Ep. 86: Estimating the Right Way

Have trouble estimating? Jim Huston will show you the right way. Some of the topics talked about include: -The six methods of estimating -Overhead budgets -Labor burdens and average wages -Time and Materials -Break-even points (BEP) and Gross & Net Profit Margins Huston has more than 35 years of diverse business management experience and holds an MBA degree in finance. He is also a member of the American Society of Professional Estimators. He is a Certified Professional Landscape Estimator and he is one of only two such CPLE's in the world. As a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps, he held positions in finance, aviation supply inventory management and procurement. After his tour of duty with the Marines, he became a senior production control analyst for the electronics division of General Dynamics. Since 1987, he has been a management consultant to the Green Industry. Early in his career, he was in charge of the consulting division for Charles Vander Kooi and Associates, Inc. In 1989 he formed J. R. Huston Consulting. Huston has written five books that deal specifically with the landscape, irrigation and tree service industries. He has also developed five software programs for the Green Industry. Huston has also assisted in the computerization of the estimating and/or accounting of hundreds of companies in the Green Industry. He closely monitored a number of those companies over an extended period of time. Huston has traveled extensively throughout the United States and Canada consulting with landscape and irrigation contractors, conducting estimating workshops, and installing estimating and accounting software. He has also assisted in the evaluation, purchase and/or sale of more than 100 Green Industry companies. Huston is a firm believer in education who holds a bachelors in psychology and a masters in Christian apologetics. For more information visit www.jrhuston.biz.