How we work
Diagnose First. Then Grow.
A diagnose-first approach to growing a firm that runs well from top to bottom, front to back, corner to corner.
The approach
Every Growing Company Hits the Same Walls
Not on the same day, and not in the same order. But they show up, and they show up at predictable points. It almost always comes back to people. The more of us there are, the more complicated things get.
We don’t hand you a canned program. We figure out where you are, find what’s hurting most, and fix it so it stays fixed. Like a good fence: build it right once and move on to the next pasture.
Find your stage
What Stage Is Your Company In?
Count your full-time employees. Add your part-time staff as full-time equivalents. Then identify your stage and see if any of the issues listed are costing you time or money. Not every problem for every stage is shown, but these are the most common. You can see a more complete list by clicking here (opens PDF in a new tab).
Stage 1: Start-Up1–10 FTEs
You’re likely here if:
- You still touch every proposal, project, and invoice.
- Everyone does a little of everything, including you, and not everyone knows what they are supposed to do. At least not without you telling/showing them multiple times.
- Cash flow this month drives most of your decisions.
- You come home and need to re-introduce yourself to your family. Not even the dog remembers you.
Stage 2: Ramp-Up11–19 FTEs
You’re likely here if:
- You’ve hired faster than you’ve built systems. Not all of your new hires are qualified, and those that are aren’t being trained well.
- You are getting work done, but quality and meeting schedules are costing you profitability—and client goodwill.
- Growth is happening but not according to a plan. And you are too busy (you believe) to build a plan.
- There is a level of chaos that keeps employees confused about the direction the company is going—and why.
Stage 3: Delegation20–34 FTEs
You’re likely here if:
- You’ve promoted your best people into lead roles, but they still bring decisions back to you.
- You end up redoing work you thought you handed off.
- You still work 60–80-hour (or more) weeks, and the business still needs more of you.
- Revenue growth has slowed, and margins are slipping.
Stage 4: Professional35–57 FTEs
You’re likely here if:
- The company is too big for one person to lead. You need real managers, not just senior doers. You are still making too many decisions.
- Operational challenges from growth remain unresolved. Your processes haven’t been able to keep up with the workload.
- Finding qualified new employees and not getting them up to speed on your systems is costing you money.
- There are more meetings, but fewer good decisions, and the meetings are taking too long.
Stage 5: Integration58–95 FTEs
You’re likely here if:
- Your company scrambles when there’s turnover, and the resulting loss of operational knowledge impacts schedule, quality, and profitability.
- Problems arise when volume is added to your existing workload.
- Your revenue is flat, and you seem stuck where you are.
- Your work is often inconsistently executed, which impacts quality, schedule, and profitability.
Stage 6: Strategic96–160 FTEs
You’re likely here if:
- You scramble when there is turnover, and the loss of organizational knowledge impacts schedule, quality, and profitability.
- Problems arise when volume is added to your existing workload. Your systems aren’t up to the additional workload. Profitability suffers.
- New employees are struggling to get up to speed, resulting in inefficiencies in getting the work done and quality problems along the way.
- Your systems are complex enough that small changes cause problems elsewhere.
Stage 7: Visionary161–350 FTEs
You’re likely here if:
- The business runs well, but growth has flattened and new growth doesn’t carry the same margin.
- Open positions remain unfilled because of a lack of qualified candidates.
- New competitors in the market are often willing to work at a lower margin.
- The energy from the early years is gone.
The 7 Stages of Growth framework is used with permission from
Nobody has every problem on the list, and not every problem is listed. Everybody has some. Let’s find the ones costing you the most.
The four steps
Four Steps from Diagnosis to Done
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Identify Your Stage
We pinpoint which of the 7 Stages of Growth your company is in, based on headcount and how your team is structured.
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Find What’s Most Urgent
Every stage has its own list of challenges. Nobody has all of them. Everybody has some. We find the ones costing you the most, including leftovers from the stage before.
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Build the Plan
Using tools built specifically for this work, we design a solution aimed at your problem. Not a template. A plan for your firm.
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Get It Done
We work with you through implementation. Then we help you get ready for what the next stage will bring.
Why it’s different
Not a Peer Group. Not a Course.
Most options for owners fall into two camps. An ongoing subscription where you sit with CEOs from other industries and talk about your problems. Or a prebuilt program you learn and implement yourself, which gets you to the next stage but leaves you unprepared for the one after.
We work with you through multiple stages of growth, in industries we know from the inside: engineering, surveying, and construction.
Every Stage Has Its Problems. You Don’t Have to Find Them Alone.
One conversation. No pitch deck, no pressure. We’ll figure out where your company is and what’s costing you the most.