{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Good Builder Podcast","title":"The Daily Dose #354 | Why Busy Builders Go Broke (And What the Best Builders Do Differently) | Mark Vasalo & Paul Hogan","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":4135,"description":"Being busy doesn't necessarily mean you're running a healthy building business. In fact, chasing more sales, taking on the wrong projects and carrying too much overhead can be exactly what gets a builder into trouble.\nIn this episode of The Good Builder Podcast, Aaron Ng sits down with Mark Vassallo and Paul Hogan, directors of Dixon Homes Sydney, who bring a combined 60 years of experience across residential construction, land development, finance, sales and business leadership.\nBetween them, they've worked with some of Australia's biggest building and development businesses, including McDonald Jones, Mojo Homes, Mirvac and Stockland. Now they're applying those lessons to running and growing their own residential building business.\nAnd they've got some interesting perspectives on what actually makes a building business successful.\nIn this conversation, we cover:\nBusy versus profitable: Why a full sales pipeline can be misleading, particularly when projects are sitting on unregistered land.\nKnowing your numbers: The importance of accurate estimating, understanding margins and keeping overheads under control.\nThe real cost of land: Why the cheapest block doesn't always produce the cheapest build, and what builders often overlook.\nGrowing without losing control: When scaling makes sense, when it becomes dangerous and why some projects are better turned away.\nLessons from the big builders: The systems, reporting and management disciplines smaller builders can adopt without carrying big-business overheads.\nBuilding customer trust: Why being upfront about difficult conversations can save builders and homeowners enormous problems later.\nThe Sydney housing market: What's happening across knockdown rebuilds, duplex developments and new housing opportunities.\nMark and Paul also share why they've deliberately built a business with lower overheads, strong systems and direct involvement in their customers' projects.\nOne of the strongest messages from this conversation is...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/kfWyLokmOh8IknRiu8hFWliTL287_yQe0yBgRNp7WJc/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8yZmE4/MDdmMWNmOWU1Yjc4/ZGU2OTIxYTcwOTk0/OTk3YS5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}