About Jon Robertson
More Than 30 Years In Business — And Plenty Of Lessons Learned Along The Way
I'm Jon Robertson—business coach, trainer, speaker, host of the Contractor Truth podcast, and founder of Contractor Authority.
Today, I spend much of my time helping contractors understand and improve the business side of contracting.
But my business education didn't come from a classroom.
It started in the back of my parents' Honda Civic.
I Started Early
I grew up in a large, entrepreneurial family surrounded by business owners and salespeople.
When I was about 13, I started cutting lawns. There was just one problem—I wasn't old enough to drive. So my parents would load me and my lawn equipment into the back of their Honda Civic hatchback and drive me to my customers.
It wasn't exactly a business empire, but I was hooked.
By the time I finished high school, I knew what I wanted to do.
I wanted to sell.
The School Of Hard Knocks
And so began what I sometimes call my education in the School of Hard Knocks.
Over the decades that followed, I sold everything from security systems and new and used cars to real estate and building materials.
I became a licensed real estate salesperson and spent years working directly with contractors from the building-supply side of the industry.
I've Been On The Other Side
I ran a landscaping company for many years and owned and operated a home renovation company, dealing firsthand with the realities contractors face every day—customers, estimates, sales, jobs, people, overhead, marketing, cash flow and everything else that comes with running the business.
I also built and operated a marketing company for approximately 10 years before eventually selling it.
Sales. Marketing. Contracting. Entrepreneurship.
They've been part of my life for more than three decades.
I've Learned Some Things The Hard Way
My story isn't one long highlight reel.
I've made mistakes. I've experienced business failure. I've been through bankruptcy.
I've also dealt with circumstances I could never have planned for, including losing a business partner to terminal illness and experiencing the failure of a business in the aftermath.
I don't share that because I think failure qualifies someone to teach business. It doesn't.
But I also don't believe credibility requires pretending you've always gotten everything right.
Some of what I've learned came from success.
Some of the most valuable lessons came from getting things wrong.
Both shape the way I think about business today.
Why Contractors?
Because I wish someone had taught me this stuff.
Like a lot of contractors, I knew how to work. I learned how to sell. But understanding how to build the business behind the work—pricing, profitability, marketing, systems, hiring, leadership and growth—was something I largely had to learn through experience.
Even when I was running my own contracting business, I found myself helping other contractors with these things. We'd talk about their businesses, their sales, their marketing, the problems they were running into and what they could do differently.
Today, that's become a major part of what I do.
Through Contractor Authority, one-on-one coaching, speaking, in-person training, the Contractor Truth podcast, YouTube and social media, I work with contractors in different trades, markets and stages of growth.
The mission behind all of it is pretty simple:
Help contractors become better business owners.
No Fluff. No Guff.
If you've watched my videos, listened to my podcast, taken my training or worked with me personally, you probably already know my style.
I'm practical. I'm direct. And I'm interested in what works.
I don't have much use for business theory that sounds impressive but leaves you wondering what you're supposed to do with it.
I want to know:
- What can we change?
- What can we improve?
- What can we implement?
- And what can you actually take back to your business and do?
I believe revenue isn't profit. More work doesn't necessarily mean a better business. Being great at your trade doesn't automatically make you great at business.
- Sales matter.
- Marketing matters.
- Your numbers matter.
- Systems matter.
- Leadership matters.
And eventually, if you want to grow, you have to make the transition from simply doing the work to building the business.
That's what I want to help contractors do.
More Than Business
Business has been a big part of my life, but it isn't what grounds it. My faith and my family do.
My wife and I have been married since 1999. We have four children, two of whom are now married, one grandchild and another on the way.
After more than 30 years in business, I'm still learning, still building and still making adjustments.
And maybe that's one of the biggest lessons I've learned:
You never really arrive in business. You keep learning, keep adjusting, and keep getting better.