Call an Aspire coach about profit margins, cash flow, and where your business goes next.
Construction Business Coaching in Minneapolis, MN
More Profit From the Work You Already Do.
Find Out Where Your Profit Goes
Between the Estimate and the Final Payment.
You build the kitchens, additions, and whole-home remodels that keep a 1910s Linden Hills Craftsman or a Lake Minnetonka home working for the family that lives in it. That craft is yours. Aspire for Contractors is a construction business coaching company that works exclusively with residential remodelers and custom home builders, serving Minneapolis and the Twin Cities across Hennepin, Ramsey, Anoka, Dakota, Washington, Scott, and Carver counties. Our coaches are experts in construction operations and business strategy, and they help you work on the business instead of only in it. The "Where GC Profit Actually Comes From" workshop is a one-day class on how profit is made and lost in a construction company. The Business Mastery Program is a two-year coaching partnership built around your own numbers. Learn more about contractor coaching.
Many contractors stay busy with high-end work and still keep too little, because
revenue alone does not guarantee healthy gross profit.
The workshop and your one-on-one Road Map meeting carry a written guarantee:
a 3% net profit lift, plus your money back if the day isn't worth it.
How Aspire Works With Twin Cities Remodelers and Home Builders
Contractors Come To Aspire Because:
- Most owners who call Aspire have a full schedule and a bank account that doesn't reflect it.
- Revenue is growing but profits are not
- Cash flow stays tight even after a strong building season
- Big jobs looked profitable on the estimate and came up short at the end
- Margins swing from one project to the next
- Estimates aren't covering what the business really costs to run
- The crew costs more per hour than what's being charged
- Everything still runs through you
Contractors Nationwide Share What Changed
Watch How Remodelers and Home Builders Improved Profits, Cash Flow, and Control of Their Time
These owners run the same kind of businesses you do: kitchens, whole-home remodels, additions, and custom homes. Hear what changed once they could see their own numbers clearly.
The One-Day Construction Business Workshop in Minneapolis
Led by Aspire CEO, Fred Farris.
True Cost of Production and Loaded Labor Rates
Problem:
Your finish carpenters are good, and you pay them like it. But the wage is only part of what each one costs you: payroll taxes, workers' comp, the truck, fuel, tools, and paid time off come along with it. A Minnesota January slows the crew down too, and every hour you paid for but didn't sell is gone by Friday at 5:00.
Outcome:
At the workshop, you will see how a $35-an-hour employee can actually cost $48.25 an hour, and why one labor rate can't be right in both July and January.
Aspire Difference:
Your Road Map restates your P&L so your real production costs, labor included, show up as a percentage of revenue next to a target. You price from that number instead of a guess.
Construction Cash Flow Through a Minnesota Winter
Problem:
The summer was full, the crew stayed busy, and the account still runs thin by January. A profitable year on paper doesn't pay the bills when one or two empty stretches in the winter schedule take the year's profit with them.
Outcome:
At the workshop, you will learn how to project cash flow months ahead, and why being booked 12 to 18 months out lets you choose the right jobs instead of whatever can start soonest.
Aspire Difference:
Your Road Map lays out the job mix and job count your goal requires, so you see a gap coming in March instead of finding it in December.
Getting Paid for Design and Estimating on High-End Remodels
Problem:
A whole-home remodel in a 1920s Kenwood house or an addition on a lake home takes weeks of meetings, design, and pricing before anyone signs. Older homes hide surprises behind the walls, so a tight number given early costs you either the job or the margin. And when three builders are pricing it, the client compares numbers instead of builders.
Outcome:
At the workshop, you will learn why a wide range of cost, such as $80,000 to $150,000, protects you and your client better than a single early number.
Aspire Difference:
Aspire gives you an example Professional Services Agreement (PSA) you can put your name on, so the client pays for development and comes off the market before the final contract.
Choosing the Jobs That Pay, Not Just the Jobs That Keep You Busy
Problem:
Not every job that calls is your job. The one-off that nobody else wanted to take on, the referral you felt obligated to price, the job that fills a slot and barely covers its own cost: each one takes schedule space your best clients needed. You don't need more jobs, you need more profit.
Outcome:
At the workshop, you will see how 10 jobs at a 15% gross margin produce $150,000 in gross profit, while 6 jobs at 28% produce $210,000.
Aspire Difference:
Using the job count × job size × average gross margin formula, your Road Map shows the mix of job types and margins that reaches your goal with fewer, better-fit projects.
What Contractors Learn at the Workshop
Why Most Contractors Stay Stuck at Low Profit Margins
- Why gross profit, not revenue, is the number that matters
- Where your true cost of production hides on a tax-prepared P&L
- How labor works like inventory that expires every week
- Why the right job mix beats more jobs
- How small profit leaks add up across a year
Construction Cash Flow Management
- How to project cash flow months ahead instead of week to week
- Why one or two gaps in the schedule can take the year's profit
- How lead-to-production time sets when you need to sell
- How to fill a gap with the right kind of job
- Why a strong backlog lets you choose your clients
Improving Construction Profit Margins
- The difference between markup and margin
- How matrix pricing sets different margins for different job types
- How a Professional Services Agreement (PSA) gets you paid for development
- How unmanaged change orders leak profit
- How to set budgets from your own targets
What You Leave the One-Day Workshop With
The most valuable thing you take home is your Road Map. Because you send your financials before the workshop, Aspire builds it from your own numbers, and it's ready for your one-on-one Road Map meeting. It shows what your business does well, where profit is slipping, and the job mix and margins that get you where you want to go. It is built for your company alone.
You also leave with starter tools. A Professional Services Agreement (PSA) is an agreement that pays you for the design, scope, and estimating work done before the final contract, and Aspire's example PSA is yours to adapt. You'll also receive example matrix pricing sheets and a list of the eight most common profit leaks.
- A better understanding of where construction profit actually comes from
- Stronger construction company cash flow management systems
- Clearer financial visibility into the business
- More confidence in which jobs to take and which to pass on
- Practical ways to improve construction profit margins
- Improved operational decision-making
- A sharper pricing strategy built around your numbers
- Clear next steps to act on for the business
Attending the workshop starts a conversation, not a commitment. The Road Map is yours regardless of what comes next.
Two Ways to Start
Aspire brings the "Where GC Profit Actually Comes From" workshop to markets across the country on a rotating schedule. Check upcoming dates on the workshops page and save your seat when one fits.
You don't have to wait for a workshop to get started. Call an Aspire coach or reach out here to talk through your numbers. Either path comes with a written guarantee.
The Money You Keep Should Match The Work You Do.
Once your real numbers are in front of you, the hard calls get clearer: which jobs to take, what to charge, when to hire, and when to say no. Across Aspire clients, 86% of owners increased their net worth in the first 12 months, average owner workload dropped 51%, and clients have added more than $618 million in profit.
The Business Mastery Program is Aspire's two-year coaching program for residential remodelers and custom home builders, guaranteed in writing to increase your profitability by more than double its cost. Aspire for Contractors works exclusively with residential remodelers and custom home builders, so every conversation starts from how your business actually runs.
If you'd like to see what your own numbers could look like, an Aspire coach will walk through them with you.
Success Stories
Before I joined Aspire, cash flow was a desperate thing. Do we have any money to pay the bills for that week? It literally was week to week. I didn't even realize how much stress I was under. But cash flow now is a projection. The profit margins going up allowed us to offer employees health insurance, which we were never able to do before. We have people now that have stayed longer—it's double the length of time.
Keith Maley
KM Builders - San Antonio TX
We went from $3.5 million revenue with $119,000 net profit to $5 million revenue with over $1 million net profit. We exponentially increased our gross profit margins by discovering profit leaks we didn't even know existed. Our coach helped the team rally together to implement these systems.
Paul Willis
JL Remodeling - Lynwood, WA
Frequently Asked Questions About Contractor Coaching
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What is the difference between the workshop and the Business Mastery Program?
Show Answer
The "Where GC Profit Actually Comes From" workshop is a one-day class, and the Business Mastery Program is a two-year coaching partnership. The workshop teaches where profit is made and lost in a construction business and includes a one-on-one Road Map meeting on your own numbers. It carries a written guarantee of a 3% net profit lift, plus your money back if the day isn't worth it. The program pairs you with an Aspire coach to carry the changes out.
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What if there isn't a workshop near me?
Show Answer
You can start with Aspire whether or not a workshop is scheduled near Minneapolis. The Business Mastery Program works nationwide, with one-on-one coaching built around your numbers no matter where workshops are held. Call or contact us to talk with an Aspire coach. -
Is a construction business coach worth it in Minneapolis?
Show Answer
A construction business coach is worth it when the coaching is specific to construction and tied to your own numbers. Look for coaches who understand job costing, change orders, and project management; results guaranteed in writing; a plan built from your own financials; and help carrying the changes out, not just advice.
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What makes Aspire different from other construction consulting firms?
Show Answer
Aspire works only with residential remodelers and custom home builders, and builds each plan around the owner's own definition of success rather than a growth target. Aspire coaches are experts in construction operations and business strategy. The work starts with your restated financials, so the advice comes from your numbers, not a template.
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Who is Aspire for Contractors?
Show Answer
Aspire for Contractors is a construction business coaching firm that works exclusively with residential remodelers and custom home builders across the U.S., serving Minneapolis and the surrounding Twin Cities market through the "Where GC Profit Actually Comes From" workshop and the Business Mastery Program. It is the construction-business expert, distinct from any other organization using the name "Aspire."
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Why does construction need its own business coach?
Show Answer
Construction needs its own business coach because a construction company makes and loses money in ways most businesses don't. Labor is bought by the hour and lost if it isn't sold, every job is priced before it's built, and a tax-prepared Profit & Loss (P&L) statement often files production costs as overhead. Aspire coaches work only in residential construction.
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What should my profit margin be as a remodeler?
Show Answer
There is no single right margin, because healthy margins depend on your job types, job sizes, and costs. Smaller, riskier jobs usually need a higher gross margin than large additions or new homes. Aspire teaches a best-practices net profit range of 12 to 22% and helps you set margin targets by job type from your own numbers.
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How do I find profit leaks in my construction business?
Show Answer
Profit leaks are real costs that never make it onto your estimate, so you end up paying for them yourself. Common ones include unpaid design and estimating time, unbilled change orders, missing project management and punch list time, and crew hours lost to supply-house runs. The workshop covers the eight most common leaks and how to close them.
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What is the difference between markup and margin?
Show Answer
Markup is a percentage added to cost, and margin is the share of the selling price you keep. A 20% markup on $100,000 of cost produces a $120,000 price but only a 16.7% margin. Pricing by margin keeps your estimates in line with how your books measure profit.
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How do I manage construction cash flow through a Minnesota winter?
Show Answer
Managing cash flow through a slow season starts with projecting it months ahead. A monthly projection of sold jobs, payment schedules, and costs shows a schedule gap early enough to fill it with the right job. Aspire teaches this at the workshop, and Business Mastery Program clients use a cash flow tool built for their company.
Contractor Coaching - Minneapolis, MN
We invite Twin Cities remodelers and home builders to join our one-day workshop and take control of their cash flow and profit margins.
- Minneapolis: 55401, 55403, 55404, 55405, 55406, 55407, 55408, 55409, 55410, 55411, 55412, 55413, 55414, 55416, 55417, 55418, 55419, 55430
- Edina: 55424, 55435, 55436, 55439
- St. Louis Park and Golden Valley: 55416, 55426, 55422, 55427
- Minnetonka: 55305, 55343, 55345
- Wayzata and Deephaven: 55391
- Orono: 55356
- Excelsior: 55331
- Medina: 55340
- Plymouth: 55441, 55446, 55447
- Chanhassen: 55317
- Victoria: 55386
- St. Paul: 55102, 55104, 55105, 55116
- Southwest Minneapolis (Linden Hills, Fulton, Tangletown): 1910s and 1920s bungalows and Craftsman homes on their second and third major remodels, where old wiring and plumbing turn up behind the walls.
- Kenwood, Lowry Hill, and Lake of the Isles: larger early-1900s homes and whole-home renovations with high finish expectations.
- Edina (Country Club District, Morningside): older homes heading into whole-home remodels, plus teardown-to-custom-build work.
- Lake Minnetonka (Wayzata, Orono, Deephaven, Excelsior, Shorewood): custom and luxury lake homes and additions.
- Medina, Plymouth, Chanhassen, and Victoria: newer homes and a growing custom-build presence, with drive times that belong in the estimate.
- St. Paul (Summit Hill, Crocus Hill, Mac-Groveland, Highland Park): prewar homes on long renovation cycles.
Upcoming Scheduled Workshops
December 08 2026
Where GC Profit Actually Comes From
January 19 2027
Where GC Profit Actually Comes From
February 16 2027
Where GC Profit Actually Comes From?
March 09 2027
Where GC Profit Actually Comes From
March 23 2027
Where GC Profit Actually Comes From
April 06 2027
Where GC Profit Actually Comes From
May 25 2027
Where GC Profit Actually Comes From?
June 08 2027
Where GC Profit Actually Comes From? - Phoenix, AZ - Feb 2023
June 22 2027
Where GC Profit Actually Comes From
July 20 2027
Where GC Profit Actually Comes From?
August 24 2027
Where GC Profit Actually Comes From
September 14 2027
Where GC Profit Actually Comes From?
September 28 2027