Running a pavement maintenance business

Free lessons on starting a pavement maintenance business: the honest math, proving demand, startup costs, paying for the start, setup, insurance and a go/no-go check.

1. Should you start? The honest math of working for yourself
2. Start, buy or join?
3. Prove the demand before you buy the equipment
4. Startup costs: build a real budget
5. Paying for the start without betting the house
6. Set up the business: structure, EIN, licenses, permits and sales tax
7. Insurance before the first job
8. Your first season plan
9. Launch or wait: your go/no-go check

Free lessons for new contractors: separate the money, keep books a banker can read, job costing, pricing from your own costs, quarterly taxes, payroll and getting paid.

1. The owner's checkup: where you are and what to fix first
2. Separate the money and pay yourself on purpose
3. Bookkeeping a banker can read
4. Job costing: know what each job earned
5. Price from your costs: the pricing floor
6. Owner taxes: quarterly payments and the tax account
7. Your first hire: employee or contractor?
8. Payroll without surprises
9. Get paid: deposits, terms, invoices and lien notices

Free lessons on seasonal cash flow, business credit, what banks look for, the Bank-Ready path, equipment financing, the cash advance trap, SBA loans and collections.

1. Seasonal cash flow: the 13-week forecast
2. Business credit: build a file lenders can see
3. What banks look for in a small business loan
4. The Bank-Ready path: what to do now for a yes later
5. Equipment: rent, buy used, buy new or finance
6. Equipment financing: what lenders check and how to read the deal
7. Lines of credit, factoring and the cash advance trap
8. SBA loans, CDFIs and when the bank says no
9. Collections that work
10. Payments and fraud controls
11. Where to borrow: bank, credit union, CDFI or an SBA 504 loan

Free lessons on growing a contracting business: offers, leads, Google, estimates, commercial and public work, AI tools, hiring crews, insurance and tax planning.

1. Growth stages and what breaks
2. Offers customers say yes to
3. Leads: eight ways to get them
4. Getting found: Google, reviews and AI search
5. Estimates that win honest work
6. Bigger jobs: commercial, HOA and public work
7. AI tools that save hours, safely
8. Hiring, leading and keeping good crews
9. Insurance as you grow
10. Tax planning, not just tax paying

Free lessons on making a contracting business profitable, bankable and sellable: statements, KPIs, recurring revenue, owner independence, valuation and exit.

1. Profitable, bankable, sellable: the same habits
2. Read your financial statements like a buyer
3. Run on a scorecard: KPIs and budgets
4. Recurring revenue and customer mix
5. Build it to run without you
6. Banking at year three and beyond
7. Retirement plans for you and your crew
8. Protect what you built: partners, key people and continuity
9. What your business is worth and how to raise it
10. Exit and succession: selling to a competitor, employee, family, individual buyer or private equity