Ask us anything with Buildingsciology
From Mindful Builder by Matthew Carland and Hamish White
May 17, 2026 · 1h 6m · Episode 117
About this episode
The episode discusses the financial and emotional challenges faced by builders in the construction industry, featuring insights from guest Jessica Kismet.
“As builders, you have huge overheads. Massive.” Matt said it mid-conversation and it just sat there, because it is the part people outside the construction industry rarely see. They see the finished home and the invoice. They do not see the cash flow pressure, the holding costs, the insurances, the compliance, the admin load, the delays, and how quickly one wobble in the pipeline can hit a building business. That is where this chat with Jessica Kismet from Climasure, host of the Building Sciology Podcast, really goes. Jessica jumps in as guest host and asks the questions builders usually keep to themselves. Money pressure. Risk. Ego. Family. The emotional load of running a residential construction business in Australia, especially when the market is tight and the margin for error is small. If you are a builder, contractor, or tradie trying to stay steady through uncertainty, this episode will feel very familiar. We talk openly about the financial tightrope and what it means to actually know your numbers. Builder margins, overheads, pricing, and the real cost of delays are not optional knowledge anymore. Post-COVID, “she’ll be right” is not a strategy. This conversation gets into…
People in this episode
Hosts: Matthew Carland, Hamish White
Guest: Jessica Kismet
Topics covered
- construction industry
- financial management
- builder challenges
- emotional load
- sustainable business practices
- market pressures
Keywords
- builders
- construction
- financial pressure
- overheads
- market challenges
- sustainability
- emotional load
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Climasure, Building Sciology Podcast
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