In remodeling, success can be deceiving. From the outside, a company may look like it’s thriving—busy schedules, impressive projects, full pipelines, and great-looking social media. But underneath that momentum, many businesses are far more fragile than they appear. When conditions change—as they always do—that fragility gets exposed.

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the difference between looking successful and being financially strong. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that profit is far more fragile than most people realize. It’s easy to fall into a rhythm where money comes in, money goes out, and everything feels fine. Until it isn’t. Growth slows, the market tightens, or an opportunity comes along that requires capital—and suddenly there’s nothing there to support it.

Early in my career, seeing the true cost of running a business changed the way I think about money. Understanding what it actually takes to keep the lights on—before a single dollar of profit is earned—forces a different kind of discipline. Revenue alone doesn’t tell you much. Gross profit does. It’s the number that shows whether the work you’re doing is actually worth the effort, risk, and time invested.

That realization led me to believe strongly in building a culture of financial literacy inside a company. Not just at the leadership level, but throughout the organization. Financial literacy doesn’t mean turning everyone into an accountant. It means helping people understand how their decisions affect the long-term health of the business and the security of their own roles.

Sharing numbers openly isn’t easy. There are months when the story isn’t a good one, and it takes real leadership to stand in front of a team, own the results, and explain what comes next. But transparency builds trust. Over time, it creates alignment and accountability, and people begin to see themselves as part of something bigger than just the job in front of them.

One of the most important shifts I’ve made is focusing less on revenue and more on gross profit. Revenue can be misleading—it often rewards busyness rather than effectiveness. Gross profit, on the other hand, connects estimating, scheduling, staffing, and production into one clear picture. It tells you whether your invested time and labor are actually producing a return.

Tracking the right metrics has also changed how I plan for the future. Looking at things like production volume over time, labor efficiency, and long-range forecasting allows me to see beyond the current project or quarter. It creates the ability to make decisions based on where the business is headed, not just where it is today.

At the end of the day, this is about playing the long game. Markets rise and fall. Labor challenges come and go. But businesses built on financial clarity, disciplined decision-making, and team alignment are far better equipped to adapt. If you don’t know your numbers, you’re leaving your future up to chance. And in this industry, that’s a risk none of us can afford to take.