For Brisbane founders, $2m to $20m
A business coach in Brisbane who works as an operating partner
For Brisbane founders whose service business has outgrown the way it is run. We rebuild the pricing, the numbers and the management layer so decisions stop routing to you. Eight questions tell you where the constraint sits.
Generally suited to service businesses between $2m and $20m. AUD $2,500 per month. Application only.
Why listen
No. 13
AFR Fast 100, 2022, Zonda People
11
Companies founded, acquired or sold
Labour hire
Trades, construction, civil and mining
Recruitment
Blue and white collar, permanent
Byron has founded, acquired or sold eleven companies, including labour hire supplying trades, construction, civil and mining, and permanent recruitment across blue and white collar roles. What transfers is pricing, margin by service line, cash conversion, the management layer and the weekly numbers.
Sound familiar?
Where Brisbane service businesses lose margin and control
Read them as they are today, not as you intend them to be.
Revenue grew, margin did not
The business is twice the size it was three years ago and the owner is no better off.
Every decision still routes to you
Pricing, hiring, scope, escalations. The team is capable and still waiting.
Pricing set in a smaller market
Brisbane wages, insurance and vehicle costs moved. The rate card did not.
No usable weekly numbers
The accountant reports last quarter. Nobody can tell you last week.
Managers without written scope
Titles exist, authority does not, so accountability lands back on you.
Growth is eating cash
Work in progress, slow invoicing and unpriced variations fund the client, not the business.
Flight check
Brisbane business flight check
Eight questions. You get a readout of what to correct first. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Eight questions
0 / 8
0 of 8 answered.
The system
The Bettr Operating System in a Brisbane business
Six modules, installed in the order your business needs them.
01
Vision
A twelve month objective the leadership team can repeat without the deck.
02
People
Written scopes, one measure per role, and a management layer between you and delivery.
03
Execution
A quarterly plan with named owners, and a weekly rhythm that survives a busy month.
04
Numbers
Margin by service line, cash conversion and a scorecard read every week.
05
Systems
Pricing, quoting and delivery written down so the standard is not in your head.
06
Leadership
Decision rules, so the business stops queuing at your inbox.
Instrument
Profit leak calculator
Two levers that cost nothing to pull: two points of gross margin, and five points of quote conversion. Enter your numbers.
Current gross profit
$1,520,000
Revenue x 38% gross margin.
+2 points gross margin
$80,000
Pricing only, no extra work won.
+5 points quote conversion
$82,080
About 12.0 extra jobs a year, $216,000 revenue, at your current margin.
Both together
$162,080
The two figures added. Illustrative only.
Illustrative arithmetic on the numbers you entered. Not a forecast, a projection or a guarantee of any result.
Example only
The first 90 days
An illustration of the usual sequence, not a promise of outcomes. The real plan comes from your numbers.
Days 1 to 30
Instrument the business
Baseline revenue, margin by service line, cash conversion and owner hours. Rebuild the pricing that was set in a smaller market.
Days 31 to 60
Correct margin and cash
Reprice the work that is below target, tighten quoting and invoicing, and start the weekly numbers meeting.
Days 61 to 90
Build the layer above you
Written scopes and decision rules for named managers, so pricing, scheduling and escalations stop coming to you.
Sequence
What we fix first
01
The seven numbers most owners cannot supply, starting with margin by service line.
02
Pricing before marketing, because more volume cannot fix a thin rate.
03
Cash conversion: quote, deliver, invoice, collect, with days attached to each.
04
One written scope and one measure for every manager.
05
One weekly meeting, thirty minutes, with numbers in it.
The model
An operating partner, not a coach
Conventional coaching
- Asks questions, holds you to your own plan.
- One curriculum for every industry.
- Leaves the systems to you.
Operating partner
- Rebuilds pricing, scorecard, role scopes and decision rules with you.
- Led from eleven companies founded, acquired or sold.
- Leaves written scopes, decision rules and a weekly rhythm behind.
Fit
Who this is for
A good fit
- Brisbane founders running service businesses between roughly $2m and $20m in revenue.
- Trades and construction, professional services, logistics, facilities, health services, labour supply.
- Staff are employed and the owner is still the bottleneck for pricing and decisions.
- Demand is there. The constraint is structure, margin and management.
Not a fit
- Pre-revenue or sole operators with no intention of building a team.
- Owners who want lead generation alone.
- Anyone wanting weekly encouragement rather than changes to how the business runs.
Questions
Common questions from Brisbane founders
Do you work with businesses in Brisbane?
Yes. Byron works with founders across South East Queensland, including Brisbane city, the inner north and south, Ipswich, Logan, Redlands, Moreton Bay and out to Springfield and North Lakes. Sessions run in person where it makes sense and remotely otherwise, so travel never becomes the reason a session gets cancelled.
What size business is this suited to?
Generally service businesses between $2m and $20m in annual revenue with staff already employed. Below that the constraint is usually demand and pricing rather than management structure. Above that the work becomes a board and executive alignment engagement.
How is this different from a business coach?
A conventional business coach asks questions and holds you to your own plan. This is an operating partner engagement: the pricing gets rebuilt, the scorecard gets built, role scopes and decision rules get written, and the weekly rhythm gets installed. Byron has founded, acquired or sold eleven companies and scaled one to number 13 on the AFR Fast 100, so the work is led from operating experience rather than a curriculum.
What does it cost?
AUD $2,500 per month. It is application only, because the engagement is hands-on and the number of founders taken at any time is limited.
How much time does it take from me?
Roughly three to four hours a month, plus a weekly numbers review the business needs regardless. The intention is to reduce your hours, not add a standing commitment.
Which industries in Brisbane do you work with?
Founder-led service businesses of most kinds: trades and construction, civil, facilities and cleaning, logistics and transport, labour supply and recruitment, professional services and allied health. The six operating areas are the same. The order they get corrected in is not.
How quickly should I expect changes?
Process changes such as quote turnaround, invoice speed and weekly reporting usually start inside the first month. Margin moves over a quarter as repriced work flows through. No financial outcome is guaranteed, and anyone guaranteeing one is guessing.
Do you also work on the Gold Coast?
Yes. There are industry-specific pages for Gold Coast trades, and the same engagement runs for Brisbane founders. If you are on the Gold Coast, start with the industry page closest to your work.
More detail: business coaching services, plumbers, electricians, builders, The Bettr Operating System, pricing and about Byron.
Brisbane service businesses
Bring your numbers to a 45 minute call
Revenue, gross margin by service line, quotes sent and won, days to invoice, and hours a week you are still inside delivery. We will tell you plainly where the constraint is.