Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
THE COMMAND go.thecontractorfight.com/command
I sold a $28,000 job in my first year of business. It cost me $45,000 to complete.
I wrote a check out of my own pocket to finish a job I had already been paid for.
Three things went wrong and all three were completely avoidable.
One. Three people warned me not to bid it. This client was a nightmare. Don’t do it. I thought I knew better. I didn’t. When experienced people in your market tell you something, believe them.
Two. I let the client run the job. What order things happened. When my crew could show up. Every time I said yes to something I shouldn’t have, it cost me time I hadn’t budgeted for. Whoever controls the process controls the profit.
Three. I had no idea what the job actually cost me. I priced it based on what felt competitive. Not my real cost per hour. Not my overhead. Not my target margin. Just a guess. Stop bidding the going rate.
The going rate is built on someone else’s numbers.
That one job taught me more than anything else in my first ten years of business.
You don’t have to pay $17,000 to learn what I learned.
👇 Save this. Share it with someone who needs to hear it.
THE COMMAND go.thecontractorfight.com/command
I sold a $28,000 job in my first year of business. It cost me $45,000 to complete.
I wrote a check out of my own pocket to finish a job I had already been paid for.
Three things went wrong and all three were completely avoidable.
One. Three people warned me not to bid it. This client was a nightmare. Don’t do it. I thought I knew better. I didn’t. When experienced people in your market tell you something, believe them.
Two. I let the client run the job. What order things happened. When my crew could show up. Every time I said yes to something I shouldn’t have, it cost me time I hadn’t budgeted for. Whoever controls the process controls the profit.
Three. I had no idea what the job actually cost me. I priced it based on what felt competitive. Not my real cost per hour. Not my overhead. Not my target margin. Just a guess. Stop bidding the going rate.
The going rate is built on someone else’s numbers.
That one job taught me more than anything else in my first ten years of business.
You don’t have to pay $17,000 to learn what I learned.
👇 Save this. Share it with someone who needs to hear it.
