Financial Tools, Business Success, And More

Associated Builders and Contractors is a national construction industry trade association representing more than 21,000 members. Based on the merit shop philosophy, we help our members develop people, win work and deliver work safely, ethically and profitably for the betterment of the communities in which they work.

Contact:

https://www.abcil.org/
600 S 2nd Street Suite 403
Springfield, IL 62704
(217) 523-4692
info@abcil.org

Buzzworthy Integrated Marketing helps you create predictable website revenue through digital marketing.
Like most businesses, you struggle with the complexities of getting predictable revenue from your website. At Buzzworthy, we have simplified the digital marketing process so you can stay focused on your company while we deliver drastic increases in ROI from your website.

Buzzworthy is a website marketing firm that focuses on the needs of service-centric businesses. We use proven ROI-driven techniques to increase your website traffic, conversion rate, and overall digital visibility and authority.

Michael “Buzz” Buzinski
Founder

Holly Hoffman, owner, is a former Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR) auditor, contractor sales tax specialist implementing all contractor tax law changes between 2015-2019 for Wisconsin, and managed the DOR’s Speaker’s Bureau. Holly has provided sales tax seminars to contractors for 10 years. In 2019, Holly left DOR to work directly on behalf of contractors through her own consulting company, Sales Tax Advisory Network. Focused on education and compliance, Holly is breaking the mold for the accountant-client relationship.

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) actively promotes merit, or performance-based construction. From a modest start by six Baltimore contractors in 1950, ABC has enjoyed a growing membership, now totaling more than 22,000 firms nationally and more than 900 in the Wisconsin Chapter, each dedicated to the principles of free enterprise. These beliefs translate into a healthy, competitive and professional climate, the results of which are proudly reflected in ABC members’ construction accomplishments.

Established in 1916, the Kenosha Area Chamber of Commerce is a business and community resource organization that continuously works to serve and strengthen the Kenosha Area.

https://kenoshaareachamber.com/
Kenosha Area Chamber of Commerce
600 52nd Street, Suite 130
Kenosha, WI 53140
(262) 654-1234

ASA Chicago is an independent, nonprofit trade association representing the subcontracting industry and its affiliates. Servicing union and non-union subcontractor members, trade suppliers, and servicers, the group is one of the largest trade associations in the Chicagoland area addressing the business initiatives of the subcontractor.

https://www.asachicago.org/default.aspx

2200 E. Devon Ave., Suite 261
Des Plaines, IL 60018-4218
Phone: 847-827-8336

info@asachicago.org

MEYER LAW is an award-winning, woman-owned law firm that specializes in helping companies from startups to large corporations with corporate, contracts, employment, intellectual property, fundraising and privacy matters. The team at Meyer Law has helped thousands of companies from startups that have been featured on Shark Tank to fast-growing companies on the Inc.500 to some of the largest companies in the world, and mentored thousands of companies at incubators and accelerators across the United States such as 1871, WeWork Labs and Techstars. Tricia Meyer, Founder + Managing Attorney of Meyer Law has been named on the Forbes Next 1000 list, is one of the Most Influential Female Lawyers in Chicago according to Crain’s Chicago Business and been recognized as a top 10 technology lawyer. Meyer Law has also received several awards, including most recently being recognized for the fourth year in a row by LawFirm 500 as one of the fastest growing law firms in the United States!

chrissy@meetmeyerlaw.com
(888) 316-0776

Tri-County Contractor’s Association (TCCA) was founded in 1971 with a mission to advance the construction industry in Southeastern Wisconsin, specifically Kenosha, Racine, and Walworth counties, and provide the tri-county area with a healthy and cost-competitive commercial construction industry. TCCA Members are general contractors, sub-contractors and suppliers who are members of the community who have a long-term interest in the growth of the construction industry. TCCA Members maintain the highest ethical standards and provide the commercial contracting expertise, construction capabilities and people needed to support future growth and prosperity.

https://tccawi.org/
600 52nd Street, Suite 130, Kenosha, WI 53140
(262) 925-3163

The combination of maintaining high fixed costs for leases and administrative personnel plus the increasing costs of employees, supplies, and raw materials made profitability seem all but impossible.

Even worse, the ongoing supply chain disruptions,  materials price increases, the effects of Covid, and supply chain constraints made for a vision that only saw troubles ahead. When every cost increases faster than you could ever imagine and the consumer market is unknown, figuring out what to do can seem nearly impossible for a contractor. A company running  5% net negative income is in crisis mode.

Management might need to be counterintuitive

During a period when a company is consistently losing money due to labor costs, materials costs, and inflation, few things scare owners more than raising prices. Yet, price increases are the only thing that will return them to profitability in such an environment.

Your CFO (Chief Financial Officer) has your back

This exact situation played out for a $18 million/yr client of Daaxit, and the experience of an expert fractional CFO saved the day.

With the knowledge of how to analyze markets, test them, and extrapolate what happens next, the Daaxit fractional CFO increased material rates by 20% and raised the time rate by 40%. Subsequent upper management meetings revealed that customers didn’t even blink at the prices in a market plagued with supply chain constraints and employee shortages.

Great results were produced

Aaron Mills’ prior experience told him prices could be raised without an equivalent loss of business. As such, this company is now running at an exceptional 12% EBITDA, and sales have increased by three million.

Misinterpreting financials

It is common among business owners to have improperly organized financial statements or not know how to read them. This leads to poor financial management decisions despite having on-staff bookkeepers, accountants, and third-party CPAs.

In this situation, the owner thought his gross profit was 40%, half of which was net profit, for 20%. His equipment expenditures were made under the assumption of a 20% net profit when his actual situation showed that he was lucky to net 10%.

He was broke due to the burden of millions in equipment loans. 

Because the business owner’s CPA firm and bookkeeper didn’t maintain accurate financials, he didn’t realize the business’s cash flow couldn’t cover.the loan payments. He thought he was making money when he was not.

The Daaxit solution

First and foremost, Daaxit froze future asset purchases to get a grasp on the numbers and refinanced the company to keep it sustainable. Stepping up to the challenge, Daaxit also negotiated with creditors to lower the interest rate, increase the line of credit, and create the cushion needed to catch up cash flow. 

More time to succeed

Reducing rates, refinancing, and negotiating with creditors bought time to adjust the company’s course.

After reworking the financials, some work on growing revenue and increasing profits resulted in a 35% gross profit and 15% net income.

How did a CPA and bookkeeper go so wrong?

CPA firms specialize in tax issues and not necessarily business operations and finance. They do taxes and base financials on the tax implications. The lack of operational experience means they can’t enter a business like a CFO and advise an owner of what is happening monthly. Additionally, CPA firms don’t check in monthly on the company’s financials like Daaxit. 

Bookkeepers don’t have CFO skills, and entering transactions and interpreting them are very different. They don’t know the effect of their entries on the financials, and any mistake can result in a very adverse impact.

A fractional CFO makes all the difference due to knowing what the numbers work, how they should look, and what matters to the industry.

The visibility and controls were insufficient due to more management layers.

Changing to a company that fits their revenue

Companies have tremendously different needs at different levels of revenue. One of the greatest mistakes in business is not realizing the changing needs of the business that come with growth.

It was time to implement a complete ERP system that could track work in progress (WIP) by month and enable communications that told project managers where they stood. Project managers were held accountable.

If you don’t know where you’re failing, you can’t fix it. Enhanced and correct information meant the company could now pivot and correct as needed. Financial transparency allowed the company to know what made money and what didn’t.

Incredible Results

Taking a company from $30 million per year to $90 million per year in just four years is an incredible transformation. That was the result of CFO-level expertise that understood the business and its needs at size. Financial transparency, educating management, and holding project managers accountable tripled the company’s gross revenues in four years and allowed the owners to exit 12X EBITA.