Napkin Math and the Legacy Tax
Let me buy you a beer 🍺
I'd known the guy for 30 years. A successful contractor by anyone’s standards. Yet here he was, still writing bids on napkins and scratch pads.
Not because he didn't know better. Simply because that's how he'd always done it.
No templates. No CRM. Just a pen, a pickup, and 30 years of reputation.
Some people, like my friend here, consider technology the enemy of craftsmanship. Knowing this, I didn't press him on "digital transformation."
I just asked if he was tired of rewriting the same scope of work for every driveway, every patio, every little slab.
He said, "Yeah. Every job starts the same way."
So we made a template.
Not a new tool. Not a subscription. Just tapped into the software he already had. Already in place. Already ignored.
Because every minute you spend rewriting the same scope or doing the same math is a minute stolen from your life.
The freedom formula
Three weeks later, he texted me a photo from the lake up north.
"Fishing. Long weekend. First one in two years," is all he said.
I knew what he meant.
The simple switch
Change is uncomfortable. But it isn't always complicated, and it doesn’t have to be expensive.
Sometimes the fix isn't fancy at all. It's just a repeatable system that works.
In my experience, the best systems don't announce themselves or require a lot of work to maintain. They simply remove friction until one day you realize you're sitting in a boat, on a lake, on a lazy Friday afternoon, drinking a beer.
Cheers! 🍻
—Paul
Ph: (517) 918-6530
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