Where Contractors Get Stuck (and How Top Teams Push Ahead)

Growth should feel like progress — not pressure.

But for most commercial contractors, the story looks different. You’ve outgrown the scrappy, early-stage version of your business, yet scaling still feels like you’re adding weight without adding support. More demand. More expectations. Same systems that were never built for this pace.

BuildOps and Kickstand’s Pivot Point report, based on responses from 606 commercial contractors, makes the picture clear: the work is there, but teams aren’t equally equipped to keep up.

Some are pushing ahead. Others are stuck in the same bottlenecks year after year.

Our new guide breaks down the five biggest ones — and what top contractors are doing about them. Here’s a preview.

1. The Labor Gap Isn’t Just in the Field

The numbers speak for themselves:

76% say skilled labor is still in short supply
69% report burnout across teams
47% have more than one in five roles unfilled

And it’s not just techs feeling the strain. Back-office teams are stretched to their limits.

“The office teams are being stretched thin. One customer told me she taps out at 11 hours a day. That’s not sustainable.” — Chappell Brock, BuildOps CSM

The takeaway is simple: your people aren’t the issue — your systems are.

When everything depends on manual updates, disconnected tools, or tribal knowledge, even the strongest teams hit a wall.

2. Most Companies Are Thinking About AI Wrong

Contractors aren’t avoiding AI — they’re already using it.

78% say AI can improve the way they run jobs
80% say it’ll be essential within three years

At Forge, Harvard Business School professor Chris Stanton summed it up: “This isn’t about replacing people… it’s about enhancing productivity.”

The problem isn’t fear — it’s training.

31% of contractors who aren’t using AI say the main thing stopping them is simply not knowing where to start.

The opportunity ahead isn’t automation for automation’s sake — it’s giving teams more time, fewer steps, and better information so they can focus on the work that matters.

Now What?

If these first two bottlenecks sound familiar, you’re not alone — nearly every contractor in the Pivot Point report is fighting the same pressures. But the teams that break through don’t wait for things to calm down; they fix what’s slowing them now.