Find My Cones

06/01/2026

Nobody talks about this enough.

Saying no to a job might be the most important skill an owner can develop. And it’s the hardest one to learn when you’re trying to grow.

Here’s when you should walk away:

The customer haggles before the job starts — if they’re beating you up on price before you’ve touched a thing, imagine what they’ll be like when something doesn’t go their way mid job.

Your gut says something is off — after enough years in this business you develop a feel for problem customers. Trust it. That feeling has never once steered me wrong.

The job doesn’t pencil out — taking a low margin job to keep the crew busy sounds smart until that job ties up your equipment and manpower when a good job comes along.

They want to start tomorrow with no contract — urgency and no paperwork is a red flag every single time. Legitimate customers understand the process.

They’ve already burned through two other contractors — they’ll tell you those guys were the problem. They’re not.

27 years taught me that the jobs I regretted taking all had warning signs I ignored. The ones I walked away from never kept me up at night.

Protecting your time, your crew, and your margins sometimes means turning down the work.

The best contractors aren’t just good at getting jobs. They’re good at getting the right ones.

👇 What’s the biggest red flag you’ve learned to watch for? And if this resonates — you know what to do.

05/29/2026

AI can’t replace asphalt.

It can’t run a paver, lay a straight edge, or tell you when the mix is right just by looking at it. That takes experience. That takes years.

But here’s what AI can do for your asphalt business right now:

Write your estimates faster — describe the job, get a professional proposal drafted in minutes instead of hours.

Handle your follow up emails — no more staring at a blank screen trying to figure out what to say to a customer who went cold.

Create your social media content — instead of spending your Sunday night trying to think of something to post, AI can do it in seconds.

Answer customer questions on your website 24/7 — while you’re on the job site, it’s handling inquiries.

Help you write job ads — finding good crew is hard enough without struggling to write the posting.

The contractors who figure out how to use these tools aren’t working harder than everyone else. They’re just working smarter.

27 years in business taught me the work never changes. But the business side? That’s evolving fast and the guys who pay attention are going to have a real advantage.

What’s one part of running your business you wish you could hand off to someone else? Drop it below — and if you want more content like this, you know what to do. 👇

05/28/2026

05/28/2026

The four seasons of contracting:

Spring — finally busy again, phones are ringing, crew is motivated, life is good. Let’s go.

Summer — three jobs running at once, one guy called off, equipment is double booked, and you haven’t eaten lunch before 3pm in six weeks.

Fall — working sunup to sundown trying to squeeze every last job in before the ground freezes. No days off. No complaints. Just get it done.

Winter — staring at the wall wondering where all the summer money went. Telling yourself next year you’re going to save more. 😂

And then March hits and you do the whole thing all over again.

27 years in and it never changes. Wouldn’t trade it for anything though.

👷 Tag someone who needs to see this. And if you want more content that actually gets it — you know what to do.

05/26/2026

27 years in the asphalt business taught me that going from a small crew to a bigger operation is where most contractors either level up or blow up. Here’s what separates the ones who make it:

Stop being the best worker on your crew — if you’re still the hardest working guy on the job site you’re not running a business, you’re just self employed. Your job is to manage the work, not do all of it.

Your systems have to scale before your crew does — if your scheduling, invoicing, and equipment tracking only works because it’s all in your head, adding more trucks and more guys doesn’t grow your business. It just grows your problems.

Hire for attitude, train for skill — a guy with a great work ethic and no experience will outperform a skilled guy with a bad attitude every single time. Skills can be taught. Character can’t.

Know your numbers before you add overhead — another truck, another crew, another piece of equipment. Each one needs to pay for itself plus profit. Too many contractors scale on hope instead of math.

The job site stops running on memory — when it’s just you and two guys you can keep it all in your head. When you’ve got three crews on three sites that stops working fast. Write it down, track it, systematize it.

The contractors who successfully scale aren’t always the best at the work. They’re the best at building something that runs without them.

What’s the biggest challenge you hit when you tried to grow? Drop it below.

05/26/2026

The five stages of a missing cone set:

1. They’re probably on the truck
2. Check the other truck
3. Call the foreman
4. Nobody knows
5. Order new ones and never speak of it again 😂

👷 who’s been through all five?

05/23/2026

What’s your best tip for staying on top of collections? Drop it below.

Get it in writing before you start — a signed proposal isn’t just protection, it sets expectations. Customers who sign something behave differently than customers who just said yes on the phone.
Invoice the same day the job is done — not Friday, not when you get around to it. The longer you wait the colder the trail gets and the easier it is for them to stall.
Set payment terms upfront — “due upon completion” means nothing if you never said it out loud before the job. Put net 15 or net 30 on every invoice and say it when you’re signing the contract.
Don’t finish the job if they’re already slow paying a deposit — that’s the biggest tell there is. If they dragged their feet on the deposit they’ll drag their feet on the final.
Follow up without apologizing — you did the work, you earned the money. A simple “just checking in on invoice #104, let me know if you have any questions” is professional. You don’t owe anyone an apology for expecting to get paid.
The contractors who stay in business long term aren’t just good at the work — they’re good at running it like a business.

05/14/2026

If your crew has ever finished a job and left cones or equipment behind — this was built for you.
FindMyCones tracks your cones and equipment by job site using GPS on your phone. No more lost sets, no more phone calls trying to figure out what’s where, no more writing it off as a cost of doing business.
27 years in asphalt. I built the app I always needed.
Free to try. No credit card. FindMyCones.com