The Construction Leading Edge Podcast
by Todd Dawalt
Construction business owners doing $1M–$20M: fix your preconstruction and handoffs so you can stop firefighting and build a profitable business that runs without you. For custom home builders, remodelers, commercial GCs, and trade contractors, this podcast shows you how to design a real preconstruction process and nail the handoff from office to field. If your projects are slipping, profit is bleeding out through rework and giveaways, and everything lives in your head, you'll get practical systems to tighten precon, cut chaos, and turn your construction business into a more profitable, controllable machine that runs without you. Over time, you'll use what you hear on this show to: ✅ Buy back your time– spend less of your week in day‑to‑day fires and more of it leading, selling, and actually living your life. ✅ Maximize your profit from the work you already do instead of just grinding for more volume. ✅ Scale with confidence – grow the business without doubling your hours or
Episodes
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The Builder's Profit Circle: Increase Profit by Doing Fewer Things | Ep. 468
Most construction business owners think higher profit comes from more work and more projects. In Episode 468, Todd Dawalt argues that the faster route to a more profitable construction business is taking on less of the wrong work, and he breaks down the three profit circles that help a general...
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Is Your Construction Business Actually Sellable? | Ep. 467
Is your construction business actually sellable, and what is it worth to a real buyer? In Episode 467, Justin Escajeda breaks down how to sell a construction business and what makes a construction company valuable from the buyer's side of the table. ⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The...
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Stop Taking Shortcuts: The Shortcut Delusion | Ep. 466
Why does your construction business feel more chaotic the bigger it gets? In this episode, Todd Dawalt breaks down the shortcut delusion and why today's fires are bills for shortcuts you took months ago. ⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team: HERE 👉 Meet...
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How You're Accidentally Making Your Team Resist Change | Ep. 465
Your team keeps resisting new processes and software, and the way you roll out change might be the reason. Dr. Anna Hunter, Director of Learning & Development at JobTread, breaks down why teams resist change and how to lead them through it so it sticks. ⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with…
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You're Solving the Wrong Problems in Your Construction Business | Ep. 464
In this episode of the Construction Leading Edge podcast, Todd Dawalt explains why construction business owners keep solving the wrong problems, and how looking upstream at your pre-construction process fixes the chaos at its root cause. ⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction...
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Stop Putting Out Fires by Building a Real Pre-Construction Process | Ep. 463
On this rerun episode of the Construction Leading Edge podcast, custom home builder Eric Brownson sits down with our Director of Customer Success, Leyah Hostetter, to talk about how he used to wake up three hours behind, stuck in reactive mode and buried in daily firefighting. Here's how building…
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Why Generic Business Coaching Never Works for Your Construction Company | Ep. 462
Kris Miller runs a commercial, multifamily, and residential construction company in Denver, and he is on his way to cutting his workweek from 80 hours down to 10. In this episode, he shares the construction business systems that got him moving, from a simple weekly client update to an...
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How to Turn Customer & Employee Excuses Into Action | Ep. 461
Every construction business owner hears the same objections: now isn't a good time, this will take too long, and it's too big to tackle. In this episode, Todd Dawalt breaks down the three excuses that keep customers and employees from taking action, and the calibrated questions that get them to...
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Why Starting Projects Too Soon Is Killing Your Profit | Ep. 460
Todd Dawalt explains why starting construction projects before they're fully ready creates "dead days," the hidden overhead that bleeds profit out of your business. This episode breaks down the "just enough to start" trap and how a complete pre-construction handoff and buyout protect your…
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How to Design Your Construction Business for Growth, Profit, and Freedom with Tom Raisanen | Ep. 459
Designing a construction business with the right systems and processes from day one is how you build for lasting profit and freedom. New Hampshire home builder Tom Raisanen shares how he set up pre-construction, project handoffs, a CEO schedule, and his first hire so the company can eventually…
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What To Do When Your Construction Business Finally Runs Without You | Ep. 458
You systematized your construction business and now it runs without you, so what do you actually do next? Todd Dawalt and CEO Alliance coach Monish Khadye break down the operator-to-owner shift and how to build a construction business that supports the life you want. ⚡Schedule a Business…
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The Skywalk Collapse & The 5 Decision Questions Every Construction Leader Must Train Their Team On | Ep. 457
The 1981 Kansas City Hyatt skywalk collapse came down to one unchecked decision, and it holds a hard lesson for every construction business owner. In this episode of the Construction Leading Edge podcast, Todd Dawalt shares a decision-making framework of five questions and four tips to train your...
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How To Hold Employees Accountable: The Big 5 System | Ep. 456
Todd Dawalt breaks down how to hold employees accountable in your construction business using the Big 5 Accountability System. It's a simple, repeatable way to build ownership across your team without micromanaging or hovering all day. ⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction...
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How Builder CEOs Get Sh*t Done (Without More Willpower or Fixing Your ADHD Brain) | Ep. 455
If you stay busy all day but the work that actually grows your construction business keeps getting pushed to tomorrow, the problem probably isn't your willpower or your ADHD brain. In this episode, Todd Dawalt breaks down the deep work system builder CEOs use to cut interruptions, protect their...
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How Cody Scaled His Custom Home Business to Increase Profit and Win Back His Life | Ep. 454
Custom home builder Cody Reimer went from a burned-out two-man crew to running a 12-person company that operates without him in the day-to-day. Todd Dawalt breaks down the construction business systems and the paid pre-construction process that moved Cody out of the field and into a real CEO…
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Why Waffle House Is More Systematized Than Your Construction Business | Ep. 453
If you're a contractor working 60 to 80-hour weeks and still putting out fires, here's an uncomfortable truth: Waffle House is probably more systematized than your construction business. Todd Dawalt sat at the counter during a lunch rush and walked out with four systems lessons that show exactly...
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The 5-Step Hire Right System: How Construction Business Owners Can Hire Better with Justin Landry | Ep. 452
Hiring for your construction business shouldn't feel like an emergency every time you do it. In this episode, Todd Dawalt sits down with JL Talent Solutions founder Justin Landry to break down a five-step system for hiring better construction employees without leaning on gut feel. ⚡Schedule a...
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Crossing the Rubicon & the Desperate Ground Principle for Builders | Ep. 451
The year is half over. Are you halfway to your goals, or halfway to another year of almosts? In this episode, Todd DeWalt breaks down why so many construction business owners stay stuck overthinking the decision they already know they need to make, still camped on the wrong side of their own...
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AI Is Lying, Customers Aren't: Radical Transparency and Culture-Building with Eric Fortenberry | Ep. 450
Why are you still stuck in the middle of everything, even with the best tools, a solid team, and steady projects coming in? In this episode, Todd DeWalt sits down with Eric Fortenberry, founder and CEO of JobTread, to dig into the real reasons contractors stay under-profitable and overworked, and...
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The Hidden Design Shift That Unlocks Growth, Profit, and Free Time in Your Construction Business | Ep. 449
Can you grow your construction business, pay yourself real profit, and still work a normal 40 to 50 hour week? Most construction business owners are working harder than ever and going backwards. ⚡Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team: HERE 👉 If you're…
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The One Question That Finally Gets Your Clients To Follow Your Process | Ep. 448
Got construction clients who miss selection deadlines, go around your communication process, then blame you when the schedule slips? In this episode of the Construction Leading Edge Podcast, Todd Dawalt shares the one question that gets your team to hold clients accountable to your process…
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Short-Staffed or Just Disorganized? 5 Tests Before You Hire | Ep. 447
Before you hire your next superintendent, project manager, or estimator, you need to know whether you have a capacity problem or a process problem. Todd Dawalt walks construction business owners through a five-step hiring framework to make smarter, more strategic staffing decisions. ⚡Schedule a...
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The 4 Questions to Ask Before You Try to Fix What's Not Working | Ep. 446
Something feels off in your construction business but you can't pinpoint it. Sales are slipping, the team's out of sync, or projects feel chaotic, and your instinct is to add more meetings, more software, more hours. In this episode, Todd Dawalt breaks down why throwing action at the problem...
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How to Sell on Value Instead of Price | Ep. 445
If your prospects are ghosting you, dragging their feet, or making the final decision based on whoever has the lowest number, the problem probably isn't your price. It's that you're selling the plunger. In this episode, Todd Dawalt breaks down why most contractors spend too much time talking…
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The Toyota "Pull the Cord" Method Your Construction Business Is Missing | Ep. 444
Most construction business owners think their job site fires are operations problems. They're not. They're pre-construction problems that nobody caught in time. In this episode, Todd Dawalt breaks down the Toyota manufacturing concept of Jidoka and what it means for your construction business. He...
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The Firing: A Business Parable for Construction Owners | Ep. 443
EPISODE 443: Jake spent three years running a construction business that felt like waist-deep mud. He blamed the labor market. He blamed the economy. He blamed himself. Then he found a signature at the bottom of a stack of invoices — and everything clicked. His chaos had a name. And it had been...
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The Nail the Handoff Framework: 4 Crucial Handoffs to Increase Profit and Eliminate Chaos | EP 442
EPISODE 442: Most construction business owners are managing 20 things at once and wondering why the job still falls apart. They've got good people, solid clients, decent projects — and somehow it still ends in chaos, rework, and fires they didn't see coming. The problem usually isn't the…
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The Cost‑Plus Contract Trap: 3 Simple Moves to Prevent Budget Blowups and Legal Nightmares | EP 441
EPISODE 441: Most builders assume cost plus is the safe play. No locked-in price. No exposure if materials spike or scope grows. But according to the author of Markup and Profits, cost plus contracts end up in lawsuits two to three times more often — and in arbitration nine times more often —…
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3 Keys to Operating from a Position of Strength in High-End Remodeling with Andy Kolp | EP 440
EPISODE 440: Andy Kolp had clients, projects, and a reputation worth protecting. He also had gaps in his process — vague scope, trade bids coming in by text with no context, and jobs where the client ended up running the show. The projects finished. The clients were happy. But Epic Building…
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3 Keys to Taking Back Control of Your Construction Business with Daaron Yester | EP 439
☎️ Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team HERE EPISODE 439: Daaron Yester has been framing custom homes in Southern California's Coachella Valley for nearly 30 years. He had loyal crews, a strong reputation, and clients who kept coming back. He was also...
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Your Customers Experience Your Systems, Not Your Intentions | EP 438
☎️ Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team HERE EPISODE 438: Why do construction business owners with real integrity still end up with frustrated clients? In this episode, Todd Dawalt breaks down the systems gap between what you promise and what your customers...
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What the P-38 Fighter Plane Can Teach You About Business Strategy | EP 437
☎️ Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team HERE EPISODE 437: In 1937, the U.S. Army Air Corps sent out a design proposal with a set of detailed performance specifications for a new pursuit aircraft — one that didn't yet exist and that no plane at the time could...
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How John Springstead Doubled Revenue While Cutting His Work Hours | EP 436
☎️ Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team HERE EPISODE 436: John Springs has been in construction since 1991. For most of those years, everything lived in his head — no written systems, no pre-construction process, no clear handoffs. He was the first call for...
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Mental Malware | EP 435
☎️ Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team HERE EPISODE 435: There's a belief running in your construction business right now that sounds completely responsible. Maybe it's "now's not a good time." Maybe it's "when things calm down, I'll fix it." Maybe it's "we...
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The Solution Is Inside the Problem | EP 434
☎️ Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team HERE EPISODE 434: There's a problem in your construction business right now that you've already identified — but haven't engaged with yet. A tough conversation with a client or employee, a financial trend you keep...
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5 Decisions That Free the Overworked Construction Owner | EP 433
☎️ Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team HERE – EPISODE 433: Construction business owner buried in reactive mode, watching your business grow while your stress grows with it? Working 60+ hour weeks, stressed about profit, team management, and scaling your...
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This Is How We Do It Builders: Leading Clients With a Proven Process | EP 432
☎️Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team HERE – EPISODE 432: What if the reason your team is stressed, your projects feel harder than they should, and your profits aren't where they should be has nothing to do with labor shortages, material pricing, the…
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Is Indecision Crippling Your Construction Business? | EP 431
☎️Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team HERE – If you've been listening to podcasts, reading books, going to conferences, and consuming business content for months, but your business still looks the same… this one's going to sting. In this episode of The...
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Nail the Handoff System: Build a Rock‑Solid Preconstruction Checklist Your Team Actually Follows | EP 430
EPISODE 430: If your construction projects feel chaotic before they even start, the problem isn't execution, it's the handoff. In this episode of The Construction Leading Edge Podcast, I explain how a weak preconstruction handoff creates scope gaps, delays, missed details, and profit bleeds long...
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Grow Your Profit Without Growing Your Team | EP 429
☎️Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team HERE – EPISODE 429: If you're hiring more people but your profit still isn't moving, this episode is for you. Many construction business owners assume the only way to grow profit is to add headcount. More project...
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Scale Without Sacrificing Profit, Control, Or Freedom: The 3-Legged Stool Every Builder Needs | EP 428
☎️Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team HERE 🚀Is Your Construction Business Ready to Scale? Take the free online assessment HERE – EPISODE 428: Trying to scale your construction business in 2026 but feeling stretched thinner than ever? Many builders,...
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4 Hidden Metrics Top Builders Use to Boost Profit and Freedom | EP 427
☎️Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team HERE 🚀Is Your Construction Business Ready to Scale? Take the free online assessment HERE – EPISODE 427: If it feels like something's off in your construction business, like you're working your butt off, but profit…
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How We Found $400,000 of Hidden Profit in A Custom Builder's Business | EP 426
🚀Download your free Strategic Planning Guide HERE ☎️Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team HERE – EPISODE 426: Mike was running a $5 million custom home building company, but it felt like he was running on fumes. Even with steady referrals, a solid team, and...
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Stop Setting More Goals. Fix One Constraint | EP 425
☎️Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team HERE – EPISODE 425: You have always started the year with clear goals to grow revenue, increase profit, and finally step out of operations. If you're being honest, 2026 is no different; you're just reliving the same…
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Average People: The Secret for Profitable Construction Business Growth | EP 424
🚀Watch the Get Out of Your Construction Business Masterclass - HERE ☎️Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team HERE – EPISODE 424: If you're constantly hunting for that one dream employee, the unicorn who can wear all the hats and solve all your problems, you…
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Your Construction Business Is Doing Exactly What It's Designed To Do | Ep 423
🚀Download the How to Buyout a Construction Project Playbook HERE ☎️Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team HERE – EPISODE 423: Does this sound familiar? You set goals every year, swear you'll fix the chaos in your business, and then 12 months later, you're…
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How Elon Musk Would Streamline Your Construction Business: 5 Steps | E422
☎️Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team HERE 🚀Is Your Construction Business Ready to Scale? Take the free online assessment HERE – EPISODE 422: If you're a general contractor, and you feel like you're buried under processes, stuck in the weeds, and…
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The Builder Identity Crisis: What Got You Here Won't Get You There | Ep 421
🚀Download the How to Buyout a Construction Project Playbook HERE ☎️Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team HERE – EPISODE 421: If you feel stuck in your business, the problem might not be your team, your schedule, or your subs… it might be your identity. In…
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Cut Preconstruction Timelines in Half: 6 Strategies From Managing $300M | E420
EPISODE 420 If pre-construction is dragging on, you're not just losing time but also revenue, team capacity, and control. In this episode, I'm going to show you how to cut your pre-construction timelines in half and finally get your projects to the starting line on time. Here's what we're going…
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Repossess Your Time by Fixing These 3 Hidden Design Flaws in Your Construction Business | Ep 419
🚀Download the How to Buyout a Construction Project Playbook HERE ☎️Schedule a Business Evaluation Call with The Construction Leading Edge Team HERE – EPISODE 419: You're regularly putting in 70-hour weeks, but the needle still isn't moving. Calls. Texts. Problems. Decisions. It all falls on you....
About this show
Construction business owners doing $1M–$20M: fix your preconstruction and handoffs so you can stop firefighting and build a profitable business that runs without you. For custom home builders, remodelers, commercial GCs, and trade contractors, this podcast shows you how to design a real preconstruction process and nail the handoff from office to field. If your projects are slipping, profit is bleeding out through rework and giveaways, and everything lives in your head, you'll get practical systems to tighten precon, cut chaos, and turn your construction business into a more profitable, controllable machine that runs without you. Over time, you'll use what you hear on this show to: ✅ Buy back your time– spend less of your week in day‑to‑day fires and more of it leading, selling, and actually living your life. ✅ Maximize your profit from the work you already do instead of just grinding for more volume. ✅ Scale with confidence – grow the business without doubling your hours or
Hosted by
Todd Dawalt
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