The Builders Ladder: Business Growth Strategies for Residential Construction Businesses

Coach Chase has gone through the numbers of over 100 building companies as a coach at The Professional Builder. His dad was a builder who did new builds, remodels and commercial work, but couldn't always pick him up from school on time. So Chase coaches building company owners on how to run the business without missing key life moments.
 
Owen sits down with Chase to go through how he got here. He built stages and sets for film and events, traveling 10 months a year for almost 10 years, then did fix and flips around Austin from 2017. After 2020, a vacation to Portugal turned into a business with a Portuguese partner who has developed land his whole life. They have about 200 acres on the side of a mountain and develop it one lot at a time. Once he had systems in place there and didn't need to be on site, Chase joined TPB as an accountability coach. He called members every week or two to check the job ad or WIP report got done, and to remind them why they wanted it in the first place. He then moved to performance coach, going through members' numbers every month and matching them to TPB playbooks, and now heads up partnerships across North America.
 
If you've wondered what a TPB coach does on a call with a member, start at 10:06.
 
What's covered

• Growing up on his dad's job sites and why that shaped how he coaches builders
• Buying abandoned land in Portugal, including a lot with no legal documents
• Putting manufactured homes and RV slots on unrestricted land outside Austin
• What an accountability coach checks on a 15 minute call
• Reviewing 100+ companies' numbers as a performance coach
• Partners TPB works with on estimating software, AI and recruiting
  
  About Chase:
• Chase is head of partnerships and network for North America at The Professional Builder, based in Austin, Texas. Before that he was an accountability coach and then a performance coach at TPB, and he develops land in Portugal with a Portuguese business partner.
   
  Mentioned in this episode:
• TPB events: https://tpbevents.com
   
  Chapters:
• 00:00 Teaser: the reason behind every accountability call
• 01:05 Growing up on his builder dad's job sites
• 02:26 From film sets to buying abandoned land in Portugal
• 06:44 RV slots and rentals on unrestricted Austin land
• 07:38 TPB events for the next 12 months
• 10:06 What an accountability coach checks on each call
• 11:52 Performance coaching with monthly numbers and playbooks
• 13:43 Partners for estimating, AI, merchant discounts and recruiting

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Coach Chase came back to Texas from a land development business in Portugal. He joined The Professional Builder as an accountability coach, moved up to performance coach, and now runs partnerships across North America from Austin. He and Owen go after a habit both of them see in owners: spending hours trying to AI-ify the whole business, with no extra jobs signed and nobody on the team in charge of what got built.

The fix starts with the Business Maturity Date. Owen sets a 3 to 5 year target and works it back: $12M a year is 12 projects, and at a 50% close rate that needs 24 quotes and 48 qualified leads. Next he splits 12 to 18 metrics across finance and pricing, pipeline, project management, and administration and legal. Each department goes to one person, and that person installs the AI. From there, Chase covers checking every AI output against someone who knows what a good result looks like. He also covers keeping data access read-only and training estimating AI on a cost catalog. The strongest result in the episode: one member did $400K less revenue and made $100K more gross profit by sticking to $150K to $200K remodels.

Links & Resources

• TPB Events: tpbevents.com
• TPB summit, San Antonio, end of October: https://event.theprofessionalbuilder.com/texas-summit-2026
• TPB 1% referral program: https://tpb.tools/ob-ref
  
  🕒 Timestamped Key Points:
• 0:00 Manual tools vs electric tools: AI for builders
• 7:14 The AI-ify rabbit hole vs signing more jobs
• 11:50 BMD math: $12M target to 48 qualified leads
• 20:03 $400K less revenue, $100K more gross profit
• 20:53 NZ builder’s 2-year jobs and 11 months breaking even
• 26:05 Job ads vs job descriptions and the MoSCoW framework
• 32:33 Cost catalog: AI estimates from 15% off to 5%
• 33:55 3-hour team meetings cut to 1 hour with AI notes

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Louis, a developer based in Vancouver, faced a critical operational bottleneck when scaling his residential construction company. He was trapped trying to solve technical issues on site and relying on the undocumented loyalty of subcontractors who had worked alongside him for 11 years. This lack of clear expectations meant trades arrived on unprepared sites, wasting schedule time and pulling Louis away from high-level sales.

To fix this operational drag, Louis instituted detailed Purchase Order Agreements for every sub-trade, outlining exact expectations for site cleanliness and communication speed. By hiring three site superintendents and two project managers, he successfully delegated daily operations and transitioned his own focus entirely to business development and securing project financing through credit unions.

Links & Resources

• TPB Events: tpbevents.com

🕒 Timestamped Key Points:

• 00:00 Introduction
• 03:11 Navigating R1-1 zoning for Multiplex Development on single lots in Vancouver.
• 06:32 Designing Multi-Generational Housing floor plans to capture the aging baby boomer market.
• 12:49 Transitioning from a lean 3-person team to a 12-person organizational chart including site superintendents and project managers.
• 17:15 Delegating daily construction problem-solving to architecture-trained project managers.
• 25:56 Using itemized Purchase Order Agreements to set strict site cleanliness and communication standards for trades.
• 27:28 Treating long-term subcontractors as clients to eliminate scheduling delays and misaligned expectations.
• 44:50 Creating a physical accountability whiteboard for the sales and marketing leads pipeline.
• 58:02 Financing multiplex construction projects through credit union partnerships at 75% loan-to-value.

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Will Pritikin, founder of Aforma Design Studio, saw high-end builders repeatedly losing money because their in-house designers quit or fell months behind schedule. Instead of relying on blind optimism and jumping into massive portfolio projects without proper planning, Will introduced a structured system for charging for pre-construction. By shifting to a visual-first design approach and leveraging third-party design teams, builders can secure client decisions early, keep trade partners profitable, and stop hemorrhaging cash on site delays.

Links & Resources

Aforma Design Studio - https://www.aforma.co/

🕒 Timestamped Key Points

• 04:30 Transitioning from unreliable in-house design hires to scalable third-party design teams.
• 08:50 Why chasing large portfolio projects without charging for pre-construction drains company margins.
• 14:15 Utilizing Professional Service Agreements to secure premium funding before drafting plans.
• 23:30 Implementing Integrated Project Delivery to hold the builder, designer, and client mutually accountable.
• 26:45 Using visual-first architectural renderings to catch MEP errors before the electrician arrives.
• 33:20 Quantifying the half-million dollar penalty of losing a rockstar superintendent to site burnout.
• 45:05 Deploying Target Value Design to stop client indecision from delaying the construction schedule.

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Narelle and Graham Brown of Pedersen Homes realized they were the primary obstacles to their own company's success. Despite growing to 12 staff members, Graham was still manually erecting site fences and emptying rubbish trailers. Worse, he was taking up to 16 phone calls a day from a single foreman, bleeding site problems into their family dinner time and forcing the couple to take separate holidays just to keep the business running.

To fix this operational trap, Narelle and Graham restructured their entire workflow. Narelle audited her schedule and hired a virtual assistant to manage data entry, instantly buying back 10 hours a week. Graham elevated four qualified builders to project leads and replaced his scattered phone calls with a strict 2:00 PM daily stand-up meeting. These exact steps removed the owners from the daily grind and aligned the team toward a four-day workweek.

Links & Resources

• Pedersen Homes Website: https://www.pedersenhomes.nz/

🕒 Timestamped Key Points

• 03:10 Identifying the business owners as the primary obstacles to company success due to poor delegation.
• 04:10 Navigating the specific communication challenges of operating a construction company as a husband and wife team.
• 08:00 Reclaiming 10 hours a week instantly by auditing a default diary and hiring a virtual assistant for payables.
• 09:00 Delegating physical site fencing and rubbish trailer dumping to the existing 12-person crew.
• 22:20 Hosting a company-wide goal-setting day to align apprentices and staff with the long-term business vision.
• 23:45 Elevating four qualified builders into project lead roles to handle daily decisions before they escalate to the owner.
• 24:20 Replacing 16 evening phone calls with a strict 2:00 PM daily stand-up meeting to triage site issues.

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James, owner of Chain Construction in Auckland, was trapped hitting a severe growth ceiling. After taking over the business and doubling revenue from $1.6 million, he found himself working 60 hours a week, pricing jobs late at night, and constantly acting as the primary problem solver for his crew. Growing the company any further felt like a guaranteed path to extreme stress because he had become the bottleneck for every operational decision.

To solve this, James partnered with The Professional Builder to buy back his capacity. He contracted an external Quantity Surveyor who works directly inside his cloud software, immediately removing night-time pricing from his plate. He then promoted an experienced foreman to Project Manager and introduced the Problem Solution Resolution framework, forcing the site team to bring answers instead of just complaints. With his wife transitioning to a Business Development role and a Virtual Assistant handling admin, James is now successfully targeting $4 million to $7 million in revenue without sacrificing his personal time.

Links & Resources

• Chain Construction Website: https://www.chainconstruction.co.nz/

🕒 Timestamped Key Points

• 06:05 Structuring a business buyout without absorbing expensive overhead assets.
• 10:45 Hitting a revenue ceiling that turns business growth into a 60-hour workweek.
• 15:52 Promoting a senior foreman to Project Manager to oversee all site operations.
• 18:15 Hiring a contracted Quantity Surveyor to execute elemental pricing inside cloud software.
• 22:25 Managing commercial building margins at 10 percent without bloated office expenses.
• 48:12 Implementing the Problem Solution Resolution framework to stop answering daily site questions.
• 53:25 Scaling revenue targets from $1.6 million past $4 million using structured delegation.
• 01:00:48 Leveraging LinkedIn to secure high-value commercial contracts and council projects.

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Tyrone and Marion operated their building company by working massive hours, starting at 4 AM and finishing at 11 PM six days a week. Because Tyrone treated his crew and his clients like family, he constantly absorbed the costs of uncharged variations to "help out" his network. On one large commercial project, his failure to track daily site expenses led to a gross profit margin of just 3% after paying for undocumented waste removal.

By joining The Professional Builder, Tyrone implemented a holistic financial framework. He instituted tiered pricing based on project size, ensuring jobs under $80,000 carried a 40% margin, while larger jobs held a strict 30% to 35% margin. He also deployed a default diary to ring-fence his time for quoting and established scorecard accountability for his staff, finally moving his business from a reactive state into a proactive, highly profitable company.

Links & Resources

• TJ's Kitchens & Bathrooms Website - https://www.kitchensandbathrooms.co.nz/

🕒 Timestamped Key Points

• 00:00 Introduction
• 06:30 Hiring an office administrator to manage marketing, client communication, and contract administration.
• 15:32 Implementing tiered pricing to secure a 40% margin on jobs under $80,000.
• 18:00 Using a default diary to ring-fence the owner's time specifically for quoting and architect meetings.
• 27:52 Hitting a psychological breaking point before adopting a holistic approach to business coaching.
• 32:12 How working from 4 AM to 11 PM six days a week forced the owner to finally restructure the company.
• 42:12 The financial penalty of performing uncharged variations for friendly clients.
• 45:00 Watching a commercial job margin collapse to 3% due to un-tracked skip bin expenses.
• 50:02 Transitioning from a family-run company to a sports team model using scorecard accountability.

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Elly from Gordon Digital explains that residential builders actively burn their marketing budgets by treating ads as a short-term fix. Many builders try to run their own marketing by randomly boosting Facebook posts or paying for cheap SEO that only targets basic keywords. Because the residential buying cycle is long, these disconnected tactics fail to build the brand trust required to secure high-margin contracts.  

To fix this, Elly introduces Answer Engine Optimization (AEO). Because clients now use large language models like ChatGPT to research build costs and processes, ranking number one on a standard Google search is no longer enough. Builders must create long-form content that specifically answers the questions clients ask AI platforms. By combining this AI visibility with face-to-camera social media content, builders establish trust long before the client requests a quote.

Links & Resources

Gordon Digital Website - https://gordondigital.com.au/

🕒 Timestamped Key Points

• 00:00 Intro
• 01:41 Shifting the marketing focus from lead volume to attracting 7 to 25 highly qualified custom home prospects. 
• 06:03 Setting a realistic marketing budget of 3% for established brands and up to 10% for newer companies. 
• 08:31 Managing the long residential sales cycle and why turning ads off at three months kills the pipeline. 
• 11:00 Structuring website messaging to build trust during the client's initial research phase. 
• 13:16 Using face-to-camera content to establish a personal connection before the initial consultation. 
• 17:28 Transitioning from keyword SEO to Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) to rank in AI search results. 
• 27:14 Optimizing long-form website content so large language models like ChatGPT recommend your building company. 
• 34:52 Hiring a specialized digital marketing agency instead of tracking money down the toilet with DIY Facebook ads.

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Scott Rammage from HireVP discusses how residential builders fall into the habit of solving every site problem themselves. Taking 50 phone calls a day, chasing down subcontractors, and processing invoices reduces an owner's effective pay to around $35 an hour. Handing an assistant a random list of chores rarely fixes this capacity problem. Scott advises defining a strict role, such as a project coordinator, and holding that person responsible for specific outcomes like processing draws and answering client questions.  

Scott uses the "bus test" to demonstrate what happens to a building company if the owner is suddenly unavailable. If daily operations live entirely in the founder's head, the active projects stall. He suggests recording daily tasks using video or voice tools, like Loom, so staff can learn the steps without the owner needing to sit down and type out a formal manual.  

Links & Resources

• HireVP Website - hirevp.us

🕒 Timestamped Key Points

• 00:00 Introduction
• 03:23 The mechanical differences between a managed talent service and a standard virtual assistant agency.  
• 06:34 Why builders choose to stay involved in daily site problems instead of delegating the administrative work.
• 13:14 Calculating your effective hourly rate to see the financial cost of doing your own admin.
• 15:15 Assigning exact outcomes to a new hire so they manage a defined role instead of waiting for a daily task list.
• 20:30 Explaining the "bus test" and what happens to active construction projects if the owner cannot work.
• 24:18 Recording processes with Loom and audio tools to avoid writing out long training documents.
• 38:18 Using cognitive scores during the interview phase to gauge a candidate's learning speed.
• 43:08 Hiring a project coordinator to handle draws, pay invoices, and answer subcontractor questions.

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Ahmed from Wunderbuild observed that residential builders fail themselves by relying entirely on their brains or paper books to track site progress. This lack of a structured system forces them into a cycle of daily firefighting, leaving them with zero time to learn the exact software that would solve their crisis. To remove the friction of adopting new technology, WonderBuild sets up the 14-day free trial using the builder's actual project data.

The platform includes a voice-to-task feature where a builder can record a video on site, speak an instruction, and have the software instantly generate a scheduled task and checklist for a specific team member. Ahmed also introduced the Workplace Studio, enabling builders to use AI to generate custom human resources documents, leave forms, and injury lists to run the administrative side of their company.

Links & Resources

• Wunderbuild Website - https://www.wunderbuild.com/

🕒 Timestamped Key Points

• 00:00 Introduction
• 01:28 Managing construction workflows from takeoffs and estimations directly through to financial tracking using Xero two-way integration.
• 03:04 Processing up to 30 daily feature requests from residential builders to guide 24 months of engineering work.
• 12:18 Transitioning residential builders away from using physical notebooks and spreadsheets as their primary tracking tools.
• 13:12 Uploading a builder's live project data during the 14-day free trial to remove the friction of software training.
• 15:28 Delegating software management to a virtual assistant when the business owner is too busy firefighting daily site issues.
• 17:58 Using the Workplace Studio to generate custom HR documents, leave forms, and injury lists using AI.
• 19:56 Converting spoken site observations into scheduled tasks with mandatory completion checklists for specific team members.
• 24:16 Guaranteeing support response times of under one minute to ensure site supervisors receive immediate technical help.

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