Construction Champions Podcast

Why Contractors Lose Money When They Scale | Connor Watumull, Miter

Growing a construction business doesn't automatically mean making more money.

More projects, more employees, and more revenue can create bigger problems when you don't understand what's actually happening inside your business.

In this episode of Construction Champions, Ron Nussbaum sits down with Connor Watumull, co-founder of Miter, to discuss construction workforce management, crew productivity, job costing, disconnected software, and what contractors need to understand before scaling.

Connor explains why many construction companies operate with five to ten different software systems and why connecting project management, workforce data, and financial information can be so difficult.

Ron shares his experience manually tracking labor hours, crew output, and employee productivity to understand where his construction business was making money and where performance was falling short.

The conversation explores how contractors can identify their strongest crews, learn from high-performing field leaders, create productivity incentives, and improve their operations without automatically adding more employees.

They also discuss why employee retention matters, how streamlined onboarding and administrative processes can improve the employee experience, and how AI could change the way contractors interact with their software.

Topics covered:

- Why construction companies end up with disconnected software systems

- The difference between project management, workforce management, and financial software

- Why accurate job costing is essential

- Why hiring more employees doesn't always solve capacity problems

- Measuring labor hours and production by crew

- Identifying high-performing crews and field leaders

- Using productivity data to improve team performance

- Employee retention and workforce development

- How simpler back-office systems can support growth

- The risks of scaling without understanding labor costs

- AI applications for construction workforce and administrative processes

- Why contractors should recognize and support their best employees

Whether you're running a growing construction company or trying to understand your current workforce more effectively, this conversation offers practical lessons from the field and the technology side of the industry.

Connect with Connor Watumull and Miter:

Website: https://miter.com

Email: [email protected]

Subscribe to Construction Champions for conversations about the business of construction, leadership, operations, and growth.

#ConstructionChampions #ConstructionBusiness #ConstructionManagement #Contractors #ConstructionTechnology

Connect with Ron

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-nussbaum

Construction Champions Podcast

Explore episodes, guests, and resources:

https://www.constructionchampionspodcast.com

Many construction business owners hit a ceiling where scaling a construction business actually leads to shrinking profit margins. In this video, we dive deep into why contractors lose money when they grow and how to break that cycle. Join us as we sit down with Connor Watumull and Ron Nussbaum from the Construction Champions Podcast to uncover the hidden traps in construction operations that derail even the most successful companies.

Most contractors think they need more leads to grow their construction business.

But what if the real problem is how you're selling the leads you already have?

In this solo episode of Construction Champions, Ron Nussbaum breaks down why contractors struggle to close jobs, why selling on price or value alone can hold your business back, and how understanding what your customers actually want can completely change your sales process.

Too many contractors walk into every estimate with the same sales pitch, assuming every homeowner or customer buys the same way.

They don't.

A customer might tell you they want a kitchen remodel, a room addition, or a new outdoor living space. But that's not necessarily the real reason they're willing to spend thousands of dollars.

Maybe they want to host Thanksgiving in their new kitchen.

Maybe they need another bedroom for their growing family.

Maybe they want to create a space where their family can spend time together.

Those are the outcomes they're buying.

Ron explains how to uncover those motivations, present estimates around the customer's desired outcome, improve your construction sales close rate, and build a repeatable sales process based on real data instead of assumptions.

In this episode:

• Why more leads won't necessarily fix your sales problem

• How to calculate and improve your contractor close rate

• Why selling on price creates unnecessary competition

• The difference between selling value and selling outcomes

• How to uncover what customers actually want

• Why contractors often sell based on how they personally buy

• How to present estimates that customers understand

• Why your personal opinion of a project's price can hurt your business

• How to track sales appointments and identify what works

• Building a repeatable construction sales process

If you're a general contractor, remodeler, home builder, or construction business owner looking to close more jobs without constantly chasing more leads, this episode is for you.

Stop selling what it takes to do the work.

Start selling what the finished project makes possible.

Subscribe to Construction Champions for practical conversations about construction business growth, sales, operations, leadership, and profitability.

#Construction #ContractorSales #ConstructionBusiness #SalesTraining #ConstructionChampions

Your employee called out.

Someone quit.

A truck broke down.

You're short-staffed.

The schedule is packed.

Those are real problems.

But they're your business problems, not your customer's problems.

In this solo episode of Construction Champions, Ron Nussbaum tackles an uncomfortable mistake construction and home service companies make every day: using internal business problems to explain why they can't deliver what they promised.

Being transparent with customers matters.

But there's a difference between communicating professionally and unloading every problem happening inside your company onto the customer.

Ron breaks down how those explanations can actually destroy trust, why customers care more about what happens next than why something went wrong, and how contractors should handle scheduling issues, delays, escalated customers, and unexpected problems.

You'll also learn why companies need a clear customer escalation process, why only certain team members should handle difficult customers, and why those conversations need to be practiced before someone is dealing with an angry customer in real time.

Your company will have problems.

The question is whether you solve them internally or make your customer carry them with you.

MAIN TOPICS COVERED

• Why your business problems aren't your customer's problems
• The difference between transparency and making excuses
• How internal problems can destroy customer confidence
• Communicating construction delays professionally
• Handling scheduling problems without oversharing
• Why customers lose trust in contractors
• Building a customer escalation process
• Who should handle angry customers
• Training employees for difficult customer conversations
• Role-playing customer service scenarios
• Why owners and leaders ultimately own operational failures
• Creating systems for employee absences and emergencies
• Protecting the customer experience when things go wrong

Can building a personal brand actually help grow your construction business?

For Pat Miller, the answer has been yes. Pat is the owner of Blue Diamond Construction, a 30+ year construction industry veteran, author, podcast host, and returning Construction Champions guest.

Since her first appearance on the show, a lot has changed.Pat launched her own podcast, wrote a bestselling memoir, built a growing online presence, expanded her network, earned industry recognition, and says telling her story has directly led to new construction clients and increased business.

In this episode, Ron Nussbaum and Pat talk about why construction professionals need to stop hiding behind their companies and start sharing the people, experiences, failures, and lessons behind them.

They also dive into entrepreneurship, limiting beliefs, making difficult business decisions, women in construction, balancing multiple ventures, Pat's new book Underdog to Empire, and what she's learned from more than three decades in the industry.

If you're a contractor or construction business owner who thinks personal branding and content don't matter to your "real business," this conversation may change your mind.

Connect with Pat

https://www.linkedin.com/in/thepatmiller11

https://bluediamondconstructionnj.com

Connect with Ron

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-nussbaum

Construction Champions Podcast

Explore episodes, guests, and resources:

https://www.constructionchampionspodcast.com

MAIN TOPICS COVERED

Personal branding for construction business owners

How telling your story can generate construction opportunities

Why authenticity matters more than polished content

Pat's 30+ years in construction

Growing Blue Diamond Construction

Going from contractor to media personality

Building a podcast while running a construction company

Overcoming limiting beliefs and self-sabotage

Making difficult decisions as a business owner

Women in construction and business ownership

Turning experience into wisdom others can use

Pat's new book Underdog to Empire

Balancing business, content, family, and new opportunities

Why construction needs more people sharing their stories

What does 30 years in construction teach you about running a successful contracting business?

A lot of lessons learned the hard way.

In this episode of Construction Champions, Ron Nussbaum sits down with contractor Robert "Bob" Leon to break down five areas he believes every contractor needs to get right: Leads. Estimating. Closing. Project management. Profitability.

Bob shares what he's learned from more than three decades of successes, failures, building homes, managing subcontractors, estimating projects, and running a construction business.

They dive into why contractors struggle with estimating, how Bob has closed large projects on the first meeting, why the highest bid isn't always the best contractor, how to build a reliable subcontractor network, working with inspectors, understanding your true costs, and why revenue means nothing if you don't understand profitability.

Whether you're a new contractor or you've been running a construction company for years, there are lessons here worth taking back to your business.

Connect with Bob

https://ezsubcontractor.com/?fpr=ron-nussbaum

Connect with Ron

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-nussbaum

Construction Champions Podcast

Explore episodes, guests, and resources:

https://www.constructionchampionspodcast.com

In this video, we'll be sharing 5 essential lessons that every contractor should know to succeed in the construction business. With 30 years of experience in the industry, we've learned a thing or two about what it takes to run a profitable construction business. From contractor estimating and construction estimating to construction business profitability and contractor sales, we'll cover it all. Whether you're a general contractor or a subcontractor, these lessons will help you improve your construction project management skills, generate more construction leads, and grow your construction business. We'll also discuss the importance of construction job costing, construction overhead, and how to become a successful contractor. If you're looking for construction business tips and want to learn how to run a successful construction business, then this video is for you. Our goal is to help you achieve construction business growth and become a Construction Champion, so be sure to watch until the end to learn more about these valuable lessons and how they can impact your construction business.

Idle time on job sites is the silent killer nobody talks about and it's costing construction companies millions. In this episode, Eshan Jayamanne, CEO and founder of Krane, breaks down why procurement is quietly driving your schedule, your cost, and your design and why most GCs don't see it coming until it's too late.

We cover:

Why supply chain is the #1 leading indicator of how a project actually performs

• How the data center construction boom is reshaping lead times for every other trade (Krane's roster is 50% data center projects right now)

• Why labor waiting on materials is the most overlooked cost on any job site

• How procurement went from a trade partner's problem to the GC's biggest blind spot

• Why "feed crap in, get crap out" applies to AI in construction just as much as anywhere else

• What it actually takes to build a real data foundation for supply chain visibility

Materials are more than half the equation on any project, this conversation is about finally treating them that way.

#ConstructionSupplyChain #Procurement #ConstructionBusiness #DataCenterConstruction

Connect with Eshan

https://www.krane.tech

[email protected]

Connect with Ron

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-nussbaum

Construction Champions Podcast

Explore episodes, guests, and resources

:https://www.constructionchampionspodcast.com

Contractors love talking about leads.

Facebook ads.

SEO.

Marketing.

But none of that matters if you can't answer the phone.

In this solo episode, Ron Nussbaum shares a recent experience hiring contractors for a project at his own home and why the biggest problem wasn't price.

It was everything that happened before the estimate.

From unanswered phone calls to text-message "quotes" and zero follow-up, this episode breaks down the simple things that separate winning contractors from everyone else.

If you're wondering why jobs keep slipping away...

This episode may have the answer.

Construction Champions Podcast

Explore episodes, guests, and resources:

https://www.constructionchampionspodcast.com

Connect with Ron

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-nussbaum

Every contractor wants to grow.

More revenue.

More crews.

More jobs.

But what if growth is actually making your problems worse?

In this episode, Ron Nussbaum sits down with Robert Hall and Jesse Carnicom, founders of RoofAid USA, to discuss why so many construction businesses struggle when they try to scale.

From leadership and systems to profitability and business structure, they explain why the best companies don't chase growth.

They earn it.

If you're trying to grow your construction business, this episode will help you avoid some of the most expensive mistakes owners make.

Coneect with Robert and Jesse

https://roofaidusa.com

Connect with Ron

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-nussbaum

Construction Champions Podcast

Explore episodes, guests, and resources:

https://www.constructionchampionspodcast.comMAIN

TOPICS COVERED

Why contractors scale too early

The difference between technicians and CEOs

Stabilize, sustain, then scale

Why systems matter more than hustle

Creating scalable business processes

Why fragmented businesses struggle

Building accountability into operations

The importance of leadership development

How to grow profitably instead of just growing revenue

Most contractors say they can't find good people.

But what if that isn't the real problem?

In this episode, Ron Nussbaum sits down with Sy Kirby to discuss what's actually working in construction today.

From building a recognizable brand to attracting top talent, using AI to streamline operations, and creating systems that scale, this conversation is packed with practical advice from someone running a construction company every day.

If you're struggling with hiring, marketing, or growing your business, this episode is full of actionable insights you can use immediately.

Connect with Sy

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sy-kirby-18395b2a6

https://www.syconexc.com/

Sy and Ron

https://www.bluecollarbusinesspodcast.com/why-your-crews-are-failing-at-implementation-with-ron-nussbaum/

Connect with Ron

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-nussbaum

Construction Champions Podcast

Explore episodes, guests, and resources:

https://www.constructionchampionspodcast.com

America is celebrating 250 years.Think about that.

The history.

The battles.

The victories.

The failures.

Every great nation and every great company has one thing in common:

A story.

In this special July 4th episode, Ron Nussbaum challenges business owners to think differently about reputation, legacy, and the story they're writing every single day.

Because if you don't tell your story…Someone else will.

Ron also shares an important update on the future of Construction Champions and why the show is evolving to create more action and less information overload.

This isn't a tactical episode.It's a reflection on who you are, what you're building, and what you want people to remember.

Connect with Ron

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-nussbaum

Construction Champions Podcast

Explore episodes, guests, and resources:

https://www.constructionchampionspodcast.com