Contractor Cash Flow Revolution: The Launch of Profit First for Commercial Construction

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ℹ ABOUT THIS EPISODE

Are you a contractor struggling with cash flow? Join Wade and Stephen as they discuss the launch of 'Profit First for Commercial Construction,' Wade's transformative book tailored for the construction industry.

Learn practical financial management strategies that are simple yet powerful to turn your business around. Hear real-life stories, insights on implementing the system, and the significant impact it can have on your profitability and sustainability. 

The book is available now on Amazon, with special launch price of $2.99 for the Kindle edition. Don't miss out! 

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⌚️ In this episode:

• 00:12 Launching Profit First for Commercial Construction
• 00:46 The Ultimate Book for Contractors
• 01:11 The Realities of Profit First
• 06:50 The Emotional Journey of Writing the Book
• 07:16 Audiobook and Future Plans
• 18:43 Understanding Job Costs and Overhead
• 19:45 The Importance of Cash Flow
• 20:42 Implementing the System: First 90 Days
• 23:34 Long-Term Benefits and Financial Freedom
• 26:02 Conclusion: A New Way to Run Your Business

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Find all episodes and related links at ContractorSuccessForum.com.

Join the conversation on our LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/CarpenterCPAs

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Wade Carpenter, CPA, CGMA | CarpenterCPAs.com
Stephen Brown, Bonding Expert | SuretyAnswers.com

Transcript

Wade Carpenter: [00:00:00] Have you ever felt like your construction business is building everyone else's dream while your own bank account stays empty? It is like pouring a perfect foundation for clients, but forgetting to shore up your own financial structure.

Today marks the launch of Profit First for Commercial Construction, a book that transforms how contractors handle money, specifically engineered for the unique challenges of cash flow in the construction industry. Just like you wouldn't use drywall tools to do concrete work, you shouldn't use general purpose financial systems for your contracting business. 

This is the Contractor Success Forum. I'm Wade Carpenter with Carpenter Company CPAs, alongside Stephen Brown with McDaniel Whitley Bonding and Insurance. Stephen, initial thoughts on my book? You actually just finished reading it, I believe.

Stephen Brown: Well Wade, I mean, I could say it's like the, Benhur, Gone With the Wind. It's To Kill a Mock-- it is the definitive book for contractors. I mean, it's like what Pride and Prejudice is to women. [00:01:00] It-- romance novels. This is the ultimate novel for contractors, I think. It's a great story, Wade. I mean, I'm so proud of you. You did just did a great job. It's a great story. And what I want our listeners to know first is that Profit First is not a get rich quick scheme. It's a successful scheme that works over and over again.

No matter how hopeless your situation is financially and and how you're running your business now, it is the answer. And Wade, I've been in this business for over 40 years and I've seen so many contractors do great and others go under, and all sorts of things that happen over and over again. In fact, it's the reason why we've been doing this podcast. How long have we done this podcast?

Wade Carpenter: We're in our fifth year now.

Stephen Brown: Yeah. Well, it just blows my mind, but it's why we started the podcast. Okay. And the book is the culmination, I think of these five years that we've been working together. Wade. I just love it. And [00:02:00] listeners, seriously, if you listen to this podcast here, Wade's offering an outline of the book and what you can expect from it.

And, I just got to tell you, it's worth every bit of time you spend on understanding it. It's literally not anything you need to spend any money to implement. This is not a get rich quick scheme. This is not a scheme to make Wade rich. We have no ulterior motive other than helping you.

And I can just tell you that's a fact, that's a truth. I've known Wade for over five years, and this book is just fantastic.

Wade Carpenter: Well, thank you Stephen. That's not the first time I've heard the title Profit First sounds greedy. It's like, hey, we're going to a money grubbing thing, or I guess you're taking a little differently like, hey, yeah, this is get quick. And construction is not get rich quick or you can, I guess. But there are definitely some [00:03:00] nuances to it and that's what the book is all about.

The original book Profit First by Mike Michalowicz, he did a wonderful job, but it was written for all audiences. There's some things he, puts in there about contractors, but it's confusing. And then there was another derivative book was written, he did not explain the nuances of Mike Michalowicz calls it my materials and subs. I go into more of what it is as far as like the nuances for construction, and we can talk about that later.

Today marks the launch. The day this is coming out, this is the launch day. You can actually buy it on Amazon today. And just for today only, we've got the Kindle price down to $2 99 cents. So, 

Stephen Brown: You.

Wade Carpenter: afford to miss that 'cause the price goes up after this week,

Stephen Brown: Yeah. Okay. That's fair enough.

 Wade. I love the fact of how you wrote the book. It's called a parable. So it's written with a fictional [00:04:00] real life general contractor. That's taken on a huge job that at first glimpse, maybe they shouldn't have taken it on at that particular time.

But anyway, the story, walks you through these characters. It's very relatable. And then at the end of chapter of the story, there's a synopsis of what you need to think about. The key points of that. It was an enjoyable read and, you don't have to be, MBA in finance to understand it.

And it's written in the most simple, relatable type of terms to communicate this program.

Wade Carpenter: Yeah, I mean, there's a couple of books that we've talked about on this podcast before about. The goal by eli Gold, which, our buddy Rob also, talks about, and I think his father actually hired him to work with his construction business long time ago. But that was part of the motivation.

But I've always noticed that, when you can teach with story, [00:05:00] it's a lot more relatable and, memorable. when it's done right.

And so the way I've written the book, it is. hope, an engaging story teaches in a very different way that, you know, yes, that's, here's the story but at the end of the chapters, this is how you implement it. Again, Mike Macau's original instant assessment, what he called it is 17 steps to get to this instant assessment. And there's several things like that that really, you know, stumbled. To try to even get started with.

So I've approached it very differently that let's make sure we understand what our really job cost is from a cash standpoint, as well as figuring out what our overhead is a cash standpoint.

Stephen Brown: Yeah. I think that's so important, Wade. And pushing through this book and seeing how it all ties together is the goal. If you get the book, do it. It doesn't matter if it takes you a weekend, to get through [00:06:00] it because you're gonna stop and you're gonna think about some things along the way.

But Wade, I love how at the end of the book you tie everything together. And, I will not, give you a spoiler alert as to the ending, but of course the book has an ending and it's a satisfactory ending. I mean, that's all I can say, right? But, I love the fact how you've tied everything together and how you've used so many of your own personal, experiences, in the book.

Great job, Wade.

Wade Carpenter: Thank you. None of the profit First derivatives or nobody has written a bill. Is this fable like this in the profit First space. And you mentioned the ending. My copy editor actually cried at the end, I don't think anybody else said that about a Profit First book. But

Stephen Brown: It is very, it's very emotional. Because if you've been in this business like I have, and you have long enough to know the despair of being broke and not being able to get paid [00:07:00] and having cash issues and being right on the verge of your company going under, the toll it takes on your family and your relationships and your friends, when things aren't going well, this is a solution to that. It's very powerful.

Wade Carpenter: Well, thank you for saying that. And you also did wanna say we are working on the audio book. Mike Mitz himself wrote and recorded the foreword for my book.

Stephen Brown: Okay.

Wade Carpenter: And it's actually a story of me and Rob out in Arizona with him.

So, I won't give that away, but we are working on the audiobook, so if you're not much of a reader but don't mind riding around in your truck a little bit, maybe you can listen to this.

Stephen Brown: Well, I'm just sad that Charleston, Charlton Huston isn't still around to do the narration of it. I'm thinking maybe Sam Shepherd or somebody.

Wade Carpenter: Earl Jones. I don't know. We'll see.

Stephen Brown: All right.

Wade Carpenter: But there's a lot of things in there, like you mentioned there, there's the growth, death spiral, those, basically the trap of growing and running out of cash. We [00:08:00] about several things and we're not gonna hit 'em all. We, they're. topics maybe we talked about over these years, but, we make decisions based on our bank balance. And when we only have one bank up there, you all know if you're listening to this, that, you can get a big check in on Friday, pay payroll and come Monday, you're flat broke again, and maybe you didn't even get a check out of that. And if that's the case, if you're not consistently getting paid, that's a problem.

Stephen Brown: Mm-hmm.

Wade Carpenter: Part of the message here is, yes, you've gotta make profit as well as you gotta pay yourself. One day this'll pay off. Well, that day needs to come right Now you can't wait any longer.

You gotta learn to build a profitable business, otherwise you can't help anybody else.

Stephen Brown: Yeah, no, that is so true. and the thing I like about the book is you really can start before you finish the book, but definitely you will start by the time you finish implementing this system. It's so carefully thought out. And I can tell the [00:09:00] listeners this, if you're reading the book and you're saying, well, that's ridiculous, that doesn't make sense to me or whatever, just keep reading.

There's a reason for everything in this book. I remember you telling me, something about a Baltimore story?

Wade Carpenter: Well, you've already mentioned the why for you, I think is the same as me. We've started this podcast, why we started it and it's like getting some information out to the industry. And after five years I really enjoy this.

The story in Baltimore actually was the launch, when they first went up on Amazon, had a Profit first Professionals meet up in Baltimore and. Mike Alts announced it, and they did actually put that, as they got out there and I hit the number one new release that week.

The thing that came out of that was at dinner one night, one of my friends asked me like, well, did you just write this as a lead magnet, or just to get clients? I don't know why, but that struck me really odd and I [00:10:00] lost a lot of sleep that night, thinking about well, 20 years ago, yeah, I probably would've said, yeah, that's what I,but my firm is at a different place now .

My why in business right now. I mean, I'm comfortable. In my firm, we're doing well.

Stephen Brown: Yeah.

Wade Carpenter: But I do feel like there's a lot of learning in and I guess there's a lot of things I reflected on over the great recession of 2008 and how many of my contractors did not survive that. 

Stephen Brown: Mm-hmm.

Wade Carpenter: That had a big effect on me, my firm and everything.

But a lot of the lessons came out of that. The survival rate of a business is not great, and construction is even worse. a lot of that has to do with cash flow. And so if my legacy can mean that I can save one business or a hundred businesses or maybe thousands of businesses-- that's, again, I didn't figure that out that night. It took a couple of days for me to, but that's why I wrote this book. [00:11:00] And that's a little odd after a year of putting a lot of effort into this. But that's really why I've enjoyed writing this book. I.

Stephen Brown: Well, you know, I wish you had called me that night. You wouldn't have lost so much sleep. I could tell you who you are and what your motivation is. I've known you long enough to know this is a fantastic endeavor and it's anything that's this good as powerful and it's helpful.

If you're a contractor of any kind, commercial, residential, any kind of contractor, you know how hard it is to keep up with all the moving parts financially that come in and go out in order to get your product completed. You know that. To have a system, an understanding. Of how to do something that's simple, that's understandable, that's relatable, that's expandable and offers hope for continuity in the future, and understanding of that.

This book has it all. I mean, I wasn't kidding when I said I really [00:12:00] considered it, for contractors an epic type of story. It really is.

Wade Carpenter: Well, again, I was gonna talk about some of the things that, the true cash out for job expenses or actually knowing what your overhead is going out in cash and how that helps you bid. But, I'd like to ask you a couple of questions if I could, because I know before the podcast you told me, I guess Rob Williams gave you the original Profit First, and you read it. And you shared with me some insights on, is this doable? Do you get it better now? So what are your thoughts on that?

Stephen Brown: When I first picked up the book and saw it I'm absolutely so leery of get rich quick schemes or anything that sounds hokey or kitschy, because I'm in a business where as a bond underwriter we're extremely conservative individuals, alright? And we look at things very practically and analytically.

Yet at the same time, emotionally we can bond a company outta business, especially if it's [00:13:00] our job just to get the bond approved. So, my first reaction was, first of all the name, if it sounded greedy, it would not be immediately relatable. And I didn't understand, how important Mike business model was toward understanding it. It's kind of like Dave Ramsey's approach to paying off your debts. So simple, yet beautiful and true.

So Mike is that person, and we've had him as a guest on our podcast, and I just, I like him. I feel like I know him anyway. Some of our listeners may not know that, they just may not. But my first reaction was, okay, the first thing it's telling you to do about setting up the different bank accounts can just absolutely throw the brakes on you if you don't keep reading. And it did with me on Mike's book, at the time, and I don't know, but because I wasn't open up and starting and running my own business [00:14:00] at the time, I was busy doing my job that I didn't read it through. But having read Profit First For Contractors and having done hundreds of podcasts with you on the finer points of this entire book, I just loved it.

Wade Carpenter: Well. I gotta say this too, that I've never probably said on this podcast, but, my business, I mean, I was making a living, but I was the same as these contractors before Profit First. Accounting firms can be very seasonal and, flow comes in and then there's all big old drought time. I was the picture of I didn't take a paycheck. We lived off my wife's paycheck for many years and I made sure everybody else ate before I ate.

Once I started the system, I have not missed a paycheck in, what, seven years or something like that since I started it. I read the original book back in 2014, and I did the same thing. I said, this is hokey, this is stupid. I've seen [00:15:00] people do that, they, let's just set up a bank accountant. Every time I got a couple extra dollars, I'll throw it in there for my building fund or something, and that doesn't work.

But I totally missed the point. The fifth core principle that Mike didn't, he only alludes to, but the accumulate principle that I talk about in there, you have to put your money in one bucket and don't spend it from that bucket, and then you divvy it out the buckets that it needs to go.

And again, I feel like I'm rambling here, but the clarity that comes from having your, okay, I've got enough in this payroll account. Can I afford to hire somebody else? Can I afford to go buy this new truck? Those were the things that I got as well as working with several contractors over the years. Like I have seen the clarity that comes not only in my business, but the revelations that come from theirs.

For years I've preached, like contractors get your books in order. I've seen where contractors, I [00:16:00] mean, number one, they hate taxes no matter what, but a lot of them, just the chore of getting that all together at the end of the year, getting their books and stuff in order so that they can do taxes, half the battle. The other part of this, the power in the system is you're putting money aside for taxes as well as for yourself and for profit. So when it comes April 15th, you got money there to pay your taxes. You're not scrambling to-- again, nobody wants to pay anymore than they have to, but if you're constantly, essentially sabotaging your own wealth by going and spending money just to avoid paying taxes, that's, I think, one of the most powerful things I can say about it.

Stephen Brown: Yeah. Wait, I couldn't agree more. And one of the most powerful things, and this was, oh, maybe 30 years ago. But a humongously successful general contractor of our, our firm was was closing the doors. they'd sold out to [00:17:00] another firm. And the owner was, friend and mentor of mine and I asked him to meet with one of my younger contractors.

And we sat down together in the office. I said, what's the one thing that you want him to know? What's the one thing that you would like to tell him that would help him? And his answer was so simple. It was just simply that if you use a shovel on a job, eventually it's gonna wear out, need to be replaced.

And he said, who cares about a shovel? You account for that shovel. Because it's a cost. and when it comes time to buy another shovel and you don't have the money to pay it, you've got to pay for it outta your own pocket. It comes out somewhere. But I guess his point was, almost the same as you have outlined here and Profit First for Contractors.

Wade Carpenter: No, I'm sorry. I gotta-- it is Profit First for Commercial Construction. Profit first for contractors is Sean Van Dyke's book.

Stephen Brown: I'm sorry, for commercial construction. So just [00:18:00] like you outlined in Profit First for Commercial Construction. these principles can apply to any contractor, but it's so pertinent to a commercial contractor.

But I guess the point I was going about the shovel is that, costs are real. And, how you price a job is real. These are two factors that change. And you know, they change and you can plan ahead for 'em.

I think the book perfectly outlines each step of the way. I would read a certain section as if I was reading the book for the first time, having a question, and then you answered it beautifully, either in the next few paragraphs or the next chapter. But, I love the way you told that story.

Wade Carpenter: Well, thank you. Again i'd love to go back to the part about what is job cost? A lot of our contractors struggle to figure out job costs. They messing with job cost codes and they never get it right. A lot of 'em will probably never have a great job costing system.

And there is a big [00:19:00] difference between job costing and what I'm calling job expenses. There's a clear delineation of what goes out in cash. In the book, even if you have no books whatsoever, you can follow the system and just come up with these percentages. And there's a big difference with that. The other part of that is well we could talk about the nuances of labor.

'cause if you got a guy on your payroll, if he's always gonna get paid no matter what, is your overhead, even if he's working on your job. So again, I don't want to go too deep into that.

The overhead part, which, everybody teaches overhead from a profit law standpoint and strictly here's our G and A expenses, divide that by revenue and that's the number you're supposed to have. Well, that is a financial statement concept. The way we look at it in profit first for commercial construction is that we're gonna take our number and we're gonna use our operating expenses, but that's got to include [00:20:00] things like the principal payments that are going out on your truck loans and your skid steer, those kind of things. That is cash out. And so a lot of people are, if they can wrap their head around, this is the true cash percentage that I need to put on every bid, and then if I wanna have some profit on top of that, you're gonna have to add something to your bid. Because I think you and I both see, contractors don't understand their margins very well. They don't understand the overhead factors.

Stephen Brown: There's a reason we talk about this so much.

Wade Carpenter: You were talking about the get rich quick screen. It's not a get rich quick scheme, but you can make some serious progress pretty quickly . In the first 90 days, I would say if you're a adapting to the system, number one, you're going to run into something that is going to hit unexpectedly, and you're gonna be tempted to just trash the system. I had to pay my workers' comp bill, or I [00:21:00] had, you know, my tracks on my excavator. I had a huge engine blow on my, you know, I don't know. Those things are gonna happen.

Undoing years of contractors baked in their head of, this is what I gotta do. What we're trying to do is get you out of that cycle of, hey, I'm in a crisis mode. I've gotta go take one of these, I don't want to use anybody's name, but you know, these loans that pay by the week, loans that cost so much money because you're desperate. You're not gonna get out of that in the first 90 days, but you should see some reduced stress.

You start seeing your payroll week becomes more routine instead of hey, let's scramble. Let me go pick up a check so I can cover payroll on Friday. That's what we're trying to get out of. We start putting some order and rhythm to that. 

Stephen Brown: Order and rhythm. It's true. It is a very insightful, very logical book. I think contractors are gonna love it. Because honestly, it makes sense. You can argue all you want [00:22:00] at the point, and, wade, both of us are open to any of these arguments. We always have been with our podcast. But I think this is the culmination of a lifetime of experience.

And I think how you've been able to put that lifetime of experience into a, I don't really like to use the word self-help book either. It's not get rich and it's not self, but it can make you wealthy, it can turn your business around and it is self-help 'cause you've got to understand the system and implement it.

But it's also a system that I think your whole, no matter what size company you are in the form of revenue or profits, it's gonna teach you something that if you're not using it, you can use it. I think maybe one of the biggest misconceptions our listeners or people looking at this book might have is, this is for a small contractor just starting off or one that's absolutely in a nightmare [00:23:00] situation.

No, it's for any commercial construction company. General contractor, subcontractor. It is for you at whatever your revenues and profits are. It helps you focus and de-stress situations, it helps communicate systems to all your employees. It's just good all around.

And the beauty of it is you've implemented it with so many people over the years. You've tweaked it, you've seen it work. That's the beauty of it. It works because it works. 

Wade Carpenter: If I could, maybe sticking with the timeline a little bit too, beyond that first 90 days, in the first three to 12 months afterwards, you're gonna start seeing consistent profit. Something that you can build up at the end of the quarter and maybe take something for yourself well as maybe getting some, system of Hey, let's have some kind of cushion if we got seasonality or whatever. And we need to address that.[00:24:00] 

Having some kind of cushion so that you will not be so reactive if something catastrophic happens. You gotta come out of pocket for these unexpected expenses, gonna have something there. It's, you're not starting from scratch. You're gonna start having tax money built up, so if you need to pay your taxes, it's there.

Again, also, this is what I think you'll find is once you dial in these numbers, you'll have a little more confidence in bidding. So that's where you start to see that after the first 90 days and the first year. After the first year you're gonna start seeing more sustainable business operations. These seasonality and you start building some some cushion, like I said before, but you know, you're gonna be able to start taking advantage of opportunities that come up.

When we have no money, we're out of options. We may go finance something that we shouldn't. What I've seen after the first year is more financial freedom. [00:25:00] And again, don't wanna mislead anybody because there is the target allocation percentages of what Mike Michalowicz calls it.

I approach it differently, but it may take you a couple of years to get it exactly where you want to be, but you know the sustainable benefits after say a year, you start having an operation where you, whether you would never get job cost records, you have something where you can run your business. Having all these bank accounts is not as hard as you think.

Stephen Brown: No it's not. And also bankers, vendors, clients. your accountant, how you handle even the taxes in your relationship with that. It's all help with the system. It's all a win for everybody. It's something that I believe absolutely. if you read the book, you can explain this to everyone that you do business with in simple terms of why you're doing it and [00:26:00] why it works.

That's what I love about it.

Wade Carpenter: Well, fact that you, mentioned win and I start off the book with the no win scenario. And I know it's kind of geekish, but it comes from a Star Trek 

Stephen Brown: Mm-hmm.

Wade Carpenter: About the Kobayashi Maru, and it was a test designed, if you don't know the story, it's, basically a no win scenario. And Captain Kirk was put in this no win scenario and he, he didn't like to lose. And it's like, well, we don't have to play by industry rules. And that's my message here. Just because everybody else does it a certain way, you have one bank account or whatever, you don't have to play by their rules anymore. You get some system in there. And it doesn't have to be, I mean, we're not gonna reporgram t he conditions of the Kobayashi Maru test, but we're gonna reprogram the way you run your business.

So I think that's the win that comes from it.

Stephen Brown: Absolutely. It is. And I loved the introduction of the book and how you explain [00:27:00] that scenario of time, 'cause I do remember that from the movie and it is extremely powerful to me, from really getting the big picture of what's going on here.

And, it may kind of run against established business practices as you've been taught, but it's not controversial. It's just not like anyone that you're dealing with is not gonna be thrilled, from the results of what you're doing here, everyone will benefit. And, so I just, I don't see any reason why anyone would not at least read this book and give it some thought. If you have some questions, by all means, I know you're more than happy, reach out to you to discuss it with you.

But, I can't wait to see where this goes. And I'm just absolutely thrilled, proud of you for getting this done.

We were talking about kind of ending this podcast on what it will look like, 90 days, six months, a year or [00:28:00] more. Once you've implemented the system, what is that picture look like? And you've already addressed in the first 90 days, your systems in place are gonna help you get off making dumb decisions. We talk about if you keep bidding jobs improperly without the right amount of profit on it to cover your true expenses, that's the definition of failure.

So in the first 90 days, that's over. If I was bidding jobs and losing money on all of them, I would say something has to be done. And the hardest part of the book is just putting the numbers together that are so simple. It's almost like the hardest part of losing weight is stepping on the scales the first time.

If you're overweight, nobody likes to go to the doctor's office and step on those scales. It's a dose of reality, but I think this is not, it's not painful in that regard. It's joyful. And that's the point that I believe you did a great job of communicating. And then six months down the roadwhat key [00:29:00] changes occur with your contractors that you've helped implement this?

Wade Carpenter: You're gonna start to see some consistent profitability. You're gonna start seeing some building up some reserves and so that you're not so reactive to money. Not chasing every dime so that you can start being proactive.

Because again, if you start getting into the system and you actually take to heart the rhythm, then you're going to be able to better better predict the flow of your money, and control your flow of money. There's concepts in the book about Megan's Buffet and coming in and going out just as fast. That's a cycle you gotta stop. It is a little simpler system.

And I'll go back to the story I told a long time ago. back in space race days, the sixties, United States supposedly spent a million dollars trying to get a pen that would write in space. You remember that story?

Stephen Brown: I remember the pen and the company that made it.

Wade Carpenter: The Russians actually [00:30:00] used a pencil. That's the message here. It doesn't have to be earth shattering. The simpler system won the day. Why would you spend a million dollars in 1969? You're laughing now. So--

Stephen Brown: Yeah. No, I love it. I hadn't heard that story before, but that's a great analogy.

Wade Carpenter: Well, it's a true story. There's been some people that have embellished it over the years, but it It goes to the simplicity of sometimes the simple system the better system.

Stephen Brown: Right.

Wade Carpenter: So hopefully they can take us to heart.

Stephen Brown: No matter how sophisticated your business systems are now, no matter how many moving parts you have, the look at what your company will look like a year from now and over a year in the future, it just doesn't conflict with that. Why would putting a good foundation conflict with the construction of a huge building? It's vital, right? How many times have we talked about that type of scenario in our podcast over the years?

One of the most inspiring parts of [00:31:00] this to me is to see how these systems help promote continuity. Of how your firm is gonna continue to operate, how it's gonna build worth, and be valuable to your employees who want to purchase it someday, or whoever else you wanna sell it to.

But nevertheless, the whole business model of your company is only worth what you can get from your equipment at a fire sale auction. Once you close the doors, that's all your company's worth. This message is so much more, enjoyable and powerful. When you put your life blood, sweat, and tears into building your construction company and then it all ends someday, and you say, well, the day I stop working is the day my company ends.

That's a fallacy. It most certainly is. If you want it to be that way. It just doesn't have to be. It's simple for it not to be that way.

Wade Carpenter: Yeah, just a lot of people don't see beyond just, this is all in my head and how can I get to that next level? 

Stephen Brown: [00:32:00] well Wade, you mentioned, maybe coming out with another book onmore advanced strategies. This could go on especially if you write the advanced strategies book as clearly and easy to understand as you did the first one. This is gonna be fantastic.

Wade Carpenter: Yeah, I've actually got plans for the sequel. What happens next?

Stephen Brown: Okay. you gonna, Are you gonna use the same characters, Alex and Roger? Okay. All right.

The disclaimer you're gonna be fascinated by the owner of this construction company's son. You're gonna definitely have some feelings about that. But anyway wait. I love your characters. I love the parable. I love the story. I love the teaching. I can't wait to get it into people's hands.

I can assure you as soon as I get my copies they will not be sitting on my desk for five minutes, they're going out to my friends and clients. And I just urge you listeners to give it a shot. It's not a financial issue.

It's not a get rich quick for Wade scheme. I. Or Stephen. It's just good [00:33:00] practical advice. I love it. I mean, would you say that Dave Ramsey got rich on his pay down debt scheme? Of course not. No. The whole idea of him doing it, maybe he did by being a specialist in that maybe he made a good living for himself.

His intentions were honorable and noble. And I feel like you've done the same thing in this book, Wade.

Wade Carpenter: Well, thank you. By the way, in researching the book, Dave Dave Ramsey didn't actually invent that system. He just got famous for it.

Stephen Brown: Ah.

Wade Carpenter: Expressed it well. I did not know that either.

 Again, the title is Profit First for Commercial Construction, but it does apply to residential construction.

I've had some parameters I had to meet with the previous derivative author and Mike Mcow, but, it does bring in different subs, with the general contractor and I think that's allowed me to tell the story of things like and those kind of things.

As of today, when this comes out, May 27th, it is live on [00:34:00] Amazon. It's already up there. And again, the pre-order price and very shortly after price will be going up from 2 99. Paperback is also available. And we'll follow up with the audio book as soon as possible. We're actively working on that right now.

I appreciate all the support today, Stephen. The thoughts and the feedback on the book. It's been invaluable to me.

Stephen Brown: Yeah, absolutely, my honor. Thank you.

Wade Carpenter: Okay. Any other final words?

Stephen Brown: Just get those books to me in the mail. I'll pay for postage. Whatever it takes to get 'em. I almost just wanna drive to Atlanta and pick 'em up in person. Wade, I would, if I could.

Wade Carpenter: All right. Well, if you have any questions, we'll put, you know, a link down below or in the show notes or something so you can reach it. Or if you got questions, you can reach out to me. We've also spun up a ProfitFirstConstruction.com that answers a lot of those questions, as well as we're gonna be some group coaching and those kind of things around it for [00:35:00] those that really want some extra help with that, and probably gonna have some beta pricing as well as, expanding on the community.

So, we've set up a community around that to give some education and as a cheaper way of getting some help implementing implementing this. So check it out. We appreciate you listening to us. Appreciate all the feedback comments. Put th em in the comments below. And we appreciate you listening to us. Please share, subscribe, do all that stuff. We really appreciate it. We do this every single week and we will see you on the next show. Thank you.