Business of Contracting

Contract types, the clauses that matter, lien rights, getting paid, and the licensing-law trap.

Job costing, WIP schedules, percentage-of-completion, AIA billing, and retainage.

Cash flow, construction loans and draws, and surety bonds — bid, performance, payment, and more.

How to joint-venture a project — especially work you have not done before: why it works in your favor, how the JV agreement is structured, and how the partners work together.

The business side of contracting: systems, planning, pricing for profit (markup vs. margin), job profitability, sales, and leadership.

Build accurate estimates, recover overhead, bid the right work, and lock in your margin at buyout.

Why cash—not profit—kills contractors, and how to bill, collect, and forecast so you never hit the crunch.

Build a team, delegate outcomes, structure the company, and grow on purpose without breaking quality.

Run jobs on time and on budget: the PM role, scheduling and the critical path, submittals/RFIs, change orders, quality control, and closeout.

Win and keep clients: why service wins, consultative selling, managing expectations, handling complaints, and building referrals.

Protect your business: the key policies (GL, workers' comp, builder's risk), certificates of insurance, and managing risk beyond insurance.

Get a steady flow of the right work: your niche, website and Google presence, reviews, social media, and lead generation.

Negotiate fair, durable deals: the basics, negotiating with owners and with subs/suppliers, the contract terms that matter, and protecting the deal.

Get more done and keep your profit: why productivity matters, planning the day, cutting waste and rework, managing your own time, and the habits that help.

The step-by-step launch: is it time, setting up the business, getting legal and licensed, pricing and first jobs, and setting up for growth.

Win and run public projects: how public bidding works, bid/performance/payment bonds, prevailing wage and certified payroll, prequalification and set-asides, and managing the compliance.

Run subs like a pro: when to sub work out, finding and qualifying subs, the subcontract, scheduling and coordinating, and paying/handling problems.

A beginner's walk-through of where work comes from, how to read bid documents, do a takeoff, price a bid, and submit a winning proposal — without the rookie mistakes.

The categories of construction software and which beginner-friendly, low-cost tools to start with for takeoff, project management, scheduling, the field, and the back office.