He almost lost the company in 2020. Rebuilding it taught him to watch the numbers.
Ray's basement company went from forty jobs in the pipeline to seven in one spring. He came back, and he promised himself he would always know where the money was.
- Who
- Ray Brennan, Owner
- Company
- Brennan Basements
- Trade
- Basement finishing
- Where
- Naperville, IL
- Size
- $8.4M a year
- Team
- 7 crews, 2 designers
- Pipeline
- visible every Monday, by stage
- Progress payments
- billed at each milestone
- Change orders
- priced and signed before the work
The spring it almost ended
Brennan Basements was doing well in early 2020. Then the pipeline collapsed in a month, a large customer paid late, and Ray spent the summer deciding whether to close.
His wife, Colleen, a former bank analyst, came in to help with the books. She found that nobody could say how many jobs were really in the pipeline or how much money was actually owed.
Why they switched
Ray and Colleen wanted to see the whole business on one screen: leads by stage, money owed, and which jobs were running over.
Now every lead moves through the pipeline, designers present finished basement packages with Good, Better, Best options, and progress payments are billed at each milestone. Change orders are signed before a wall moves.
“In 2020 I couldn't tell you how many jobs I really had. I'll never not know again.”
What changed at work
Monday meetings start with the pipeline and what is owed. Ray knows three weeks ahead if a slow month is coming.
The company is bigger than it was before 2020. Colleen is a partner now.
What changed at home
Ray does not sleep badly anymore. He says that is the whole story.
They finished their own basement last year. The grandkids use it more than they do.
“My wife found the problem in two weeks. Then we built the business around the fix.”
What Ray runs on Revcore
What it replaced
- A pipeline nobody trusted
- Progress payments collected late
- Change orders on handshakes
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Composite story based on early-access usage. Names, companies, and photos are illustrative, not individual customers; outcomes vary.
