You looked at the job. Ran the numbers in your head. Maybe checked what you charged last time. And said: yeah, that feels about right.
You got the job. Kept the crew busy. Revenue looked strong. Then you closed the year and thought: where did the money go?
Not a loss. Just not enough. Not for how hard you ran.
This is the part no one talks about. Everyone celebrates the revenue. No one asks what the price actually needed to be.
Issue 01 → The costs that don't show up until the end of the year.
Issue 02 → The price that felt right but wasn't. ← you are here
Issue 03 → The money you made that hasn't arrived yet.
One HVAC owner wrote about running his business for nearly four years. Working hard, selling lots of jobs, good employees, good work. Before nearly going bankrupt.
