Why Contractors Struggle to Invest in Marketing (And How Profit First Can Fix It)

If you’ve spent time around other contractors, you’ve probably heard the same story:

“I’d love to invest in marketing, but I’ve got to wait until this next check clears.”

It’s a common cycle in the trades. Jobs come in, the crew gets paid, suppliers get paid, and what’s left over often feels like scraps. Marketing—the very thing that could bring in more consistent, higher-value jobs—gets pushed to “someday.”

The problem isn’t that contractors don’t want to grow. It’s that cash flow feels unpredictable, and money management often happens by gut feel instead of a system. That’s where the Profit First method changes everything.

What Is Profit First?

Profit First, developed by Mike Michalowicz, flips the traditional accounting formula on its head:

Traditional model:
Revenue – Expenses = Profit

Profit First model:
Revenue – Profit = Expenses

Instead of hoping there’s something left at the end of the month, you take profit first—and force your business to run on what remains.

This simple shift builds discipline into how cash is handled. It ensures you’re always allocating money toward profit, taxes, and growth instead of scrambling to cover expenses and wondering why nothing is left over.

Why This Matters for Contractors

Contractors are especially vulnerable to cash flow crunches:

• Waiting on checks from GCs or clients.
• Paying crews weekly while invoices get paid months later.
• Big swings between busy seasons and slow ones.

Without a system, that money vanishes as fast as it comes in. Profit First creates guardrails so you’re never stuck waiting on “the next job” to fund growth. Instead, you always have a bucket earmarked for the future—whether that’s new equipment, hiring, or marketing.

Automating Profit with Relay Bank

One of the biggest challenges with Profit First is managing multiple accounts and transfers. Relay Bank makes it easy.

Relay lets you set up multiple checking accounts under one login—for Profit, Owner’s Pay, Taxes, and Operating Expenses. You can automate allocations every time money comes in, so instead of manually shuffling money around, Relay does it for you.

For example, you could set up:

• 5% Profit
• 15% Taxes
• 40% Owner’s Pay
• 40% Operating Expenses

Every deposit is automatically divided into these buckets. You don’t have to think about it—you follow the system.

Turning Profit Into Growth

Here’s the kicker: that profit account isn’t just “rainy day” money. For contractors who want to scale, it becomes a growth fund.

Instead of draining cash flow when things get tight, you’ll have a dedicated reserve you can reinvest into:

• A new website that makes you look as professional online as you do in person.
• SEO and Google Ads campaigns that put you in front of homeowners searching right now.
• 24/7 tools like an AI receptionist (AVA) that capture and book leads even while you’re on the job.

Think of it this way: each dollar in that Profit account can either sit idle, or it can be put to work generating more dollars by fueling your marketing engine.

And the data backs this up. Contractors who invest 5–10% of revenue into marketing see consistent growth, while those who delay fall behind competitors. SEO alone delivers an average 8× ROI compared to other channels. In other words, the best use of your profit isn’t a new truck wrap or another tool—it’s building a system that keeps the phone ringing.

The Bigger Picture

Profit First with Relay is more than bookkeeping. It’s about taking control of your business so you’re never “waiting on a check” to grow.

• You build stability with profit and tax reserves.
• You protect yourself from feast-or-famine cycles.
• You free up resources to reinvest into marketing—the one lever that multiplies every other part of your business.

At Roundhouse, we often see that contractors who thrive are those who treat marketing as an investment, not an expense. Profit First makes sure you always have the cash to do it.