What does a construction business coach work on?
It works on the gap between a job that looks profitable on the tender and the cash that arrives. In a building or contracting firm, labour and materials go out weeks before a valuation is paid, retentions are held back until the job is finished and the defects period ends, and one bad job can take the profit from three good ones.
The coaching works on four things in that order: what each type of job earns, which work to tender for, how cash comes in, and who runs the sites. It runs as one-to-one business coaching with Andy, with Financial Coaching from Peter where the figures are the gap.
One contract, month by month
An invented example of a £150,000 job over six months. Each valuation is paid a month after the work, and the retention held back from each one is released when the defects period ends, at month 12 in this example.
What changes in the business?
Margin by type of job
Extensions, new builds, fit-outs and repair work can earn very different margins. The first sessions cost each type from records you already hold, so you can see which work carries the business and which only fills the diary.
Which tenders to price
A short written rule for the work you go after: the size of job, the type of client, the payment terms and the distance from the yard. Tenders outside the rule get a higher price or a polite no.
Valuations and retentions
Applications for payment that go in on the agreed date, a record of every retention held and when it is due back, and a rolling cash forecast you keep yourself so the tight week shows six weeks out.
Site managers who run the site
Each site manager is held to a figure they can see, such as labour hours against the estimate. The decisions that still come to you are listed, and the ones a manager could take with a clear rule are handed over.
Which programme fits a construction firm?
Strategic Growth Coaching
For a firm whose work is steady and whose margin is thin. Pricing reviews, where profit leaks and what capacity costs, inside a 90-day planning rhythm.
Leadership Coaching
For an owner who is still on every site. Delegation to site managers, standards and the conversations about performance.
Financial Coaching
With Peter, for an owner who wants to read the cash, the retentions and the work in progress without waiting for the accountant.
All prices are plus VAT, billed monthly, with no minimum term. Every programme is on the business coaching programmes and prices page. For a smaller firm where the owner still works on the tools, see business coaching for tradesmen.
Coaching for other situations
Frequently asked questions
Do you understand construction accounts?
Financial Coaching is coached by Peter Allen, our Finance Director, who prepares management accounts for a living, so sessions can cover the detail of a building firm: retentions, work in progress, valuations, seasonal VAT and a bad debt. Buzz Coaching is a trading style of Buzz Accounting Ltd. You can keep your existing accountant. What matters is that the bookkeeping is current enough for the figures to be real, and if it is months behind, the first step is getting it straight, with your accountant or with us.
Can sessions fit around site work?
Yes. Sessions run in person or by video, and you can take a video session from the site, the office or the kitchen table. One-to-one Business Coaching runs as a ninety-minute session every fortnight, which is roughly three hours a month plus the actions you agree between sessions. The first six weeks are the heaviest because the costing of each type of job is real work. Leadership Coaching and Strategic Growth Coaching run fortnightly too, and the session times are agreed with your coach at the start.
We are profitable on paper but always short of cash. Why?
In a contracting business the usual causes are timing ones. Labour and materials are paid weeks before the valuation is, retentions sit with the client until the defects period ends, and VAT and PAYE are spent when they should have been set aside. A firm can grow into a cash shortage, because each new job needs funding before it pays. The coaching builds a rolling cash forecast you update yourself on a fixed day, and a record of every retention due back, so the shortfall shows weeks before it arrives.
How much does construction business coaching cost?
The fee depends on the programme. Strategic Growth Coaching is £1,950 a month, one-to-one Business Coaching £1,500, Leadership Coaching £1,250 and Financial Coaching £950, all plus VAT and billed monthly with no minimum term and no joining fee. Every engagement is reviewed at ninety days against the measures set in the first month, such as margin by type of job or hours on site. The discovery call is free, lasts thirty minutes and works out which programme fits the firm.