Videos & Podcast

Some of the most valuable business lessons come from the mistakes you wish you could take back. In this episode of The Mobilization Mindset, Scott Peper sits down with Herb Sargent to give a preview of their new book, Field Tested. They share why they chose to tell the real stories behind their successes, failures, and hard earned lessons in construction and business, with the goal of helping the next generation of leaders avoid learning everything the hard way.

They discuss:

• Why learning from someone else’s mistakes can save years of pain

• How growing too quickly can expose weaknesses in your business

• Why business owners need to grow alongside their companies

• When hiring the right people can unlock the next stage of growth

• How better due diligence can prevent a great opportunity from becoming a costly mistake

Field Tested was created to help contractors and business owners learn from decades of real world experience and recognize that the challenges they’re facing have likely been faced by someone before them.

The goal isn’t to avoid every mistake, but to learn faster, make better decisions, and build a stronger business because of them.

Profit doesn’t equal cash, and your CPA probably isn’t the right person to tell you what to do about it. Knowing your numbers is one thing. Knowing what to do with them is what helps you run a better business.

In this episode of The Mobilization Mindset, Drew Aldridge sits down with Danielle Hayden, CPA, CEO of Kickstart Accounting, and host of the CEO Numbers Network podcast, to discuss how business owners can build a stronger financial foundation and use their numbers to make better decisions.

They discuss:

• The different roles a bookkeeper, CPA, and CFO should play in your business

• When a fractional CFO makes sense, and when you might need one in-house

• How to turn your budget into a real decision-making tool instead of a document you rarely revisit

• Which financial KPIs to track, from revenue and gross margin to your top five operating expenses and cash trends

• Why profit and cash flow tell two very different stories, and where your cash hides on the balance sheet

Danielle also shares her take on QuickBooks, AI tools like ChatGPT, and why they can’t replace the CEO’s judgment or a clean set of books.

A profitable construction business can still struggle with cash flow. Why? Because profit on paper isn’t the same as cash in the bank, and the gap usually starts at the job level.

In this episode of The Mobilization Mindset, Scott Peper and Drew Aldridge preview the upcoming Cash Flow Workshop with Ground Crew, happening October 21-22 in Tampa, Florida. They break down what contractors can expect from two days focused on improving construction cash flow, protecting job profitability, and understanding the financial decisions that impact growth.

Scott and Drew discuss:

• Why profitable construction companies can still experience cash flow problems

• How bidding, job margins, and expected vs. actual profit affect your bottom line

• How to manage labor costs when payroll stays steady but production dips

• How better job costing and cash flow forecasting support sustainable growth

• What attendees will learn from Herb Sargent, Benjamin Holmgren, Suzanne Bach, Scott Kimpland, and the Mobilization Funding team

The workshop brings together construction, accounting, finance, and operational perspectives, so contractors of all sizes and trades can see where their cash is going and what to do about it. Scott and Drew also preview lessons from Field Tested, the new book from Herb and Scott. It’s built around real business stories, mistakes, and practical steps construction leaders can use in their own companies.