Alder Business Advisors
Lower the bills your business pays every month.
For construction and trade businesses: lower what you pay for card processing, waste and portable toilets, wireless and telecom, fuel cards and fleet tracking, and more.
I’m David Jennings, a civil engineer and small-business advisor who owned and ran a design-build firm. I connect contractors with North America’s largest independent cost-reduction firm, which reviews vendor bills for overcharges, billing errors and better terms.
- No cost to see what they find
- Often no need to switch vendors
- No savings, no fee
Routine bills, reviewed by specialists
The bills most contractors pay every month, and where savings are most often found.
- General contractors
- Home builders & remodelers
- Electrical
- Plumbing
- HVAC
- Mechanical
- Roofing
- Metal fabrication
- Specialty subcontractors
- Site work & civil
- Landscaping
- Solar installers
Card processing
Effective rates, “non-qualified” surcharges and quiet rate increases on card and online payments.
Waste, roll-offs & portable toilets
Overweight fees billed against the wrong tonnage allowance, surcharges, pickup schedules, and portable toilets still billed on finished sites.
Wireless & telecom
Plan pricing, job-site trailer internet, and lines or devices still billed for people who have left.
Fuel cards & fleet tracking
Fuel-card rebates and controls, and tracking devices still billing on sold equipment.
Other categories include uniforms and PPE rental, parts shipping and freight, natural gas and electricity, compressed gases, and more.
Four steps. You decide at the end.
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A 15-minute call with me
We look at which services you use and whether a review is worth doing. No commitment.
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A no-cost agreement
You sign a no-cost service agreement with the specialist firm and a letter that lets them access bills from your vendors on your behalf. Gathering current invoices usually takes accounts payable under 30 minutes.
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A savings report
They benchmark your pricing, check for billing errors and unused services, and show what could change. The analysis usually takes 4–6 weeks.
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You decide
Nothing changes without your approval. If you go ahead with a recommendation, the fee is 50% of the savings for 36 months; after that, the savings are all yours. No savings, no fee.
What the specialists have reported for contractors
Saved over $80,000 a year. Kept its carrier.
A large, family-owned construction company with nearly 500 wireless devices wasn’t looking to change providers. The firm negotiated better rates and consolidated plans with the same carrier, and the CFO valued the cushion it created in the budget.
Uniform rental: charges for departed employees removed and the contract’s price cap enforced.
GPS fleet-tracking bill cut 40% by removing unused features and devices still billing on sold equipment.
Card processing: effective rate reduced from 3.4% to 2.3%.
Fuel cards for 60 pickups and service trucks: savings from volume rebates and tighter controls.
Savings across four categories: card processing, mobile phones, fleet tracking and waste removal.
Savings on two bills: waste hauling (about $56,000) and telecom (about $27,000).
Across the categories it reviews, the firm reports average client savings of 28%. The results above are individual clients’ gross annual savings before fees, not typical results or a prediction for your business.
Why a civil engineer is talking to you about vendor bills
I’m a licensed professional civil engineer in Washington. I owned and ran a renewable energy design-build firm for five years, and my Fortune 500 consulting career spans more than 20 years, before and after running my own company. For more than 10 years I’ve advised small businesses, founders and business leaders.
I know how thin margins can be on a job, and how easily overhead creeps up between projects.
I founded Alder Business Advisors in Seattle to help owners build stronger, more valuable businesses, starting with financial health. A review of recurring vendor costs is one of the fastest, lowest-risk places to start.
My role is the first conversation: understanding your business, seeing whether a review makes sense, and introducing you to the right specialist. They do the analysis and the vendor negotiation.
For owners
and presidents
- More profit and cash flow
- Lower recurring bills improve your margins every month, not just on one job.
- Very little of your time
- A short call and a few recent bills. The specialists do the analysis and the vendor negotiation.
- You stay in control
- Nothing changes without your approval, and often you keep the vendors you trust.
- No risk to look
- No cost to see what they find. No savings, no fee.
For CFOs
and controllers
- Alongside your team, not instead of it
- Category-level pricing benchmarks and negotiating experience across many vendor types.
- Clear numbers
- The examples above are gross annual savings before the savings-share fee.
- Control
- Your organization approves every change before it’s made.
- Ongoing checks
- During the agreement term, invoices keep getting audited, which catches things like waste overage fees and processor rate increases.
Questions owners ask
Do I have to switch vendors?
Not necessarily. One family-owned construction company kept its wireless carrier and still saved over $80,000 a year through better rates and plans. You approve any change.
Who is the cost-reduction firm?
North America’s largest independent cost-reduction firm. I’ll introduce you to one of the firm’s specialists once we’ve confirmed there’s a fit.
What does it cost?
Nothing for the review or the savings report. If you implement a recommendation, the fee is 50% of the savings for 36 months; after that, you keep 100%. Refunds recovered for billing errors are split the same way. If nothing is found, nothing is owed.
How much of my team’s time does it take?
Under 2 hours in total: a short call, signing the agreement, about 30 minutes for accounts payable to gather invoices, and a 30–60 minute meeting to go through the findings. The specialists do the analysis and the negotiation.
How are my bills and information handled?
Your invoices and records are held in strict confidence and used only for the review. A signed letter of authorization lets the specialists request records directly from your vendors.
How long does it take?
The analysis averages 4–6 weeks from receiving your bills to the savings report.
Is my company big enough?
Most are. When savings are found, the firm reports average savings of 28% across all categories, though results vary by category. Some reviews confirm your rates are already competitive, and if there are no savings, there’s no fee. The 15-minute call is an easy way to find out.
What if nothing is found?
Then there’s no fee, and you’ll know your current rates are competitive.
Is there a long-term commitment?
A service agreement typically runs 36 months, and during that time the firm handles the categories you choose. Nothing is implemented without your approval, and there’s no fee unless there are savings.
Will you add me to a mailing list?
No. I’ll only contact you about your request unless you ask otherwise.
Payroll tax (FICA) savings
Average reported savings: about $573 per employee per year. Every employer pays 7.65% FICA on top of wages. A compliant pre-tax wellness and benefits program can lower the wages it applies to, while giving employees a little more take-home pay and added wellness benefits, at no net cost to the company.
Usually a fit for businesses with at least 5 full-time W-2 employees and a health plan, or interest in one; eligibility rules apply. Ask me about it on our call.
Talk with David
Call or text, book a 15-minute call, or reply to my email. Or send the form and I’ll call you back.