Stop treating your story like it belongs on the About Us page.

Morgan Smith used his business narrative to build a decision-making engine—one that filters clients, aligns his team, and kills the chaos of gut-instinct leadership.

In this episode, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Dan Grech and JobTread Implementation Partner of the Year Morgan Smith break down how a clarified story becomes the operating system behind a scaling company.

The Brutal Truth:❌ "Vision is soft stuff" → ✅ Vision—when clarified—runs every decision❌ "Story is for marketing" → ✅ Story is the strategic filter for hiring, firing, and client selection❌ "Values belong on a poster" → ✅ Values are behaviors—or they're nothing

What You'll Discover:[00:00] - Why most builders undervalue their story as a growth asset[08:42] - The "No BS" filter: How Morgan said no to a major client—and strengthened his most important relationship[18:15] - Purpose + Profit: Why one collapses without the other[26:18] - The "Working With Morgan" Guide: Documenting your style as a strategic filter[34:47] - Values as behaviors: How "Family First" became an actual decision-making tool[45:22] - "Flying a plane with seats": The before/after of getting clear on your story

Profit Accelerators:📘 Dan's Book (Pre-Order): "Your Business Is Your Story" — https://thestorydrivenbusiness.com📋 Smith & Co. Resources — https://smithandco.ltd🎯 Find YOUR #1 Bottleneck in 7 Minutes — https://www.gofirstconsulting.com🔔 Subscribe for more: [YouTube Channel Link]

If you think you need to be the first one on the job site and the last one to leave just to protect your margins, you are believing a lie that keeps you trapped.In this episode, I sit down with Roggen Frick, who runs a heavy steel manufacturing plant in Colorado... while living full-time in South Carolina. He reveals the exact "Remote Ops" ERP system that replaced his gut feeling with hard data, allowing him to spot production errors and protect profit without stepping foot on the floor.* Guest: Roggen Frick, Owner of Bear Iron Works* Credentials: 2nd Gen Fabricator, Remote Ops Architect, Lean Mgmt Expert* Featured Methodology: The "Remote Ops" ERP System* Guest Resource: Soil Guide & 10% Discount (Code: GOFIRST10)📊 THE BRUTAL TRUTH most builders are stuck in "helicopter mode." Here is the shift you need to make:❌ Helicopter Management → ✅ Data-Driven Triggers (Managing by exception, not presence)❌ "No One Wants To Work" → ✅ The 4-Day Work Week (How to secure top-tier talent instantly)❌ Wasted Material Costs → ✅ Lean Profit Centers (Turning scrap into funded employee bonuses)🎯 WHAT YOU'LL DISCOVER - The "Owner Trap" lie: Why physical presence doesn't equal quality control - From Welder to Remote Owner: Roggen’s evolution - The Remote Pivot: How to move 2,000 miles away without the business collapsing - The Labor Fix: Implementing the mandatory 4-Day Work Week - Lean Inventory: Using "Just in Time" bundling to slash overhead costs - Innovation Recognition: The simple incentive that generates thousands in process improvements - Safety Rewards: Why punitive safety checks fail (and what works instead) - The Soil Guide: How to avoid expensive rework on groundworks💰 PROFIT ACCELERATORS MENTIONED ✅ Guest Resource: Get Roggen's Soil Classification Guide + 10% off at Bear Iron Works (Code: GOFIRST10): [Insert Guest Link] ✅ Free Business Diagnostic: Find your #1 profit leak in 7 minutes: https://aiassessment.zite.so/ ✅ Connect with Roggen: https://beariron.com/pages/about-us🚀 ABOUT BEYOND THE BID Hosted by Grant Fuellenbach, CEO of GO First Consulting. After helping 312+ builders generate $5.3M+ in additional revenue, Grant brings you conversations with industry leaders who share their proven systems for predictable profitability.📈 WORK WITH GO FIRST Ready to stop leaving money on the table? 1️⃣ Take our free assessment: https://www.gofirstconsulting.com 2️⃣ Book a strategy call: https://app.apollo.io/#/meet/gofirst/45-min-2 3️⃣ Join our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/beyond.the.bid#RemoteConstruction #LeanConstruction #ConstructionBusiness #BearIronWorks #SystemsScaleSuccess #BuilderLife #ConstructionManagement

Tired of your crew wasting materials or dragging out timelines? This episode reveals the exact Open-Book Management system to get your entire team bought into profitability.

In this powerful episode of Beyond the Bid, Grant sits down with Dave Parkhurst, the 31-year CEO of Green Haven Interactive. Dave shares his incredible "Fail to Succeed" story of building a $3.8M flooring construction business, losing it all in the 2008 crash, and rebuilding with invaluable wisdom. He reveals the exact Open-Book Management playbook he used to get his installers to read a P&L and care about profit, building an unstoppable culture that solves 90% of business problems.

THE BRUTAL TRUTH

• Without Open-Book Management, your team doesn't understand why profit matters.

• The hidden cost of a bad culture fit is 90% of your management time spent on 10% of your team.

• Over-reliance on "gut feel" hiring leads to high turnover and inconsistent project quality.

WHAT YOU'LL DISCOVER

• The $100K Profit Leak 9/10 Builders Suffer From: A Bad Culture

• Dave's "Fail to Succeed" Story: Building & Losing a $3.8M Flooring Business

• What is Open-Book Management? (And Why It Works for Construction)

• How to Train Your Crew to Read a P&L

• The #1 Skill Leaders Must Master (Hint: It's Not Sales)

• How Green Haven Uses AI as a "Co-Intelligence"

• The "Funny Shaped Door" Method for Qualifying Perfect-Fit Clients

• Why Human Relationships are Now Your Biggest Competitive Advantage

PROFIT ACCELERATORS MENTIONED

• Book Recommendation: The Great Game of Business by Jack Stack

• Green Haven Interactive: https://www.greenhaveninteractive.com/

• Free Business Assessment Tool: https://gofirstconsulting.com/assessment

• MAP™ Implementation Program: https://gofirstconsulting.com/map

• Builders Academy™: https://gofirstconsulting.com/academy

ABOUT OUR GUESTDave Parkhurst is the 31-year CEO of Green Haven Interactive, a digital marketing company. As a serial entrepreneur, he has built and run multiple businesses, including a highly profitable $3.8M flooring construction company.

WORK WITH GO FIRSTReady to stop leaving money on the table?

1. Take our free assessment: https://gofirstconsulting.com/assessment

2. Book a strategy call: https://gofirstconsulting.com/contact

Stop wasting money on marketing that doesn't work! This episode shows you the new AI system that lets any business owner find their perfect, highest-paying customer with deadly accuracy. You'll stop the guesswork, end the price competition, and start getting predictable sales.Grant talks with Sharif Amlani, a PhD and former AI expert from Moody's Analytics. Sharif built a cutting-edge tool that uses smart data to figure out who your Ideal Client (ICP) really is. He reveals the exact plan to test your advertising messages and validate your perfect client before you spend money on the wrong people.Sharif’s system solves the problem of "Strategic Ambiguity"—the costly mistake of not truly knowing your market.THE NUMBERS DON'T LIEWord-of-mouth is unreliable. It leads to "feast-or-famine" income and costs builders up to $50,000 every year in missed, high-profit jobs.If you don't know your Ideal Client Persona, you have to compete on price, which cuts your profit margins by 10%.The high cost of guessing means you spend 70-hour weeks dealing with low-value sales calls from prospects who just want a cheap bid.WHAT YOU'LL LEARN AND WHEN[00:00] The $100,000 Mistake Most Builders Make: Why guessing your perfect customer is a business killer.[05:25] The AI Tool That Clones Your Best Customer: How to use new survey tech to get smart client data in just 48 hours.[12:40] Testing Your Ads: The simple plan for checking your ad copy against the perfect customer group before you go live.[20:11] Sharif Amlani on Smart Sales: How adding client data to your sales pitch can boost your close rate by 20% instantly.[31:05] The 3 Questions You Must Ask to stop taking low-profit jobs.[38:15] Future-Proofing Your Sales: How AI is changing marketing for builders and the step you need to take now.[45:40] The ONE EASY STEP to stop the client chaos this week.TOOLS AND RESOURCES✅ Sharif Amlani’s AI Tool: [Sharif’s Tool Link] - Get clear market answers fast.✅ Free Business Assessment: [GO First Assessment Link] - Find your biggest profit leak in 7 minutes.✅ 6-Week MAP™ Program: [MAP™ Link] - Install your complete business operating system in 6 weeks.ABOUT SHARIF AMLANISharif is the founder of a top-tier AI survey platform. He helps companies quickly build, launch, and analyze market surveys, cutting down three weeks of research into just one. He makes complex business data simple and clear.Connect with Sharif:Website URL: https://www.syntheticrespondents.io/LinkedIn:   / sharif-amlani-a7a28a21b  ABOUT BEYOND THE BIDHosted by Grant Fuellenbach, CEO of GO First Consulting. After helping 312+ builders bring in over $5.3 Million in extra revenue, Grant shares proven systems for stable, high-profit construction businesses.Ready to stop losing money? 1️⃣ Take our free assessment: https://bottleneckquiz.zite.so/2️⃣ Book a strategy call: https://gofirst.fillout.com/inbound3️⃣ Join our community:   / beyond.the.bid  #StopGuessing #PerfectClient #BuilderMarketing #AISystems #ConstructionTech #SharifAmlani #BeyondTheBid #SystemsScaleSuccess

Stop chasing low-bid work. Noah Hutchison reveals his integrated design-build and retail store model for attracting predictable, high-margin projects.

🔥 Tired of the feast-or-famine referral cycle? This episode reveals a game-changing strategy to build a predictable pipeline of high-margin projects.

In this powerful episode of Beyond the Bid, Grant sits down with Noah Hutchison, co-founder of the award-winning Hutch Design + Build and Hutch Home Co. Noah reveals the exact playbook he used to turn a physical retail furniture store into a lead generation machine for his high-end residential construction company, effectively ending his reliance on unpredictable referrals.

📊 THE BRUTAL TRUTH:

• Over-reliance on passive word-of-mouth makes forecasting and scaling impossible for most builders.
• Without a unique differentiator, you’re forced to compete on price, crushing your margins.
• The hidden cost of chasing unqualified leads is thousands of dollars in wasted time and resources annually.

🎯 WHAT YOU'LL DISCOVER:

• [00:00] - The $100K Profit Leak 9/10 Builders Suffer From: Referral Dependency
• [03:15] - The "Retail to Remodel" Model: How a Furniture Store Became a Lead Machine
• [14:40] - The Client Journey: From Showroom Browser to High-Value Build Client
• [22:10] - Implementation: 3 Steps to Create a Physical Marketing Funnel
• [29:50] - The Numbers: Quantifying the ROI of an Integrated Business Model
• [36:15] - Common Mistakes: How to Avoid the Pitfalls of a Brick-and-Mortar Presence
• [42:30] - Your Next Steps to Build a Predictable Sales Engine

💰 PROFIT ACCELERATORS MENTIONED:

✅ Hutch Design + Build - https://www.hutchdesignbuild.com

✅ Hutch Home Co. - https://www.hutchhome.co

✅ Free Business Assessment Tool - Find your biggest profit leak in 7 minutes: https://gofirstconsulting.com/assess

✅ MAP™ Implementation Program - Install your business operating system in 6 weeks: https://gofirstconsulting.com/map

✅ Builders Academy™ - The ongoing system for scalable growth: https://gofirstconsulting.com/academy

🏗️ ABOUT OUR GUEST: Noah Hutchison is the co-founder of Hutch Design + Build and Hutch Home Co. in Fort Collins, Colorado. Alongside his wife Alli, Noah has built an integrated company that guides clients from architectural design and high-end construction all the way through to furnishing and styling. Their model is built on restoring trust in the industry through transparency, quality, and a seamless client experience.

🔗 CONNECT WITH NOAH HUTCHISON:

• Website: https://www.hutchdesignbuild.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hutchdesignbuild/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noah-hutchison-0453b638/

🚀 ABOUT BEYOND THE BID: Hosted by Grant Fuellenbach, CEO of GO First Consulting. After helping 312+ builders generate $5.3M+ in additional revenue, Grant brings you conversations with industry leaders who share their proven systems for predictable profitability.

📈 WORK WITH GO FIRST: Ready to stop leaving money on the table?

1️⃣ Take our free assessment: https://gofirstconsulting.com/assess

2️⃣ Book a strategy call: https://gofirstconsulting.com/call

3️⃣ Join our community: https://beyondthebid.co/community

#Construction #DesignBuild #LeadGeneration #BusinessSystems #NoahHutchison #HutchDesignBuild #SystemsScaleSuccess

🔥 Tired of writing big checks to marketing agencies with little to show for it? The cycle of "renting" your marketing ends today.In this game-changing episode, Sara Nay, CEO of the legendary Duct Tape Marketing, reveals the exact "Anti-Agency Model" that helps builders stop wasting money and start building a predictable growth engine they actually own.📊 THE BRUTAL TRUTH:Most marketing agencies are built on a retainer model that benefits them, not you.When you stop paying, your leads disappear, leaving you with zero permanent assets.This broken system keeps you competing on price, not on the value you deliver.🎯 WHAT YOU'LL DISCOVER:[00:00] - The #1 Reason Builders Get Trapped in the Agency Cycle[07:15] - The "Anti-Agency Model": How to Own Your Marketing[18:40] - Strategy Before Tactics: The Marketing That Prevents Waste[25:10] - Case Study: How a Remodeler Doubled Their Leads in 90 Days[32:10] - Using AI as a Force Multiplier for Your Internal Team[41:50] - Your First 3 Steps to Firing Your Agency & Taking Control💰 PROFIT ACCELERATORS MENTIONED:✅ Sara's Free Marketing Strategy Resources: https://dtm.world/growth✅ Business Assessment Tool: Find your biggest operational gaps in 7 mins - https://gofirstconsulting.com/assess✅ MAP™ Implementation Program: Build the systems to handle your growth - https://gofirstconsulting.com/map🏗️ ABOUT OUR GUEST:Sara Nay is the CEO of Duct Tape Marketing and author of "Unchained." With over a decade of experience helping thousands of small business owners, she provides a proven framework for taking control of your marketing and building a system for predictable, profitable growth.🔗 CONNECT WITH SARA NAY:Website: https://ducttapemarketing.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saranay/Book: https://unchainedmodel.com/🚀 ABOUT BEYOND THE BID:Hosted by Grant Fuellenbach, CEO of GO First Consulting. After helping 312+ builders generate $5.3M+ in additional revenue, Grant brings you conversations with industry leaders who share their proven systems for predictable profitability.📈 WORK WITH GO FIRST:Ready to build an operational backbone that turns leads into profitable projects?1️⃣ Take our free assessment: https://gofirstconsulting.com/assess2️⃣ Book a strategy call: https://gofirstconsulting.com/callSEO:#ConstructionMarketing #DuctTapeMarketing #SaraNay #LeadGeneration #BusinessSystems

→ FREE RESOURCE: Get 21+ episodes of Tim's no-fluff sales training at the Sales Lab Live YouTube Channel!

In this episode, I sit down with Tim Barry, a Sandler Sales Trainer and former construction business owner who has scaled and sold six businesses. After analyzing the sales process of over 312 builders, I can tell you that the patterns Tim identifies are universal. He pulls back the curtain on why the traditional "show up and throw up" sales pitch fails and how to replace it with a systematic, trust-based approach he calls the "Neutron Bomb" method.

This isn't just theory. Tim's perspective is forged from standing in the foyer, navigating the same challenges you face, and building multi-million dollar construction businesses from the ground up.

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• How to diffuse the "stranger in the house" tension in the first five minutes to build immediate trust.
• The "Smoking Meats Analogy": A powerful mental model for scaling your business without sacrificing quality
• Why you must transition from a player-coach to an "Orchestra Conductor" to break through revenue ceilings.

• How to have tough conversations, own mistakes with integrity, and turn problems into your biggest trust-builders.'

This episode provides the exact mindset and framework to stop competing on price and start winning on value.

If you're ready to install a predictable revenue engine in your business, connect with Tim Barry on [LinkedIn] and subscribe to [Sales Lab Live on YouTube].

See if your business is ready for scale with our free [GO First Growth Assessment].

Join the conversation with other professional builders in the [Beyond the Bid Community].

Problems Addressed & Solutions:

• (Master Topic: Strategic Sales & Marketing) [00:17:40] - PROBLEM: Lack of Initial Trust. Homeowners are immediately on the defensive, viewing you as just another contractor who might burn them. SOLUTION: Acknowledge the awkwardness of the "stranger in the house" dynamic and shift the focus from your company to their vision immediately. IMPLEMENT: Use Tim's script: "Assume I'm great and my products are great. Let's talk about what YOU want to accomplish."
• (Master Topic: Strategic Sales & Marketing)[00:25:10] - PROBLEM: Inefficient Scaling. You can't just hire more crews and expect quality to remain high; scaling improperly leads to burnout and bad reviews. SOLUTION: Use the "Smoking Meats Analogy" to add capacity (new logs) at the right time to maintain a consistent operational tempo without spikes or dips in quality. IMPLEMENT: Before hiring, document the core processes the new hire will run. You can't delegate what isn't documented.
• (Master Topic: Team Building & Systems for Scale)[00:33:05] - PROBLEM: Owner as Bottleneck. Your phone rings off the hook because every decision, big or small, has to go through you. SOLUTION: Transition from player-coach to the "Orchestra Conductor." Your job is to train the team on the standard of excellence and then empower them to perform. IMPLEMENT: Identify one recurring task you do daily and create a simple, 3-step SOP to delegate it this week. This connects directly to our Delegation Framework in the Academy.

This episode is a must-listen for any builder ready to implement the systems for predictable profit.

• If you're stuck in the "Startup" phase and ready to build the machine that can run without you, the Builders Academy™ is your next step.
• Learn more here [GO First FrameWork]
• Show Notes can be found here [Link to Show]

Flipping houses is risky. Donnie Korum reveals his 5-step Foreclosure Profit System that has guided 400+ flips to an average $25K profit per deal.Ready to make real estate investing predictable? Get a complimentary, no-pressure consultation with Donnie Korum's team at foreclosureprofitsystem.com and see if flipping is the right vehicle for you.You see the shows on TV. You hear the stories. But the ugly truth is that most people who try to fix-and-flip houses lose their shirts. Why? After analyzing over 312 construction businesses, I can tell you the answer is always the same: they lack a system.In this episode, I sit down with Donnie Korum, a master of systems who has turned the chaos of house flipping into a predictable profit engine. With over 400 flips under his belt, including the infamous "Springs Hellhouse," Donnie has developed the Foreclosure Profit System—a five-step framework that targets an average profit of $25,000 per deal.This conversation is a masterclass in risk mitigation and financial clarity. Donnie pulls back the curtain on the exact systems you need to find, analyze, fund, fix, and flip properties successfully. For any builder who feels like their own projects are a gamble, this episode proves that the right operating system changes everything.You'll Discover:The 5-Step "Find, Figure, Fund, Fix, Flip" Framework that creates predictable profit.How to leverage volume to negotiate discounts and build strategic partnerships.Why the "Figure" (analysis) phase is where you actually make your money.The tech stack (Deal Check, Buildxact) that powers a modern flipping operation.How Donnie turned the nationally-known "Springs Hellhouse" disaster into a six-figure win.This episode will give you the blueprint to de-risk your projects and build a systematic engine for profitability.Problems Addressed & Solutions Deployed:[00:04:12] - PROFIT LEAK: Trying to "figure it out as you go" on your first flip. SOLUTION: Find an expert mentor with a proven, repeatable process to guide you. IMPLEMENT: Download our free 10-Step Sales Process Guide to systematize just one part of your business.(Master Topic: Builder-to-Business-Owner Transition)[00:11:34] - OPERATIONAL CHAOS: Managing the "Fix" stage without construction expertise. SOLUTION: Have a project manager who speaks the language of GCs to prevent upselling and keep the project on track. IMPLEMENT: Map out your project delivery process from start to finish. Identify the biggest bottleneck.(Master Topic: Team Building & Systems for Scale)[00:15:28] - FINANCIAL UNCERTAINTY: Buying a property without knowing your numbers cold. SOLUTION: Use powerful analysis tools like Deal Check and a rigorous "Figure" process to validate the deal before you buy. This is identical to the principles in our Critical19™ Scoreboard. IMPLEMENT: Start tracking your Gross and Net margin on every single project.(Master Topic: Financial Clarity & Profit Protection)[00:19:03] - STALLED SALES: Trying to get real estate agents to discount commissions. SOLUTION: Offer consistent, high-quality volume that makes a lower rate a win-win for the agent. IMPLEMENT: Identify three potential strategic partners (designers, architects, etc.) you could offer consistent referrals to.(Master Topic: Strategic Sales & Marketing)[00:23:45] - INEFFICIENT WORKFLOWS: Using outdated methods for estimating and client visualization. SOLUTION: Leverage modern tech like Matterport for a digital twin and AI-powered tools in Buildxact to create renderings and estimates. IMPLEMENT: Explore one practical AI tool that can save you five hours a week. Check out our MAP™ program where we implement these systems for you.SEO:#fixandflip #businessowner #realestateinvesting #foreclosurerealestate #constructionmanagement #constructionlife #riskmitigation #flippinghouses #flippingforprofit #coloradosprings #arizona

Tired of marketing that doesn't deliver? Josh Blakeley, author of "Backyard Empire," shares his playbook for contractors. Learn how to choose the right marketing partner, fix your lead management leaks, and future-proof your business for the age of AI search. Get actionable strategies to stop wasting money and start winning high-ticket jobs.Link to Show NotesJosh Blakeley founded Landscape & Hardscape Contractor Marketing out of a passion for helping outdoor living professionals dominate their local markets. Originally from Brisbane, Australia, Josh resides in San Diego, CA, with his wife Chelle and son Theo. Drawing from his successful experiences running digital campaigns for landscape, hardscape, and outdoor living companies, Josh authored the book Backyard Empire: The Ultimate Digital Marketing Guide for Outdoor Living Pros. His insights provide landscape and hardscape professionals with a strategic roadmap to overcoming digital marketing challenges, generating more leads, and building a recognizable brand in their communities.Get Connected with Josh BlakeleyJosh Blakeley's Website[email protected]

Get Your FREE Copy of Backyard Empire
SEO:#ContractorMarketing #Builder #Landscaping #MarketingForTrades #AI

What could a former dental hygienist teach you about running a profitable design-build firm?Most builders are stuck competing on bids because they focus on the "what"—the scope and the measurements. They completely miss the client's "why," leaving them unable to build the deep trust required to sell on value, not price.In the latest episode of Beyond the Bid, Christine Haynes of Forge and Essence Design Build shares her transformative journey from dental to design. She reveals how the secret to client trust isn't in the blueprints, but in understanding the real motivation behind a project.Tune in to learn:- The Pivot: Hear the "aha" moment that led Christine to leave a stable career and build a thriving design-build company from the ground up.- The Unlikely Parallel: Learn the single most important lesson from the dental world that helps her build unshakable trust with every client.- The Toolkit: Discover the specific tools she uses—like Houzz Pro and Chief Architect—to manage projects and bring client visions to life.- The Ultimate Trust Signal: Find out how this approach leads to clients who give you the garage code and say, "Just send me the invoice."Listen to "From Dental to Design: A Transformative Journey" to learn how to build deeper trust and win more profitable work. Link in bio!#BeyondTheBid #Construction #Builder #Remodeler #DesignBuild #BusinessOwner #Podcast