The Builders Ladder: Business Growth Strategies for Residential Construction Businesses
Jul 20, 2026 · 12 min · 9 segments
Haydn from Price A Plan breaks down the massive operational flaw of residential builders doing their own estimating. Because owners lack the time to concentrate, they fall into the bad habit of…
Haydn SimmonsGuestBrandonHost
No, typically the builders have got, the typical model of a builder is that they were really bad at school.
They went into a trade because they couldn't sit still and they weren't great at maths.
Yeah.
And then they're running a building company and then they're expected to sit down and concentrate for 80 hours to put together an estimate.
And we create enough systems and logic and education through our process to teach them what estimating and job reporting and client qualification, what that all means for them in relation to their estimating process.
Okay, so if a builder said, hey, like, I need help with estimating, I'm losing jobs because I'm not pricing right, it's taking too long, other builders are coming in before me, and they engage with you, what can they expect? Like, how does it actually work?
And remaining competitive in the quoting process is really key because the market just gets more and more competitive for them.
And the professional builder will stand out when they're delivering high-quality estimates in a really efficient turnaround.
We've got a qualifying estimate, which is a short form, quick, sharp turnaround.
And that's a budget forecast that's designed to help the builder make sure that that client aligns budget-wise.
Do builders usually charge for that? Or is it something that's just more of a rough, like we get on site, we can take a few photos, get a rough idea of what the scope is, and then-
No, typically the builders have got, the typical model of a builder is that they were really bad at school.
They went into a trade because they couldn't sit still and they weren't great at maths.
Yeah.
And then they're running a building company and then they're expected to sit down and concentrate for 80 hours to put together an estimate.
And we create enough systems and logic and education through our process to teach them what estimating and job reporting and client qualification, what that all means for them in relation to their estimating process.
Okay, so if a builder said, hey, like, I need help with estimating, I'm losing jobs because I'm not pricing right, it's taking too long, other builders are coming in before me, and they engage with you, what can they expect? Like, how does it actually work?
And remaining competitive in the quoting process is really key because the market just gets more and more competitive for them.
And the professional builder will stand out when they're delivering high-quality estimates in a really efficient turnaround.
We've got a qualifying estimate, which is a short form, quick, sharp turnaround.
And that's a budget forecast that's designed to help the builder make sure that that client aligns budget-wise.
Do builders usually charge for that? Or is it something that's just more of a rough, like we get on site, we can take a few photos, get a rough idea of what the scope is, and then-
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