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...

My client just hit $6M, with 30% net profit margins. 

Here's how they did it: 

— They focused on their niche — 

They know what they're good at. 

They know what kind of clients they want to work with.  

And they're happy to say no to clients and projects that don't fit. 

No distractions, no wasted effort. 

Their energy stayed focused and their quality stayed high. 

Their clients and the market noticed. 

And the revenue followed. 

— They hired an Ops Manager — 

Operations used to hold the Directors back. 

Not anymore. 

They hired an Ops Manager to free the Directors up to focus on high-value tasks. 

The tasks that make the biggest difference in the business. 

No more getting stuck in the day-to-day. 

And the business has grown as a result.  

— They brought on Next-Generation Shareholders — 

They didn’t go it alone. 

They invited fresh talent into leadership and next-generation shareholders stepped up. 

The hidden trap holding back your growth (and happiness) 

I had a massive shift this week - and I think it can help you too 

I was working with my mindset coach 

(yes, coaches have coaches – I have two in fact) 

Lately, I’d been feeling like nothing was ever enough 

That no achievement or success measured up 

And it was creating a heap of stress and frustration in me 

I found myself getting angry when things didn’t go as planned 

I wasn’t a fun person to be around (just ask my wife!) 

Then my coach helped me see something that changed everything 

I'd been comparing myself to others 

Their success, wealth, how they lived their life 

And no matter what I did, or achieved 

I was never going to be enough to those I was comparing myself against 

But what I didn't realise (that my coach helped me see) 

Is that these people I was comparing myself against 

Have wildly different VALUES to me 

Their values are not wrong 

The...

It’s a new year, and if you’re serious about growing your consultancy, there are 10 unbreakable rules you really need to know. 

I just ran a special edition podcast series breaking down The 10 Commandments of Successful Consultancy Business Owners—covering the mindset, strategy, and habits of top-performing consultancy owners. 

Here’s a glimpse at some of the key takeaways: 

- Simple scales, complex fails – Simplify in order to grow sustainably. 

- Ditch the hustle & grind – Strategies to work smarter, not harder.  

- Only A-grade clients – Focus on top-tier clients to unlock profit. 

- Charge your worth – Better clients, improved margins, and freeing up time. 

If you missed the series or want a refresh to kick off the year strong, check out the full series here >> https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkA1ptWmIP5p71R1b1fUp6YR08olXCmbP&feature=shared 

Hit reply and let me know— which commandment do you need to focus on most this year? 

Josh ‘Business Growth’ S...

Most business owners get into business because they want more freedom and flexibility. 

They want to be the master of their own destinies, call the shots, take time off whenever they want and enjoy the fruits of their labour. 

But when you first start your business - it often demands more time of you than a day job. 

And you end up sacrificing the very things and the very reasons why you started your business in the first place. 

Now as your business grows and you hire more people, I see business owners carry the same mentality through with them from when they first started out, which is… 

“I have to do everything” 

“Everything needs to come through me” 

“I need to know where everything is up to” 

This may have served you when you first started (because you did have to do everything). 

But it certainly won’t serve you now as you grow. 

If you want to build a business that allows you way more free time, allows you to spend more time with your fami...

I bet you’re running your business for a bunch of reasons. 

More money - you want a bigger slice of the pie and to set yourself (and your loved ones) up for financial success. 

More freedom - you want to design your work around the life you want to live, and not the other way around… 

More meaning - you want to make more of an impact doing the work you’re passionate about. 

But here’s the deal, there are 5 things they didn’t tell you about running your business. 

1) It’s hard. Like really hard.  

Things will go wrong. Clients will leave. Staff will leave. Team won’t follow processes. Rework will be required. You’ll need to do big hours. The things you thought you would be able to get someone else to do, often boomerang back to you, etc.  

2) You’ll second guess yourself. 

If you think of yourself as self-confident - business will quickly put that to the test. You’ll be tested in more ways than one and you’ll find yourself overthinking simple problems because y...

A large part of what we do for our clients is expand their thinking. 

To show them what’s possible for their lives and their business outside of their current viewpoint or thought structure. 

To push them a little to help them see and uncover what they really want in life. 

Most of the time, you start your own business for one or all of these reasons - money, meaning and freedom. 

You'd like to make more money than you could working for someone else. 

And if you dig deep enough, you would like to create intergenerational wealth and really set yourself and your family up for financial freedom & success. 

You'd like to have a greater impact on the lives of those around you. 

Deliver exceptional projects for your clients and help the community and the public who benefit from these projects. 

You'd like to build a great team where everyone is motivated and inspired to do great work and you'd like to show your friends and family what’s possible if you pursue ...

Are you stuck in the never-ending cycle of being the technician in your business?  

Are you wearing all the hats & handling every aspect of your business - from winning the work to delivering the work, to admin, HR, marketing, operations etc? 

Sometimes it can feel like a hamster wheel. 

In order for your business to grow, you need to make the time to step out of the technician business owner mindset and into the entrepreneurial business owner mindset. 

You need to focus on controlling the resources, not being the resource. 

Regardless of whether you're a single person business owner or running a $10 million per year consultancy, the goal is the same. 

Shift your thinking from the technician business owner to the entrepreneurial conductor. 

You want to be the one shaping the vision, guiding your team, and orchestrating the path to success, not stuck in the daily grind. 

Now, I get it. Sometimes you'll have to get your hands dirty, deliver that report, or...

I used to be amazing at delaying, procrastinating, justifying and not taking action on the big things that I logically knew would move my business forward. 

But once I got serious about our businesses growth and focusing on the 'big rocks'...well, everything changed.  

As I look back on 2024, it’s incredible to think that we’ve now helped 100+ business owners: 

 - Grow their revenue. 

 - Shape their business plans and their goals for their businesses future. 

 - Gain the confidence they need to take their business to that next level. 

 - As well as meet and make friends with a whole bunch of other incredible business owners along the way. 

We've also helped our members get serious about the growth of their businesses and focus on their 'big rocks'. 

And the results... 

The average increase in revenue for our Boardroom members was 46% in 2023 and 67% in 2024! 

In an industry that's only grown by 0.5% over the past year.  

That’s insane! 

There is a...

Here we are! The start of a new year. 

I hope you had an incredible break and are excited about the year ahead and its opportunities for you and your business.  

Our office is back open and myself and the Ignite team are energised about another exciting year ahead.  

Have you ever wondered why this is the only time of the year that most are actually setting goals, thinking about the changes they’d like to make and what they want their future to look like? 

For some - it’s because it’s a new year, new me, this year will be different etc etc... 

But for most - it’s because you’ve actually had a decent holiday and you’ve actually allowed yourself to relax and think about something else apart from the looming deadlines every week and the pressure of having to deliver all the time.  

There’s a reason why your best ideas come to you when you’re in the shower, at the beach, on a bush walk - or on holidays. 

It’s because you’ve actually stepped out of the logical...