In this episode of Success Beyond The Brush, Mark and Scott dive deep into one of the most critical — and often misunderstood — subjects in contracting: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). While many business owners rely heavily on instinct and gut feelings, this conversation unpacks why real growth, sustainability, and profitability come from data-driven decisions.

Scott explains how KPIs allow business owners to remove emotion from decision-making, giving clarity on everything from job profitability and labor efficiency to headcount planning and break-even analysis. The discussion walks through how properly configured financial systems — especially QuickBooks — become the backbone of clean, actionable reporting.

You’ll learn why simply tracking revenue isn’t enough, how job costing reveals your most (and least) profitable services, and why tracking billable vs. unbillable labor hours can make or break your margins. Scott also breaks down the importance of running your company on an accrual basis, understanding your gross profit vs. net profit, and maintaining clear visibility into cash, receivables, and liabilities.

Mark shares real-world experiences from running Men In White, including how tracking data exposed unprofitable services like popcorn ceiling removal — even though those jobs felt “easy” and stayed busy. Once the data was visible, strategic changes drastically improved profitability.

The episode also introduces Consulting for Contractors’ Scorecard System, a centralized dashboard that gives owners real-time visibility into:

• Revenue vs. projections
• Close ratios by count and dollars
• Crew production and job performance
• Headcount requirements
• Lead source profitability
• Backlog and scheduling health

Scott emphasizes that growth is not about chasing big revenue numbers — it’s about building a balanced business engine where leads, labor, sales, and production stay aligned. Without that balance, even fast-growing companies become financially unstable.

If you’ve ever wondered:

• “Why am I busy but not profitable?”
• “How many people do I actually need to grow?”
• “Which jobs or services are secretly hurting my business?”

This episode gives you the framework to finally answer those questions with confidence.

🔗 Links from This Episode

✨ Free Discovery Call with Scott Lollar

👉 https://consulting4contractors.com/discovery-call/

🏗️ Consulting 4 Contractors Website

👉 https://consulting4contractors.com/

⚙️ Operations Module Demo (YouTube)

👉 https://youtu.be/0IUmPWk4GRI

📲 C4C on Instagram

👉 https://www.instagram.com/consulting4contractors/

👥 C4C Facebook Community

👉 https://www.facebook.com/consulting4contractors/

💼 C4C on LinkedIn

👉 https://www.linkedin.com/company/70241567

📧 Want to Be a Guest?

Send us an email → [email protected]

🎧 Credits

🎙️ Hosts:
Scott Lollar — Founder, Consulting 4 Contractors
Mark Black — Owner, Men In White Painting, Mt. Vernon, IL
🎵 Production:
Siren Mastering — Original music, artwork, transcripts, show notes & audio engineering
https://www.sirenmastering.com

• (00:00) - Introduction: Emotions vs. Data in Business Decisions
• (01:01) - Welcome to Success Beyond the Brush
• (01:39) - Deep Dive into Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
• (04:19) - Common KPIs and Their Importance
• (06:45) - Tracking Job Profitability and Cost of Goods Sold
• (10:28) - The Role of Headcount in Business Growth
• (14:07) - Building a Data-Driven Business
• (16:01) - The Importance of Accurate Financial Data
• (26:35) - Weekly and Monthly Data Tracking
• (35:23) - Conclusion: Control Your Business with Data