What’s it like to work with Live Life Build?

Well, for Matthew Prokuda, his first with Live Life Build has also been his first year making a profit.

Matthew Prokuda is a Brisbane based builder, and the director and principal builder at Radius Builders. 

Matt has been a member of Live Life Build online programs since we started in early 2020. Watch the video to see how Live Life Build has helped him (and you can read what he said below as well).

My name is Matthew Prokuda. I’m the director and principal builder at Radius Builders in Brisbane. I’m married, been married for 17 years. I’ve got two teenage daughters who are awesome. 

I’ve been in the building industry since about 2009. I did an adult apprenticeship. I started that in 2006. I came from a surveying background, and sort of had building as a career path. 

Timing didn’t quite work out and I went to uni and did that side of things. Came back to building, did an adult apprenticeship (carpentry), did my Cert 4 training at the same time, and got all that done and dusted by about 2015. And I’ve been operating as a builder since then. 

HOW DID YOU FIND LIVE LIFE BUILD?

So I was advised, when I was young, to find something you’ve got a passion in, find something you like doing, and then find someone to pay you for it. 

So I had the passion, I really enjoyed building and that’s where I wanted to be. And then I had to turn that into a profitable business. 

And after a few years working on my own and not really getting, you know, the rewards financially from it, I went searching. I needed help, I went looking for help. 

And I found Duayne. I found Duayne first actually, before Live Life Build was up and running and started following Duayne. And then, when Live Life Build launched, I was on to it very quickly. 

WHAT WAS THE DRIVING FORCE TO CHANGE?

It was the realisation of the amount of work that you have to do as a builder, not on site, not only on site, but behind the scenes. And, you know, just not making any money from it. You know, not realising the impact of what… I became a business operator, you know, very quickly. 

I realised that I needed to get help in that space, as well as my building space, to start making a profit. 

So I didn’t hit rock bottom, but you know, I was scraping by and, you know, I needed to be more profitable than what I was. 

WHAT OTHER AVENUES DID YOU EXPLORE?

Yeah, so I read a lot, Googled a lot, read a lot. I was actually with another coach for about six months prior. And that was great. Got me started, you know, got me thinking about the right things that I needed to think about. But I was looking for something more personable. 

And, like I said, I’ve been following Duayne, sort of separately. Youtube, he has a YouTube channel. I think that I was watching it regularly. And I really liked the connection. I love the fact that he was Brisbane based and he was a builder, he was working in the building industry, currently, and a lot of the things he was saying I could assimilate with. 

So that personable kind of relationship that Duayne was offering, and then Live Life Build being local to Brisbane, was a very attractive prospect.

WHAT DOUBTS DID YOU HAVE BEFORE JOINING?

Yeah, I had some reservations because of my background. I wasn’t a seasoned builder that had been in the industry for 30 years. I’d been to uni, I’d come from that side of things. So I felt as if I was, you know, coming late to the party from the building side of things. 

So I was a little bit hesitant as to how I might be received in a group of building professionals, and wondered if, you know, that might be an issue. Since then, I found it is not. 

It’s, you know, been anything but that, and it’s been very welcoming and accepting. And I actually think my background is a point of difference and something that I can bring to the table with other builders and with clients. 

WHAT IMPROVEMENTS HAVE YOU NOTICED SINCE JOINING?

Well I made a profit, this year, for the first time. I’ve been heavily investing in the company, the company is fairly young. And you know, obviously, the startup costs are quite hefty, and we’ve been pumping any spare funds back into the company for the last few years. 

I’ve been with Live Life Build, I think now for a year or so. 

And just the dramatic change in implementing some of those changes and the advice that I’ve got from the Live Life Build program, we’ve turned a profit for the first time this year. 

And so, that is a remarkable difference from where we’ve come from. 

WHAT HAS EVOLVED IN YOUR BUSINESS THANKS TO LIVE LIFE BUILD?

Well, at Live Life Build we look at marketing, we look at work continuity, we look at, you know, scheduling, we look at job project management. 

So all of those things were implemented at once within my business. 

And it just improved the efficiencies to the point where I started costing jobs better, you know. 

And Live Life Build came along at a perfect time, because, you know, we were ready to quote quite a few large jobs that had come on the market or come on the horizon. 

And had I quoted those how I was previously quoting, I think I would have just continued down the path of, you know, breaking even. 

So the Live Life Build advice that I got was how to, you know, check my costings, my fixed expenses, my running expenses, and cost the job to the point where I was covering those expenses and then making profit on top of that. 

And that is clear evidence from this financial year. 

HOW DO YOU GET OUT OF BED NOW?

Well, I’m excited. There’s always challenges. There’s always things to learn, but I’m not afraid. I don’t go to work wondering if I’m making a profit on this job.

I’m understanding the numbers a lot better. I’m understanding the spends a lot better. It’s just allowed me to relax a little bit more and enjoy being part of the business and the growth, rather than stressing about it the whole time. 

YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE PAC PROCESS?

I think that the game changer is the PAC Process, and being Paid As a Consultant for your time working with clients during the preliminary stages. 

One of the big messages that’s pushed is that the design-bid-build model is broken, and it’s so true. 

So being taught about the PAC Process and how to present to clients, to say, “my time is valuable, but it’s also immensely valuable to you to get the builders on board early and consult with you and your design team from the beginning”, that was probably the biggest learning that I took from the Live Life Build programs, from the Launchpad program. 

It’s understanding the PAC Process and how to take it to my clients. 

WHY JOIN LIVE LIFE BUILD?

Well, you don’t know what you don’t know. So I would say: “join”. The community is such a supportive community. There’s no competition, you know. 

Initially I thought builders is quite … going .. you know, 1000 builders around and it’s going to be quite competitive, you’re not going to want to give the game away. But it’s the complete opposite. 

It’s such a supportive, nurturing environment that you bring yourself to these groups. You bring yourself to these situations. Not only are you learning as much as you possibly can, you’re teaching as well, you’ve got more to offer than you might think. 

So I would say: “just get in and do it and start mixing with like-minded builders”.

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