Real talk for a minute. Most jobs don't go sideways on the big stuff. They go sideways on the little "while you're here" changes — move this outlet, add that shelf, change the paint after the first coat's already on. I used to say yeah, no problem, we'll figure it out at the end. I've been there. At the end, nobody remembers what "figure it out" meant, and I'm the one eating the cost. Here's what I do now, every time, before the work changes: 1. Stop and write it down — what exactly is changing, and what is staying the same. 2. Price it before we do it — labor, material, and any time it adds to the schedule. 3. Get a yes in writing — a quick signed change order, even a text back saying "approved, $X" beats a handshake in the hallway. 4. If they won't sign it, the work doesn't change yet. That's not being difficult, that's being honest about what it costs. A change order takes five minutes. An argument at the end takes the whole job. What's a change you did on a handshake that came back to bite you? Drop it below — somebody in here needs to hear it before they make the same call.

Real talk for a minute. I see a lot of GCs price a job off a few photos and a phone call, then spend the whole job trying to make that number work. I've been there. It never works out the way you hoped. If I can't walk it, I don't give a hard number. Here's what I do instead, every time: 1. Walk every area that's actually in scope — not just the pretty room, the closet, the hallway, the access. 2. Measure it, photograph the existing conditions, and note what has to come out and how it gets hauled away. 3. Ask the plain questions up front: what's staying, what's going, who's supplying what, and does this need a permit? 4. Write the scope first, then price from the scope. If the scope changes, the price changes — in writing, before the work changes. That's it. A walkthrough costs you an hour. A bad price costs you the whole job. What's a job you priced too fast and paid for later? Drop it below — somebody in here needs to hear it before they make the same call.

Early on, I thought being a good GC meant having my own crew do everything. In St. Louis, that's how we did a lot of work — thousands of rehabs, our team on the job. What I've learned since is this: the leverage isn't in doing all the work yourself. It's in running the job right — clear scope, clear price, documented changes, subs held accountable, and a clean site. You can be the GC who holds it all together, even while you're still building your crew in a new market. That's not cutting corners. That's actually running construction like a business. So here's my question for today: what's one part of a job you used to try to do yourself, that you finally handed off to a good sub — and it actually made the job run better? What changed for you? Drop it below. Somebody in here is still trying to do it all themselves, and your story might free them up to actually grow.

I'm Ree. I've spent over 25 years building as a general contractor, and I didn't learn this stuff from a book. I learned it from jobs that went right, and jobs that quietly ate my profit until I figured out why. If you're here, you probably already know how to build. What I want to help you with is how to run building like a business — so the work you do actually pays you what it's worth. The 3 Rules — in detail, not just slogans: 1. Price it to win AND make money. A bid isn't a guess, and it isn't a race to the bottom. Before you send a number, know your real costs — labor, materials, subs, permits, waste, and the stuff you always forget until it's too late. Add your markup on purpose, not by accident. Check your margin. If the job doesn't make money on paper, it won't make money on site, no matter how hard you work. And write your exclusions out clearly, so "I thought that was included" doesn't become your problem later. 2. Control scope, change orders, and documentation. This is where most GCs bleed. A client asks for "one small change," you say yes to be nice, nobody writes it down, nobody prices it — and at the end you're arguing about money you already spent. Every change gets written, priced, and signed before the work starts. Every day gets logged: what happened, who was on site, what was delivered, what went wrong, photos saved. That log is your memory, your proof, and your protection all in one. 3. Run a clean, safe, disciplined site. A clean site isn't about looking pretty. It's about control. When a site is organized, your crew works faster, subs know where to be, materials don't go missing, and clients trust you more. Safety is part of that same discipline — a safe site is a professional site, and a professional site gets referrals. How you run the site is how people judge your whole business. Your first-week starter checklists — use these on your next job: Bidding checklist: Costs verified, scope clear in writing, markup included on purpose, margin checked, exclusions written out, draw schedule tied to milestones, not just dates