CONTROL

Contracting isn't easy, and in my early days I made it much harder than it needed to be. But Josh's practical approach—and his proven track record—put simple but powerful concepts in the hands of construction owners. Concepts that, if put in place, will dramatically change the arc of your enterprise—and your life. As I read this book, I thought out loud (and also asked Josh): where were you in the mid-90s when I was struggling to get off the ground and gain altitude?!?! Reading this book and following its concepts is almost guaranteed to make you a more capable contractor.

Most contractors don't have a money problem. They have a visibility problem. Josh has built the rare book that fixes it the right way: not with a pep talk, but with a system. Eight steps, one monthly cadence, and a set of numbers you can actually hold your business to. Every chapter earns its place with a real contractor and a real result. If you want control and clarity over where your money goes, read this and then do what it says. The process works. Whether you show up for it is the only variable left.

Josh has thrown down an absolute master class in this exceptionally accessible look at what it really takes to run a successful construction company today—mastering cash flow and risk. Whether you've been in the industry for twenty years or twenty minutes, you'll find at least three 'Dang, I wished I'd learned that sooner!!' moments.

Josh is extremely analytical and cares about the financial systems so businesses can run like businesses and not hobbies. We have a shared client who built a landscaping business while working at the power company. His cash flow was all over the place, his pricing was on feeling, and his margin per job was a coin toss. Josh worked to implement the systems shared in this book and watched the debt go down and the cash flow increase.

Josh's rare perspective as an owner, operator, and financial expert highlights the common pitfalls in the industry: labor buried in overhead, retention getting taxed before anyone collects it, equipment booked as an expense. I see it constantly, across every trade, and Josh is the first person I've come across who explains why it keeps happening and what to actually do about it.

This is one of those rare books that doesn't just tell you what's wrong, it gives you the exact steps to fix it. Josh breaks down the financial side of running a construction company in plain language, without the jargon, so you can put it to work. Whether you're just starting out or you've been at it for decades, there's something in here that will change how you run your business.

I wasn't expecting a finance book to hit this close to home. What sets this book apart is that it doesn't stop at diagnosing the problem. Josh gives you real, usable solutions pulled straight from the field, not generic advice, but the kind of guidance that comes from someone who's actually been in the trenches with owners like us. I could barely put it down. It took me right back to when I was building my own crews, facing the same struggles so many of us face when we simply don't know what we don't know. This book doesn't just tell you what's broken; it gives you a way to fix it, regardless of whether you just started or have been doing this the same way for decades.