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Eric Lasley from Fort Worth, Texas posted about 1 year ago PRO
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TRENDING DISCUSSIONS
Im about to start a business venture with the guy that gc'd my first project. It is my understanding that some cities in Texas require a GC to be registered with the city, but the state does not. Am I correct?
Disrupting the Real Estate Sales? Will RE Agents be extinct? 41 Replies
also, i would love some insight into the business and some good project mgmt software. Will there be another recession? 25 Replies
STRIP PRIVATE BANKS OF THEIR POWER TO CREATE MONEY 33 Replies
Mike Reynolds construction from Nacogdoches, Texas replied about 1 year ago PRO
824 322 posts votes
0-38 units in 10 months using the BRRR
You are correct. There used to be the Texas Residential Construction Commission but since it was voluntary it folded. Each city has its own requirements. I have built from Laredo to Texarkana. I have been to some cities that charged for a permit and never even had an inspector on the payroll so no inspections (San Augustine). Some cities require credit app and full blown architectural plans (New Braunfels). Everything in between. The key is to learn what the inspectors want and need and you will do just fine as long as the quality of the product is good.
Mike Reynolds construction from Nacogdoches, Texas replied about 1 year ago PRO
824 322 posts votes
@Eric Lasley Sorry just saw your last question. What kind of PM software were you looking to get? Do you need or use gantt charts? I have used Timberline. I think it is Sage Timberline now. There are other cheaper programs though. I usually don't use software on residential jobs just large commercial.
Eric Lasley from Fort Worth, Texas replied about 1 year ago PRO
44
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posts votes
i am familar with gant charts and i think that would be helpful. we are both hard workers and do very quality work, but we are both slightly add, so i think anything that would put us on a schedule and keep us on task would be beneficial. also, something that would help with the budgeting and invoicing would be great.
Eric Lasley from Fort Worth, Texas replied about 1 year ago PRO
44
thank you for your time @mike
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Mike Reynolds construction from Nacogdoches, Texas replied about 1 year ago PRO
824 322 posts votes
@Eric Lasley I use QuickBooks Pro for my invoice and tracking. There is a construction version for 200 bucks more but I was already used to Pro and had it set up. I'm sure its easier to set up for construction but that would be your call. Most free PM software only do a few jobs then you have to pay. Timberline is pricey so let me see what the young'uns are using these days. It might save you some money. It is a good program though. FYI, if yo will use the @ sign and the name of who you want to address we wont miss a question if you need to ask another one. Like I did yours above and you got a notice upper right of the page. Best of luck on your business. I feel your pain and your triumphs already.
Aaron McGinnis Contractor/Flipper from Atlanta, Georgia replied about 1 year ago 865 811 posts votes
A better place to ask this might be Contractor Talk or the JLC forums. In general, construction is a nightmare and a spectacular way to lose your shirt. In specific, it is enormously rewarding, fascinating, and engaging. If you have zero experience, you're in for a rough and rocky time for the first few years - make sure you can go at least 6-8 months without any kind of real income. (That last part really applies to any new business venture) Make sure you get a good understanding of the laws governing your area, and the big cities in your area. Locality makes a huge difference. Do not trust any partners to do right by you, and make sure you are well protected by an operating agreement. The last person you'd expect to steal from you and screw you over will be the first person to do so. If you have no practical construction knowledge, you need to fix that before going into the business. I cannot stress this enough. Do not trust your GC friend/partner to do the right thing blindly - learn enough about construction materials and techniques to at least be able to ****-test him. You're opening yourself up to enormous damage otherwise. Seemingly simple construction matters can mean hundreds of thousands of dollars in liability. If nothing else, get on Youtube and watch some of the videos posted by builders. I recommend starting with Matt Risinger's channel - he's in your state and has some amazingly informative stuff. Construction is an amazing vehicle for getting sued, and the dollar amounts are astounding. More than any other industry, it is a question of 'when' and not 'if' you get sued. You may get sued even if you do absolutely nothing wrong, and you need to be able to defend yourself. Decide now who owns the liability and spend some money to have a lawyer review your customer contracts. Make friends and network with a lawyer now so that when the lawsuit comes you have a resource to turn to in a moment when you will otherwise be panicking. From day one, decide on a accounting system and pay a professional to set it up and at least do the month-end reconciliations and year-end taxes. Quickbooks is a good option because it is relatively cheap and pretty much universal. Be aware that Intuit is great at the add-on product. Payroll, taxes, and other things are bolt-on applications and they charge you subscription fees for it. Do not trust any old accountant, get one that specializes in the field of construction and will use the NAHB chart of accounts. Failure to do so will leave you crying 2 or 3 years down the road when your books are an unrecognizable mess. Even a mid-sized construction business doing a few million dollars a year in business handles a mind-boggling number of transactions every month, to a boggling number of vendors... lack of professional help is a practically guaranteed way to ensure that your books WILL be an unrecognizable mess in a few years! Get all insured up. Even if you are under 3 employees, go ahead and get a ghost worker compensation insurance policy and build your experience rating... do not get 2-3 years down the road, hire that third employee, and suddenly get faced with astronomical workers compensation insurance bills. Make sure you hire only insured subcontractors so you don't have to face a hard adjustment later on when it becomes a necessity. Resist the urge to hire illegal labor. It's cheaper and easier that hiring legal labor, but it isn't worth the headache in the long run. Download and read "The Elements of Building" by Mark Kerson, and everything about business that Jim Collins has ever written. If you plan on working with the general public, or any third party construction, spend some money and start your advertising correctly. At the very least, invest in a good name, logo, and a half-decent looking website... then get started on Facebook and Instagram. This is so much easier starting out than it is a couple of years down the road. What management software you use is going to be dependent on what you do. We are a designbuild firm, and run Buildertrend... We've put more than a hundred jobs through the system, and I couldn't imagine being in business without it. Remember, any system you use is only going to be as good and effective as your use of it. As the programmers say - Garbage in, garbage out. Edit to add: Make plans now to go to the International Build Show in January, 2018. It will cost you some money to get there and get in, but the resources and knowledge you'll gain will more than offset the cost.
Manolo D. Contractor from Los Angeles, California replied about 1 year ago 4.3K 1.1K posts votes
I use excel, pure and simple. I have an excel gantt chart. A software for estimating? Nah, either too inaccurate or too hard to learn, estimate from experience, easier and faster, there is one software that comes to mind, Xactimate -- but this needs money and time to learn, just use excel.
Aaron McGinnis Contractor/Flipper from Atlanta, Georgia replied about 1 year ago 865 811 posts votes
For estimating and take offs, I've been using Planswift for about a year now. Love it. I used to spend hours and hours with the highlighters and roller wheel doing quantities... what once took me an hour I can do in a few minutes. I still plug numbers into an Excel sheet that I've been working on for the past 6 or 8 years for the final presentation, although supposedly Planswift should be able to generate reports suitable for presentations... I haven't had time to fool with their overly-complicated report designer. Fair caveat... I've got a pretty ridiculous computer setup to help with this. (Three big monitors so I can see everything at once)
Kelsey Breedlove CPA and Real Estate Investor from Norman, Oklahoma replied about 1 year ago 16
18
posts votes
The worst business mistake I see is waiting until 6 months or a year in to get an accountant on board. Make sure you get someone to help you set up your software (I'd recommend QB online to start with), and make sure they get access once a month to do reconciliations and give you the profit and loss. And ask around for recommendations for an accountant before you sign one on -- the only thing more expensive than a good accountant is a bad one! Best of luck to you!
Aaron McGinnis Contractor/Flipper from Atlanta, Georgia replied about 1 year ago 865 811 posts votes
I'll second what @Kelsey Breedlove said about accountants. My first time out hiring an accountant, I did so out of [literally] screaming frustration after having a good year and falling behind on the book keeping. I got to tax time, and trying to do the taxes while the phone was ringing off the hook caused my wife, dog, and neighbors to flee the area while the air turned blue around my desk. So I did the dumb thing... I hired the first person I could think of off the top of my head, and let it go for a year or two. He was maybe even worse at the book keeping than I was, and when I fired him and hired a better accountant I spent almost $15k for him to go back and forensically dissect and fix 3 years of bad record keeping... and PS, if I had hired him sooner he could have saved me some money on my yearend taxes. Don't be like me and try to save a buck or make a decision in haste when it comes to an accountant... do it right the first time.
Mike Reynolds construction from Nacogdoches, Texas replied about 1 year ago PRO
824 322 posts votes
Originally posted by @Aaron McGinnis : A better place to ask this might be Contractor Talk or the JLC forums. In general, construction is a nightmare and a spectacular way to lose your shirt. In specific, it is enormously rewarding, fascinating, and engaging. If you have zero experience, you're in for a Good advice. Love both of those forums too. You can't be a newbie and be in JLC though. They will tear you apart.
Jim Tannehill Real Estate Professional from Schererville, Indiana replied about 1 year ago 38
17
posts votes
We use a program called BuilderTrend. I've found it to be user friendly and it really helps if you are planning on having multiple projects going at time. We are able to upload all of our documents, material info, layout information, etc so that all of our crews are able to look up this info at anytime. It's really helped especially if they have a question that they need an immediate answer to. We are also able to give log ins to our investors so they can stay updated on the progress as well. We can restrict or limit what any of our users see (crews don't have unlimited access to financials and other things as well as investors) Overall love the program especially if you are doing some volume. Good luck in your business endeavors!
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