The Builders Ladder: Business Growth Strategies for Residential Construction Businesses
Aug 10, 2026 · 1 hr 1 min · 13 segments
Scott Ramage from HireVP discusses how residential builders fall into the habit of solving every site problem themselves. Taking 50 phone calls a day, chasing down subcontractors, and processing…
Scott RamageGuestChaseHostWow.
Sounds like a long road, but quite a fun one, and a lot of learnings on the way, which is all we can do in life.
I love hearing all that.
So, you mentioned the builders, and it seems like you work with those every day.
When these builders are coming to you, what's usually the biggest problem that they're having in their business?
Well, there's different levels, right? Um, some who've gotten coaching and have kind of stepped above, but typically it's, you started the business.
In any business, y- a lot of times the, the founder be- is a solopreneur first.
So maybe, you know, you were, you were doing jobs on your own and then yous hired your first guy, and when that happens, um- You are the customer service, you are the order taker, you're the invoicer, you're chasing money, you're checking the jobs, you're doing all of the things.
And, um, that I have found over many years of entrepreneurship and ownership, we as owners and builders get addicted to being needed that way, and al- uh, kind of actually addicted to the chaos.
Because when you finish a day of chaos and you're like, "I survived," there is some sort of dopamine thing that I can't explain there.
The biggest problem is we built our business this way, so in our head, the map to success is doing everything and having your hands in everything.
And the truth is, that really isn't the map to success, because at some point it's too much.
Um, I had a landscaper here the other day, the owner, and he was here for four hours helping his crew do things.
I would say for three and a half he was on the phone walking around, because he is the be all and end all of everything, and it's very hard.
Even, he even has, um, office staff and he's like, people still go directly to him, because that's how it started, and there's an intrinsic value we get by being that needed.
And, um, you know, I could go deep on the psychology of it, but really it's just an addiction to chaos.
We're the everything comes to us and we solve problems, and at the end of the day you're like, "Man, I can rest back, sit back and answer emails." [laughs] But, um, but be, be that hero, and I think we believe that hero story in our head for far too long, and it's just an addiction.
Oh, yeah.
Wow.
Sounds like a long road, but quite a fun one, and a lot of learnings on the way, which is all we can do in life.
I love hearing all that.
So, you mentioned the builders, and it seems like you work with those every day.
When these builders are coming to you, what's usually the biggest problem that they're having in their business?
Well, there's different levels, right? Um, some who've gotten coaching and have kind of stepped above, but typically it's, you started the business.
In any business, y- a lot of times the, the founder be- is a solopreneur first.
So maybe, you know, you were, you were doing jobs on your own and then yous hired your first guy, and when that happens, um- You are the customer service, you are the order taker, you're the invoicer, you're chasing money, you're checking the jobs, you're doing all of the things.
And, um, that I have found over many years of entrepreneurship and ownership, we as owners and builders get addicted to being needed that way, and al- uh, kind of actually addicted to the chaos.
Because when you finish a day of chaos and you're like, "I survived," there is some sort of dopamine thing that I can't explain there.
The biggest problem is we built our business this way, so in our head, the map to success is doing everything and having your hands in everything.
And the truth is, that really isn't the map to success, because at some point it's too much.
Um, I had a landscaper here the other day, the owner, and he was here for four hours helping his crew do things.
I would say for three and a half he was on the phone walking around, because he is the be all and end all of everything, and it's very hard.
Even, he even has, um, office staff and he's like, people still go directly to him, because that's how it started, and there's an intrinsic value we get by being that needed.
And, um, you know, I could go deep on the psychology of it, but really it's just an addiction to chaos.
We're the everything comes to us and we solve problems, and at the end of the day you're like, "Man, I can rest back, sit back and answer emails." [laughs] But, um, but be, be that hero, and I think we believe that hero story in our head for far too long, and it's just an addiction.
Oh, yeah.
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