Let’s get real. 

As your consultancy grows, the hats you wear start to weigh you down. 

One of the heaviest? HR. 

For most owners, it is the last hat to come off. 

Why? 

Because it feels “safer” to keep it.  

But it’s a trap. 

This week, I break down a question that’s on every scaling owner’s mind: “When should I bring on an internal HR person?” 

Here’s what I see over and over: 

• You start out as the everything-person. 

• As you grow, the “everything” role becomes impossible. 

• HR issues start eating into your best hours-hours you should be spending on strategy, clients, and growth. 

I recently worked with a $5M consultancy where one director was stuck in HR mode.  

The result?  

Less time for big-picture moves. More time fighting fires. 

The lesson. Buy back your time. 

Invest in someone who can own HR-so you can own the future of your business. 

Ask yourself: 

- What’s the real cost of holding onto HR? 

- What could you achieve if you foc...

Ever wonder what it actually takes to grow your consultancy from “just getting by” to breaking through $5 million? 

This week, I sat down with Mandy, Alex, and David from Austral Archaeology who’ve done exactly that. 

What made the biggest difference? 

It came down to three powerful shifts: 

1. Mindset over mechanics. 
   The real shift happened when they started thinking like owners. 
   No more avoiding tough calls. No more second-guessing.  
   
   Just confident decisions anchored in “what’s best for the business.”  
   
   That’s when the business took off. 

2. Right clients, right results. 
   They got clear on who they don’t want to work with.  
   They walked away from their biggest project because the client didn’t align with the business they wanted to build.  
   That decision took guts - and gave them back their focus. 
   
   The result?
   More profit, less stress, and a team that actually enjoys coming to work. 

3. Building systems, not just adding staff. 
   Austral didn’t just hire more people.  
   They bu
...

Ever found yourself fixing a team member’s work at 10pm at night because you’ve told yourself: 

“It’s just easier if I do it myself”? 

You’re not alone. 

Almost every consultancy owner I work with has been there. 

And usually, it comes down to two things: 

Trust. And control. 

It makes sense - your names on the line. You want it to be perfect. 

But here’s the problem: 

Every time you jump in to fix it, you’re training your team to rely on you. 

Less ownership. More dependency. And suddenly, you’ve become the bottleneck. 

So how do you fix that? 

Here are 3 simple shifts: 

1) From Control → Clarity 

Stop assuming they know what “good” looks like. 

Be clear. Document expectations. Set them up to win. 

2) From Reacting → Coaching 

Don’t just fix it. Sit down, unpack the mistake, and guide them through the solution. 

Make it a teachable moment - not a rescue mission. 

3) From Doer → Designer 

Your job isn’t t...

If I could go back to 2012, when I was 26, and co-owning a $3M engineering consultancy. 

(That we went on to grow to $30M). 

There are a few things I’d tell myself: 

— Set Clearer Boundaries —  

Just because you can do it all, doesn’t mean you should. 

We said yes to everything, worked nights and weekends and carried way too much. 

Leadership isn’t about doing more, it’s about creating space for others to step up. 

— Structure Beats Hustle —  

We worked so hard, but we lacked structure. 

No clear plan. No system for growth. Just reacting to the day-to-day 

If we'd focused earlier on strategy, systems and sustainability. 

We could’ve scaled much faster and with less burnout. 

— Bigger Vision = Bigger Results —  

Our mindset was so small. 

We didn’t realise what was possible, until we started thinking like real business builders. 

Not just like engineers running a business. 

Your vision sets your ceiling. Dream bigg...

If I looked at your calendar right now, I could tell you how successful your consultancy will be. 

Seriously. 

Because your calendar reveals more than your to-do list - it reveals your mindset to growth and your priorities.  

And here’s what I’ve found: 

Most owners say they want growth… 

…but they spend their weeks buried in: 

 - Sending out invoices 

 - Doing emails 

 - Reviewing drawings & reports 

 - Being available to every client, all the time 

 - Being across all projects 

So, let’s get honest for a second.  

1) Where you spend your time is a mirror of your priorities 

If you’re still knee-deep in every project detail, guess what? 

You’re prioritising control over growth. 

Control feels safe, but it’s a trap. 

You’re across everything, sure - but you’re also in the weeds, not steering the ship. 

2) You can’t lead from the trenches 

You can't be the leader your business needs if you’re the first point of contact for e...

In the past year, my client Quentin grew his business by 160%. 

That’s not a typo. 

In just 12 months, he: 

— 1.6x’d his revenue 

— Doubled the size of his team 

— Attracted top-tier clients that elevated his business 

Here’s what made it possible: 

— He upgraded his client base — 

Quentin got crystal clear on who his ideal clients were. 

Through both our ‘Ideal Client’ and ‘Client Upgrade’ trainings.  

He stopped saying yes to every opportunity. 

And started targeting the right types of projects, with the right types of clients. 

Ones that valued his expertise. Paid well. And led to repeat work. 

This one shift alone unlocked a new level of growth. 

— He built a consistent BD system — 

No more waiting for referrals or repeat work. 

Quentin and his team installed our ‘LinkedIn Lead Gen’ outreach system. 

One that consistently generates warm leads and high-value opportunities. 

Week after week. Month after month. 

It’...

If you're constantly caught up in the day-to-day operations of your consultancy. 

You're probably feeling overwhelmed, exhausted and trapped in a cycle that never ends. 

Not good if your plan is to build a business that gives you more money and time back to spend with those most important to you. 

Here are the 3 big traps that are keeping you stuck, and how to move past them: 

— Perfectionism —  

You believe that if you don’t oversee every detail, things will fall apart. 

You fear that if it’s not done exactly your way, the quality will suffer. 

As a result, you end up working late nights and weekends. 

Making sure everything is perfect, even when it doesn’t need to be. 

The reality? This perfectionism is draining you and keeping you from focusing on the bigger picture. 

— Delegation —  

You worry that your team can’t handle the tasks without you constantly hovering over them. 

You think, “If I don’t do it, it won’t get done right”....

When I was 26, I co-owned a $3M engineering consultancy. 

9 years later - it was worth $30M. 

We didn’t get lucky, we got strategic. 

Here are the 3 key strategies that 10X’d our revenue in under a decade: 

1) Mergers & Acquisitions 

Organic growth is hard. 

It's slow, unpredictable and takes forever.  

But acquiring another business? 

That can add $1M - $5M of revenue in a single deal. 

With clients, team and systems already in place. 

We learnt to look for good cultural fit and alignment.  

As well as complementary services and strong delivery teams we could back. 

One merge or acquisition alone can change the game. 

We did several. 

2) Cross-Selling of Services 

After merging with other firms - we didn’t just stop there.  

We unlocked serious growth by cross-selling services across the group. 

Town planners introducing engineers. 

Engineers teaming up with architects. 

Enviros partnering with engineers...

Planning your business exit is one of the most important decisions you’ll make, even if it feels far away. 

Many consultancy owners delay this critical step, thinking it’s something to worry about “later”. 

Or to tackle when the time feels right. 

But that’s a mistake. 

The truth is, without proper planning, you risk being caught off guard when it’s time to sell or transition. 

A business that hasn’t been set up properly for sale or founder exit won’t attract the right buyers. 

And worse, you might not be able to extract maximum value. 

Which would be a huge waste given how much effort you’re putting in to grow your business.  

Setting your business up correctly for a successful exit takes time and foresight. 

From having the right financial systems in place, to ensuring your business is not overly reliant on you. 

By planning early, you position your consultancy for a smoother transition. 

Whether that’s selling, passing it on, or transition...

Over 9 years, we grew from a $3M engineering consultancy with one office.  

To a $30M engineering, town planning, surveying and architecture consultancy with multiple offices up the east coast of Aus. 

Here's how we did it: 

STEP 1 

Surrounded ourselves with the right people. 

With the right people in your corner, anything is possible. 

STEP 2 

Upgraded our mindset to what was possible. 

Small thinking keeps you small. 

Expand your thinking and the sky is the limit. 

STEP 3 

Delegate and elevate. 

You can't (and shouldn't) do everything. 

Get help from great people around you. 

And elevate your role to keep focusing on the bigger picture. 

STEP 4 

Buy or merge with other likeminded businesses. 

Organic growth is great, but you'll never build a big business in this lifetime through organic. 

M&A is the path to outsized growth. 

And we repeated this process over and over until we hit $30M.  

PS - what's...