#482 "My biggest Lessons and Mistakes from 26 Years in Design Remodeling"

About this episode

Jef Forward shares his journey of building a successful design remodeling business from early failures to leadership.

In this episode of the Contractor Growth Network podcast, Logan sits down with Jef Forward—founder of Forward Design Build Remodel—to unpack what it really looks like to build a remodeling business from the ground up… the hard way. Jef shares the unfiltered story of his first five years in business—projects going months over schedule, losing money, taking on debt, and nearly reinforcing every negative stereotype about contractors. But instead of quitting, he used those failures as the foundation for what would become a 40+ person design-build firm. From digging out of financial holes (having just $0.16 for every $1 owed) to learning how to price correctly, hire the right people, and step into leadership, Jef walks through the exact inflection points that transformed his business. He also shares how joining a peer group, embracing sales training, and building a leadership team allowed him to finally step out of the day-to-day and start thinking about the long-term future of the company. If you're feeling stuck, underpaid, or overwhelmed in your remodeling business, this episode is a powerful reminder that the breakthrough often comes after the lowest point—and that building the…

People in this episode

Host: Logan Shinholser

Guest: Jef Forward

Topics covered

• design remodeling
• business growth
• leadership
• failure
• entrepreneurship

Keywords

• remodeling
• business mistakes
• leadership team
• financial recovery
• sales training

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Forward Design Build Remodel

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