Phil Blumberg, founder of Perris Woodworks in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, shares how 15 months of bootcamp and monthly one-on-one coaching helped him move from chaotic, low-profit busyness to a more scalable business. He grew from a 1,000 sq ft shop to 4,000 sq ft, raised average gross profit margin from about 40% to 54%, landed a largest booked job of $130K, and began turning down small, low-margin work to protect owner bandwidth. Key changes included job costing and back-costing despite poor invoice systems, tracking labor with Gusto, raising prices twice, shifting from markup to margin-based quoting, and focusing on client experience over price. He promoted a newer hire, Mark, into running most production through simplified, systemized offerings. Phil recounts starting in a 500 sq ft basement in 2020, COVID demand, a later slowdown that nearly pushed his family toward food stamps, and his goals to reach $1M revenue, sustain 50%+ margins, reduce stress, and eventually take six summer weeks off by addressing pre-production and sales bottlenecks.

Host Lee interviews Nick Hall, founder of Hall’s Cabinetry Co., a Marine Corps veteran and former NC State wrestler who built a cabinetry business nights and weekends while still on active duty, then resigned after being assigned overseas orders to Japan. Nick describes serving eight years, teaching organizational behavior and leadership at the Naval Academy, and using coaching, disciplined outreach, and relationship-building with GCs and designers to create a runway before going full-time. He explains why he hired a coach early for accountability, how he set up a fully equipped shop (including CNC and edgebander), lined up about four months of work by the day he received his DD214, and began hiring employees, with his wife joining administration. They discuss momentum, saying no to misaligned work, systems and leadership, motivation, balancing family with business demands, and defining success beyond revenue.

This week Lee uses a construction foundation analogy to explain why contractors nearing seven figures can feel like everything is on fire: it’s not failure, but “settlement” from outgrowing systems built for a $250k owner-operator business. Instead of patching symptoms by working more or hiring reactively, contractors should “underpin” by reinforcing five core footings—written core values, updated vision/mission, leadership that delegates (not “I’ll do it myself”), stronger financial understanding (job costing, margins, forecasting), and a scaling mindset focused on reinforcement over grinding. He extends the analogy to framing (systems/KPIs/workflows), the roof (contracts, hiring standards, cash-flow protection), and warns finishes (trucks, office, gear) add weight without strength, sharing failure stories and Carillion’s collapse. He recommends annual outside “inspections” (coach/advisors) and a yearly planning rhythm, citing Starbucks’ 2008 slowdown to rebuild its foundation, and invites listeners to contact Brave Academy.

About the Show: Ready to conquer the chaos of owning a construction business?" Lee Miller, North Americas favorite contractor Business consultant and coach, has helped contractors across the US and Canada create real and lasting change in their companies. In this podcast, he shares proven strategies and tactics so you, too, can achieve massive results in your business. In addition to exclusive training and advice, Lee deeply interviews the most prominent contractors and industry experts to bring you real world insights and systems that you can use today to scale your contracting business. CONQUER CONTRACTOR CHAOS PRO

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