The Bid Math Nobody Talks About
Let's do some math that nobody in the trades likes to talk about.
The numbers
Say you bid on 10 projects a month to win 2-3. That's a typical win rate for a good sub in a competitive market.
Each bid takes you 3-4 hours. Not just the pricing — the whole package. Reading the specs, doing the takeoff, writing the cover letter, formatting the submission, pulling your insurance certs, and sending it in the format the GC wants.
10 bids × 4 hours = 40 hours per month.
That's a full work week. Unpaid. Every month.
And you're doing it at 10pm after a full day on the tools, or on Sunday afternoon when you'd rather be anywhere else.
Where the time actually goes
Here's how most subs spend those 4 hours per bid:
- Reading the spec book: 45 min — finding the sections that apply to your trade, filtering out everything that doesn't
- Reviewing drawings: 30 min — identifying which sheets are yours, counting items, noting details
- Doing the takeoff: 60 min — quantities, materials, labor hours, equipment
- Writing the proposal: 30 min — cover letter, scope narrative, exclusions
- Formatting and assembly: 30 min — making it look professional, pulling certs, converting to PDF
- Review and submit: 15 min — final check, send to GC
The first two steps — reading the specs and reviewing the drawings — are where Archer lives. That's the grunt work that a back-office team handles so you don't have to.
What changes when the first 80% takes 14 minutes instead of 3 hours
You don't just save time. You change the math.
If each bid takes 45 minutes instead of 4 hours, those 10 bids cost you 7.5 hours a month instead of 40. You just got 32 hours back.
You can use those hours to bid on more projects (higher volume = more wins at the same win rate), or you can use them to be on the jobsite, or you can use them to have your evenings back.
That's not a feature. That's a different life.