Residential construction work is a complex process with many moving parts, which means there are many opportunities for errors to occur. Errors that can result in costly rework leading to delays. So, how do you prevent repeatable mistakes in your construction projects? Use checklists.

Using social media effectively in your residential construction business means figuring out the best tools to work with and putting a system in place so it becomes automatic. Otherwise, it's just another headache in your already overcrowded day and a constant source of frustration for you.

We live in a world where construction projects are often started before all the final costs for materials and labor are included. But you still need to provide the client with as close to accurate an estimate as possible and minimize your risk from cost overages. That's where construction allowances come in.

We all have the same 24 hours in a day, 168 hours a week, and 8736 hours a year, which means we need to use schedules to ensure we're using those hours as efficiently as possible. Since you can't add hours to the day, a construction project schedule helps you use the time you have to maximize productivity.

Construction change orders happen for a multitude of reasons. And all these situations can impact the original contract price and, in turn, your bottom line if you're not managing them properly. That means using change orders to capture project changes and add them to the overall project cost.

Remodelers often tell me they rely on “word-of-mouth” referrals to get new business, so they don’t need social media. But using word-of-mouth referrals alone isn't a predictable method of filling your pipeline, which is why you should be using social media as a part of your overall marketing strategy to reach new clients.

Aligning the work in your pipeline with the internal team you have on hand is a balancing act that's tricky to manage because the answer depends on so many factors. So how do you determine whether to hire more full-time staff – and assume that overhead burden, or subcontract out work to trade partners?

Running a profitable remodeling or custom home-building business means taking the right jobs at the right price and not selling yourself (or your company) short by engaging in competitive bidding. Learn to charge the right amount for all your work based on your years of knowledge and experience.

Unexpected things will always happen in any building project, no matter how much planning you do upfront. And that often results in additional project time and costs. Figuring out where the money comes from to fund those costs – and explaining them to clients can be a tricky conversation.

Giving (or receiving) constructive feedback doesn't come naturally to many of us, and it's not something we've been taught to do correctly. But if you're looking to foster a positive growth environment and enhance team performance, you need to rethink everything you know about performance reviews.

As professional remodelers, we often feel the burden to take financial responsibility for anything that goes wrong on a jobsite rather than having a conversation with the client about it. Learn where to draw the line when it comes to rework and additional costs to avoid constantly bleeding profit.

Recent interest rate hikes, brought on as a measure to try and stave off higher inflation, have some homeowners re-thinking their plans to remodel or custom-build houses right now. We need to lead homeowners through the messy headspace about borrowing and spending money on home renovation projects right now.

As a remodeler, it's your job to ensure that construction projects run smoothly from start to finish. That means controlling everything from procurement to scheduling, construction, and budget to fulfill your client's dream - and managing client expectations when they want to supply the materials themselves.

As a professional remodeler, you know that the single most significant risk you face is not getting paid for your work. Taking deposits for remodeling projects in residential construction mitigates your financial risk and ensures that even if the project goes south, you aren’t responsible for absorbing any project costs.

Clients are conditioned to see contractors as a commodity. You need to shift your mindset away from giving free estimates and focus on explaining to clients why your time to create that estimate is a cost of work, because you’re a valued partner – not just an hourly rate handyman.

Maintaining a healthy cash flow on construction projects is critical for your business. That means ensuring money flows into the business as evenly as it’s flowing out to pay for materials, labor, and trades. Learn how to manage it so you don’t end up in a constant cash crunch.

Both mark-up and margin play a role in making your business profitable, so it’s important to understand the differences between them. If you aren’t charging the right mark-up, you won’t hit the correct profit margin, choking your company’s cash flow, and selling work at a loss.

Running a profitable remodeling business is a constant juggling act of balancing the money coming in on each project versus the money going out to ensure that each job is properly funded – with profit leftover for you. Learn how to track project spending and avoid the cash-crunch highway.

Anyone who has experienced life on a job site knows that it’s never free from distraction, and tasks will always take longer than you planned. Learn how to recognize the pitfalls of estimating on a ‘best-case scenario’ and ensure you’re using the right tools to estimate jobs accurately.

Clients think that because they’ve hired you to complete one project, they can ask you to do other tasks “because you’re already there.” But your time is valuable, and you need to ensure you’re being paid for all the work you do so that your business remains profitable.