Does Your Business Look Like This?
Grown fast in revenue, but the structure, contracts, systems and governance are still where they were three years ago.
Margins are thinner and you cannot find where the money is going.
Still on the tools or in the office making decisions every day that should not need you.
Preparing to bid for a $10M to $50M infrastructure project for a government agency, and the business is not structured or positioned to win or deliver it.
Key people leaving, with no systems to retain them or replace them without the owner carrying the extra load.
Losing tenders on price with no bid strategy and no analysis of why.
Dealing with a specific crisis: a BIF Act payment claim, a QBCC notice, or a subcontractor claim.
Briefing three advisers separately, reconciling conflicting advice, and managing all of them on top of running the business.
Construction Business Problems Do Not Stay in One Lane
A contract problem becomes a cash flow problem. A procurement decision reduces margin on a project already running tight. A governance gap means the owner is still approving every variation and purchase order at $22M the same way they did at $9M.
No single adviser sees all three because no single adviser has looked at the whole business. The owner briefs the lawyer, then briefs the accountant separately. Neither knows what the other found. The owner reconciles conflicting advice while also running the business.
A commercial head contractor grew from $9M to $22M over three years and brought on three new project managers. There was no documented authority framework and no commercial manager, so the owner was still approving everything.
On one project a variation was rejected because notice went in four days late. The project manager did not know the time bar was 48 hours under that contract form, because nobody had briefed him on it and no contracting strategy existed across the business.
On another project a subcontractor lodged a payment claim under the BIF Act for work the owner considered defective. The lawyer advised the claim was valid on its face and had to be responded to within the statutory period. The accountant advised the cash position could not sustain an adjudication outcome. Neither knew what the other had found.
The owner managed three concurrent problems while pricing two new tenders. The governance gap, the contract administration failure and the cash exposure were three symptoms of the same underlying problem.
These problems are fixable. They require someone who looks at the legal, commercial, financial, structural, governance, operational and compliance dimensions of a construction business at the same time, not one adviser at a time.
Rachelle Hare
Construction Lawyer, Commercial Manager and Business Adviser. 25+ years working inside Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 contractors and in top-tier private practice.
Shannon Drew
Management Accountant, Costs Accountant, Fractional CFO, Commercial Adviser and Business Adviser. 25+ years working inside construction businesses at every scale.
They look at the same business at the same time, because that is the only way to see what is actually going on.
If Your Business Has One Specific Issue
Some owners know exactly what the problem is and need it addressed now.
A contract needs reviewing before signing. Cash flow needs a plan before the next payment cycle. A business structure is wrong for the revenue now being carried. A QBCC MFR compliance issue needs resolving before the next licence renewal.
The Construction Business Issue Review gives you a written analysis of the specific issue, a clear recommendation, and a deliverable you can take to your board, your bank or your leadership team.
Price
From $1,997 + GST
Follow-on work
Quoted on request after the Review, based on what Rachelle and Shannon find.
The Construction Business Improvement Audit
For owners who want to understand the full picture across their business, the Audit is the entry point. Rachelle and Shannon work across legal, commercial, financial, structural, governance, operational and compliance over four weeks.
Getting the order right matters. Consider what happens when it is not. A civil contractor at $35M set its sights on a $15M to $40M infrastructure project for a government agency and found these problems standing between them and where they wanted to go:
Structure
Three operating entities with overlapping activities and no consolidated financial reporting.
Contracts
Standard AS forms downloaded years ago, never reviewed against the risk profile of civil work at this scale.
Governance
One director carrying personal guarantees across two of the three entities with no governance framework to track or manage the exposure.
The sequence
Fixing the reporting without fixing the structure first means doing it twice. Fixing the contracts without a contracting strategy means the next project manager negotiates differently from the last.
Rachelle and Shannon have seen this sequence across more than 2,000 construction businesses. At the close of the Audit, you receive three documents.
01
Audit Insights
The substantive findings across every area reviewed. Named problems with commercial context, not generic observations.
02
Audit Scorecard
Your score across each area, mapped against the Stabilise, Improve and Grow phases, showing where problems are most urgent.
03
Recommendations to Stabilise, Improve and Grow Your Construction Business
The Executive Summary built from the Scorecard. Tells you what to address first and why.
Pricing
From $11,000 + GST, depending on your revenue band, complexity and the number of active projects and entities in scope.
Directors’ Presentation
For businesses with a Board or senior leadership team, Rachelle and Shannon deliver the findings in a Directors’ Presentation at the close of the Audit.
You keep all three deliverables whether or not you proceed further. After the Audit, Rachelle and Shannon quote for the specific work your business needs. Any work to fix the problems identified is quoted on request.
I spent six years as a Commercial Manager working inside a Tier 2 Construction and Technology provider on major defence projects. Before that I had spent more than 20 years as a Construction Lawyer at Tier 1 contractors and in top-tier private practice.
Most of the commercial problems I dealt with every week had legal roots that nobody had identified at the contracting stage. Most of the legal problems had commercial roots that nobody had properly priced or managed in the project financials.
- A contract signed without the right departures was generating variation disputes.
- A project tight on margin was generating notice failures because the team was too stretched to administer the contract.
- A business that had grown quickly was carrying director exposure that nobody had reviewed, because there was no governance framework to prompt it.
A lawyer who only reviews contracts cannot see those connections. An accountant who only reviews the financials cannot see them either. You need both working from the same picture of the business at the same time.
Your Three Paths Forward
At the close of the Audit, Rachelle and Shannon quote for the specific work your business needs. You choose what to proceed with.
Fix Priority Issues
Address one or two specific issues from the Audit on a fixed-price basis. Scope and price confirmed before work starts. No commitment to anything further.
Fix Several Issues
Address a defined set of issues across the business in sequence, without entering the full 13-Step System. Scoped from the Audit findings and quoted on a fixed-price basis.
The Full System
Enter the 13-Step Construction Business Improvement System over 12 months. Your Audit carries forward as Step 1 so you are not paying twice. The Scorecard sets the sequence.
The 13-Step Construction Business Improvement System
For clients who want to address all areas in a structured sequence over 12 months.
Rachelle and Shannon Stabilise, Improve and Grow Your Business
Construction business owners at the $5M to $100M+ level are working harder than they were two years ago and the business is more exposed, not less. Rachelle and Shannon fix that.
Your Project Margin Becomes Predictable
Rachelle and Shannon align your pricing, procurement and commercial administration to a contracting strategy that reflects the actual risk your business carries. You know what margin you are making on each project before final account.
Your Cash Flow Is Under Control
Shannon builds a rolling 13-week cash flow forecast across your business. You see the problem before it arrives, not after it has already affected your supplier relationships and subcontractor pipeline.
Your Contracts Work for Your Business
Rachelle reviews and where necessary redrafts your standard subcontracts, purchase orders and head contract positions to reflect a considered contracting strategy, not documents inherited from previous projects or copied from others.
Your Structure Protects You and Your Directors
Rachelle and Shannon review and fix your business structure for your current revenue, project values and personal guarantee exposure. Your directors manage their duties as a governance matter, not as an annual reminder.
Your Business Runs Without You in Every Role
Rachelle and Shannon build documented systems, clear processes and delegated authority into the structure of your business. It runs at full capacity whether or not you are in the office.
You Have a Clear Path to Where You Want to Go
Whether the plan is growth, a successful Brisbane 2032 bid, sale or succession, Rachelle and Shannon structure and position your business to execute it. Bid strategy, governance, financial reporting and people structure all point in the same direction.
How Rachelle and Shannon Work With You
The System is delivered in one of three modes, discussed and agreed at the close of the Audit once Rachelle and Shannon have a clear picture of your business.
Done-For-You
Fractional Leadership
Rachelle or Shannon steps into a fractional role in your business, taking direct responsibility for a defined area of implementation. Senior expertise without a full-time hire.
Done-With-You
Implementation Support
Rachelle and Shannon work alongside you and your team through each step on a monthly retainer. They do the diagnosis, drafting, modelling and advisory work. You retain control of implementation.
Done-By-You
Guided Implementation
Rachelle and Shannon diagnose, advise and train your team. Your team implements with their guidance available as needed.
Are We the Right Fit for You and Your Business?
You Are the Right Fit If
- Your construction business turns over between $5M and $100M+
- You are a head contractor, subcontractor or trade contractor across commercial, civil, infrastructure, mining services or defence
- You know there are problems and want an independent view that names them and tells you what to fix first
- You want to fix one issue or address the whole business: both are valid starting points
- You want Rachelle and Shannon working directly on your business, not junior staff
- You have called your lawyer and your accountant separately and ended up managing both yourself
You Are Not the Right Fit If
- Your turnover is below $5M
- You are already in formal insolvency or have a liquidator appointed
- Price is the primary consideration and you are looking for the lowest-cost option
- You want a report filed away rather than work implemented
- Your business is outside construction and infrastructure
Not sure where to start? The Construction Business Assessment takes ten minutes and gives you an immediate read on where your business stands.
“I’d been running the business for twelve years and I thought I had a handle on it. Rachelle and Shannon showed me in four weeks what I hadn’t been able to see in four years. The cash flow problem turned out to be a contracting problem. The contracting problem turned out to be a governance problem. We fixed them in that order and the business looks completely different. I didn’t know a firm like this existed.”David K Director, Civil Contractor, $28M turnover, South East Queensland
FAQs About Construction Business Improvement
Each adviser only sees one part of the business. You brief both separately and neither knows what the other found. You reconcile advice that was given without either adviser seeing the full picture. Rachelle and Shannon look at the legal, commercial, financial, structural, governance, operational and compliance aspects of your business at the same time. You stop being the person who manages advisers who never talk to each other.
No. The Construction Business Issue Review gives you a written analysis of the specific issue, a clear recommendation, and a board-presentable deliverable. Priced from $1,997 + GST. Any work to fix the problem is quoted on request after the Review.
Three documents. The Audit Insights cover the findings across every area of your business reviewed. The Audit Scorecard scores each area against the Stabilise, Improve and Grow phases. The Recommendations to Stabilise, Improve and Grow Your Construction Business tells you what to address first and why. For businesses with a Board, Rachelle and Shannon also deliver a Directors’ Presentation. You keep all three whether or not you proceed further.
No. You choose to fix one priority issue, address several issues in sequence, enter the full System, or do nothing further. The Audit deliverables are yours regardless. Most clients proceed with at least one piece of work because the findings make the case clearly.
Every piece of work after the Audit is quoted on a fixed-price basis once Rachelle and Shannon understand exactly what is required. The scope varies too much across different businesses to quote before the Audit. The Audit is the basis on which every quote is built.
Yes, on every engagement where both areas of expertise are relevant. Rachelle handles all legal work and holds a current practising certificate. Shannon is a Management Accountant, Costs Accountant, Fractional CFO, Commercial Adviser and Business Adviser and does not provide legal advice. On engagements that span legal and commercial or financial dimensions, they work from the same picture of your business at the same time.
Twelve months. The Audit is Month 1. The Implementation Plan and Directors’ Presentation covers the first two weeks of Month 2. The remaining steps run in a sequence set by your Audit Scorecard.
Yes. Blaze Business & Legal is based in Brisbane and works primarily with Queensland construction businesses, but Rachelle and Shannon advise businesses across New South Wales, the ACT and other Australian jurisdictions. Contact them to discuss how an engagement would be structured for your business.
Four Weeks. A Clear Picture of the Problems in Your Construction Business. A Priority Recommendation. A Quote to Fix Them.
Rachelle and Shannon review your business and deliver the Audit Insights, the Audit Scorecard and the Recommendations to Stabilise, Improve and Grow Your Construction Business. You leave knowing exactly what to address first and why, with a fixed-price quote for the work to fix it.
