Conversation between Mike Andes and a concrete business owner about scaling a concrete business. Owner is booked in two-week blocks from referral leads (mostly Facebook groups), rarely advertises, and cannot grow further because he spends time in the field instead of doing estimates/sales. Owner closes ~7 of 10 jobs and pays field crew about $450/day (about four hours of finishing work, ~ $80–$100/hr equivalent). Recent revenue was about $70K in a month (run-rate ~ $80–$90K/mo). Mike advises the owner to stop doing field work, focus on sales (a scarcer, higher-value role) and hire labor to replace him; he projects that focusing on sales could grow revenue to roughly $150K–$180K/month within 12–24 months.
Questions this video answers
Approximately 7 out of 10 leads closed.
$450 per day.
About 4 hours.
About $70,000 in the last month.
Approximately $80,000–$90,000 per month.
Chapters
I have a dilemma where I'm constantly booked up for about two weeks, but nothing past that. But once those two weeks are. Are about done with work, then I'm booked up for another two weeks and it just goes on and on like that. I don't really do any ads at all. It's all 100. About 90% of my work is all referrals through Facebook groups here locally. So I've never spent any money on ads. But I hit a plateau where I can't make any more money than what I'm doing because I'm in the field and not out doing estimates when I'm getting called. Yep. So at what point. At what point do I hire somebody that could take my spot or, I don't know, maybe even hire a sales guy or something to go and do out, do that type of work, the estimates and stuff like that?
So let me. Let me get a couple of things. So in your opinion, if you spent less time on the truck and more time in sales, would you grow the business more?
Oh, for sure. I mean, I already closed. I think I closed like 7 out of 10 jobs.
Okay. And so how much do you pay your team members out in the field working?
Well, I'm embarrassed to say. So I have really good workers. We do concrete work. I pay him a daily rate, and it's 450 a day.
Awesome. Don't be ashamed of that. Let's go. Dude, that's. I'm psyched for you. Awesome. All right, so 450 bucks a day. Fantastic. Nothing to be ashamed there. Let's assume that's like, what, 50 bucks an hour on average, you think?
Well, actually, in concrete, when you're just finishing, it's really only four hours and you're done.
So you're paying like 80, 100 bucks an hour for a labor.
Correct.
And is that correct? And just to be clear, that's what you are paying your team members, not what they're. They're making. Correct.
That's what I'm paying them. That's what they make a day.
Got it. Sorry, my bad. I phrased that wrong. My apologies. I meant for the customer. So that's fantastic. Okay, great. So you're paying these guys really good, like half a day's worth of work. They're making like a hundred bucks an hour, essentially. And you're. The thing is this. If you went out instead of doing the. Instead of doing the field work itself and went out and did the work, doing the sales, do you think you could double the business? Relatively quickly.
I could for sure. Because. Because when I get a phone call, I'm constantly getting phone calls on the at when I'm in the field and it just kind of ruins. It doesn't ruin my day, but it slows me down. It gets me. I'm super focused at work and then I get called and then for the next 10, 15 minutes I'm like lost.
Yep. So in my opinion, those calls that you're doing are probably two to three times more valuable than the doing of the work. And if you're paying people that much per hour to do the work, I don't think you're gonna have a big problem trying to find people to do the job. And so in my opinion, you are more scarce as a salesperson than you are as a laborer. You can find someone to replace you. And if you think it's gonna double the business, I'd do that all day long if I had to pay someone $400 a day. That's like a hundred grand a year, 80 grand a year. Whatever it is that you're paying per team member is going to be the unlock for you to probably make. What, like if you doubled the business, how much more revenue would that be?
Well, last year, last. Well just last month we were at like 70k revenue.
Got it.
So early this month we're on track for more got.
So you're probably, you're probably at a run rate like 80 to $90,000 per month in revenue right now. And you're growing quickly. All right. You probably get that to 150 to 180,000amonth in revenue in the next 12 to 24 months if and only if you focus on the sales side and that that role is a higher value task and harder to fill by the way than a labor. Like right now, if I told you go find a someone that can go sale sell these jobs and this, these contract jobs versus go go find someone that's willing to work for 80 to 100 bucks an hour doing concrete. I would venture to believe it'd be easier for you to find someone to work out in the field.
100%.
So then it's an easy decision like you're trying to replace yourself. You either gotta, you either gotta replace yourself on the sales side or you gotta replace yourself on the field side. It so happens that you are able to pay a gobs amount of money for the field. You're gonna be able to find someone no problem. The other side is almost impossible to fill. And that's how that's why you haven't got anyone to do it. I just say go do that 110. You can afford it by the way. And go find a labor to do your current job for you. You. You're one higher away from doubling the business.
Okay. Okay. Well, thank you for the advice.
You got it, brother. Best of luck to you. Concrete. Making a hundred bucks an hour. I'd do that job. Let's go.
