Shawn McCadden Presents Three Seminars at GSDI Association's Septic System Conference and Exposition

Shawn presented seminars to help Septic System Designers and Installers improve their business practices at the  Association's 23rd Annual Spring Septic System Conference and Exposition

Seminar Details: This event was held on Monday and Tuesday, March 29th and 30th, 2010    Radisson Hotel Manchester, 700 Elm Street, Manchester, NH

I had a really good time at this event.   The attendees at my sessions were eager for business education, grateful for what they learned and hungry to learn more.  

On Monday evening I presented a dinner program for business owners titled "Taking Some of the Mystery Out Of Margins and Markups".  At dinner before the presentation, I had some great conversation with the business owners at the table.  It was very helpful to listen to their business concerns and challenges.  There was lots of discussion about pricing and the challenges they face everyday due to competition with other businesses that operate illegally and or moonlighters who do the work without proper permitting.   Many of their challenges and concerns are similar to those experienced by the remodeling contractors I typically interact with.  

I'd like to thank Matt Gatzke from the association's office for contacting me and working with me to make the seminars happen.  Through Matt's help I also spoke to association members Jim Hanna and Deborah Hinds in advance of the event to discuss topics and content for the seminars.   With their help I was able to personalize the presentations so each one would be in context with the needs of the attendees.  Because of their help, in Tuesday's seminar titled "Small Business Finances for Non-Accountants", I was better prepared to answer questions and offer suggestions related to pricing strategies to cover things like site equipment loan payments and how to price tank pumping jobs depending on the number and sizes of tanks to be pumped. 

Jim Hanna

Mat Gatzke

Tuesday afternoon's presentation titled "Determining Your Real Labor Cost: Are You Really Charging Enough?" was packed.  Several attendees grabbed more chairs from an adjacent room and some were even gathering in the hallway outside the room so they could listen in.  In the seminar we discussed ways to build employee related costs such as vehicle expenses, non-productive time, vacation time and bonuses into an hourly burdened rate to use for estimating and job costing purposes.  We also did some "what-if" scenarios to show the effects on labor costs for things like employee raises and offering benefits.  

Thanks to all of the attendees for making me feel welcome.  I hope to have an opportunity to work with all of you again in the near future!  If you were at the event, please scroll down and leave a comment about your experience.

 

Click here to download one or more of the seminar handouts

 

Click here to request the labor burden spreadsheet offered in the labor costs seminar

 

Program Descriptions: 

Taking Some of the Mystery Out of Margins and Markups

For many small construction companies first getting into the business, financial management skills are not necessarily a part of their educational background. A fundamental goal of any growing business is to maximize and protect its profits. By understanding the profit process (how to define it, create it, and measure it), a business owner or manager will come to better understand how fragile profits can be and the im­portance that good financial management plays in protect­ing them. If earning and keeping profits is important to you and your business, attend this down-to-earth, easy to follow seminar program. By knowing the mathematical formulas to determine things like margins and markups, they become real tools rather than magical numbers that some person suggests that you use to run your business.

 

Small-Business Finances for Non-Accountants

The number one reason contracting businesses fail is due to a lack of available money when they needed it, even if they are operating profitably. The number two reason is that they do not know the costs of being in business. Do you know if you will make a profit this year? Do you always have enough money to pay monthly bills on time or to meet payroll? Do you know whether you are buying rather than selling projects? Do you know how and when to predict the costs of doing business? Why try to figure this stuff out yourself by at­tending the "Suppliers School of Hard Knocks"? Shawn has already graduated from that institution and he is willing to share some hard earned lessons from the trenches! Join us for a fun and enlightening discussion.

Learning objectives: By completing this class, you will be able to:

• Determine the markup your business needs to use when pricing projects to ensure your ability to cover project and overhead expenses and to maintain planned net profit
• Understand how to determine your company's gross profit margin requirement and breakeven point and how to use both to track your company's profitability
• Understand how sales volume and gross profit margins are interdependent and what you can do if one or both are falling short as you do business

 

Determining Your Real Labor Cost: Are You Really Charging Enough?

The most difficult part of estimating is predicting the labor required to complete a project. What does it really cost your business to support and compensate your employees for each hour they work before you even make a profit? The burdened cost of labor includes much more than just the hourly wage of the employee who will complete the work. Knowing what to charge for labor should be based on the actual expenses of the company doing the work. Attend this seminar to find out how to do it. You will even get a free MS Excel spreadsheet template so you can get started right away!

During this program, we will be discussing and demonstrating the following:

• What really makes up the burden cost of labor and why?
• Estimating by the hour, man or crew
• Estimated hours vs the labor budget
• How to include non-paid time (vacations, holidays, company meetings...)
• How to include benefits (health insurance, 401K,