150 - Getting Started with Bonding with Stephen Brown

Construction is a tough industry with many risks and uncertainties. But there’s a way to mitigate these risks: bonding. Martin and Khalil invite Stephen Brown, an expert in Creative Bonding Solutions and Insurance Strategies and the host of the Contractor Success Forum podcast, to discuss bonding and how contractors can benefit from it. Stay tuned!


Time Stamps

  • 00:35 - Memphis Fun Facts

    03:29 - Stephen Brown's Journey as a Podcaster

    05:44 - What is a Bond? Why is it Required?

    09:05 - Where is a Bond Required?

    10:46 - Getting Approved for a Bond

    13:31 - What is a Bid Bond?

    15:52 - Qualifying for a Bond

    19:44 - Finding a Good Bonding Agent

    21:11 - Bond Stories

    25:43 - Things That Can Improve Your Chances of Getting a Bond

    31:54 - The Importance of WIP Reports and Interim Financial Reports

    32:19 - How to Get in Touch with Stephen

    37:26 - Bonding vs. Insurance

    38:09 - The Value of Getting Insured

Quotable Moments

  • "Managing your business so you can sleep at night, so you can leave your business and go on vacation; if your business is set up for that, you can get bonding, and if it's not, get a good bond agent and work with them until you get to that point." - Stephen Brown

  • "What inspires confidence in the bonding company is really simple. They call them the three Cs: cash, character, and capacity." - Stephen Brown

  • "Construction is the one type of industry where there's just no limit on how much money you can lose on a job." - Stephen Brown

  • "When there's something new that you want to do that interests you, there's some risk involved. So that's when you need a good bonding and insurance agent." - Stephen Brown

  • "You need to become a real business, and that includes accounting, insurance, HR, and things like that. Not just, "I'm really good at pouring concrete, and that's what I'm gonna do today." - Martin Holland

  • An accounting system is one of the most fundamental things you need to have in place to have a real business." - Stephen Brown

  • "If you have systems, you're gonna make more money too because money sneaks away all kinds of mistaken false starts. It just disappears."

  • "Bonding, I think we can call it a form of insurance, but it doesn't pay you; it pays your customer and defends you. Insurance pays you if you suffer the loss." - Martin Holland

Resources

More from Stephen Brown

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151 - Pools, Partnerships, and Processes with Scott Bakkala

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149 - Labor Laws with Molly Aspan