You started your business because you knew how to do the work.
But knowing how to pour concrete doesn't mean you know how to price it. And that gap nearly killed Houston Pendry's construction company.
Pendry Enterprises started the way most contracting businesses do—weekends, word of mouth, and a full-time job on the side. Houston Pendry was working for another contractor, learning estimating and project management while building his own client base on Saturdays and Sundays.
Then COVID hit.
The construction industry saw something unexpected during the pandemic. While many sectors collapsed, the construction market value was projected to grow from $10.7 trillion in 2020 to $13.6 trillion by 2024. Medical facilities needed a building. Residential projects accelerated. Transportation work continued.
Pendry saw the opportunity. He incorporated in 2020 and went full-time.
Within months, he had more work than he could handle. Commercial clients were calling because they couldn't find concrete contractors. The supply gap created by COVID gave his new business immediate access to projects that would normally take years to secure.
By 2024, Pendry Enterprises employed 13 people and managed light grading and concrete work across North Carolina.
But here's what nobody saw from the outside: Houston didn't know if he was making money.
You can be busy and broke at the same time.
Pendry was bidding jobs, winning contracts, and paying his crew. Revenue was coming in. But so was debt. The bank account would fill up, then empty out. Projects finished, but the profit didn't show up where it should have.
The problem wasn't effort. It wasn't quality. It wasn't even demand.
The problem was pricing.
Houston didn't understand the difference between markup and margin. He'd apply a 12% markup to his costs and assume he was making 12% profit. But markup doesn't equal margin. A 20% markup only delivers a 16.7% margin. That gap bleeds cash faster than you can track it.
Nearly 35% of construction businesses make this exact mistake. They confuse the two terms, underprice their work, and wonder why they're always short on cash despite staying busy.
Pendry's situation got worse. 84% of construction companies experience cash flow issues, and 17% face them every single month. Cash flow problems diminish profitability by 47%, delay projects by 33%, and cause 97% of contractors to suffer anxiety from late payments.
Houston was living all of it.
"I nearly lost the business," he said. "I didn't know what I didn't know."
You can't fix a problem you can't see.
Houston knew something was wrong. He was working harder, bidding for more jobs, and still struggling. But he couldn't identify the specific breakdown. The chaos of daily operations left no space to step back and analyze the business.
That's when a friend mentioned business coaching.
Houston had never heard of it. He didn't know what a business coach did or how it could help. But he was desperate enough to find out.
He connected with Jason Barry from ActionCoach.
The first conversations weren't about motivation or mindset. They were about numbers. Jason walked Houston through the difference between markup and margin. He explained job costing. He showed him how to track profitability per project instead of just looking at the bank account.
Houston realized he'd been guessing. And guessing doesn't scale.
Research shows that 86% of business owners recover their full investment in executive coaching, and 92% report direct impact on small business growth. The average ROI is seven times the cost of employing a coach. Companies with a coaching culture grow 27% faster year over year.
But the real value wasn't the statistics. It was the clarity.
You can't manage what you don't measure.
Jason helped Houston implement three foundational systems:
Proper bookkeeping and job costing. Every project was tracked separately. Materials, labor, equipment, overhead—all assigned to specific jobs. This revealed which projects made money and which ones drained it.
Payroll tracking and financial visibility. Houston brought in an office manager to handle the administrative work he'd been doing himself. This freed up his time and ensured the numbers stayed current.
Strategic pricing based on actual costs. Instead of guessing at margins, Houston learned to calculate what he needed to charge to hit his profit targets. The math was simple once he understood it.
The hardest part wasn't learning the systems. It was implementing them.
Your employees will resist change because they see the immediate risk, not the long-term benefit.
When Houston raised his prices, his crew told him he'd lose every bid. They'd been in the industry long enough to know what clients expected to pay. They thought higher prices meant no work.
Houston raised them anyway.
He lost some jobs. But he won others. And the jobs he won paid better.
Within three weeks, the revenue numbers stabilized. He was bidding less and earning the same. The clients who accepted his new pricing were easier to work with, paid on time, and gave him repeat business.
Three companies now give Pendry Enterprises 90% of their concrete work. Some projects don't even go out to bid anymore. They just call Houston.
That's what happens when you price for value instead of volume. You filter out the clients who only care about cost and attract the ones who care about quality.
The most successful contractors don't compete on price. They understand their costs, price strategically, and deliver value that justifies their margins.
You can't scale if you're the bottleneck.
Houston's background in project management gave him an advantage most contractors don't have. He learned how to delegate while working for someone else. He saw how systems and team structures allowed businesses to grow beyond the founder's capacity.
When he started Pendry Enterprises, he didn't try to do everything himself. He hired people to handle tasks he didn't need to control. He focused on estimating, client relationships, and strategic decisions.
But even with that foundation, coaching pushed him further.
Jason helped him establish core values and team goals. These weren't just words on a wall. They were decision-making filters. When Houston faced a choice about a project or a client, he could check it against the company's values and goals. If it didn't align, he passed.
70% of businesses fail because owners don't recognize their weaknesses and don't seek help from others. Houston avoided that trap by building a team and giving them real responsibility.
You need a reason bigger than profit to survive the hard months.
Houston's motivation extends beyond building a successful construction company. He's involved in church mission work. He wants to provide for his family without sacrificing time with them. Eventually, he wants to help other business owners avoid the mistakes he made.
That mission sustained him when cash flow was tight, and debt was piling up. It gave him a reason to keep pushing when quitting would have been easier.
Mission-driven entrepreneurship creates resilience. When the immediate financials are stressful, a larger purpose keeps you focused on the long-term vision.
Houston's goal is to retire at 50, sell his businesses, and dedicate more time to mission work. He's already planning the next business. He's thinking about coaching other contractors who are stuck where he was.
That's the shift coaching creates. You stop thinking about survival and start thinking about legacy.
You don't need a degree in finance to run a profitable business. But you do need to understand your numbers.
Houston Pendry started with weekend work, scaled to 13 employees during a pandemic, and nearly lost everything because he didn't know the difference between markup and margin. Business coaching gave him the frameworks and systems to turn chaos into clarity.
The lessons apply to any service business:
Track profitability per project, not just overall revenue. You need to know which jobs make money and which ones don't.
Price for value, not volume. Raising prices filters out bad clients and attracts better ones.
Delegate early and often. You can't scale if you're doing everything yourself.
Build systems before you need them. Bookkeeping, job costing, and payroll tracking aren't optional. They're survival tools.
Get an external perspective. You can't see your own blind spots. A coach or mentor shows you what you're missing.
Houston's story isn't unique. 82% of small businesses close due to cash flow management issues. Most of them fail because the owner doesn't know what they don't know.
You can work harder, bid for more jobs, and stay busy. But if your pricing is wrong, you're just building debt faster.
Or you can learn the fundamentals, implement the systems, and build a business that works without you.
Houston chose the second path. It saved his company.
You deserve a business that pays you what you're worth.
If you're working 60-hour weeks, winning jobs, and still struggling with cash flow, the problem isn't effort. It's knowledge.
ActionCOACH has spent 30 years helping business owners implement the systems that turn chaos into profit. We've worked with thousands of clients across every industry. We know what works because we've seen it work.
Book a free coaching session. We'll look at your numbers, identify the gaps, and show you exactly what needs to change.
You don't have to figure this out alone.
Ready to stop guessing and start building a business that actually pays you back?
If cash flow feels tight, pricing feels unclear, or you are working harder than ever without seeing the profit you expected, now is the time to fix the foundations. With 2 weeks of free coaching from ActionCOACH, you can get an outside perspective on your numbers, identify what is really holding the business back, and start putting the right systems in place for stronger profit, better control, and sustainable growth.
Claim your 2 weeks free coaching here: https://www.actioncoach.com/2-weeks-free-coaching