Turn Your Best PM's Expertise Into a Training System

Turn Your Best PM's Expertise Into a Training System

Steal Precision's design-first Project Roadmap before your next bid: https://buildwithprecision.com/design-and-development/Kevin Peloso can't fake 25 years of field experience. So he built a system that extracts it. He co-founded Precision Design & Build out of a real estate career, lost $50K on his first $330K of revenue, and rebuilt the company around operators instead of optimism.Most $3M builders never measure the number this episode is built on: slippage. The benchmark says 5% is good and 2% is great; Precision found 13.7% leaking through small PM decisions while clients stayed happy and reviews stayed five-star. Kevin's fix is not a hiring spree. It's an extraction pipeline: a question map, a Plaud recorder on the table, Claude structuring the transcript into an SOP, and a biweekly course where his partner Vinny trains the whole PM bench. The same system widens their talent pool, cuts keyman risk, and feeds recruiting and client content in one motion.If your margin engine lives in one person's head, this episode is the succession plan.OTHER KEVIN PELOSO RESOURCES 🔗Follow the course build in public: https://www.instagram.com/kpelosoPrecision's projects and process: https://www.instagram.com/precisiondnbPrecision Design & Build: https://buildwithprecision.com🎯 Get in Touch with Beyond the BidInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/beyondthebidLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grantfuellenbach/Website: https://beyondthebid.coEmail: grant@gofirstconsulting.comTIMESTAMPS00:00 Introduction01:14 Industry Communities05:00 Company Origins07:31 Operational Transformation19:53 Tech Stack23:15 Knowledge Transfer34:37 Talent Development46:49 Scaling and Future54:26 ConclusionEnjoyed this one? Like the video, drop your slippage number in the comments (or admit you don't track it), subscribe for weekly builder systems breakdowns, and send this to the partner whose brain runs your company.This episode is for educational purposes and reflects the guest's experience. It is not financial, legal, or accounting advice. © 2026 Beyond the Bid. All rights reserved.

Get Your Crew to Actually Use AI | Andrew Nuhfer, AKN Interiors

Steal the Crew AI Adoption Checklist (free, the exact moves from this episode): beyondthebid.co Most builders adopt AI in a weekend. Their crew never touches it. Andrew Nuhfer cracked the part everyone gets wrong: getting a field-bred team of carpenters to actually run the tech. Andrew built AKN Interiors into a 15-person Pittsburgh remodeling shop in four years, with no tech background. In this conversation he breaks down how he made software the standard instead of an optional good idea, how his 50-year-old director of construction went from typing with two fingers to doing everything the office staff can, and the Claude and JobTread "budget factory" that turns a recorded sales call into a budget in the customer's own words. Most $3M builders are still hand-entering data that AI could be writing for them. Andrew shows you what to fix first. If your team ignores half the tools you pay for, this is the episode that fixes it. OTHER ANDREW NUHFER RESOURCES 🔗 * See AKN's work: https://www.akninteriors.com [https://www.akninteriors.com] * Follow Andrew on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/akn_interiors [https://www.instagram.com/akn_interiors] * Find Andrew in the JobTread Pros group 🎯 Get in Touch with Beyond the Bid * Instagram: @beyondthebid * LinkedIn: [BTB LinkedIn] * Website: https://beyondthebid.co [https://beyondthebid.co] * Email: [BTB email] TIMESTAMPS00:00 Introduction 00:38 The Showroom Project 04:05 From Finance to Carpentry 06:33 Overcoming Tech Resistance 14:16 Avoiding Shiny Toy Syndrome 18:52 AI in Construction 25:36 Scaling Advice 29:01 Summary and Outro Like this if it made you rethink your tech stack. Comment the one tool your crew actually uses. Subscribe for a new systems breakdown every week, your competitors already are. Share it with a builder who's fighting adoption.© 2026 Beyond the Bid. For education only, not financial or legal advice.

Fix the Two Profit Leaks Your Software Can't (ft. Chad Eslinger, Eslinger Homes)

Builders lose $750+ for every day a job runs behind. Chad's client system that stops it → https://constructionflowpro.com/ [https://constructionflowpro.com/] Most builders think their next profit leak is in the field. It's not. Chad Eslinger built custom homes for nearly 30 years before he found the two leaks no software can reach, and they both start with the client. Oregon's contractor board says 95% of complaints come from poor communication, not poor work. That gap is where margin dies: change orders nobody saw coming, schedules blown by one late selection, disputes that started as a simple misunderstanding. Chad's fix is contrarian. Instead of buying more software, he "upgrades the client" with an education system he hands over before pre-construction, roughly 98 minutes of video and a printed binder that turns a first-time homeowner into the experienced client every builder wishes they had. Here's what most $3M+ builders miss: he gives it away whether they sign or not, and it's won him nearly every competitive bid he wanted. We also get into giving each project its own AI "brain" the client can question before they panic. If your systems are dialed and you're still leaking margin, this is the conversation your competitors hope you skip. OTHER CHAD ESLINGER RESOURCES 🔗 * The client system that wins bids (Construction Flow): https://constructionflowpro.com/ [https://constructionflowpro.com/] * Chad's custom homes (Eslinger Homes): https://eslingerhomes.com/ [https://eslingerhomes.com/] * Chad on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadeslingerhomes/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadeslingerhomes/] * Email Chad: chad@eslingerhomes.com [chad@eslingerhomes.com] 🎯 Get in Touch with Beyond the Bid * Instagram: @beyondthebid * LinkedIn: Grant Fuellenbach * Website: https://beyondthebid.co/ [https://beyondthebid.co/] * Email: grant@gofirstconsulting.com [grant@gofirstconsulting.com] TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Introduction 03:13 Meet Chad Esslinger 05:36 The Power of Education 12:20 Managing Project Variables 16:02 Building Radical Trust 18:22 The Golden Zone 33:27 AI and Future Systems 37:10 Practical Advice for Builders 39:56 Risk Assessment 42:06 Conclusion

How to Use AI in Your Construction Business Without Losing Control" (ft. Eric, Heartwood Craft)

Find the margin leak draining your profit before AI buries it deeper. Take the GO First AI Diagnostic: www.gofirstconsulting.com [http://www.gofirstconsulting.com] Most builders bolt AI onto a messy back end and wonder why the numbers never move. Eric, a one-man remodel shop out of Bozeman, did the opposite. He learned his own business cold, then built AI to run on his terms. Eric spent years believing his craft was too custom to systematize. That belief kept him working for $4 an hour and calling it integrity. Once he looked at his numbers, he built a self-hosted estimating back end that pushes into JobTread, a quality gate he calls the Refinery so AI stops handing him slop, and a two-button clock-in screen for his crew. None of it replaced his tools. It made him a sharper operator who knows what good work looks like before he covers it up. If you run a small shop, this is the conversation that separates builders who own their systems from the ones renting someone else's. OTHER ERIC O'KEEFE RESOURCES 🔗 * See his work and open-source tools: iheartwoodcraft.com * Connect with Eric on LinkedIn: 🎯 Get in Touch with Beyond the Bid * Instagram: @beyondthebid * LinkedIn: Beyond the Bid * Website: beyondthebid.co * Email: grant@gofirstconsulting.com [grant@gofirstconsulting.com] 🚀 Powered byGO First Consulting. We install the operating system behind the shop: gofirstconsulting.com TIMESTAMPS00:00 Foundation first, then AI01:22 Where Eric and Grant first met06:42 The mentor who picked him for how he solved problems09:43 Learning the trades in remote Alaska16:32 Why remodeling is a creativity test, not just labor18:14 The artisan ego trap that was costing him money18:34 From $4 an hour to looking at the real numbers22:39 Building AI around your weak spots, not your ego28:41 Learn to sweat copper: judge the work before you cover it30:32 Why feeding AI without standards gives you slop32:28 The Refinery: a quality gate you control39:38 The estimating back end he owns and runs himself41:11 Two buttons for the crew: the right tool for the role48:46 Charging the margins you actually deserve53:23 Why he made all of it open source Like this if it gave you one idea worth stealing. Comment the timestamp that hit hardest. Subscribe for weekly systems breakdowns built for builders. Share it with an owner who needs it. This episode is general information for construction business owners, not financial, legal, or tax advice.© 2026 Beyond the Bid. All rights reserved.

How to Stop Giving Free Estimates and Get Paid for Design (ft. Trent Raines)

🔧 Find the margin leak in your business in 7 minutes, before your competitor does: www.gofirstconsulting.comMost remodelers give estimates away for free. Trent Raines charges $30,000 before he'll bid your project, and it changed who walks through his door.Trent runs Collected Living Design, a $150K average remodeler in Kansas City that was booked six months out two weeks after launch. In this conversation he breaks down the 10% pre-construction agreement: clients pay 10% of the projected total for a real design, real selections, and a real number they own, and that fee sits on top of the build price instead of inside it. Most $3M builders are still doing it backwards, eating nights and weekends on free bids for people who were never going to sign. Trent's filter weeds out the tire-kickers and the 3-bid shoppers before they touch his calendar. He also gets into where AI earns its keep on estimating, catching the baseboard line you forgot instead of building the bid, plus the 100-page operations manual that finally let him hire.If you've ever stayed up until 1am building a free bid for a client who ghosted you, this is the episode you send to yourself.OTHER TRENT RAINES RESOURCES 🔗See the Collected Living Design portfolio: https://collectedlivingdesign.com/portfolioFollow the work on Instagram: @collectedlivingdesignStart a project in Kansas City: https://collectedlivingdesign.com🎯 Get in Touch with Beyond the BidInstagram: @beyondthebidLinkedIn: Beyond the BidWebsite: beyondthebid.coEmail: [hello@beyondthebid.co — verify]Timestamps (estimated, verify against final cut)00:00 Why "just staying in business" beats the beach-money fantasy01:30 Booked 6 months out, 2 weeks after launch04:00 Starting from design, skipping the buddy's-basement entry07:00 "You've known me 1 hour. Give me $100K." The trust problem11:00 Why he stopped flinching at his own price14:00 The $105K cabinet bid: the cost of everyone staying in business17:00 The budget question that actually works20:00 Charge 10% before you bid: the pre-con agreement24:00 Why he stopped deducting it from the build price28:00 The $50K cheap-bid trap32:00 The 36-inch door: how a live-size model saved $20K35:00 Where AI actually helps your estimates39:00 The 100-page ops manual that lets you hire43:00 Apocaloptimist: AI, robots, and riding the wave44:30 Where to find Collected Living Design—👍 Like if this saved you a free bid. 💬 Comment the worst free-estimate story you've got. 🔔 Subscribe for weekly systems breakdowns. ↗️ Share this with the builder who's still giving away their time.Beyond the Bid is produced by GO First Consulting. This content is for informational purposes only and is not financial, legal, or business advice. © 2026 Beyond the Bid. All rights reserved.