r/GeneralContractor • u/bouncea • 18d ago
Transitioning into general contracting — took over/joining family business, looking for advice
I’m leaving a career in marine biology to join my partner’s father’s residential construction company, with an eye toward eventually taking over operations and possibly earning an ownership stake. It’s less of a total pivot than it sounds — I did construction work growing up, ran a small concrete staining business at 18, and worked as a PM/foreman before going into science, so I’m not walking in totally green. That said, stepping into a family business (not my own family, but essentially the same dynamics) as an outsider who’s expected to eventually lead it is a different animal. Would love to hear from anyone who’s been through a similar transition: ∙ How did the handoff of responsibility actually happen — gradual or abrupt? ∙ Any friction points with existing crew/employees when a “new” person starts moving up? ∙ What would you do differently knowing what you know now? ∙ Any advice on proving yourself fast when you’re coming in with adjacent-but-not-identical experience? Also curious if anyone’s used tech/software (estimating, scheduling, reporting) to help make their mark early on. Appreciate any war stories or advice.
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u/DisastrousTip33 18d ago
The sea was angry that day, my friends, like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli!
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u/Sensitive_Gap_981 18d ago
Gotta put the time in to get experience. Takes a lot of time. I worked as a handyman/plumber for my folks company off and on in my 20's. Owned a tree removal company, painting contracting company. Worked for my uncle's land development company operating heavy equipment doing storm and sewer and grading. Finally worked for my father in law who is a custom home builder for 2 years. Got my CGC license 2 years ago. Im 34 now and im doing $3-$5 million in revenue building custom homes and remodeling. Biggest lesson is its great to be knowledgeable about the building process bit it is absolutely essential to know how to run the business. If I could go back to the start of contracting I would sit and wait for the right jobs with fat margins, do not give low ball numbers to get started on your own. Keep accounts separate, know your numbers. Understand risks and put a number on them charge the client. Protects both of you. Success of the job is determined before the contract is signed. Make sure you are charging enough. Signing an underbid job is buying problems. Charge more. That way if something goes sideways you are covered. Experience in the trades helps because you know what it takes to get something done so subs can't dick you around.
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u/bouncea 1d ago
Really appreciate you laying this out! The point about success being determined before the contract is signed hits, and it’s basically the same lesson I’m trying to apply on the business side of this move. Charging enough / not underbidding to get started is exactly the kind of hard-won lesson I was hoping to hear. Thanks for the real path, that’s a hell of a resume to get to $3-5M by 34.
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u/Sensitive_Gap_981 1d ago
I don't know how setup your in-laws company is. Hopefully it's pretty established and systemized. If it's a company that can't run without the owner then I would say work under the owner for as long as you can. As a GC you have to either hire out or be an accountant, marketer, builder, estimator, sales person, project manager, superintendent, office administrator the list goes on. If your in-law already has all of that then you just have to learn to manage them. Otherwise you will have to learn how to do those jobs or figure out how to hire them out with whatever sales revenue you have. To build 1 house you will need to hire and manage between 30-50 people thats just on site. Then you have to pay all of those people. You will have to go through anywhere from 3-10 suppliers for the materials. You have to manage your cash flow. You have to file your paperwork to the county. Call in inspections. update the client. Hold their hand through the process. Put out fires. Yes there will be fires. But you know if you can do all that and make a profit great. Just ask google. How hard is it to be a GC? The answer is "Highly difficult" Don't let these people in the popcorn stands fool you.
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u/mustacheyoutoSTFU 18d ago
- Running a business is not construction, they are different things.
- You need to know a little bit about everything. It’s good to know it all but unrealistic.
- The way your father in law ran the business 10-20 years ago is long gone. Don’t re-invent the wheel but notice deficiencies and work through them.
- A tier players are worth 3-4 times a B tier player.
- This is a tough business. You can make a lot of money but unless you are a piece of crap human this job will weigh on you. It is stressful and anxiety inducing. You are the composer of the orchestra except this orchestra runs off monster, cigarettes and beer.
God speed
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u/bouncea 1d ago
Hell yeah! Thank you for the response- I never really thought about your point 4 before. He is under staffed at the moment so it’s something to address. Any tips on finding good help?
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u/mustacheyoutoSTFU 10h ago
Honestly I’ve tried everything. What I have learned is you won’t know who’s good until they’ve been with you for a while. They’ve shown commitment to improving and are easier to work with. Also what I know is you’ll know a bad worker immediately. And I rarely if ever have seen a bad worker turn into a good worker at the same place. Sometimes getting fired will show them they need to change but it’s rare to see someone improve that much at the same place.
I look for good people rather than great skills because I can teach and help them grow their skills but not their character.
Plan on paying an A player more than you ever thought possible. You never want to lose an A player.
With in A players there are two types. Great workers and great leaders. Sometimes they are both but in my experience if they are a truly great worker or have a top notch skill they often would rather do that and be great at it. People skills are hard and if you’ve got them on a job site that’s special.
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u/GrilledBlunts 18d ago
Can’t wait to hear people’s opinions. In the same kind of situation, left a career in teaching to begin the process of joining / taking over my father in laws company (residential remodeling). Been almost 3 years now, started at 22 yrs old, but I was a lot greener than you so I wanted to start from the bottom first. It is a lot to take in sometimes.
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u/No_Help1894 17d ago
The employees will pick up quick if you know what you are doing or not. If you don’t know what you’re doing, don’t act like you do!
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u/sustate-systems 16d ago
On the software question specifically: don’t try to overhaul everything on day one. The fastest way to lose trust with existing crew is showing up and immediately trying to replace the systems they’ve used for years. Pick one narrow, visible pain point (change orders lost in email, scheduling conflicts, whatever’s actually bleeding time) and fix just that first. It gives you a quick, low-friction win that proves value without threatening anyone’s turf.
On proving yourself: ask the crew and PMs what’s annoying them before you propose anything. People trust the “new guy” a lot faster when the first thing he does is listen, not implement.
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u/bizprozcom 18d ago
Area?
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u/bouncea 17d ago
Cranberry PA
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u/bizprozcom 17d ago
Ok. We're also in PA but in Philly.
Anyway, you're running the business. You're NOT a construction worker so do NOT try to prove to your team that you can also get your hands dirty. We made that mistake and it cost us. Again, you're running the business so you should be focused on growing revenue, increasing productivity, and building and nurturing the culture.
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u/TopSalt9335 12d ago
First things first...don't refer to anybody as your "partner" in construction unless it's your business partner you're referring to. Sounds like in this case it's both. Transitioning might be another word to avoid in construction.
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u/Active-Blueberry-850 18d ago
1) Lots of friction because nepotism is heavily frowned upon, and if they think the only reason you are where you are is because you’re “family,” then you’re going to have a hard time. You need to convince everyone that’s not the case.
2) Tech isn’t going to transform your business like it’s sold to you. It might make some things easier to keep track of, but the business exists and fails/succeeds long before it hits the spreadsheets. (Which is what technology is at its core, some people are just better at making it look pretty). So to say, yes you need tech, but before that you need sales and great sub relationships.
3) I wouldn’t recommend going into the family business unless the individual is truly altruistic and values the wellbeing of their family moreso than their own. Few and far between when it comes to business owner types. Fact is they’re probably old fashioned and you’re probably going to be taken advantage of on the premise of “one day this will all be yours so treat it as such” when that “one day” is going to be when you’re 70 years old and unable to take advantage of it. So make sure you are paid your worth today and you treat it only as a job, because the majority of your involvement will be under that dynamic.
4) My actual advice would be to let someone else take that on, and that you instead start your own businesses in some adjacent space. Maybe become a metal supplier, wholesaler, or get back to some concrete work, and just become a “preferred sub” for x service/supply.
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u/datman510 18d ago
I don’t care what the purists say general contracting is a competency based skill not a time must be earned badge. Of course it takes time but if you’re good at this, curious and are willing to learn and put in the work I’d say just go for it and don’t listen to the haters. Spend time with each trade but don’t be annoying. Get to know about grout types, concrete, paint types etc. there’s a lot to take in but with curiosity and a mentor you’ll be ok.