Quiet markets
How to use a slow period without wrecking the business
Episode 9 is for the weeks when every conversation starts with keeping the boys going. The worst thing you can do is teach clients that you will buy work.
From this episode
- Chasing cheap jobs trains the market to pay you less later.
- The advantage is built in the quiet and spent in the rush.
Show notes
In Episode 9 of Behind the Facade, Jake from Proline Group and Daniel from Complex Facade Install sit down for a wide ranging conversation about what it really takes to build a construction business that can withstand the pressure of a slow market without compromising on standards or pricing.
This episode gets into one of the most important mindset shifts in construction right now. We break down why turning down work you could win is sometimes the smartest move in the business, how five years of internal data is now driving every tender decision, and why the businesses that hold their standards through the slow period are the ones that come out the other side ahead.
We also get into the AI voice tool that's producing 35,000 words in a weekend, why preparation before a job starts is worth more than anything you do on the tools, the 4am club and why physical discipline and business discipline are the same thing, a live Q&A from the audience on finding mentors and managing cash, and the mindset behind studying your competition and picking them off one by one.
If you work in construction, facades, cladding, glazing, fabrication, project management, site management, subcontracting, trades, estimating, operations, or business ownership, this episode is a raw and honest look at how the best businesses in the industry hold their nerve when the work dries up and come out the other side stronger for it.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro and Whispr Flow, the AI voice tool producing 35,000 words in a weekend
05:36 Business update, $22 million in tenders out in one week and how new software doubled output
10:50 Why a 14% strike rate on tenders is intentional and why winning every job is a warning sign
14:23 Why signing cheap work in a slow market sets you up to lose money before you start
22:13 How to price jobs correctly using your own data instead of guessing
25:31 Mount Hospital prep and why the work you do before boots are on the ground determines everything
32:55 Mentor sessions, what Danny, Luke Edmonds and Griffo each taught Daniel about building a business
38:12 If you can't look after yourself you can't look after a business and the discipline connection
39:53 The 4am club, 15 gym memberships, ice baths and why training your leaders together changes everything
43:23 Live Q&A: how to find a mentor when you didn't grow up around successful people
48:17 Model the rise not the outcome and why studying your competition is fuel for the fire
01:08:36 The supply system one of the team built overnight and why building beats buying every time
01:12:10 Only 50% of your working day is actually productive and here's what to do about it
01:22:47 Biggest wins and biggest mistakes of the month and what the standard you walk past says about you