By Paul Atherton, Co-Founder & CEO, Highspire Capital
We work with more than 130 construction company owners and leadership teams across North America. Nearly every one of them has the same frustration when they first join us:
“We’re busy. We’re growing. But our profit just isn’t where we think it could be.”
It’s not that they don’t work hard. It’s that they’re often working hard in the wrong places.
The companies that consistently hit 10–15%+ net profit don’t work harder. They just focus on deploying a series of small and correct strategic activities.
When we look across the data from all the companies we work with, three areas determine how profitable you really are:
- Overhead Efficiency – how well dollars translate into gross profit
- GP/Week – how fast you convert jobs into earnings and utilize overhead to execute
- Pre-Construction Management – how effectively you move projects from concept to production.
Let’s unpack each one.
1. Overhead Efficiency — The Foundation of Net Profit
Most builders don’t have a revenue problem — they have an overhead problem.
But the problem isn’t how much they’re spending. It’s what they’re getting for it.
Every dollar of overhead should generate gross profit. When it doesn’t, it’s dead weight.
We’ve seen companies double their net profit just by tightening how they manage overhead.
No new hires, no new sales — just better discipline.
Here’s how they do it:
Audit Every Expense
Pull your Chart of Accounts and go line by line.
Ask:
- Can I renegotiate this?
- Can it be automated or eliminated?
- Is there measurable ROI from this cost?
Don’t treat every expense the same. Start with high-impact categories: insurance, marketing, software, admin payroll, vehicle costs and professional fees.
When you find waste in those areas, you’ll be shocked at how much it compounds.
A $10,000/month overhead reduction at 25% gross margin equals $480,000 per year in revenue pressure that has been removed from your top line — without selling an extra dollar.
That’s what we mean when we say efficiency creates profit.
Turn Overhead Into Revenue
Don’t just cut. Re-purpose.
Pre-construction planning, design coordination, budgeting, permitting — these are billable services.
When you charge for them, your overhead staff effectively become a revenue-generating team.
It’s one of the fastest ways to strengthen cash flow and offset fixed costs.
The goal isn’t to spend less — it’s to make sure every dollar spent creates a return.
2. GP/Week — The Speed of Profit
This one metric changes how your team thinks about time.
Gross Profit per Week (GP/Week) measures not just how much you make, but how fast you make it.
We started tracking this with our clients because it exposes inefficiency instantly.
The Formula:
Total Expected Gross Profit
GP/Week = ————————————
Project Duration in Weeks
If a job is expected to make $100,000 in GP over 20 weeks, that’s $5,000 per week.
If it runs 25 weeks, GP/Week drops to $4,000.
You didn’t lose revenue — you lost velocity.
And that slowdown has a real financial cost. Because while gross profit stays the same, your overhead doesn’t stop ticking. Your overhead expense doesn’t care whether or not your pipeline is full or empty. The market is replete with examples of companies nailing their gross profit targets on jobs, bonusing their staff to do so, but not hitting net profit numbers at the end of the year….this is because of schedule creep.
Calculating GP / Week is the absolute best leading indicator KPI to understand when this situation is occurring.
Why It Matters
When you multiply GP/Week across your entire pipeline, you start to see the truth:
your company’s profit is capped not by how many projects you do, but by how efficiently you complete them.
It’s the construction version of “turns” in retail — the faster you move quality work through, the more profit your fixed overhead can support.
A Real Example
We had two companies last year with almost identical numbers:
- Both around $10–11M in revenue.
- Both around 20% GP.
- Both with $1.2M in overhead.
The first paid off its annual overhead in early August.
The second hit that point by mid-July.
That three-week difference meant the second company spent an extra five and a half months in “profit mode” — collecting GP that flowed straight to the bottom line.
That’s the power of GP/Week. It turns time into a financial KPI.
| Revenue | $10M | $11M | $1M |
| Gross Profit (20%) | $2.0M | $2.2M | +$200k |
| Overhead | $1.2M | $1.2M | – |
| Net Profit | $800k | $1.0M | +$200k |
| Overhead Paid Off | Aug 6th (7.2 mo) | July 15th (6.5 mo) | 3 weeks earlier |
| GP / Week | $38,461 | $42,307 | 10% Faster |
How to Use It
Start tracking it project by project. Review it every week.
Ask your PMs:
- What’s our expected GP/Week?
- What’s our actual?
- What slowed us down?
When you start having that conversation consistently, you’ll see field efficiency, scheduling and accountability all sharpen naturally.
Profit becomes visible — and measurable — in real time.
3. Pre-Construction Management — Where Profit Is Protected
Most builders think profit is made in production.
It’s not. It’s protected in pre-construction.
Every delay, miscommunication, or unclear scope in pre-con eventually shows up as schedule creep, change orders, and rework later on.
We’ve seen companies lose six figures a year in pure profit just because pre-construction takes too long or lacks structure.
Why Pre-Con Efficiency Matters
When pre-construction drags, your overhead keeps burning while revenue is delayed.
Cutting one month from the average pre-con timeline can equal an extra $1M in retained profit over five years for a mid-sized builder.
That’s because throughput — not just margin — drives profitability.
The faster you get projects into production, the more profit you collect each year with the same team and overhead.
The Fix: Visual Management
Stop treating pre-construction as a black box.
Create a visual tracker that shows where every job is in the process — from early design to permit submission to contract signing.
Clients can see progress. Staff can see what’s next.
Everyone stays aligned, and decision-making accelerates.
Pre-Construction Planner
A preconstruction planner should track the following key information and milestones:
Customer
Project Name
Intro Meeting/ Project Discovery
Preliminary Price Presented
PSA Signed
House Plans Started
Designer Selected
Specifications Completed
Spec List Completed
Engineering Plans Completed
Building Permit Application Submitted.
Structure the Process
Break pre-construction into three distinct phases:
1. Discovery – Align the vision, scope and expectations.
Outcome: Pre-Construction Agreement signed.
2. Planning – Develop buildable plans and selections.
Outcome: Designs completed, permit submitted.
3. Estimating & Contract – Price accurately and secure commitment.
Outcome: Contract signed, ready for production.
Once you systemize those steps, two things happen:
clients feel confident, and your team gains predictability.
The Ripple Effect
When pre-construction is well managed:
- Projects start sooner.
- Cash flow improves.
- Overhead efficiency increases.
- Teams stay calmer and more focused.
It’s one of the most profitable process improvements a builder can make — and yet, it costs almost nothing to implement.
The Compounding Effect
These three levers — Overhead Efficiency, GP/Week, and Pre-Construction Management — work together.
Overhead efficiency gives you room to breathe.
GP/Week tells you how fast you’re turning that efficiency into cash.
Pre-construction management accelerates your entire business cycle.
Individually, each lever helps. Together, they compound.
That’s how a company goes from scraping 5% net profit to consistently posting 12–18% — without doubling their revenue or staff.
From Profit to Freedom
For most builders, higher profit isn’t about greed — it’s about freedom.
Freedom to say no to bad clients.
Freedom to invest in development projects.
Freedom to step back and let the company run without you.
That’s what operational excellence creates.
Not just a healthier P&L — but a better life.
The builders who master these three levers don’t chase growth for the sake of it.
They run efficient, self-managed companies that fund their next chapter — whether that’s new developments, new investments, or simply more time back.
Final Thought
You don’t need to swing for the fences to increase profit.
You just need to get really good at three things:
1. Running lean overhead.
2. Building efficiently.
3. Moving projects through pre-con faster.
Everything else flows from there.
Let’s Talk Strategy
We work with builders across North America to build companies that pay them back.
If your revenue’s strong but your net profit isn’t where it should be, it’s time to change how your business runs.
👉 Book a Strategy Call with Highspire
We’ll help you increase profit without increasing costs — and build a self-managed company that funds your future instead of draining it.
