Markup & Profit: A Contractor's Guide

Book by Stone, Michael

I wrote this book after spending almost twenty years watching friends and acquaintances in the construction business work daylight to dusk, seven days a week and still go broke. Good, hardworking, honest to a fault, men and women who are the salt of the earth, that could not make a business work. As they went broke, their lives, their families came apart. It is a hard thing to do, watching your friends fail. I asked myself over and over, why? What are these people doing wrong? Why is it so difficult to survive in this business?

I set out to find the answer. My book thoroughly outlines the main reason that "contractors" go broke, and gives specific reasons. I then developed simple, easy to use principles and mathematical formulas to teach those in the construction business how to make a profit.

Lack of profit in almost all cases comes from not charging enough for the work that is done. In short, the Markup for the given company is too low. We turn that around by showing a time tested formula on how to develop the correct markup, and we have included a number of problems for the reader to assure their thorough understanding of the math and the principles involved.

We discuss other reasons for construction company business failures. This includes improper use of additional work orders, no Operating Capitol Reserve Account, and failure to make adjustments for unbudgeted expenses.

We also talk about related items. We cover contracts, proper number of employees, sales and a smattering of similar issues that are seldom addressed by other books in the industry.

This book took nearly three years to write. Prior to that, I did approximately 15 years of research. My book is easy to understand by non-accountants, and I know it will exceed your expectations.