Cutting Costs or Cutting Value: The Trap of a Tight Margin
We all, at some point in time, sit down with our thoughts and worries and ask uncomfortable questions: what can we do without? Energy costs remain elevated. Financing costs have not returned to where they sat only a few years ago. Margins that once offered a comfortable buffer have narrowed, and the temptation to reach […]
Profit Margins are Talking — Are You Listening?
The pattern is now unmistakable and the Reserve Bank has confirmed it. Evidence I am gathering in valuation work and in market sales; shows that gross and net profit margins in the Australian construction industry are compressing once again. Here is what it means for your business — and what you can do about it. […]
Low Hanging Fruit, Is it Real?
What is the easiest way you could increase sales by 20%? Warning: This Blog is confronting – Only read on if you have the appetite for a harsh truth. You have been warned. If you proceed past this point – I urge you not to shoot the messenger. When performing due diligence or preparing a […]
Risk, Resilience, and Value: Building a Business That Outlasts Crisis
Over four decades in my profession of accounting – including valuing businesses, I have observed a curious consistency. Whether valuing a manufacturing concern, a professional services firm, or a family-owned enterprise referred by a solicitor for matrimonial or succession matters, certain patterns emerge with remarkable reliability. Solicitors often tell me their clients express surprise when […]
Not Enough People Ask: “Am I Creating Value?”
Not enough business owners ask the most important question: “Am I actually creating value here – and how would I know?” Too few ask, “What is my business worth, and why?”, even when they know that one day they will want or need to sell. They treat valuation as a last‑minute event instead of a […]
Profit Follows People. Never the Other Way Around
For most of us, it’s difficult to remember when we started our various construction businesses. We track the usual metrics and we know annual revenues, we look at profit margins quarterly. But I can pretty-well guarantee you are not tracking the numbers that buyers are. That fact could cost you dearly. I conduct valuations in […]
Multiple Pathways to Position 4: BuildingYour First Defendable Asset
Four Strategic Routes from Resource Integration to Asset-Based Differentiation Following last week’s examination of supply reliability as a pathway to competitive advantage, I received questions about “other ways” and “alternative approaches” to moving off the bottom rung of my Strategic Position Matrix. Today, I examine four distinct strategic pathways that transform standard resource coordination into […]
Can Reliability Be Your Most Valuable Product?
Even if you’re selling something everyone else already sells? For one small business, it was. They didn’t invent something new. They didn’t cut costs. They didn’t even scale. They simply made 30 perfect deliveries in a row — and became impossible to replace. How a subtle mind shift initiated a long-term business relationship, transforming a […]
Case Study: Working Harder vs Working Smarter
How Two Different Businesses Move Up The Strategic Position Matrix After last week’s blog describing The Strategic Position Matrix, the question was asked: “How do I actually move up the levels?” Today, I’ll show you exactly how through two electrical contractors who started approximately the same time but ended up in very different places. This […]
Business Value: The Strategic Position Matrix
Following our discussion on making pricing decisions during uncertain times, I have been asked to revisit and explain the building blocks of competitive advantage. This issue sits at the core of every business assessment we undertake. Applying International Valuation Standards has enabled us to refine our modelling of businesses. Through our valuation work, I have […]