(FORTUNE Small Business) – Last year Russ Sinacori complained that his Charlotte remodeling and homebuilding business, National Preferred Contractors, was driving him crazy. Money was tight. Russ worried constantly about finding work for all the people on his payroll. And his wife, Gina, was spending way too much time on bookkeeping and other office chores.

FSB brought in three consultants to help streamline the Sinacoris' business and simplify their lives. Acting on their advice, Russ shut down his money-losing electrical contracting company. He also cut the payroll of his masonry business from 50 to 20. Tired of managing all the masonry work via cellphone, he broke the operation into two teams and hired outside managers to run each one. And instead of pursuing a few long, complicated jobs, the masons now tackle only short rush jobs. "We downsized the crews so we could hit jobs fast," says Russ. "People like us because we can do a job quickly. We've even been able to raise prices."

Tackling bigger remodeling jobs has reduced the stress and complexity of their lives too. "We decided we wouldn't do any remodeling work under $25,000," says Russ. "You go into a house where someone is living, and you start pulling things apart, and they freak out. It hardly mattered how big a job it was. The stress and the phone calls were about the same. So why not get more money for the same amount of stress?"

The Sinacoris have mainly focused on building more single-family homes. Sinacori sold one house that he built last year. He now has four more houses under construction. Homebuilding has better margins than remodeling work, he explains. And the stress is lower because he subcontracts much of the work and rarely has to deal with the person buying the house.

It's not as if the Sinacoris lounge around a lot, though. Gina says her husband has to be reminded to slow down. "He'll go out and find some tiny remodeling job, and I tell him, 'We agreed not to do that anymore.'" Russ shrugs. "I'm an entrepreneur," he says gruffly. "When it's not busy, I go crazy." With fewer balls in the air, Russ is looking for more land in the Charlotte area so he can build more houses. He also spends more time wooing potential homebuyers. Now that Russ isn't doing small remodeling jobs, "he discovered he likes working with customers," says his wife. "And people like being with him." Best of all, revenues and earnings are on track to double this year. "I like it when the big checks come in," says Gina. --BRIAN O'REILLY