Is your revenue OK, but profit margins suck?

Can’t work out why there’s no money left over each month?

It’s probably your team’s efficiencies.

Team are great.

They’re the only way you’re going to grow.

They’re the only way you’re going to take on bigger and better clients.

But if they’re not performing, it’s the quickest way to bankruptcy.

A poor performing team can very quickly chew through any cash reserves.

A poor performing team will happily rack up hours against projects that don’t have the budget.

If profit is low - team performance is the first thing I look at.

The good news is - it’s also really easy to fix.

Poor team performance is a lack of structure and direction.

Think of leading your team like 10 pin bowling…

…but with bumpers on.

Your team needs autonomy - but they also need to know how things get done.

They need the bumpers to guide them.

So they don’t go off track and into the gutter.

And your bumpers are your systems and proces...

In order for your business to grow - you need to hire great people or develop them from within. 

Train them to take over a part of what you’re doing right now and then elevate yourself to that next level. 

And you then repeat this process over and over. 

I tell my clients all the time - the roles and the tasks that you’re doing in the business in 6 months’ time should be very different (and higher value) from what you’re doing now. 

You need to be constantly focusing on up-leveling your role and what you do in the business so that you, your team and your business are always growing. 

But this process of up-leveling can be hard and uncomfortable.  

And humans in general don’t like hard and uncomfortable. 

So you sometimes fall into the trap of unconsciously sabotaging business growth by staying where you are.  

Not growing.  

Getting involved in things you know you shouldn’t.  

Doing the same tasks and roles in the business month after month, year after...

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.  

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 you don’t want ...

You know the moment.

You send the proposal. You’ve scoped it carefully. You know the value’s there.

And then the reply comes back:

“Can you sharpen your fee?”

“Looks a bit high.”

“Can you match the others?”

Your heart sinks.

It’s not just the project — it feels personal. Like they don’t see the value in what you do.

But here’s the real kicker…

It’s not their job to believe in your value.

It’s yours.

If you don’t back yourself, why would they?

In this week’s episode, I share how undercharging is often a mindset issue, not a market one.

You’ll learn:

- Why your self-worth sets your price (and your profit)

- How to hold your ground without losing great clients

- What the top 10% of consultancy owners do differently

If you’ve ever dropped your price just to win the job — and regretted it — this one’s for you.

And if you’d like to learn more, please take a look at my most recent podcast episode on this exact topic:

Click Here to watc...

My clients Josh & Mark just had their biggest month yet — $450K.

And they’re now on track to build a $4M per year consultancy.

Not by accident.

Not by luck.

But by getting strategic and making a few key moves that changed everything.

Here’s how they did it:

— They got laser-focused on the right clients —

Josh & Mark stopped chasing every opportunity.

They got crystal clear on who their ideal clients were - the ones who valued their expertise, had bigger projects, and wanted long-term relationships.

We worked through our ‘Ideal Client’ and ‘Authority Positioning’ strategies together.

Now they’re attracting top-tier clients that want to work with them - not the cheapest option.

— They built a high-performance team —

Scaling a business means letting go.

Josh & Mark leaned into our ‘Hiring High Performers’ and ‘Team Accountability’ systems.

They built a capable team around them and stopped being the bottleneck.

This freed them up to focus on growth, s...

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

9 years later - it was worth $30M. 

And no, it wasn't luck. 

We had a plan, and we stuck to that plan every step of the way. 

Here’s three key moves we made: 

— We hired leaders early —  

We didn’t wait until we were drowning. 

We brought in senior staff and gave them the space to own their roles. 

— We merged with likeminded businesses —  

One merger took us from one office to multiple offices overnight. 

It opened up cross-selling, new services and a much larger footprint. 

— We thought bigger —  

Our goals scared us - and that was a good thing. 

Our vision was the compass that guided every decision we made. 

Off the back of this, I’ve taken everything I learned. 

And poured it into a simple, 19-page business building template. 

The same strategy that helped us grow to $30M. 

It's called "The $10M Business Plan Template". 

Want a FREE copy? 

Download Now >>Click H...

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...