MIKENAS.AITHE TIME STUDY

Run more jobs. Hire nobody.

The same work, timed on Mikenas against how long it took us on Buildertrend. Then cut in half, so nobody has to trust us.

SUBJECT
Office hours on a cost-plus job
MEASURED ON
McSwain Builders
METHOD
Stopwatch, then halved
ISSUED
September 2026
§ 1   WHAT IT ADDS UP TO
33.4h
A MONTH, COUNTING HALF
$5,014
A MONTH AT $150/HR
$60,165
A YEAR

Table 1 — What a shop the size of McSwain stops spending on office work, after the half-count rule in § 3. Figures move when you edit the study below.

§ 2   THE SHOP THESE NUMBERS CAME FROM

McSwain Builders — custom homes in the Roaring Fork Valley, cost-plus, $4M and up. Not a survey. Not a lab. The jobs this software was built on.

6
jobs running
8
people running them
Cost-plus
how they bill
$150/hr
what a PM hour bills at
Buildertrend + Excel
what they ran before
§ 3   WE ONLY COUNT HALF

An hour of PM time is priced here at $150/hr — what McSwain bills it at on cost-plus, because on cost-plus a PM hour is billable work, not just payroll. But save your PM two hours and you don’t bill two more. Some of it goes to the next job. Some goes to doing the work right. Some of it just goes. So every number on this page is already cut in half before you see it. The full timings are 66.9h and $10,028 a month; what we claim is half that. If you think we’re being soft on ourselves, double it back in your head — the arithmetic is all here.

I want these hours back
Book 20 minutes with the founder — your jobs, your numbers, run live.
Backed by the 60-Day First Draw Guarantee.
mikenas.ai/studyPAGE 1 OF 3
MIKENAS.AI  ·  THE TIME STUDYTS-2026.09
YOUR PREVIOUS TOOL:
§ 4  TASK BY TASK — PROJECT MANAGERS

Where your project managers get time back

35.2h / mo

A signable budget in half an hour, not three days

15.5h / mo
BUILDERTREND
16h
MIKENAS
30m
McSwain operating historyTwo working days of takeoff, sub calls, and template surgery.

Field logs from a phone, not a Friday retype

6.7h / mo
BUILDERTREND
12m
MIKENAS
2m
McSwain operating historyThe log itself plus chasing subs’ texts and photos into it.

Client updates that write themselves

4.7h / mo
BUILDERTREND
40m
MIKENAS
5m
McSwain operating historyWritten from scratch per client — or skipped in a busy week, which costs more later.

Your month, accounted for — in ten minutes

3.8h / mo
BUILDERTREND
4h
MIKENAS
10m
McSwain operating historyReconstructed from memory and calendars at month-end — an afternoon, when it happened at all.

Field questions answered from the record

2.3h / mo
BUILDERTREND
20m
MIKENAS
3m
McSwain operating historyDig through Buildertrend, email, and the drive, then write the reply yourself.

A real schedule straight from the scope

2.3h / mo
BUILDERTREND
2.5h
MIKENAS
15m
McSwain operating historyTemplate dragged into shape task by task.
§ 5  TASK BY TASK — OFFICE & ADMIN

Where your office & admin get time back

31.7h / mo

Job costs that never need reconciling

12h / mo
BUILDERTREND
2h
MIKENAS
0m
McSwain operating historyA monthly sitting to make the client spreadsheet agree with Buildertrend.

Bills land coded, not typed

7h / mo
BUILDERTREND
8m
MIKENAS
1m
McSwain operating historyManual entry against the PO or cost code, then attach the PDF.

Draws go out the same morning

5.3h / mo
BUILDERTREND
3h
MIKENAS
20m
McSwain operating historyOwner invoice built by hand, backup gathered file-by-file, cover sheet in Excel.

Sub paperwork files itself

3.8h / mo
BUILDERTREND
25m
MIKENAS
2m
McSwain operating historyHunt the email, download, rename, upload to the job, update the tracker.

Any document in seconds

3.5h / mo
BUILDERTREND
8m
MIKENAS
1m
McSwain operating historySearch Buildertrend, then email, then the shared drive.
mikenas.ai/studyPAGE 2 OF 3
MIKENAS.AI  ·  THE TIME STUDYTS-2026.09
§ 6   METHOD

Where the numbers come from

“Measured” means we sat with a stopwatch on real McSwain jobs and timed it. “Operating history” means that’s how long the same job took us on Buildertrendand spreadsheets, 2024 to 2026 — our own years, not somebody’s survey. “Estimate” means we have not run a company on that tool, so we guessed low on purpose. Every number here is yours to change; the totals move when you do. We don’t quote studies, because we didn’t run any.

I want these hours back
Book 20 minutes with the founder — your jobs, your numbers, run live.
Backed by the 60-Day First Draw Guarantee.
§ 7   FAIR QUESTIONS

Fair questions

Are these numbers real?
Ours are. Every figure is labeled: “measured” means we timed it on real McSwain Builders jobs; “operating history” means that’s what it took us for years on Buildertrend and spreadsheets; “estimate” means we haven’t run a company on that tool — so overwrite it.
What if my numbers are different?
Change them. Every input on this page is editable and the totals recompute. If the honest math doesn’t work for your operation, you’ll know in two minutes and we part friends.
Is this a sales page?
Yes. The study is still true. Once you’re on the platform, this same engine tracks the hours you actually get back — measured from completed work, not projections — and shows it to you monthly.
What happens on the call?
Twenty minutes with the founder — a builder, not a rep. We run this study on your jobs and your numbers, live. If the hours aren’t there, he’ll tell you.
DOWNLOAD THE PDFDOWNLOAD THE SPREADSHEET MODEL
mikenas.ai/studyPAGE 3 OF 3