Being a General Contractor - What it's ACTUALLY Like.

This is the most wholesome content on YouTube. This channel should be required viewing for every high school graduate.

I been working with my parents flooring company just over 10 years now. My father the owner passed away 5 years ago. It has been a blessing in so many ways the freedom and self accountability. Its been so challenging, frustrating, out right scary sometimes when invoices go unpaid too long and bills are due. I'm all in. I love what my father created and the life it has been able to provide, I want to continue to grow and improve.

Spot on. I have learned to walk away from jobs if there is too much misunderstanding just getting a proposal done. I just know they are going to be on my back the whole project. I do good work, by the code, no shortcuts. I know what it costs to do things. I'm not going to cut my price just to get the job.

Your comments are the proverbial hitting the nail on the head. I was a very young commercial and residential GC from 1980-1990. Never had to advertise...all word of mouth. Many, many clients, all from affluent areas, were wonderful except two. Subs today are no different from then...like herding cats. I am blessed with the ability to "read" people quickly and cull those that emit chaos. Left the business solely from burnout. Prior clients were calling me up to 2000 wanting me to get back in the business. No thanks. I enjoyed what I did until I didn't. Made lots of money and friends. Today, I urge young people to learn a trade for a lifetime of secure employment. See Mike Rowe. All the best.

The first 5-7 years, working in a construction trade is a blast. Working with friends in what almost seems like competitive sport and what feels like, going to work and getting paid to ‘work-out’. Once the 5 o’clock whistle blows, you leave the job without a care in the world and a genuine sense of accomplishment. Unfortunately the profitability of that kind of mindset is directly comparable. And then, generally the inevitable sets in. Time to grow up and get serious about becoming a reliable provider for those other people you’ve magically found yourself surrounded with. The spouse and those little ones that just seemed to show up and now need all the care you can provide. Fortunately the next stage of your career has an even more rewarding sense of accomplishment in store. It’s just a little harder and more serious now.

A very eloquent elucidation of the life of a GC. I retired 5 years ago after 40 years as a small GC; I went through all the phases of the business you talked about. After 30 years, I couldn't take being an unpaid tax collector for the government any more, laid off my 4 man crew, and went solo. I worked solo as a hands on GC for 5 years, and got the satisfaction back of building things myself with the help of some subs. Then the last 5 years I bought beat up houses, fixed them myself, and flipped them. This was far more lucrative than my years as a GC. Very good advice you gave; as someone once said, the construction life, it ain't no good life, but it's my life.

Absolutely. Successful general contracting is first, a management business… of sales, contract writing, procurement, finding and maintaining and managing good subcontractors, accounting and cash flow management and a lot of problem solving. Being a good, creative problem solver, and mediator, is the portion of the business where I found the greatest creativity and satisfaction. I’m 45 years in !

GC here in Tokyo for 12+ years now, lots of good info here Scott. One of my mentors told me a long time ago “ I’ve never lost money on a job I did not take.” Cheers from Tokyo!

This year I actually bowed out. Finding quality help without drug issues, personal problems, and or the initiative to show up on time has always been the biggest problem. I feel I can do just as well on my own (free lance). You summed that up very well, Sir. Thank you.

I’ve been a GC for 22 years. Words of truth and wisdom here. Thankfully a few older guys helped mentor me. Sadly most of the guys I know that are successful now have done bankruptcy at least once before. I wouldn’t trade the experience but it turned my hair white fast! At this point I choose jobs based solely on the clients not the false glamour of a “job”.

It's because of the huge demands of GC that l stick to working as a sub trade. That has enough challenges for me. An honest assessment, Scott .

Too many see a GC and think we stand around with a rake and a pile of money. Speaking of thank you Scott for your consultation during my first years in business! We’re still plugging away here in NC

Thank you! Great insight and articulation of the challenges of being a GC. 5 years ago I “retired” from being a roofing and home improvement contractor for 45 years. It was a good life, an exciting pace of life and I enjoyed the freedom and daily challenge. I too, was not an accountant. I hired a good CPA and we became life long friends. I found that a “Good Name is Better than Gold”, with a challenge to give my customers a little more than they expected. Now at age 71 my days are as filled as I want them to be. Keeping up my health and staying in the game, doing light solo jobs. It’s like I came 360 degrees.

Excellent reality check! Selecting clients is one thing that I've also learned the hard way through trial and tribulation. Excellent channel for the young up and and coming. We need more of this in the construction industry. Many thanks for a great channel! Old school masonry contractor here.

My first thought when I read the title was "go to night school for book keeping" and was glad to here you say the same. My father used to say "We do business in a businesslike way" and to do that you need to master the tools and techniques of business, just like you mastered the tools and techniques of your trade.

I’m 31 now and after 6 years of being in business it’s finally starting to be worth it. I’m not sure if the 6 years of losses and sacrifices was worth it and only time will tell.

No surprise here, yet another spectacular real world talk on GC work. Scott, thank you for your continued mentorship. 3.3 years into my GC adventure and all of the aforementioned ups and downs. At the end of the day, it’s all well worth it!

Scott, you offer sage advice and wisdom. I wish I had heard this when I was starting out. Having lived it all since 1980 as a GC, I thank you for passing on your expertise and experience to those looking at General Contracting as a career. Steve Milovich-

Great content and so true and relevant. I am a Self employed contractor here of 27 years building. I am awaiting back surgery and won’t be building in the future, take care of yourselves. You only have one back.

Scott - thank you for this very transparent assessment of your experience as a GC. I was nodding along with your commentary, as it hits home with me even as a co-owner of an engineering firm. Loved your quote "assuming you can FIND people with strengths" - those people are out there - but yes, it is a struggle to find those needles within the haystacks! Well said, sir!