Jeremy Whitson: Why Too Much Work Nearly Broke His Excavation Business

He walked away from a VP position with 208 employees.Bought one excavator. No real plan.Then learned the hard way that “booked out” doesn’t mean profitable.

Jeremy Whitson left a 21-year career in the automotive industry to build Whitson Farms Excavation from scratch. What he didn’t expect? That cash flow—not equipment—would be the real battle. In this episode, Jeremy breaks down commercial work, stormwater systems, estimating discipline, and why too much work nearly wrecked his company.

This one is about growth pressure, schedule chaos, retention checks, and building a team the right way.

Takeaways:

✅ Too Much Work Is Worse Than Not Enough – Overbooking commercial projects nearly cost him his reputation when rain delays stacked jobs on top of each other.

✅ Commercial = Cash Flow Discipline – 45–90 day pay cycles and 5–10% retention mean subs are often funding the project.

✅ Bid Like You’ll Win Every Job – Don’t throw numbers out hoping to land one. If you bid it, plan to execute it.

✅ Know Your Daily Break-Even – Insurance, fuel, moving equipment, bidding time—it all counts.

✅ Focus on What You’re Great At – He stopped doing septic installs himself and partnered instead. Efficiency beats ego.

Why It Matters:

If you’re running excavation, utilities, or site work, this episode will sharpen how you think about growth, estimating, and protecting your reputation in commercial projects.

Links:

➡️ Connect with Jeremy Whitson – Follow his excavation journey. https://www.facebook.com/wfexcavationco

➡️ Shop Attachments at Skid Steer Nation: https://www.skidsteernation.com – “Build your business with the right attachments.”

➡️ Marketing Help at Throttled Up: https://www.getthrottledup.com – “Marketing built for blue-collar contractors.”