ZeusCon: Building Success with Smart Software Decisions

Ryan LeMoine, President of ZeusCon, didn’t just stumble into the construction industry. His journey began in high school with a “shop class on steroids,” where he learned about house interiors, plumbing, electrical work, and architectural design. This early exposure ignited a passion that would shape his future career.

After working for several established construction companies, Ryan faced a pivotal moment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Quarantined for 14 days, he had time to reflect on the industry’s challenges, particularly in the bidding process. He observed subcontractors making costly mistakes, sometimes losing $20,000 a day due to inefficiencies.

“If these guys can stay in business, and I can see that happening, and I know I can stop that, why can’t I do it?” Ryan pondered.

As Ryan formulated his business plan for ZeusCon, he knew he needed a powerful ally to overcome the industry’s challenges. That’s when he discovered HCSS software, particularly HeavyBid.

The Plan: Implement HeavyBid from Day One

Ryan boldly decided that ZeusCon would implement HeavyBid from the beginning. This choice set the foundation for their bidding process and overall business strategy.

“We only did one bid with Excel and I saw problems with it immediately with my calculations,” Ryan recalls. “I had a consultant show me HeavyBid, and he trained me before I even got implemented with you guys.”

As Ryan has gotten more familiar with the system, he has seen his ability to estimate accelerate. ZeusCon bids largely municipality jobs, water plants, and wastewater plants where specialty equipment, carried by limited suppliers, creates a highly competitive space. Sometimes, they don’t get a quote until hours before a bid is due, and it is often in person on paper. HeavyBid allows ZeusCon’s estimators to work quickly and update their bids without error.

“We have to act very fast and sometimes the quote comes in with unexpected line items that you don’t have set up to enter into the bid,” says Ryan. “If you’re not confident in your Excel sheet, you don’t know if you’re actually capturing the cost. When you roll out your final number in HeavyBid, you can. With HeavyBid, I’ve never had a problem with it where I’ve left something out.”

Success: Precision Bidding and Rapid Growth

The results were immediate and impressive. With HeavyBid, Ryan reduced bid preparation time to just 6-8 hours for million-dollar projects. ZeusCon’s win rate soared to 20-30%, with over half their bids placing in the top three.

“Now I’ve got it down to six to eight hours per bid, and those are million-dollar jobs,” Ryan says proudly. “We’re very confident in our numbers, and that’s a nice spot to be as a startup for sure.”

In its first year of operation, ZeusCon achieved $4.7 million in sales – a feat Ryan attributes directly to HeavyBid. “If I didn’t have HeavyBid, I don’t think we’d have $4.7 million in sales in our first year.”

From Hands-On to Strategic Leadership

With HeavyBid streamlining the bidding process, Ryan found himself transformed from a hands-on manager to a strategic leader. He now spends only about 15 hours a week on actual construction tasks, with the rest devoted to higher-level business operations.

“It gives me a lot more time to focus on the fires,” Ryan explains. “I actually probably spend about 15 hours a week on actual construction stuff. The other 25 hours is insurance people, issues, HR stuff – you know, anything but construction, really.”

Expanded: Integrated Software Solutions

Encouraged by their success with HeavyBid, ZeusCon expanded their use of HCSS software to include HeavyJob for project management and HCSS Safety for maintaining a strong safety culture.

“We also use HCSS for safety, which is a tremendous help because there’s way less paperwork in the field,” Ryan notes. “It pairs well with the time cards. As we’re filling out our time cards in the morning when we showed up, we’re doing our JHA (Job Hazard Analysis).”

This integrated approach has allowed ZeusCon to maintain high safety standards while improving efficiency in all aspects of its operations.

Embracing Technology in Construction

Looking ahead, Ryan sees a bright future for construction companies that embrace technology. “The future of construction is going towards heavily software-intensive,” he predicts. “I think on some of these bigger jobs, we’re gonna start seeing telecommunications operating heavy equipment at night.”

By making the decision to invest in software from day one, ZeusCon positioned itself at the forefront of this technological revolution in construction. Their story serves as an inspiration and a roadmap for other startups in the industry.

As Ryan concludes, “The proudest thing I have is probably our statistics on bid day and our win rate and how much we are on the podium. And if it wasn’t for HeavyBid, I wouldn’t be able to do that.”

ZeusCon’s journey from a startup born during a pandemic to a thriving construction company showcases the transformative power of the right software solution implemented at the right time. It’s sound evidence that in the modern construction industry, success is built not just with bricks and mortar but with smart, strategic decisions and the right technological tools.