Ft Myers Beach - Good Neighbor

TECH TALK-ForgeOPs - Unifies Construction Workflows

• "Cabo" Jim Schaller • Season 5 • Episode 54

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Tired of juggling seven logins just to answer one jobsite question? We sit down with the founders of ForgeOPs, a construction platform built by a 20-year GC, a veteran developer, and a systems pro who turned hard-earned lessons into a cleaner, faster way to run projects. Together we unpack why scattered tools stall momentum, how last-minute owner changes ripple through schedules, and what it takes to keep the field and office aligned without drowning in emails.

Bids, takeoffs, RFIs, specs, and jobsite coordination all live under one roof in Forge, organized the way projects actually flow. Subs get streamlined invite-to-bid access and faster proposal workflows; GCs gain a real-time view across trades, documentation, and coordination. For small contractors, the payoff is looking bigger without adding headcount: reliable lead generation, fewer clicks, and clear next steps. For larger teams, it’s the control and visibility that cut rework, compress timelines, and keep margins intact.

Adoption often breaks good software, so we dig into how ForgeOPs lowers that barrier with a familiar interface, white‑glove onboarding when needed, and self-serve guides for tech-savvy crews. Pricing flexes with your stage: bundled end-to-end packages or targeted a la carte modules that grow as you do. We also talk seasonality, storm recovery, and labor swings in markets like Southwest Florida, and why a single source of truth turns volatility into manageable operations instead of chaos.

Curious whether consolidation is worth it for your shop? Hear how organization becomes the first visible win, why fewer clicks matter more than you think, and what a clean, job-structured data model can do for ROI. Want to see it in action? Email inquiries@forgeops.com to book a consult or demo, and if you enjoy the show, subscribe, share it with a contractor who needs less chaos, and leave us a quick review to help others find it.

ForgeOps
Naples, Florida
(555) 123-4567
inquiries@forgeops.net
forgeops.net

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Intro/Close:

Welcome to Tech Talk, your go-to guide for making technology work for you. Whether you're running a growing business or just trying to keep things running smoothly at home, we've got IT covered. U.S. IT systems brings the knowledge, experience, and solutions you need to stay connected, protected, and productive. It's Tech Talk Time. Here's your host, Cabo Jim.

"Cabo" Jim:

Welcome, Fort Myers Beach, good neighbors. Today on Tech Talk, we have the founders of ForgeOPs Construction app. We've got Brett, Jacquelyn, and Miles. Welcome, guys.

Jacquelyn:

Thanks, everybody.

"Cabo" Jim:

Pleasure to have you guys on and share a little bit about your new project here. Kind of exciting. So uh without further ado, let's jump right in. So, for those of the people and listeners that have never heard of four jobs, what do you guys do?

Jacquelyn:

Um, I guess I'll start and then anyone else can hop in. Um, so we're a construction platform, and this idea all started. Um, I had been working with a prior company, um, my previous employer, and we were working with some construction groups here in the area um on CRM projects. But the way my mind works is I notice patterns in things, um, and I like to make things more simple. Um, so I noticed this huge pattern where um in construction you use quite a few different softwares. So there's a lot of misplaced data. Um, and then when I went in on my own consulting company, I had met Miles um and we had gotten to know each other. And then through networking, I had met Brett and we had gotten to know each other. Um, and I knew I really wanted set uh specific co-founders to do this with um because it is a very big idea. Um, but after talking with both of them, um they decided to co-found four jobs together. Um Brett's been in the construction industry for 20 plus years, and Miles has been a developer for also 20 plus years. He basically has been coding since he was born. Um, and it's been a really great um collaboration together so far.

"Cabo" Jim:

So far? That's a lot of experience. That's great. So you described it kind of as like a CRM.

Jacquelyn:

Um it's more than just a CRM. Um and Brett, you can hop in here if you want, but what we've done is created a platform that brings all of these different components from project management to um bids, takeoffs, CRM components into one platform. Um, so you don't have to log into seven different platforms.

"Cabo" Jim:

That is great. So I mean, obviously in in construction, you know, teams lose a lot of, I want to say momentum often, you know, from various steps along the process, right? From SMS to follow-ups to scheduling, projects, and things like that. How does this help solve their problems with some of that?

Brett:

There, you know, there's some pretty big disconnects between the fields and the office. Um you know, the having been in construction as long as I have, even to present day, you know, it's collaboration kind of kills the momentum. You know, and there's not effective communication in the field of things going on, things going wrong, whether it's safety or on you know, lifetime changes minute by minute, you know, with different development firms or owners just last minute, you know, they make a change. You know, that the the platform the platform, you know, in to piggyback in a way of what Jackie was saying, you know, it consolidates the different third-party tools. And like part of construction deficiencies is some data's here, some data's there, somewhere's over here, and you have to you have all these different logins. And it just it just creates a cluster of like I have the data, but like it's so disorganized and it's not it's not coming in together in like a fluid, you know, naturally flowing form. Um you know, four jobs, it's taking all those tools and it's amplifying them in user-friendly, user it can be overwhelming to see a lot of different uh things on a screen. Right. And there's really an artistic way and a flu uh efficient way of blending all the data together where you have everything at your fingertips without having to click and click and click and click and click. In contractors, that's not really they don't really like the you know, the the endless clicking to on one aspect. Um what's nice is being able to take, you know, the over two decades that I've been doing this, take real life pains that everyone lives in the general contracting world and the subcontracting world, you know, to have someone that live through those aches and those deficiencies and the late office hours because you're trying to like map together different anomalies in a project. This is going to be the bridge between what's on market today and what's going to make contractor lives so much, so much easier.

"Cabo" Jim:

So as a as a contractor that would be using this software, um kind of walk us through the process. You know, where where am I starting? Where am I entering the process and where where's it going to take me?

Brett:

It really depends. So, you know, the product as a whole, the the company as a whole, there's there's gonna there's a suite of different products, um, you know, from CRMs to project management to accounting to different escrow services to lead generation. You know, lead generation is a huge thing for subcontractors. Um you know, it's gonna it's gonna make the transition between getting you know invitation to bid documents and having to make endless phone calls and getting into voicemails and trying the the old school way of calling up and trying to get on someone's bid list. This is going to streamline that process. When you're streamlining that process, you know, you know, salespeople are getting more leads and you know, staff is kept more busy. And when you're busier, you're working on opportunities, they're gonna have a return on them. So it's just collectively, you know, intertwining all the tools and bridging the gaps, it's gonna be a huge lift off a lot of contractors' shoulders to be able to go into one centralized place with every aspect of their data, even including up into uh job site coordination, you know, pre-kickoffs. Um you know, when projects start, you know, you you have a coordination meeting, you know, different trades, different conflicts, heights, widths, routes, things like that. It it is in totality, it is a true end-to-end construction management software.

"Cabo" Jim:

So so speaking about that, you know, for builders and trades, is there a difference between maybe a contractor version and a subcat contractor version?

Brett:

There is. Um the general contractors are gonna have a broad overview of their entire team, their subcontractor team. So depending on your job complexities, what's included in your jobs, you know, you could have a job that's just roofing, or you could have roofing, plumbing, um you know, drywall, framing, HVAC, electricians, you know. So for a GC, you know, we're also bringing a lot of extra data points that are otherwise processed through email. Um we're driving this through the platform and again reducing the amount of different areas that you have to go to, reducing the amount of time you have to go spend searching for data because inefficient processes also cost money. It takes more time to be productive, which is still a loss.

"Cabo" Jim:

Um I like here in Southwest Florida. Oh, sorry, go ahead, Mouse. That's okay.

Miles:

So I like when I build things, I focus on optimization of the whole team and making things easier as well as cheaper. So overall, we're trying to set simplify.

"Cabo" Jim:

And that's that's that's you know the great way. You know, you don't want to go to 20 different platforms to get uh one piece of information here, one piece of information over there, and then you have to put that all together. What let the software do that for you? So so here in Southwest Florida, I mean, construction can be kind of you know ebbing and flowing, kind of like the tide, tide, right? Um, you've got storm recovery, you've got seasonality, uh, you got labor windows down here as well, too. Does does forge ops help teams stay organized when with those ebbing flows?

Brett:

Yes, yeah, it's sorting you know, job site changes happen on the fly. Yep. Owners don't build building owners don't know how much work that goes actually goes into making an even a little change, how how many impacts and ramifications that has on time, on effort, and you know, pulling everything together within schedule. But yeah, it's every bit, every interchanging piece on a job site will be honed in in simplified, making it easier for people that are whether you're new on a computer, moderate on a computer, or you're seasoned and can you know it's it's gonna make the user experience a hundred times better.

"Cabo" Jim:

Yep. So so I mean, so for example, take like a small contractor, you know, and he wants to look bigger, you know, um, without hiring additional staffing, is this is something that can help him, you know, solve some of those problems, take care of some of those issues with it, hiring additional people, correct? Yes.

Brett:

So here it's it's going to be it's also gonna help again with lead generation, you know, there's only so much time on the day. So now you're cutting out calling and getting on bid lists. You know, you have job data, job documents readily at your fingertips that you can just click on, put quotes together for, and send your proposals. Um go ahead.

Miles:

Sorry, I thought you said something like that.

Brett:

Um you know, so from the small guy looking, I mean that that's like kind of a common problem across the industry is we need we need things to bid, we need jobs to bid. This you know, instead of again going to another tool, GCs, you know, there's gonna be all the invitation to the bid documents are also gonna be confined in the platforms. So again, one account, you know, you get the lead generation, you get sick, you know, sales CRM, you get takeoff ability, you get job site coordination. It's just it's as someone who's been in for over 20 years. I mean, it it's really the contractor's dream. Exactly.

Jacquelyn:

What we wanted to do was keep it simple enough, someone getting started, whether they're you know a subcontractor, whatever area that they are in, drywalls, stucco, they can afford it to be able to, you know, bid on these projects, get themselves set up in a successful way and scale, but also to where it's capable enough for larger or enterprise companies to be able to use it too.

"Cabo" Jim:

And I know you're based here in Southwest Florida, but obviously this is software, right? So it doesn't just stay in Southwest Florida, you can use this anywhere, correct?

Jacquelyn:

Exactly.

"Cabo" Jim:

Very good, very good. So if somebody were to come on board, you know, um, how are you onboarding those crews that you know yeah, they've got a job to do, you know, they're busy on their own, they're hiring staff, they're bringing people in. Um, you know, and sometimes they're not the most thrilled about learning new software. How do you handle those situations?

Brett:

So what's nice about the platform that's being built here is it's not it's not rein it's not reinventing the wheel, it's taking what the industry has been used to for you know 10 years, 12 years, and you know, it's keeping it kind of similar. You know, interfaces, yes, it's simple, it's being simplified and consolidated in complexity, but it's still very similar to what they've kind of been used to and easily adoptable because of that fact.

"Cabo" Jim:

And and what do you say? I mean, you know, some owners might be a little uh skittish or worried about moving everything into one system, you know, trying to gather all that. Is that that's something you help walk them along that process? Is okay, let me help you gather this information, get it into one system rather than the 20 different systems you probably have it in right now.

Brett:

Yeah, so we'll and I I guess Jack, you can probably really touch on this with like the onboarding and like the white glove service.

Jacquelyn:

Yeah, so whenever we're onboarding, it is like it is a handheld onboarding. So we walk you through, we make sure we know which software you're using, whether it's Bluebeam, Pro Core, Textora, whatever it is. We'll help you export that information into the platform, make sure that it's set up correctly, and then going from there, depending on how tech savvy you are, um, we can either do recorded demos, which will be readily available for anyone who would want them, but also too, if you do need that step by step with someone to help you make sure that it is set up, we do offer that as well. So there's two different avenues. Like if you're familiar with tech and you like tech and you know how it works and you feel confident enough to set it up yourself, you will still have the customer success side where if you do come across issues, like obviously there's help desk, and um you'll have an account manager who you'll be able to reach out to. But if you understand it, then we have, and Miles can talk a little bit about this, but we do have it set up where it is step by step and simple enough where you should be able to do it yourself.

"Cabo" Jim:

Very nice. Very nice. So how is you know, how is this structured as far as maybe pricing is concerned? Is there somebody that's a better fit for this? Or you mentioned you work with smaller uh contractors and larger contractors. Is it kind of a one size fits all, or is it really customized to the size of the business?

Jacquelyn:

That's why we have um different product offerings. So we will have bundled packages where it includes all of these components together, but then you'll still also too, if you are just starting out and maybe all those extra things don't make sense, then you would be able to essentially do like an a la carte product offering rather than having to sign up for everything.

"Cabo" Jim:

Very nice, very nice. So is there is there one, I want to say, kind of metric that you kind of focus on that you know, most contractors would probably see the I'm gonna say most ROI, but most, you know, help them improve the quickest? As far as organization is concerned, probably.

Brett:

Well, you broke out for a sec. Can you say that again?

"Cabo" Jim:

Oh, nope, I'm sorry. Is there is there something that helps them uh you know, as far as keeping organized, that you know, a contractor would see maybe you know immediate relief or help by using the software?

Brett:

Yeah, I mean everything everything is all the all the different data is very structured and very organized by job, by class code, by um you know, different file types. It's just it's it's very it's laid out in a very easy, easy digestible format where you you can see you know the different different activity going on throughout the job, and just everything is just very sequentially placed in in the natural form of how a construction project flows. With your drawings and your specs and your addendums and your RFIs, it just it it's everything is just clean and concise. Everything is very, you know, folder, folder specific, folder organized. It's laid out in a in a beautiful way that's easily understandable and recognizable no matter what your experience level is, you know, using a computer.

"Cabo" Jim:

Absolutely. So so if there were a contractor out there today that's you know interested in learning more about this uh software and wants to explore it, what's the simplest next step for them? Is there a demo, free trial, consultation?

Jacquelyn:

So, what the next step would be, um right now we are taking um consultations essentially to make sure it is a good fit. Because as much as we say it is, you know, end all be all, it might not be a good fit for everybody. Um, especially, you know, we want to make sure you're conscious of your own cash flow, right? We don't want you to get into something where it doesn't make sense, but if they you are interested, um, you can email info at fourjobs.net. We're also doing a networking event um this Thursday, the 12th at Millennial from 5:30 to 7.30. We will have a demo aspect there if you want to see it. Um, and then moving forward, um, we will be taking um clients on a certain aspect for now, um, just to make sure we're releasing certain features step by step um and starting smaller. Um, but obviously if you have questions or want to learn more, then feel free to reach out to us. We um also have our social media you can follow, ask questions. Um we have a LinkedIn page, Facebook, and Instagram.

"Cabo" Jim:

Very nice, very nice. You sounds like you guys have found a nice little niche. I mean, you know, Florida in general is it's growing. There's a lot of construction, a lot of new things going on down here. So um I think you guys are on to something great that's really gonna help the market and the contractors out there. Appreciate you guys. Thank you for what you're doing. Thank you for being such good neighbors, and uh, we'll see you on the community here soon, okay?

Intro/Close:

Sounds good. Thanks, Jen.

"Cabo" Jim:

Yep.

Intro/Close:

That's it for this episode of Tech Talk, where we've got IT covered so you can keep life and business running smoothly. Remember, whether it's cybersecurity, cloud solutions, or just keeping your tech trouble free, USIT Systems is here to help. Visit us online at usit systems.com or give us a call at 407-753-499.