Libsyn Directory

Boost Profit with the First Hour Principle: The Key to a Productive Construction Jobsite | E380

Release Date: 03/24/2025

Average People: The Secret for Profitable Construction Business Growth | EP 424

The Construction Leading Edge Podcast

🚀Download the How to Buy Out a Construction Project Playbook ☎️Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team – EPISODE 424: If you're constantly hunting for that one dream employee, the unicorn who can wear all the hats and solve all your problems, you are doing it wrong. Building your business around unicorns isn't smart. It's risky and keeps you stuck. In this episode, I’ll walk you through why relying on rare “superstars” is a losing game and how a mindset shift can help you build a construction business that runs predictably without you...

Your Construction Business Is Doing Exactly What It’s Designed To Do | Ep 423

The Construction Leading Edge Podcast

🚀Download the How to Buyout a Construction Project Playbook ☎️Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team – EPISODE 423: Does this sound familiar? You set goals every year, swear you'll fix the chaos in your business, and then 12 months later, you’re still firefighting, still stuck in the same mess, and all you have is a stack of “almosts.” In this episode, I am breaking down why so many construction businesses hit the same wall over and over again no matter how hard the owners work. You’ll hear the 4 structural traps that are secretly...

How Elon Musk Would Streamline Your Construction Business: 5 Steps | E422

The Construction Leading Edge Podcast

🚀Download the How to Buyout a Construction Project Playbook ☎️Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team – EPISODE 422: If you’re a general contractor, and you feel like you're buried under processes, stuck in the weeds, and constantly spinning to keep things moving... this episode is going to give you the roadmap to simplify, systematize, and scale without burning out. I will be diving into Elon Musk's 5-step algorithm for making complex systems work better and show you exactly how to apply it to your construction business. Here's the deal:...

The Builder Identity Crisis: What Got You Here Won’t Get You There | Ep 421

The Construction Leading Edge Podcast

🚀Download the How to Buyout a Construction Project Playbook ☎️Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team – EPISODE 421: If you feel stuck in your business, the problem might not be your team, your schedule, or your subs… it might be your identity. In this episode, I’m discussing one of the biggest hidden growth killers I’ve seen in the construction world. The version of you that got your business to this point likely won’t get you to where you want to go. In fact, it might be the very thing holding you back. I will unpack 4 old...

Cut Preconstruction Timelines in Half: 6 Strategies From Managing $300M | E420

The Construction Leading Edge Podcast

🚀Download the How to Buyout a Construction Project Playbook ☎️Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team – EPISODE 420: If pre-construction is dragging on, you’re not just losing time but also revenue, team capacity, and control. In this episode, I’m going to show you how to cut your pre-construction timelines in half and finally get your projects to the starting line on time. Here’s what we’re going to cover: The biggest mistakes contractors make at the beginning of a project Why do many projects die in pre-construction How to...

Repossess Your Time by Fixing These 3 Hidden Design Flaws in Your Construction Business | Ep 419

The Construction Leading Edge Podcast

🚀Download the How to Buyout a Construction Project Playbook ☎️Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team – EPISODE 419: You’re regularly putting in 70-hour weeks, but the needle still isn’t moving. Calls. Texts. Problems. Decisions. It all falls on you. It may not be a time management problem but a design problem. In this episode, I’ll explain why your business keeps pulling you back into chaos, and how to finally break free from the day-to-day firefighting. Here’s what we’ll cover: Why working harder won’t fix your time problem ...

Accountability Requires Clarity: How to Get Your Team to Take Ownership | E418

The Construction Leading Edge Podcast

🚀Download our FREE Strategic Planning Guide ☎️Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team – EPISODE 418: Are you tired of chasing your team for every little thing? Getting your team to take ownership is one of the most common frustrations I hear from construction business owners. But here’s the truth: your team isn’t lazy, and it’s not a people problem. It’s a clarity problem. In this episode of The Construction Leading Edge podcast, I’ll explain why the real barrier to accountability is often a lack of clear expectations, processes,...

Get Out of the Builder Trap with Daniel Queen | E417

The Construction Leading Edge Podcast

🚀Download the How to Buyout a Construction Project Playbook ☎️Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team – EPISODE 417: Are you tired of doing everything in your construction business and still feeling stuck? Most construction business owners believe that working harder will solve everything. However, Daniel Queen, founder of Built by Coalition, a custom home building company in Charlotte, North Carolina, discovered that by wearing too many hats, he became the bottleneck in his business. In this episode of the Construction Leading Edge podcast,...

Scaling Fast? Stop Chasing Sales and Fix THIS First with Cole West | E416

The Construction Leading Edge Podcast

🚀Download our FREE Strategic Planning Guide ☎️Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team – EPISODE 416: Is your construction business always in firefighting mode? As a project manager turned integrator at Matchless Concrete Construction, Cole West knew they were growing too fast, but they were also bleeding money, missing deadlines, and drowning in chaos. In this episode of the Construction Leading Edge podcast, Cole shares how he and his team have dramatically reduced chaos, boosted margins, and reclaimed lost time. Today, we’ll talk about… ...

7-Figure Growth Starts with Lean Systems w/ Tod Ingersoll | E415

The Construction Leading Edge Podcast

🚀Download our FREE Strategic Planning Guide ☎️Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team – EPISODE 415: Do you always feel like you’re constantly putting out fires, drowning in details, and barely keeping your construction business afloat? It doesn’t always have to be that way. In this episode of the Construction Leading Edge podcast, I sat down with Tod Ingersoll, founder and president of NuWood Creations, who scaled his company from doing small projects to 7-figure design-build jobs by doing something most contractors avoid—letting go. Today,...

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EPISODE 380: Studies show that 60% of a construction worker’s time is spent on non-value adding activities.

Even more alarming? Productivity today is lower than it was 20–30 years ago.

In this week’s episode, I’ll break down the concept of the first hour problem, and the common jobsite activities that kill productivity and profitability.

You’ll also learn two practical strategies to cut delays and boost profits, whether you’re a trade contractor or a general contractor.

Listen to learn more how you can start eliminating inefficiencies in your construction business and get things done faster!

Let’s jump right in!

Key Takeaways:

Introduction (00:00)

The first hour problem (01:37)

The reality of construction productivity (03:05)

Costly activities that kill productivity and profitability (08:55)

Ripple effects of inefficient first hours (13:31)

Why GCs should fix the first hour problem (17:43)

How to eliminate the first hour problem (22:07)

Final thoughts (26:49)

Additional Resources:

- Schedule your free business evaluation call with our team HERE

- Download our free Strategic Planning Guide HERE

The Construction Leading Edge Podcast helps construction business owners maximize their revenue, eliminate chaos, systematize their work, and win back their time.

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