Escaping 100-Hour Work Weeks: Liz Chism Featured on The Site Shed Podcast
Most contractors start their business with one goal—freedom.
Freedom of time.
Freedom of income.
Freedom to actually enjoy the life they’re working so hard to build.
But somewhere along the way, that freedom disappears.
The business grows… the hours grow… the chaos grows… and suddenly you're the bottleneck, the firefighter, the chief problem-solver, and the only one who knows how to keep the whole thing afloat.
That’s exactly what we unpack in my recent appearance on The Site Shed Podcast with Matt Jones (Episode 475).
From 100-Hour Weeks to a Business That Ran Without Me
In the episode, I share the full story of how my husband and I scaled a multimillion-dollar craft brewery—and how that journey revealed the systems, clarity, and leadership required for contractors to scale without burning out.
Just like construction, brewing is an art and science. And when everything lived in my head, I became the bottleneck. The result?
100-hour weeks
Burnout creeping in
No space to think, lead, or grow
A business fully dependent on me
Sound familiar?
Everything changed when I learned how to:
✔️ Document what was in my head
✔️ Build systems my team could actually follow
✔️ Delegate ownership—not tasks
✔️ Create structure so the business no longer needed me to survive
Those same principles allowed us to take a two-week international trip with our phones off… and come home to a thriving business.
Why So Many Contractors Stay Stuck
We also dove deep into the four major reasons contractors get trapped in the day-to-day:
1. The Chaos Tax
Chaos is one of the most expensive costs in a construction business. When everything is last-minute, reactive, and unplanned, you pay for it in stress, wasted time, and profit bleed.
2. Estimate Accuracy Problems
Most contractors are 10–20% off on estimates—and that directly erodes their profits. One small leak repeated across every job becomes massive lost income.
3. Lack of Follow-Up & Sales Infrastructure
Most contractors don’t need more leads. They need better follow-up, better positioning as the trusted adviser, and systems that close more of the opportunities already in front of them.
4. No Clear Roles or Accountability
If everyone does a little bit of everything, no one fully owns anything. Without clarity, accountability, and structure, the owner inevitably becomes the one holding it all together.
Why This Episode Matters for Contractors
If you're a contractor who feels:
overwhelmed
overworked
stuck as the bottleneck
unsure how to scale without everything falling apart
this conversation will give you clarity, confidence, and a practical framework for creating a business that works without you doing everything.
We talk about:
✔️ Systems that drive profit
✔️ Scheduling that prevents scope creep
✔️ Team structure that eliminates chaos
✔️ How contractors can charge more and still win the job
✔️ Why clarity—not more effort—is the path to freedom
Watch the Full Episode
👉 Click here to watch the full interview on YouTube
If you’re tired of working nights and weekends… if you want a business that grows without consuming your life… this episode will give you the roadmap.
Ready to Build a Business That Runs Without You?
If this episode resonated with you, and you're ready to:
reclaim 10–30 hours per week
build a team of A-players
increase profitability
eliminate chaos
and finally operate as the CEO (not the laborer) of your business…
Then it’s time to check out the Contractor Roundtable Mastermind.
This is where contractors doing $1M–$5M come to systemize, scale, and build a business that runs without them—in the next 12 months, not the next 12 years.
