/01 Core sectors
Where the depth is
More than sixty percent of our engagements sit in these six. Each entry names the problem we are usually called about and what the work tends to involve.
Construction, trades and contracting
Usually called about: jobs that looked profitable at quote and were not at completion.
Work centres on estimating discipline, job costing, change order control, crew utilisation and the cash cycle between progress billing and supplier terms. Owners frequently discover the issue is not pricing but the quoting process itself.
Professional and technical services
Usually called about: growing revenue with flat or falling profit per person.
Utilisation, realisation, scope creep, pricing model and the leverage ratio between senior and junior staff. Most firms in this sector are carrying two or three clients that consume the margin the rest of the book earns.
Manufacturing and industrial
Usually called about: capacity that feels full while output stays flat.
Constraint analysis, changeover time, scheduling, scrap and rework, inventory policy and maintenance planning. We also handle make or buy decisions and capital equipment cases that have to satisfy a lender.
Healthcare practices and clinics
Usually called about: payer mix, staffing cost and multi site inconsistency.
Scheduling and room utilisation, revenue cycle discipline, provider compensation models, and the governance that group practices need once they pass three locations. We work alongside your legal and billing advisors, not in place of them.
Logistics, distribution and fleet
Usually called about: margin erosion when fuel, labour or lane mix moves.
Cost per mile or per unit, lane and customer profitability, warehouse layout and pick efficiency, fleet replacement modelling, and contract terms that pass cost movement through rather than absorbing it.
Hospitality and food service
Usually called about: strong sales, weak profit, high staff turnover.
Prime cost control, menu and offer profitability, labour scheduling against forecast demand, multi site standards and the management rhythm that keeps a second or third location from drifting.
/02 Also served
Twelve more sectors where we hold live or recent engagements
If your sector is not listed, the method still applies. Say so on the first call and we will tell you honestly whether the learning curve is short enough to be fair to you, or whether a specialist would serve you better.
/03 What sector changes
The questions change. The arithmetic does not.
People assume industry experience is the whole of the value. It is worth roughly two weeks of diagnostic time and a shorter list of wrong turns. What actually decides an engagement is whether the leadership team will make decisions once the evidence is in front of them.
What changes by sector
- The cost structure and where margin hides
- Seasonality and the working capital cycle
- Regulatory and licensing obligations
- Labour market conditions and pay expectations
- Which benchmarks are meaningful and which are marketing
What never changes
- Profit is found by line, not in aggregate
- Process problems look like people problems from the top
- Cash timing kills more companies than cost levels
- Unowned actions do not happen, whatever the plan says
- A weekly review beats a quarterly report every time
/04 Who we fit
Size matters more than sector
Usually too early
A retainer rarely pays for itself at this size. We normally recommend a single diagnostic, or point you toward a local accountant or a small business development centre. We will say so on the first call rather than sell you something.
Our core client
Big enough that structure and systems matter, small enough that the owner still feels every decision. This is where most of our engagements sit and where the improvement per dollar of fee is highest.
Group and multi entity work
Several locations or entities, a real leadership team, and often a lender or investor with expectations. Work here is governance, standardisation, reporting and acquisition integration.
Tell us what your industry is doing to you.
Whether or not your sector is on this page, the first call is free and ends with a straight answer about fit.