Overview

Charlie co-owns a glass and glazing subcontracting business that delivers projects in Massachusetts while he manages his work from Southern California. As the business grew, manually reviewing drawings and preparing takeoffs consumed long nights and made it difficult to pursue larger, more complex projects.

With GuthrieAI’s Virtual Bid Assistant, Charlie receives takeoffs and organises project overviews easily, allowing him to focus on labour estimates, pricing and final proposals. He credits the support with helping the business secure larger projects, including recent jobs worth several hundred thousand dollars.

Too much time finding information, too little time working the bid

Despite extensive experience in the glass industry, Charlie spent nights searching architectural drawings, cross-referencing plans, elevations and wall sections, and organising the information needed for each proposal.

The work was time-consuming and carried significant financial risk if important details were overlooked. It also made preparing for scope discussions harder: answering a question could mean searching drawings again or promising to follow up.

Siding packages added another challenge. While glass was Charlie’s core expertise, assessing components such as flashing, furring and insulation required additional research. He needed a more reliable way to prepare bids and understand the full scope as the business grew.

Prepared takeoffs, clearer scope and more time for expert judgement

Charlie was introduced to GuthrieAI through a trusted industry contact. Initially, he questioned whether the technology would be accurate and whether delegating takeoff work would leave him less familiar with the job.

Using the service changed his perspective. GuthrieAI’s team prepares his takeoffs and project overviews, bringing the relevant information together for review. Charlie remains responsible for finalising proposals and estimating labour. He reviews elevations, details and equipment access, but now has the information ready in front of him instead of spending hours finding and labelling it.

The organised information also helps him assess siding components and prepare pricing with greater confidence. He describes a better understanding of each project because he has a more complete set of information to review.

Doubling Revenue without the all-nighters

• Working towards twice the previous revenue: Charlie reported a $3 million annual revenue goal, almost double his revenue since before GuthrieAI.
• Larger project wins: The business secured recent jobs worth several hundred thousand dollars, covering showers, storefront and siding work.
• More confidence in siding bids: Detailed component information helped Charlie assess quantities and pricing in an area outside his deepest expertise.
• Stronger scope discussions: Clear scope breakdowns helped him enter meetings prepared to answer questions without repeatedly searching drawings.
• Better time management: Prepared takeoffs and organised reports reduced the burden of manual searching and gave him more control over what he focused on.

For Charlie, GuthrieAI has helped create a bidding process he can trust as the business grows - securing larger opportunities while reducing the time spent gathering information.