In the first live in-person On-Site podcast episode, recorded after the Elite Builder Society’s first contractor growth seminar in Chilliwack, the host interviews Josh, a CPA/CEPA educator, about key takeaways for contractors. Josh says many owners excel at their trade but lack business skills, and the seminar offered concentrated guidance across marketing, operations, and finance. He explains his talk’s focus on money mindset, tying personal lifestyle goals to business targets through reverse-engineering required revenue and margins, and simple financial systems like separating bank accounts for operations, profit, and taxes (inspired by Profit First). They discuss knowing core numbers such as gross margin, overhead, and daily burn rate, managing schedules to avoid unprofitable gaps, and improving cash flow by shortening the cash conversion cycle through faster invoicing, quicker collection, and not paying vendors early without benefit. The episode ends with praise for the seminar’s panel Q&A and networking and promotion of upcoming Canadian events and the $49/month community.

Chapters

• 00:00 Live Podcast Kickoff
• 00:41 Seminar Takeaways
• 01:40 Numbers First Operator
• 03:25 Money Mindset Matters
• 04:23 Reverse Engineer Goals
• 06:56 Visibility Beats Skill
• 08:34 Road Trip And Family
• 09:14 Drive Thru Systems Lesson
• 12:06 Profit First Basics
• 13:23 Know Your Key Numbers
• 13:59 Overhead And Burn Rate
• 15:43 Rising Costs Ahead
• 16:00 Hidden Burn Costs
• 17:11 Daily Burn Metric
• 18:11 Schedule Slip Profit
• 18:48 Fill Schedule Gaps
• 22:02 Cash Flow Basics
• 22:29 Cash Conversion Cycle
• 24:46 Seminar Takeaways
• 26:50 Networking Beats Shame
• 29:25 Community Invite Wrap

Connect with Joshua Leyenhorst:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/josh.the.cpa/
Website - https://www.basepoint.ca/

Connect with Brandon Fuchs
Instagram: www.instagram.com/the_contractorcoach

Join the Elite Builder Society
Website: https://ebsworks.com/

On episode 60 of the On Site Podcast, the host interviews Joel from Joe’s Carpentry, a multi-generation Ontario construction business and client of Brady, a coach in the Elite Builder Society (EBS). Joel explains the company was founded by his grandfather Joe in 1975 and has grown into three related businesses: Joe’s Carpentry (renovations), Van Lagen Homes, and a cabinetry company, now owned by Joel’s dad and uncle. They discuss the pressures and pride of sustaining a family legacy through economic downturns, including near-bankruptcy during early subdivision attempts, and the importance of celebrating wins, like winning Norwich Township’s large business of the year. Joel shares their marketing approach (Meta, Google Ads, and strategic partnerships) and service area around Norwich, Ontario. The host proposes a part two featuring Joel, Brady, and possibly Joel’s dad and grandfather to discuss their evolved, data-driven sales process.

Chapters

• 00:00 Podcast Welcome
• 00:37 Meet Joel
• 01:06 Family Legacy Story
• 01:54 Mic Tapping Fix
• 02:37 How Dad Grew Business
• 03:58 Fourth Generation Talk
• 05:07 Surviving Downturns
• 08:07 Marketing Strategy Breakdown
• 10:07 Where They Operate
• 12:39 50 Years Celebration
• 14:09 Near Bankruptcy Comeback
• 14:34 Three Generations Podcast Idea
• 16:13 Family Business Boundaries
• 17:46 Legacy Pride Pressure
• 19:36 Seven Siblings Breakdown
• 21:32 Getting Fired Growing Up
• 23:33 Military Precast Lessons
• 24:20 Systems Data Driven Change
• 25:58 Post Covid Plateau Numbers
• 27:31 Celebrate Wins Together
• 29:46 Planning Part Two Guests
• 32:09 Wrap Up Seminar Plug

Connect with Joel Van Lagen:
Website - https://joescarpentry.ca/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/joescarpentry

Connect with Brandon Fuchs
Instagram: www.instagram.com/the_contractorcoach

Join the Elite Builder Society
Website: https://ebsworks.com/

On Site Podcast episode 59 features guest Ole J. Hartman, a serial entrepreneur who is a writer/director/producer with a self-financed feature horror film about an AI tablet heading to Amazon Prime with a limited theatrical release in Texas, plus an online health coach and co-owner of an AI agency with his wife. Ole recounts moving from California, deciding to make a marketable AI-centered film after learning Robert Rodriguez self-financed El Mariachi, writing the script in February 2025, shooting in two weeks, and completing post-production amid delays. The conversation covers his agency’s focus on SEO and emerging “GEO” (generative engine optimization) tied to Google’s Gemini and the importance of genuine reviews and content. Ole shares his background in BMW sales/management, losing 90+ pounds, starting coaching after a dealership sale, and emphasizes taking action driven by mortality, faith, and setting an example for his kids.

Chapters

• 00:00 Podcast Welcome
• 00:14 Meet Ole J. Hartmann
• 01:26 Many Hats Intro
• 02:21 AI Horror Film Idea
• 03:49 Self Financing Breakthrough
• 05:12 Writing And Producing Fast
• 07:04 Amazon Prime Release Plans
• 08:04 Massive Action Mindset
• 10:55 Mortality Driven Motivation
• 13:41 Dream Big For Kids
• 16:04 Host Graduation Letters
• 17:58 AI Agency And GEO Explained
• 22:01 Authenticity Beats SEO Spam
• 23:59 Google Ads And Yellow Pages
• 24:17 Guessing Ages
• 25:14 Yellow Pages to Social
• 25:57 Google Ads and AI
• 28:17 Home Service Ads
• 29:07 Visibility Wins Business
• 29:56 Family and Fatherhood
• 31:27 BMW Sales to Coaching
• 32:57 Dealership Sale Fallout
• 36:06 Fear and Taking Action
• 38:02 Parents and Motivation
• 40:28 School and AI Tools
• 43:57 Final Takeaways
• 47:25 Faith and Future Plans
• 48:41 Where to Find Him
• 50:09 Podcast Wrap and Offer

Connect with Ole J. Hartmann:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/olejordanhartmann

Connect with Brandon Fuchs
Instagram: www.instagram.com/the_contractorcoach

Join the Elite Builder Society
Website: https://ebsworks.com/

In episode 58 of the On Site Podcast, host Brandon interviews Aaron Cocks, owner of Stronghold Marketing, a former plumber who has spent 11 years in marketing helping primarily service businesses generate leads and improve efficiency. Aaron describes how AI tools like ChatGPT have accelerated work such as website building and decision-making, and explains Stronghold’s approach as “lead capture” and demand capture: assessing reviews, SEO, website conversion, follow-up speed, and operational systems (phone/email processes) before scaling paid ads. He shares his background running an e-commerce business selling CBD oil for dogs until Canadian regulations changed. The conversation also covers the value of pet insurance, a “parachuting” neighborhood marketing idea combining local ads, yard signs, and direct mail, and Aaron’s focus on fundamentals, retention, and high conversion through better customer experience. Aaron plugs strongholdmarketing.ca and Instagram @stronghold.ai, and Brandon promotes Elite Builder Society at ebsworks.com for $49/month.

Chapters

• 00:00 Podcast Welcome
• 00:16 Meet Aaron Cocks
• 01:21 From Plumber to Marketer
• 02:28 Remote Life and Roots
• 03:48 AI Superpowers
• 06:56 Prompting for Decisions
• 08:53 Stronghold Lead Systems
• 12:48 No Easy Button
• 13:25 Ecommerce to Agency
• 14:26 CBD Dogs and Regulations
• 16:02 Pet Insurance Rollercoaster
• 23:01 Selling Marketing to Trades
• 25:32 Contractor Failure Rates
• 26:57 Giving Value Upfront
• 27:54 Demand Capture Marketing
• 30:57 Parachuting Into Neighborhoods
• 31:56 Direct Mail Comeback
• 36:31 1970 vs 2070 Marketing
• 39:23 Why Contractors Avoid Help
• 40:42 Conversion Rate Fundamentals
• 43:43 Choose Industry Insiders
• 46:38 Where To Find Stronghold
• 48:15 Closing Jokes And Wrap
• 49:26 Final Call To Action

Connect with Aaron Cocks:
Website - https://strongholdmarketing.ca/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/stronghold.ai/

Connect with Brandon Fuchs
Instagram: www.instagram.com/the_contractorcoach

Join the Elite Builder Society
Website: https://ebsworks.com/

On episode 57 of the On Site Podcast, Brandon interviews Tobiasz, founder of Handshake, about using an AI voice response agent (“Julia”) to help contractors and other service businesses stop missing calls and capture more opportunities. Tobiasz shares his background in Ontario, building and exiting his first venture Reeby (a retail circulars app) after growing it to 7–8 million Canadian users and selling into enterprise customers. He explains how Handshake works via call forwarding so businesses can route unanswered or after-hours calls to Julia, get transcripts, and toggle use as needed, then expand to top-of-funnel capture across phone, lead emails, social DMs, and ads. The conversation emphasizes AI adoption, data, communities for learning, and using tools like call recordings and transcripts to improve sales, operations, and decision-making.

Chapters

• 00:00 Podcast Kickoff
• 00:15 Meet Tobiasz
• 01:19 Startup Origins
• 03:16 Enterprise Lessons
• 05:30 Why Small Business
• 06:36 Handshake Explained
• 08:17 Beyond Phone Calls
• 09:50 Contractor Mindset
• 13:55 Backpack Analogy
• 17:00 AI And Job Value
• 19:22 Schools Vs AI Tools
• 24:12 Adopt Early Or Lose
• 26:32 Setup And Call Routing
• 27:49 Transcripts And Insights
• 29:12 Real Workflow Example
• 34:26 Customer Experience Win
• 35:25 Tech Driven Disruption
• 38:45 Using AI Beyond Search
• 39:06 AI With A Heartbeat
• 40:07 Always On Agents
• 40:51 Real Time Tax Claims
• 42:19 CRM Foresight Engine
• 43:20 Selling With Data
• 45:18 Living Business Dashboard
• 48:01 AI Skills Arms Race
• 51:17 Learn With AI Help
• 52:19 Tech Changes Weekly
• 54:03 Dreams And Discipline
• 58:05 AI Is Not A Checkbox
• 01:00:20 Reps And Community
• 01:04:00 Try Handshake Free
• 01:05:48 Small World Big Goals
• 01:08:37 Compounding Improvements
• 01:12:09 Final Encouragement
• 01:13:51 Episode Wrap Up
  

Connect with Tobiasz Dankiewicz:
Website - https://www.handshake.app/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/handshake.pro/

Connect with Brandon Fuchs
Instagram: www.instagram.com/the_contractorcoach

Join the Elite Builder Society
Website: https://ebsworks.com/

On the On Site Podcast, Brandon interviews Eric Fortenberry, CEO of JobTread, about the company’s growth and the rapid evolution of AI in construction. Eric shares milestones including reaching 10,000 active customers at the International Builders’ Show five years after launching sales, growing to over 11,500, and celebrating wins to build culture (including a team steakhouse dinner after a strong Q1). They discuss JobTread’s new AI “connector” using MCP (Model Context Protocol) to connect users’ own AI (like Claude) to JobTread; within the first week it drove over 1,000 new Claude signups and now several thousand companies are connected. Both emphasize AI’s productivity benefits for budgets, proposals, dashboards, workflows, and error-checking, while warning about hallucinations, over-automation, security risks (especially email access), and the need to “trust and verify,” strong prompting, and cautious adoption.

Chapters

• 00:00 Podcast Intro
• 00:14 Meet Eric and JobTread
• 01:41 10K Customers Milestone
• 04:16 Celebrating Wins and Culture
• 06:09 AI Elephant in Room
• 09:29 MCP Connector Breakthrough
• 13:00 Adoption and Use Cases
• 19:08 Prompting and AI Training
• 23:41 Risks and Security Concerns
• 26:30 Open Source AI Risks
• 28:10 Start Small With AI
• 30:13 Keep Humans In Control
• 31:05 AI For Research Wins
• 33:12 JobTread AI Roadmap
• 35:41 AI Skills Beat Fear
• 38:17 Raising AI Ready Kids
• 40:22 Alpha School Experiment
• 46:14 Schools Versus AI Tools
• 49:14 Wrap Up And Links

Connect with Eric Fortenberry
Website: https://www.jobtread.com/
Facebook :https://www.facebook.com/JobTread/

Connect with Brandon Fuchs
Instagram: www.instagram.com/the_contractorcoach

Join the Elite Builder Society
Website: https://ebsworks.com/

In a solo On Site Podcast episode, Brandon promotes the Elite Builder Society Contractor Growth Seminar in Chilliwack/Vancouver area on July 24 ($97 with breakfast and lunch; VIP sold out) and previews topics to be covered. He argues contractors lose jobs by emailing quotes without context and recommends scheduling an in-person or Zoom proposal review to frame the next step, handle objections in real time, and avoid “follow-up.” He shares a case study of Andrew, a remodeling contractor in Clear Lake, Iowa, who switched from self-performing work to a subcontractor model and generated nearly $1M in two months. He urges contractors to take action, seek mentorship, and outlines EBS offerings, including a $49/month community and a paid AI integration group teaching tools like Claude and ChatGPT to streamline business communication tasks.

Chapters

• 00:00 Show Intro
• 00:14 Solo Episode Setup
• 00:34 Contractor Seminar Invite
• 02:20 Stop Emailing Quotes
• 05:37 Scale With Subcontractors
• 09:22 Why Contractors Stall
• 12:55 Why Trust My Coaching
• 15:05 Next Step Sales Script
• 20:26 AI Is Here Now
• 24:01 Inside The AI Group
• 25:56 Find The Right Mentor
• 32:56 Small Group Takes Action
• 35:40 Final Thanks And CTA

Connect with Brandon Fuchs
Instagram: www.instagram.com/the_contractorcoach

Join the Elite Builder Society
Website: https://ebsworks.com/

The host welcomes listeners to the On Site Podcast and brings on his 18-year-old son, Jaxson, a welder who is about to graduate high school. After sharing old photos as an icebreaker and noting a delayed recording due to the production manager’s condo fire, they discuss Jaxson’s first year in welding, including working afternoons at Falcon on crane trucks and building components for decks, plus a challenging repair on a rusted dump body. Jaxson says he’s excited about making money, working with his hands, and being done with school, and he mentions practicing with a Weld VR app. The host reflects on lessons from Jaxson’s hockey background, the importance of discipline amid “noise” in the trades, and his own early financial mistakes, encouraging Jaxson to stay focused as he enters the industry.

Chapters

• 00:00 Podcast Welcome
• 00:15 Jaxson Joins In
• 01:15 Family Photos Icebreaker
• 04:28 Why Jaxson Is Here
• 05:07 Welding Work Showcase
• 07:41 Trades Motivation And Fears
• 09:09 First Big Repair Job
• 10:58 Early Work Ethic Lessons
• 11:57 Welding Paths And Time
• 14:31 Landscaping Hard Lessons
• 15:09 Brutal Work Lessons
• 15:36 Welding Reality Check
• 17:09 Hockey Roots
• 17:48 Sports To Success
• 19:20 Discipline And Fitness
• 21:31 Dad’s Hard-Won Advice
• 23:21 Trades Temptations
• 25:17 School And AI Shift
• 26:11 VR Welding Practice
• 27:50 Future Plans And Pride
• 29:45 Old Photos And Memories
• 30:46 Wrap Up And Call To Share

Connect with Jaxson:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/weldingwithjaxson

Connect with Brandon Fuchs
Instagram: www.instagram.com/the_contractorcoach

Join the Elite Builder Society
Website: https://ebsworks.com/