Brickonomics Unplugged: Surviving a 1000 Year Flood
From Brickonomics: The Business of Building · 01:01:44
Show by Nick Scroggs
Brickonomics Unplugged: Running a Construction Company Through a Hurricane (What Broke & What We Changed)In the first episode of Brickonomics Unplugged, Nick and VP of Operations Kevin Griffin discuss what it looked like to run their construction business in real time after a hurricane disrupted everything. They explain how communication and logistics broke first due to power, service outages, and limited site access, forcing them to triage active projects, handle emergency work, and navigate a permitting shutdown that stalled inspections for weeks. The storm also pushed them into restoration work at scale, introducing complex insurance-claim estimating, shifting adjusters, and major payment delays that led to job stops and the need for a stricter accounts-receivable policy. They also describe rapid team growth, organizational restructuring, hiring turnover, and the challenge of training and implementing new systems under pressure, emphasizing transparency, collaboration, and system clarity as essential to maintaining client trust.00:00 Why Unplugged Exists01:18 Hurricane Hits Operations02:30 Meet Kevin Ops Lead03:26 Before the Storm Workflow05:05 Jobsite Storm Prep07:39 Office Flooding Reality11:23 What Broke First14:08 Triaging Stalled Projects15:13 Permits and Inspections Halt18:58 Trades and Supply Disruptions21:25 Choosing Restoration Work23:33 Insurance Sales Learning Curve25:41 Mitigation and Payment Hurdles28:14 Insurance Draws Stall Jobs30:29 Payment Delays Hit Projects32:31 Stop Work Policy Shift33:55 Building a Clear AR Timeline36:43 Scaling Fast After the Storm38:59 Restructuring Construction Roles39:52 Hiring for Core Values43:52 Training and SOP Overhaul47:54 When Growth Breaks Systems51:17 Busy Doesn’t Mean Stable53:54 Lessons on Communication57:22 Systems You Actually Know59:56 Defined in Hard Moments
More episodes of Brickonomics: The Business of Building
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- 101 - Why Most Builders Stay Small (and How Some Build Businesses That Last)
- 102 - The 5 Systems that Actually Make Construction Businesses Profitable
- 103 - Why Cashflow Matters More Than Profit
- 104 - Busy is Not The Same as Successful
- 105 - How I Actually Learned To Read Our Financials
- 106 - Job Costing: The System That Changed Everything
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