05/25/2026
1. Underbidding: Bidding too low just to win the job without accounting for overhead or profit margins.
2. Informal Change Orders: Performing extra work based on verbal agreements instead of getting signed, paid change orders.
3. Poor Labor Management: Losing money on “gopher runs” for materials or having crews sit idle due to bad scheduling.
4. Ignoring Job Fade: Failing to track costs in real-time, allowing small expenses to slowly eat the entire profit.
5. Scope Creep: Doing extra tasks outside the contract because the original scope of work was too vague.
6. Cash Flow Mixing: Using deposits from a new project to pay for the expenses of an old one.
7. High Employee Turnover: Spending more on recruiting and training new staff than it would cost to retain skilled workers.
8. Owning Too Much Equipment: Taking on high monthly payments for heavy machinery that sits idle most of the time.
9. Inaccurate Estimating: Forgetting to include small but essential costs like permits, fuel, or sales tax on materials.
10. Lack of Risk Management: Carrying insufficient insurance or failing to vet subcontractors, leading to expensive legal or repair costs.
