Most people know Steve Griffin as the creator of Best Bid Electrical Estimating Software, the founder of Best Bid Academy, or the author of Everybody Has a First. What many don't know is that the story behind those accomplishments began long before computers, estimating software, or even calculators became common in the electrical industry.
This is the story of a man who spent more than five decades learning, building, teaching, and proving that success often comes from simply being willing to do something you've never done before. That philosophy eventually became the foundation of his book and his life:
"Everybody Has a First."
Steve's mission is straightforward: help contractors skip the costly mistakes, price work with confidence, and build companies they're proud of. Through Best Bid software, the Best Bid Academy, and his book, he shares the real-world lessons of a career built one bid at a time.
Started as an apprentice on two side-by-side projects — a school and a vocational trade school. Unloaded truckloads of fixtures and tamped a seven-foot trench around a football field. Learned that every successful project is built on work nobody sees.
Steve's father was a carpenter who built entire houses — framing, roofing, plumbing, electrical, HVAC. Steve learned to see projects as complete systems long before he officially entered the trade.
Scored 100 on one licensing exam, then passed both Journeyman and Master's examinations on the same day. Later held Master Electrician and Electrical Contractor licenses.
Hired to help run an electrical division in rural Tennessee. Told to figure out estimators, project managers, overhead, and profitability — because nobody in the company knew how. So he did.
At a bid opening, sat next to an estimator from one of the region's largest contractors. Noticed he wasn't estimating manually — he was using assemblies. Steve had never heard of them. Instead of pretending, he asked. It changed everything.
Best Bid, V2, V4, V6, Hybrid V1–V16, Hybrid Pro, Next Generation, DigiCount, DigiCount Takeoff Pro, AccuraCADD PDF Draw, Easy Bid — all built by someone who had actually sat through bid day.
After being told certain projects couldn't be done, he taught himself anyway — becoming only the seventh person in Tennessee to achieve the Master Taxidermist designation. Many limitations exist only because nobody told you it was possible.
Founded Best Bid Academy, published Everybody Has a First, and now evaluates AI-based estimating tools — helping estimators become more productive without replacing judgment.
Steve entered the electrical industry in 1973. No YouTube. No online classes. No smartphones. You learned by showing up, working hard, and paying attention. Unloading truckloads of fixtures. Tamping a seven-foot trench around a football field. What felt like punishment turned out to be education.
His father was a carpenter who built entire houses from the ground up — framing, roofing, plumbing, electrical, HVAC. Steve helped wherever he could: pulling wire under houses, carrying materials, watching skilled craftsmen solve problems. He learned to see projects as complete systems, not individual tasks.
Steve stepped away from the electrical trade for several years to pursue a career in music. Most people would call it a detour. Steve calls it part of the journey. Every experience teaches something. He returned with a renewed appreciation for the opportunities the trade provided — this time not just working, but studying.
Many electricians learn how to install systems. Far fewer learn why. Steve became fascinated with electrical design, plans, specifications, and the National Electrical Code — plans, specs, code books, installation methods, design concepts. The more he learned, the more opportunity he saw for people willing to keep learning.
When Steve sat for his licensing exams, he wasn't interested in barely passing. He wanted to master the material. After scoring 100 on one examination, he passed both his Journeyman and Master's examinations on the same day. Years of study, discipline, and commitment — not just licenses.
Steve was hired to help take over an electrical division in rural Tennessee. Many people were working hard. Few actually knew their numbers. The owner had heard about estimators, project managers, overhead recovery, and profit calculations — nobody in the company knew how to do them. Steve's assignment: 'Figure it out.' And so he did.
At a bid opening, Steve sat next to an estimator from one of the region's largest electrical contractors. He wasn't doing everything manually — he was using assemblies. Steve had no idea what assemblies were. Instead of pretending he knew, he asked. That moment changed everything.
As computers entered construction, Steve saw another opportunity. Rather than wait, he started building the tools himself: Best Bid, V2, V4, V6, Hybrid V1–V16, Hybrid Pro, Next Generation, DigiCount, DigiCount Takeoff Pro, AccuraCADD PDF Draw, Easy Bid. Not academic exercises — tools built by someone who had actually sat through bid day.
Steve once estimated a project that appeared profitable on paper. Then copper prices increased. By the time the job was built, it started tens of thousands of dollars behind. The estimate was right — the market changed. If you do not manage your costs, your costs will manage you.
Recognition is often more powerful than money. People become what you expect them to become. Great employees should be developed, not replaced. Teams win projects, not individuals. Leaders should accept blame and share credit. Two rules have guided Steve throughout his career: No Ultimatums. No Bullying.
At one point Steve built and operated a successful taxidermy business. After being told certain projects couldn't be done, he taught himself anyway — eventually becoming only the seventh person in Tennessee to achieve the designation of Master Taxidermist. Many limitations exist only because nobody told you it was possible.
Steve's passion for learning led him into the International Association of Electrical Inspectors (IAEI). Through that involvement he gained insight into how electrical codes evolve and how industry standards are developed. Most electricians read the code. Very few see how the discussions happen.
Steve has spent years evaluating AI solutions and how they can improve estimating. Technology is improving rapidly, but accuracy still matters. His philosophy is simple: never buy software based solely on automated counting. Always verify. Always trust your experience. Always trust your numbers. The goal isn't replacing estimators — it's helping them become more productive.
Many of the lessons Steve learned were never taught in schools. Nobody taught how to become an estimator, manage labor, handle bid day, buy material, manage risk, build relationships, or grow from electrician to business owner. Best Bid Academy exists to help contractors avoid decades of unnecessary mistakes.
When people look at Steve's career they see software, books, licenses, businesses. Steve sees a series of firsts. The first job. The first estimate. The first project. The first business. The first software program. The first book. The challenge isn't knowing everything — it's being willing to take the first step. Because everybody has a first. And your next first may be the one that changes everything.
Commercial, industrial, and residential estimating built on decades of field-tested method.
Bid strategy, cost management, and project execution from a contractor who's done it.
Founder & lead architect of Best Bid — the tools contractors use to win real work.
The Best Bid Academy — practical training for estimators at every experience level.
Books, articles, and talks translating a lifetime in the trade into clear lessons.
Advising owners on pricing, people, and building a company worth running.
Every expert was once a beginner.
Low isn't always right. Sometimes low is simply wrong.
The gold is having the low bid and still making money.
Many opportunities are won long before bid day.
You may be wrong. But doing nothing guarantees failure.
People deserve respect.
The day you stop learning is the day you stop growing.
The trench you tamp twice today is the foundation someone stands on tomorrow.
Steve doesn't sell theory. Every recommendation, every feature in Best Bid, every chapter of his book comes from a project he actually ran, a mistake he actually made, or a lesson he actually paid for. That's what makes the advice worth taking.
"The success or failure of most projects is determined before the first electrician arrives onsite. It starts with the estimate. A bad installation can sometimes be corrected. A bad estimate rarely can."
"The smartest people in the room are often the ones willing to admit they don't know something."
"If you do not manage your costs, your costs will manage you."
Lessons from a lifetime in electrical estimating, contracting, and business. Steve's first book distills over 50 years of hard-won experience into practical wisdom for contractors at every stage — from the estimator on their first bid to the owner running a hundred-person shop.
I have often been asked how I became an electrical estimator.
The funny thing is, I never planned to become one.
Actually, I never planned to do most of the things I've done in my life.
As a young man, I wasn't dreaming about electrical contracting. I wasn't studying business. I certainly wasn't planning to create estimating software or write books.
I wanted to be a rock star.
“I wanted to be a rock star.
”
School wasn't exactly my favorite place. I graduated, but just barely. If someone had told me back then that one day I would estimate millions of dollars' worth of electrical work, help contractors across the country, build software, manage people all over the world, and write a books about the lessons I learned along the way, I would have laughed.
Yet here we are.
Life has a funny way of taking you places you never intended to go.
Looking back now, I can see something I couldn't see at the time. God was opening doors long before I knew they existed. The problem was, I rarely recognized those opportunities when they first appeared. Most of the time, I only understood them years later when I looked back and connected the dots.
My career wasn't built because I had a perfect plan.
It wasn't built because I was the smartest person in the room.
It wasn't built because I always knew what I was doing.
In fact, many times I had no idea what I was doing.
My career was built because every time an opportunity appeared—even one that scared me—I usually said yes.
Sometimes those decisions worked out.
Sometimes they didn't.
Sometimes they cost me money.
Sometimes they made me money.
But every single one of them taught me something.
Over the years I have worked as an electrician, foreman, estimator, project manager, contractor, business owner, and software developer. Every one of those roles started exactly the same way.
I had never done it before.
That is one of the biggest lessons I want you to take from this book.
Too many people spend their lives waiting until they feel ready.
They wait until they know enough.
They wait until they have more experience.
They wait until someone gives them permission.
The problem is that readiness rarely comes first.
Action comes first.
Experience comes second.
Confidence comes later.
Everybody who has ever accomplished anything started at the same place:
The beginning.
The electrical industry has given me opportunities I could never have imagined as a young man standing on his first jobsite in 1973.
It has allowed me to meet incredible people, build lifelong friendships, support my family, travel places I never expected to go, and create something that helps others succeed.
Most importantly, it taught me lessons that apply far beyond electrical work.
The stories in this book are true.
Some are funny.
Some are painful.
Some are embarrassing.
A few still make me shake my head and wonder what I was thinking.
But every one of them taught me something worth sharing.
“You do not have to know everything before you begin. You simply have to begin.
”
If this book has a central message, it is simple:
You do not have to know everything before you begin.
You simply have to begin.
Because every expert was once a beginner.
Every contractor had a first customer.
Every estimator had a first takeoff.
Every electrician wired a first receptacle.
Every successful person started somewhere.
Everybody has a first.
This was mine.
When I look back over more than forty years in the electrical industry, I realize that very few of the opportunities that changed my life were planned. Most of them appeared unexpectedly. The people who succeed are rarely the people who know everything. They are usually the people willing to take the first step before they feel completely ready.
Start before you feel ready.
Never let fear make decisions for you.
Every opportunity deserves consideration.
Experience comes from action.
Everybody has a first.
Have a question about estimating, software, or your business? Steve reads every message himself. Reach out and start a real conversation.