The Builder’s Edge - Mastering the Business Side of Building

SEO is not dead, but it is no longer enough to make your business visible online.  Today, your customers are not just searching on Google. They are looking for contractors, home service providers, local businesses, recommendations, reviews, videos, social proof, and trusted answers across Google, Facebook, YouTube, review sites, maps, and AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. In this epi...

Are you a contractor, builder, remodeler, or small business owner with family members already helping in your business? Your spouse may answer calls, your kids may help clean the office, organize paperwork, take photos, shred documents, assist with social media, or help around job sites. But if that work is not properly documented, paid, and handled the right way, you may be missing one of the big...

Most high performers do not have a strategy problem. They have an excuse problem. In this episode of The Builder’s Edge, Yusef Marshall breaks down the hidden excuses that keep entrepreneurs, business owners, contractors, coaches, and leaders stuck in burnout, isolation, and overwork. If you feel like you have to do everything yourself, if your business is growing but your health, marriage, faith,...

A lot of contractors look successful on the outside, but behind the scenes they’re robbing Peter to pay Paul just to keep jobs moving, crews paid, suppliers covered, and the business alive. In this episode, we break down what really happens when business debt, poor cash flow, merchant cash advances, late-paying clients, and fast financing start catching up with you. If you’re a contractor, remodel...

If your day starts with gas station breakfast, energy drinks, long hours, job sites, truck stops, and ends with you completely drained, this episode is for you. Busy contractors, entrepreneurs, truckers, and working professionals often think they just need more discipline, but the truth is, better health, energy, focus, and performance come from better systems. In this conversation, Remi Rory, fou...

Why are so many contractors working harder than ever, bringing in more revenue, and still stressed about money? In this episode of The Builder’s Edge, Deanna Lucas sits down with Amanda Dilenno to uncover the hidden numbers behind profitable construction businesses. If you are a contractor, remodeler, landscaper, roofer, trades professional, or construction business owner who feels busy but broke,...

One accident can change everything for a contractor, an employee, and their family. In this episode of The Builder’s Edge, we talk with Yvette Kahn about how contractors can protect their crews with affordable supplemental insurance options that help cover out-of-pocket costs, accidents, illness, short-term disability, and the financial gaps traditional health insurance and workers’ comp may not f...

Most contractors are working harder than ever, but still watching profit disappear every month. One reason? Hidden payment processing fees from platforms like Stripe, Square, PayPal, and outdated merchant systems may be quietly draining thousands from your business without you realizing it. In this episode of The Builder’s Edge, we sit down with Gannon Young, entrepreneur, business owner, and paym...

Are you getting leads but still not seeing the growth, profit, or cash flow your business should have? In this episode of The Builder’s Edge, Deanna Lucas talks with business growth expert Mickey Lyles about why more marketing is not always the answer and how business owners can uncover hidden revenue, fix operational leaks, improve leadership, and build scalable systems behind the scenes. If you...

Rising material costs, labor costs, fuel prices, banking fees, and unpredictable market shifts are squeezing contractors harder than ever. If you run a construction business, remodeling company, HVAC company, roofing company, landscaping business, or any trade-based service, this episode is about protecting your profit before rising costs eat it alive. In this episode of The Builder’s Edge, we sit...

Contractors build America, but too many contractors, builders, and trades business owners never get taught how to build wealth. If you work long hours, bring in money, and still feel unsure about retirement, taxes, savings, or protecting your family, this episode is for you.  In this conversation, financial advisor and former pipe fitter Ron Beckner shares the financial blueprint working-class Ame...

If you’re a builder, contractor, or service pro struggling to close more deals without feeling pushy, this episode is your blueprint. The truth is, sales have changed. Today’s buyers are more informed, more skeptical, and less responsive to outdated “follow-up” tactics. If your pipeline is full but your close rate is low, the problem isn’t your leads… it’s your sales process. In this episode of th...

Your Google Business Profile might be the reason you are losing local jobs, missing calls, and leaving serious revenue on the table. In this episode of The Builder’s Edge, we break down how to optimize your Google Business Profile so your local service business can get found more often, look more trustworthy, and convert more searchers into real paying customers.  If you are a contractor, handyman...

Tired of paying for shared leads, fighting competitors to the phone, and wasting money on platforms that send the same job to everyone?  In this episode, contractors, HVAC companies, roofers, plumbers, electricians, remodelers, and home service businesses will see a smarter way to grow with exclusive realtor referrals, formal real estate partnerships, and a lead generation system built for real RO...

Most contractors and service business owners think they get denied funding because banks do not like construction companies. But that is not always the real problem. In this episode of The Builder’s Edge, Deanna Lucas sits down with Paul Childers of Blue Sky Biz Solutions to break down why so many blue-collar entrepreneurs struggle to access business funding, how personal credit gets mixed into bu...

If you’re great at what you do but your business still feels invisible online, this episode is for you.  In today’s AI-driven search world, Google and AI don’t reward skill, they reward visible authority. That means you can be the best contractor, builder, handyman, or service pro in town… and still lose work to someone newer who simply looks like the obvious choice online.  In Part 1 of the AI Vi...

If your business is “successful” but you feel trapped, exhausted, and strangely unmotivated… it’s probably not a strategy problem. It’s an identity problem.  In this episode, business coach Caleb Nelson (Naked Sunday Studios / Naked Sunday Podcast) breaks down why real business growth is rarely about tactics, and almost always about mindset, self-worth, survival patterns, and the stories you’re re...

If your business is doing “well” on paper but you still feel stressed, behind, and cash-tight… this episode is for you.  Many contractors and small business owners have an accountant, get monthly financial statements, and still feel unclear, because numbers alone don’t create confidence. In this conversation, we break down how cash flow, budgeting, forecasting, and daily financial visibility work...

Tired of the 9–5 grind… but scared to start a business that turns into another job? In this episode of The Builder’s Edge, business strategist Jonah Cascio (founder of Employee Escape Plan) breaks down how to escape a soul-sucking job and build a business that gives you freedom, profit, and actual happiness. If you’re a contractor, builder, service business owner, or future entrepreneur who feels...

What if the hardest moment of your life is the moment God uses to activate your calling? In this episode of The Builder’s Edge, Deanna Lucas sits down with Victor Dawson, author of As You Go, to talk about faith, obedience, and evangelism in everyday life. After surviving emergency open-heart surgery with a 90% blockage in the “Widowmaker” artery, Victor heard God tell him to write a book… and he...

If you’re a contractor or service pro tired of competing on price, chasing low-quality leads, and feeling stuck in feast-or-famine… this episode will flip the way you think about growth. Veteran drywall repair specialist and business leader Daniel Osborne built a premium trades business by obsessing over craftsmanship, communication, and excellence—and by targeting the right client instead of tryi...

If you’ve been watching Airbnb / short-term rental videos that make success look instant, this episode will save you years (and expensive mistakes). Josh Hatter—CEO in the hospitality space and founder of Keys Collective—explains how he went from a corporate layoff to building real wealth by “playing Monopoly in real life,” scaling from short-term rentals into boutique hotels in Charleston, SC and...

If you’re a contractor or builder wearing every hat in your business, this episode will feel like a wake-up call—in the best way. You didn’t start a contracting business to live inside email, scheduling, DMs, invoicing, recruiting, and admin… but that’s where most owners get trapped. In today’s Builder’s Edge episode, Philip Sessions (founder of Refine VA and host of Unfiltered Sessions) breaks do...

If you’re winning on paper but feeling empty, stressed, or burned out, this conversation is for you. In this episode of The Builders Edge, host Deanna Lucas sits down with Zachary Roberts, a certified Christian coach and founder of CJR Coaching, to unpack what it really means to build a business that aligns with your God-given purpose. We talk about why so many entrepreneurs, contractors, builders...

If you’re a builder trying to stay steady in an uncertain market, this episode is for you. In this Christmas solo episode of The Builder’s Edge, we talk about the business side of building, and why mastering visibility, systems, and marketing can help you build a business that supports your family, faith, and future. What You’ll LearnWhy builders often struggle with marketing (and why it’s not you...