The Professional Builder founder Marti Amos says builders who want to get ahead stop trying to figure it all out alone, and connect with other building company owners.
After 21 years working with residential building company owners, I’ve seen this play out more times than I can count. For a lot of builders, Tuesday nights look like this. It’s 7.15pm. You’re at the kitchen table with plans spread out, trying to price a renovation while your kids are asking when you’re coming to watch TV.
Your phone buzzes. It’s the client from the Remuera job asking why the plasterer didn’t show up today. You don’t actually know because your foreman didn’t mention it, but now you’re texting him at quarter past seven to find out. You get back to the quote around 8.30pm. You’re working out labour hours for the kitchen demo, and you’ve got that sinking feeling you’re going to quote it too tight again.
Last job like this blew out by 40 hours and you still don’t know why. You add more contingency but now the price looks high, and you’re thinking about the two other builders probably quoting this.
Meanwhile, there’s a builder in Tauranga, Adam, who sorted out the foreman communication issue six months ago with a simple daily log system that takes four minutes. There’s someone in Christchurch, Ben, who worked out exactly how to price that type of kitchen demo because he’s done eight of them and tracks every hour.
But you’ll never talk to either of them because you’re sitting in your own kitchen at 8.30pm thinking you’re the only one who hasn’t figured this out yet.
What actually happens when you connect with other builders
Carl, one of our members, was at our Auckland summit last year. Morning tea, talking to three other builders. One guy mentions he just took two weeks off. Went to Fiji. Didn’t check emails once.
Because he hasn’t had a full week off in three years without his phone going mental, Carl’s immediate thought is “bull****, how?”
The guy explains his foreman runs a Monday morning toolbox meeting — 20 minutes covering the week ahead, any variations, health and safety. Sends him a voice note every afternoon with a quick update. That’s it. Simple enough that it kept running while he was on a beach in Fiji.
Carl’s thinking, “I’ve got a foreman. Why isn’t he doing this?” Then he realises — because he never set it up. He never showed him what it should look like.
Why you can’t level up alone
You can give someone the best systems in the world and they won’t implement them properly. Not because the systems don’t work but because their identity hasn’t shifted yet.
If you see yourself as “the builder who prices jobs at night and runs around fixing problems all day”, that’s what you’ll keep doing. The systems won’t stick because they don’t fit who you think you are.
One of our members, Scott, who’s based in Wellington had never met another builder doing over $3 million. He thought that level was for the big commercial guys with flash offices. Then he came to a two-day summit and ended up at dinner with builders doing $5 million, $8 million, $12 million.
They were talking about their kids’ sports, where they go fishing. But mixed in was casual talk about their operations manager, their estimator, their project management system. Like it was just normal to have those people and systems.
His identity shifted from “small builder trying to survive” to “business owner who happens to run a construction company.” Within 18 months he’d doubled revenue and hired a general manager. Not because he learned some magic system. Because being in that room showed him what was actually possible.
The weight you’ve been carrying alone
There’s something that happens when you realise you’re not the only one lying awake at 2am wondering if you quoted that job too tight. Or sitting in your ute at lunchtime thinking about whether you should let that underperforming carpenter go.
You’ve been carrying this weight thinking it means you’re not cut out for it. That other builders have it sorted and you’re the one struggling. Then you walk into a room and realise everyone’s dealing with some version of the same stuff.
That takes the weight off. Not because the problems go away, but because you realise this is just part of running a building company, and you don’t have to figure it all out alone.
What happens next
You can keep doing what you’re doing. Google searching and consulting Chatty GPT at 9pm trying to work out systems. Reading articles but not implementing them because you’re not quite sure if they’ll work.
Or you can put yourself in a room with builders who’ve already walked the path. They’ll tell you what actually works. They’ll show you where you’re wasting time. They’ll push you to think bigger than you would sitting alone at your kitchen table at 8.30pm.
That’s exactly why we’re bringing the roadshow back in March.
We’ll be running live sessions on:
• Tuesday, March 10 in East Auckland,
• Wednesday, March 11 in South Auckland, and
• Thursday, March 12 in Hamilton.
Some builders will read this and go back to grinding alone. Others will recognise that being in the right room, surrounded by the right people is what makes everything else work. Which will you do?
• If you want to see the full details and secure a spot, you can find all upcoming dates and locations at https://theprofessionalbuilder.com/live-events.
