A teaching tale starring Gus the Surveyor—business owner, sharp as a whip, quirkier than a three‑legged tripod, and wise enough to turn every busted stake into a lesson in cash‑flow.
Gus didn’t set out to be a legend. He just wanted a clean traverse and a hot cup of coffee that wouldn’t spill in the truck. Thirty years later he’s the go‑to guy in town—partly because he can run a GNSS receiver one‑handed while quoting Nacho Libre, but mostly because he runs his money as precisely as he runs his bearings. Today Gus is opening the shop door (bell rings, dust motes in the sunbeam) to share the budgeting playbook that saved his hide more times than mosquito spray.
"Surveying is simple," Gus likes to say, twirling a plumb bob. "Keep your points tight and your pennies tighter."
Pull up a camp stool; the coffee’s on. Let’s follow Gus through seven scenes that turn raw startup cash into a firm that lasts longer than an iron pipe in basalt.
Gus’s first week in business he walked into a dealer demo and locked eyes with a robotic total station that beeped in six languages. List price: the same as a used pickup.
Narrator whisper: Gus didn’t buy it.
Instead, he scribbled every required tool on the back of a field book—then circled the ones that earned money immediately: used total station (calibrated), single‑rover GPS kit, rugged data collector, and a toolbox the size of a small canoe.
Lesson #1 – List, rank, then buy: If it won’t help you invoice in the first 90 days, it waits. Gus rented lasers and scanners until projects justified ownership. "It’s not the machine that’s cool," he says, "it’s the check that clears."
Back at the kitchen table, Gus slathered peanut butter directly onto a slice of bread—those were the needs. Then he spooned jelly on top of the peanut butter rather than giving it a slice of its own—those were the wants. When he folded the bread, the needs stayed firmly anchored, while the wants sat in a sweet upper layer—nice to have, but easy to scrape off if money gets tight. Needs included insurance, licensing, fuel, and loan payments on core gear. Wants covered the drone, flashy truck wrap, and that countertop espresso machine.
Lesson #2 – Separate bread from sprinkles: Until your revenue slice grows, keep optional purchases sticky but un‑bitten.
Gus learned the hard way that the sun should never set on un‑sent invoices. Early on he lost a whole month’s cashflow chasing a slow‑pay subdivision developer. From then on, field notes hit the server and the accounting software before dinner.
He also switched to progress billing: 40 % at control, 40 % at topo delivery, 20 % on final CAD. Clients liked the visibility; Gus liked sleeping at night.
"Invoice early, bill often," he chuckles. "Even your data collector beeps when it wants attention—so should your receivables."
Lesson #3 – Cash flow beats profit on paper. You can’t pay staff with "accounts receivable".
Gus’s "office" was a spare bedroom next to the laundry. The only fancy décor: a whiteboard titled Jobs = Bread. For meet‑ups he booked the library conference room (free) or met clients onsite (impressive).
Software? Cloud subscriptions under $100/month: bookkeeping, project management, CAD seat rental. Gus jokes he’s "allergic to unused licenses"—if a tool sits idle 60 days, he cancels it before it renews.
Lesson #4 – Feed the field, starve the overhead. Fancy chairs never closed a boundary.
In Gus’s first spring, rain washed out five straight days and a server fried the same week. Because he’d stashed three months of expenses in a "Rainy‑Week" bank account, payroll cleared, repairs got done, and nobody panicked.
He replenishes that reserve every profitable quarter—10 % straight off the top. "Call it your Bearings & Bailouts Fund," he winks.
Lesson #5 – Surprises are certain; insolvency isn’t.
Friday afternoons Gus reviews three numbers:
Utilization rate – billable crew hours ÷ total crew hours.
Gross margin per project – revenue minus direct costs.
Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) – average days to get paid.
If any trend slips, he adjusts—raises rates, trims scope, or fires a chronically late payer.
Lesson #6 – Metrics are monuments. Set them, check them, adjust course.
Monthly budget breakfast: coffee, spreadsheet, no excuses.
Reinvest 15 % of annual profit into tech or training.
Debt test: If a purchase can’t cash‑flow in 18 months, rent it.
Laugh often: because stress costs more than laughter.
"Treat every dollar like a rebar stake," Gus says, tapping his coffee mug. "Drive it firm, mark it clear, and know exactly why you set it there."
Gus throws you the keys to the truck and a final tip: discipline is the best piece of equipment you’ll ever own. Keep these scenes in mind and your startup will stay upright when the wind howls.
Next time we’ll ride shotgun with Gus as he tackles hiring his first crew—spoiler: it involves duct tape, a doughnut bribe, and a brutal lesson in interview questions.
Grab a fresh field book—your budgeting traverse starts now.