well, guess what?
They're going to call a few ofthose people.
You're going to go out, you'regoing to bid, you're going to
talk to the client.
One thing I never do and I don'tallow I shouldn't say allow
(13:58):
because that's not the rightword but I talk to my team about
, we don't talk about othercontractors.
If we are asked about othercontractors, hey, we don't
really know.
All right, we don't keep upwith it, whatever it is, even
though I'm sure my team does.
I'm sure they're out therewatching what the next person is
doing, which the nextcontractor is doing.
(14:20):
That's okay.
But what we don't do inside ourdoors is talk about other
contractors.
The reason that we do that isbecause we don't want to get
caught up in what they havegoing on.
Okay, and we hope there aren'tpeople out there talking about
our company, but we know thereis.
And so we're battling not justcashflow issues, client issues,
(14:44):
employee and labor issues, thenegativity from other
contractors either, trying totear us down so they can get the
work, underbidding us so theycan get the work.
All of that stuff.
It hurts us as an industry.
So let's take some time andthink about is there one person
(15:05):
today that you think that youcan think of as a contractor,
that you would sit and talk toand really open that door, open
up you know a little bit to themand share your story and share
some of the burdens that youhave as a contractor that you
don't think would hurt you oryour reputation?
And I want to encourage you toreach out.
(15:29):
Hey, reach out to me via email,phone call, just talk to me.
I'll share a ton of storieswith you.
I'll share some of the burdensof being a contractor.
I want to be real and open andraw.
Okay, it's not all a facade andyou can't go out there to these
different trade shows anddifferent.
(15:51):
If you really want to talkabout it, let's talk about it.
Let's talk about how hard itcan be being a contractor and
you don't have to suffer insilence.
Okay, the Home Building Show ishere for you.
We want you to relate to whatwe do.
We want to share our stories.
I am going to be bringing in alot of local contractors home
(16:13):
builders, designers, everythingand then some you know some that
are on TV that are doing thisand my hope in all of this is
that not only do you learn howto do construction residential
construction, build a home,install flooring, paint,
whatever it is but that youlearn the business side and then
(16:34):
you also understand that we'reall human, we all have problems,
we all share in the sameburdens and being a contractor
is relative to all of us.
The same hardships that I gothrough you're going through,
and I hope that more of you openup and share your story so
(16:55):
somebody else can learn andlisten from that.
And that's the goal here at theHome Building Remodeling Show.
I'm so glad that you are tunedin and listening and let me know
what you would like to see andhear more of.
I've got some exciting guestscoming up.
We're still doing our women inconstruction right now and I
(17:16):
definitely have some heavyhitters that are joining the
show.
Jan did show with us and shedid such a wonderful job and you
know even the hardship of herreality was she was told as a
kid by her own family that youreally shouldn't build houses,
right?
That's not something that womendo.
There are so many stories outthere.
(17:37):
We're going to get them outthere.
Stories out there, we're goingto get them out there.
And if you have one, if you wantto be on the show, if you'd
like to be a guest on the show,please reach out to the
homebuilding show at gmailcom.
Email us.
I'll set up a introductory call.
We'll just kind of chat and getto know each other and then
from there we set up therecording.
I send you the questionnaire tobe interviewed and we're off
(18:01):
and running.
And if you have a story to getout there or you follow somebody
who you think should be on theshow, please let me know who
that is.
Send them my way, tag them andlet's get them out there.
I appreciate all you contractors, diyers doing this stuff and
listening to our show.
Hopefully we can help you out.
(18:23):
Hopefully you gain somethingfrom every show every week just
by listening.
We want to do more and we'reabout to do a lot more to help
each other.
Thanks for joining us today.
As always, we are grateful forour listeners and your continued
support.
Please subscribe to our youtubechannel.
(18:44):
Follow us on social media viafacebook, instagram and tiktok.
Get more info at our website,wwwthehomebuildingshowcom and,
as always, remember who we arethe Home Building and Remodeling
Show.
The Home Building and Remodeling Show.
Let's go.
Welcome everybody to the HomeBuilding and Remodeling Show.
My name is Chris Kirby and I'llbe your host.
(00:21):
I am the owner of threeconstruction companies on the
Alabama Gov Post.
The show is about residentialconstruction.
We're going to cover topics ofhome building and remodeling.
Are you thinking of doing aremodel or building a home?
Are you a contractor looking toimprove your knowledge base or
grow your business?
Have you ever done a remodelproject or built a home?
(00:42):
There were so many things youwish you knew or that you could
have done differently during theprocess.
Then this show is for you.
We break down the process ofbuilding and remodeling and how
to have the best results duringyour project.
Whether you're a DIYer lookingfor tips, someone looking to
hire a contractor to do aproject, or a contractor looking
(01:04):
to expand your knowledge baseor your business, welcome aboard
.
Glad to have you.
Stay tuned.
We kick off the show with mythoughts on home building and
remodeling.
I'll share best practices andtalk about some of our
experiences in business and outin the field.
These shared thoughts andlessons learned are meant to
help you on your very ownjourney.
(01:25):
Let's go.
Thanks for tuning in everybody.
This week I just wanted to kindof talk about something that
it's been on my heart man.
I had a friend come by justdiscussing business and talking
about some of the stuff thatthey've been going through, and
I kind of hit this spot where Icould relate so much to some of
(01:47):
the troubles they were havingand some of the things that they
were saying and it made merealize that we don't take care
of each other enough ascontractors and so I wanted to
talk about that this week.
We get in our heads.
We're going through this battleof business alone.
Being a contractor isn't easy,I understand that, but we fail
(02:09):
to take care of each other.
We're so competitive yet wefail to take care of each other.
There's so many of us sufferingin silence, and even me.
I do the home building show.
I own multiple constructioncompanies, but times are so hard
.
I just enjoy doing the contentand showing people what it is
about.
We try to be real, we try to beraw, we talk about delays and
(02:32):
we talk about things that we gothrough.
We show you our step-by-stepprocess.
But this one kind of hits hardfor me because I do not like to
see other contractors go throughstuff that I feel like I could
help them with, but I also knowthere are a lot of you out there
who have similar stories,similar experiences, and we
(02:54):
could help each other.
So that's what I wanted to talkabout and kick off the show
with this week.
I wanted to get a littlepersonal.
You know we struggle as acompany all the time.
People don't understandcashflow issues.
They don't understand when youhave 10 people at the door
waiting for money, plus bills,plus everything else that goes
(03:15):
on, and then you have a delayand can't get your draw, or
there's some issue on the jobsite that the client won't pay
or doesn't pay, and then youhave to figure it out whether
it's getting a loan, getting apersonal loan, getting a
business loan, borrowing money.
We need to do better abouttalking about the realities of
(03:38):
being a contractor, and I wantedto say you know we are so
competitive and I wanted to sayyou know we're so competitive.
(04:01):
We always are competitive,especially if it's same industry
, right?
So electrician versuselectrician, plumber versus
plumber you know things likethat, where in our world it's
remodeler versus remodeler.
Homebuild have the home buildersassociation.
Yes, it's fun to get together,but let's be honest, we're all
competing for the same clients.
We're all competing for thesame work home build, remodel,
home addition, whatever it maybe, and what I see and it's not
everybody.
I have a lot of goodrelationships with local
(04:21):
contractors and I do this showso the client, consumer, diyer,
other contractors can have andshare this information and know
that we're all going through thesame thing.
As far as the talking portionof what we do, then we have the
how-tos and things like that,and that's just to show the
process to better educate theconsumer.
(04:44):
This isn't to tell a seasonedcontractor how to do their job.
That's not what this show isabout.
Okay, if you're a seasonedcontractor, you know this stuff
right.
So we get comments all the timeoh my gosh, do it this way, do
it that way.
I've been doing it for ahundred years and you're doing
it wrong.
We understand You're alwaysgoing to get that.
We're going to get negativityon our page.
(05:06):
There's always a hundred waysto do something in construction.
But we don't.
We just look past all thenegativity and we continue to do
what we do and we love it.
Okay, and a part of loving it islistening to stories from other
contractors and remodelers andtradesmen and women, and that's
(05:26):
guy and girl, both right, we'reall in this world together,
interior designers.
I just want to make sure thatwhen they come on this show they
give you some of the reality,the reality check, some of the
stuff that actually goes onbehind the scenes, not just the
I built this big, beautiful homeand sold it for X amount of
(05:46):
dollars and the client's happy,or you know, those stories are
great and the how to's are greatand the stories of how to get
you know a before and an afterand the product is right for the
client.
Those are great stories butit's not reality.
It is so hard to do what we doas contractors.
(06:07):
It's so hard to manage thepersonnel, to manage the cash
flow and that's probably one ofthe biggest things is when a
client is not paying ornon-paying because of a small
object or a small issue.
Right, let's just say, forinstance, we've had this happen.
(06:28):
Let me know if you have hadthis happen as well.
We build a house, the house is Idon't know.
Let's just say it's $750,000.
It could be 300.
I'm just throwing a number outthere.
It could be 300,000.
It could be 350.
I'm just throwing a number outthere, it could be 300,000.
It could be 350.
That's relevant, right?
(06:53):
We go through, we build it.
We're 95% complete, right?
So you've captured the majority, or what you think is the
majority of the money throughthe draw schedule with the
client that you've worked out.
You may have a 10% left on theend once everything's done and
you get that certificate ofoccupancy.
You're expecting that pay,right?
Wrong, the client is not goingto pay that last little bit
until they feel 100% comfortableand they want to make sure
(07:16):
everything on that list.
They do these punch lists andyou've got 10 items of caulk and
paint and now they're holdingup $75,000 because of some paint
or some caulk.
Right, and it may be asituation.
We've had this happen.
I can't state this enough.
We tell these stories based onour experience in the field.
(07:40):
We have had this happen.
Everybody has.
I don't care how good of acontractor you are.
You have had a payment disputewith a client, but anyway,
you're going to get thenever-ending punch list.
You're going to get thenever-ending situation where
there is a small bit of paint, asmall bit of caulk, a small bit
of trim, something like that, asmall bit of mortar, a small
(08:03):
bit of cleanliness, okay.
I could go on and on with theissues that we have had and
heard.
That may take a day, may taketwo days, may be a reason the
contractor, you can't get to itand the client is holding up
that much money becauseeverything isn't 100% complete.
(08:28):
99 isn't good enough?
Okay, they want it 100%complete.
99 isn't good enough?
Okay, they want it 100%complete.
And this could string along andstring on, for I don't know how
long.
Sometimes it actually goesyears, okay.
I haven't had one happen.
I've had plenty of clients notpay, and not even just because
they weren't satisfied, butbecause they just basically said
(08:52):
we don't have the money orwe're not going to pay you, or
we're not satisfied, even thoughthe job you know, in your
opinion and everybody else inthe world's opinion, was
immaculate.
But everybody goes throughthese situations and we do not
take care of each other.
We do not share those storiesin fear of hurting our image,
(09:17):
because our beautiful work isalways at the forefront of what
we do, right?
Great pictures, before andafters, especially in what we do
kitchen bath, all that stuff.
Beautiful work, happy client,happy life.
That's just the business.
But that is not true.
The reality is we're sittingand suffering in silence because
(09:39):
we have cash flow issues, wehave an unhappy client, we have
employees not showing up, wehave subs not showing up, we
have delays due to weather.
I'm sitting in a weather delayright now on a slab that we
cannot get the compaction testdone, the footers dug because it
(10:00):
continues to pour.
Here in the deep South, we'reon the Alabama Gulf Coast and so
this every time a delay happens, it compounds right, and we, as
contractors, we don't talkabout that stuff.
When you're selling yourself,when you're selling your company
, when you're marketing, whenyou're out there, you're not
(10:21):
telling the story of what youcan't do or how the delay
happened or anything like that.
Well, we are, and that's whatthis show is about.
We want you to know.
It doesn't matter how perfectyou think a build is going to go
, how much you vet that builder.
Ok, they've been doing it for 5, 10, 15, 20, however many years
(10:42):
, 50 years, guess what.
There's going to be a hiccup,there's going to be a problem,
there's going to be a delay.
There's going to be an ordermissed.
There's going to be a delay.
There's going to be an ordermissed.
There's going to be so manythings that happen.
But how are we as contractorshelping each other out?
Right, we are trying to pleasethe client.
(11:02):
We are trying to complete apunch list.
We are trying to make sure ourname stays strong in the
community as a contractor right,because there's so many bad
actors out there taking money,doing things.
So we are trying to combat allof that, and so any crack in our
system, any flaw in what we do,comes off as you're not a good
(11:26):
contractor.
But that's not true.
All contractors battle thisstuff and we don't do it
together, we do it alone.
That Home Builders Associationthat, right, there is another
front for all the positivitythat's going on these business
(11:47):
groups, all of those things andhey, they're great, I'm a part
of the Home Builders Association, I'm a part of those things,
and hey, they're great, I'm apart of the Home Builders
Association, I'm a part ofbusiness groups.
I applaud people who do that tomarket their business, to help
each other out.
I have no problem with that.
But where are you getting thereal help?
And that's where our story andour show comes in.
(12:07):
We want to be real, we want tobe raw.
We want you to watch it, not soyou can dog us and talk about
well, they're showing theirsystem flaws.
No, that's not what it's about.
We do this because I want torelate to you.
I know there's somebody outthere watching and listening to
our podcast and they'relistening so they can get better
(12:29):
.
Well, part of getting better istaking care of each other and
being real about your situationwith another contractor, with
somebody that you can trust, notjust your personal, your family
or whatever it is.
And you know, sometimes wesuffer in silence so much that
not even our employees are awareof the full situation of what's
(12:51):
going on.
Not even our employees areaware of the full situation of
what's going on.
And the one thing that hashelped me so much was opening up
to my leadership team so theycan share the burdens and the
load.
You should not carry the loadof business by yourself.
Okay, no matter what you do,you need to find some people you
(13:12):
trust that you can talk to andthat you can relate to and share
those experiences.
All right, and as contractors,we have to stop tearing each
other down.
You know, I see it all the time.
We have these local group pageswhere people are constantly
asking for referrals forbusiness, and what I mean is we
(13:35):
have a community page and thecommunity page there might be
somebody asking for a kitchenremodel.
You're going to get a wholelist of names right Of different
companies that do kitchenremodels, ours included.
Well, guess what?
They're going to call a few ofthose people.
You're going to go out, you'regoing to bid, you're going to
talk to the client.
One thing I never do and I don'tallow I shouldn't say allow
(13:58):
because that's not the rightword but I talk to my team about
, we don't talk about othercontractors.
If we are asked about othercontractors, hey, we don't
really know.
All right, we don't keep upwith it, whatever it is, even
though I'm sure my team does.
I'm sure they're out therewatching what the next person is
doing, which the nextcontractor is doing.
(14:20):
That's okay.
But what we don't do inside ourdoors is talk about other
contractors.
The reason that we do that isbecause we don't want to get
caught up in what they havegoing on.
Okay, and we hope there aren'tpeople out there talking about
our company, but we know thereis.
And so we're battling not justcashflow issues, client issues,
(14:44):
employee and labor issues, thenegativity from other
contractors either, trying totear us down so they can get the
work, underbidding us so theycan get the work.
All of that stuff.
It hurts us as an industry.
So let's take some time andthink about is there one person
(15:05):
today that you think that youcan think of as a contractor,
that you would sit and talk toand really open that door, open
up you know a little bit to themand share your story and share
some of the burdens that youhave as a contractor that you
don't think would hurt you oryour reputation?
And I want to encourage you toreach out.
(15:29):
Hey, reach out to me via email,phone call, just talk to me.
I'll share a ton of storieswith you.
I'll share some of the burdensof being a contractor.
I want to be real and open andraw.
Okay, it's not all a facade andyou can't go out there to these
different trade shows anddifferent.
(15:51):
If you really want to talkabout it, let's talk about it.
Let's talk about how hard itcan be being a contractor and
you don't have to suffer insilence.
Okay, the Home Building Show ishere for you.
We want you to relate to whatwe do.
We want to share our stories.
I am going to be bringing in alot of local contractors home
(16:13):
builders, designers, everythingand then some you know some that
are on TV that are doing thisand my hope in all of this is
that not only do you learn howto do construction residential
construction, build a home,install flooring, paint,
whatever it is but that youlearn the business side and then
(16:34):
you also understand that we'reall human, we all have problems,
we all share in the sameburdens and being a contractor
is relative to all of us.
The same hardships that I gothrough you're going through,
and I hope that more of you openup and share your story so
(16:55):
somebody else can learn andlisten from that.
And that's the goal here at theHome Building Remodeling Show.
I'm so glad that you are tunedin and listening and let me know
what you would like to see andhear more of.
I've got some exciting guestscoming up.
We're still doing our women inconstruction right now and I
(17:16):
definitely have some heavyhitters that are joining the
show.
Jan did show with us and shedid such a wonderful job and you
know even the hardship of herreality was she was told as a
kid by her own family that youreally shouldn't build houses,
right?
That's not something that womendo.
There are so many stories outthere.
(17:37):
We're going to get them outthere.
Stories out there, we're goingto get them out there.
And if you have one, if you wantto be on the show, if you'd
like to be a guest on the show,please reach out to the
homebuilding show at gmailcom.
Email us.
I'll set up a introductory call.
We'll just kind of chat and getto know each other and then
from there we set up therecording.
I send you the questionnaire tobe interviewed and we're off
(18:01):
and running.
And if you have a story to getout there or you follow somebody
who you think should be on theshow, please let me know who
that is.
Send them my way, tag them andlet's get them out there.
I appreciate all you contractors, diyers doing this stuff and
listening to our show.
Hopefully we can help you out.
(18:23):
Hopefully you gain somethingfrom every show every week just
by listening.
We want to do more and we'reabout to do a lot more to help
each other.
Thanks for joining us today.
As always, we are grateful forour listeners and your continued
support.
Please subscribe to our youtubechannel.
(18:44):
Follow us on social media viafacebook, instagram and tiktok.
Get more info at our website,wwwthehomebuildingshowcom and,
as always, remember who we arethe Home Building and Remodeling
Show.
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