EP285: How to Stop Costly Estimating Mistakes for Contractors

Join our community ➡️ https://www.skool.com/contractorprofi... A profitable job can become unprofitable before your crew ever arrives. In this episode, Brad Huebner breaks down the estimating mistakes that quietly destroy contractor profit from guessing labor hours and ignoring non-productive time to using wage instead of true labor burden, missing COGS, pricing against competitors, discounting estimates, and leaving project scope vague. What if your contracting business is losing money before your crew ever steps onto the job site? A job doesn’t always become unprofitable during production. Sometimes, the profit was already gone the moment you sold it. In this episode, Brad talks about: 1. The importance of accurate job costing 2. Common estimating mistakes: guessing labor and material costs 3. Understanding true labor burden rates 4. The impact of non-productive time on project timelines 5. The dangers of pricing based on competition 6. The necessity of a clear scope of work 7. Strategies to avoid discounting correct estimates In This Video, You’ll Learn About: – Why a job can fail financially even when production executes the estimate perfectly—and how job costing reveals where the profit leak actually started. – How to stop guessing labor hours by using real production data, reference points, and an 80% rule to account for realistic productivity and non-productive time. – Why true labor burden includes more than wages, including benefits, PTO, holidays, vehicles, uniforms, training, and other employee-related costs. – How overlooked COGS such as permits, dumpsters, freight, consumables, specialty tools, equipment rentals, and delivery charges quietly eat into gross profit. – How to use the prejob profit test and review your last three completed jobs to compare estimated vs. actual hours, materials, COGS, discounts, and gross profit. ⏱️ 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐬: 00:00 – Why profitable jobs can fail before production 02:05 – Stop blaming production 04:15 – Mistake #1: Guessing labor and using gut-feel estimating 08:10 – The 80% rule and non-productive time 11:25 – Difficult access, complexity, cleanup, and missing materials 13:20 – Mistake #2: Wage vs. true labor burden cost 16:10 – Mistake #3: Screwing up material cost 19:45 – Price volatility, freight, waste, and restocking fees 22:30 – Mistake #4: Missing COGS and consumables 26:15 – Specialty tools, equipment, blades, PPE, and wear & tear 29:00 – Why a niche makes estimating easier 30:20 – Mistake #5: Pricing based on competition 33:05 – Mistake #6: Discounting a correct estimate 36:00 – How to discount strategically and get something in return 37:30 – Mistake #7: Missing or vague scope 39:30 – The prejob profit test 40:30 – Job costing your last three completed jobs 41:30 – Course-correcting your estimates with real data Links to resources Grab my free job costing worksheet and start job costing every job right away. https://go.hammercrm.com/widget/form/... Want to go deeper? Check out the Contractor Profit Blueprint: https://www.thecontractorprofitbluepr... Book a strategy call with Brad: https://hammerandgrind.com/qualificat... Enjoying the podcast? Visit our website at https://www.hammerandgrindpodcast.com for the latest episodes, resources, and more. Have a question, story, or topic you'd like us to cover? Leave us a message here: https://www.hammerandgrindpodcast.com.... We'd love to hear from you, and your message could be featured on a future episode! Help us get the word out to other contractors by leaving us a review or sharing our podcast! 🔴 DISCLAIMER: Estimating labor, material costs, COGS, pricing, discounts, and profit margins depends on each contractor’s actual business costs, market conditions, project scope, and contract terms. Material prices, labor burden, freight, rentals, and other job-specific costs can change, so estimates should be reviewed against current costs and the contractor’s own financial data before being used in a contract. ⚠ COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This video may contain podcast commentary, spoken interview content, music, and supporting promotional or visual elements used to present and discuss the estimating and job-costing concepts covered in the episode. #ConstructionBusiness #ContractorBusiness #ContractorEstimating #JobCosting #LaborBurden #IncreaseContractorProfits #ProfitClub