For builders & construction · $2M–$30M

Brilliant on the tools. Brutal at running the business.

Coaching for builders and construction company owners who built the company on skill, scaled past $2M, and are now drowning in quoting, cash flow lurches, and a team that can't run without them. The Business Evolution Framework, applied to construction.

Apply for coaching → $1,500 Altitude Audit
The trap

You built the company. Now it owns you.

Four pains every builder doing $2M+ describes within five minutes of the first call.

01 · Quoting is the bottleneck

You're the only one who can scope and price a job. Weekends are spent in spreadsheets. Jobs sit in limbo while you catch up.

02 · Cash lurches between milestones

You bill on progress claims. Subbies want paying weekly. Some weeks you're flush; some weeks you're personally bridging payroll.

03 · Your best people are leaving

There's no leadership pipeline. Site supervisors quit because they're underpaid and over-asked. The next layer doesn't exist.

04 · The business stalls when you stop

A four-week holiday is unthinkable. Even a long weekend means texts, calls, and "just one quick question" until you tap out.

Why this happens to builders

The economics of construction punish unsystematic owners.

Construction operates on thin margins, lagging cash, and project-based revenue. A 5% margin error on a $1M job costs you $50,000. A two-week payment delay can break the month. The combination of high working capital, low margin and project complexity is unforgiving.

Most builders learn the trade, not the business. The first $1M is built on technical skill, customer relationships, and personal effort. Past $2M, none of those scale. You can't out-work a structural problem.

Coaching for builders isn't about motivation. It's about removing yourself as the ceiling.

Why me

I made the same mistakes — in apparel, not construction.

I'm a mechanical engineer who started Seight Custom Cycling Wear from my kitchen table. By 24, I was running a $300,000 business. I thought I'd figured it out.

I hadn't. The dollar tanked. My marriage ended. The business collapsed under $200,000 of debt. I'd built the company on skill, not systems — same trap every builder I now coach is in.

I rebuilt Seight with proper systems and sold it. Since 2017 I've coached founders out of the same trap — the founder-on-the-tools dependency that suffocates a business between $1.5M and $30M.

Different industry. Same trap. Same fix.

Read the full story →
What coaching is — and what it isn't

Clear, before you book.

What it IS

  • + 1:1 sessions with Tristan, every fortnight or every week
  • + A structured framework applied to your business specifically
  • + Honest accountability for the changes you commit to
  • + Between-session access for high-stakes decisions
  • + Long-term — most clients are 2+ years in, some 5+, some 8+

What it ISN'T

  • ✕ A motivational hype-up. I'm not going to tell you you're crushing it.
  • ✕ A group program or course you watch on your own.
  • ✕ An accountability buddy who texts you reminders.
  • ✕ A 90-day intensive that promises a transformation.
  • ✕ Free advice. Real coaching costs real money.
The six steps

How we'd work on your business.

  1. Step 01

    Diagnostic — map the business

    $1,500 standalone, or free strategy call. We map your company against the five BEF layers. You leave with clarity on what's broken and what to fix first.

  2. Step 02

    Fix Foundation — cash, margin, owner energy

    Cash flow forecast. Real job-level margin. Owner schedule audit. Without Foundation, everything above wobbles.

  3. Step 03

    Build Supporting Systems — people, process, tech

    Quoting workflow that doesn't require you. Site supervisor playbook. Job costing system. Subbie management. The systems that compound.

  4. Step 04

    Operate the Success Triad — strategy, marketing, sales, fulfilment

    A real pipeline. A reputation strategy. A delivery system. So you stop relying on word-of-mouth from one tier of clients.

  5. Step 05

    Sharpen the Inner Core — vision, values, leadership

    Who are you actually trying to become as a leader? What's the business for? The owner-level work most coaches skip.

  6. Step 06

    Reach Core Fulfilment — business serves your life

    The endpoint. The business funds your life, doesn't consume it. You're on the tools by choice, not necessity.

Who uses coaches

Quietly, most of the builders you know.

The owners turning over $5M+ and not drowning aren't naturally better operators. They've got someone in their corner who's seen the next two moves before. That's all coaching is — pattern recognition you can act on.

20
Active 1:1 clients
8 yrs
Longest active relationship
5+
Clients past the 5-year mark
$1.5M+
Revenue floor
Cross-portfolio proof

No builders on the roster yet. Here's why that's an honest answer.

I've been coaching $1.5M–$10M service businesses since 2017. The current 1:1 roster is heavy in agencies, advisory and operator-led services — not construction. The pattern recognition transfers. The honest disclosure matters more.

If you're a builder reading this — book a diagnostic and we'll work through whether the construction-specific layer is something we sketch together, or a sign to keep shopping.

What to look for in a coach

If you're shopping around — three filters.

  1. 01 · They've actually built something

    Theory is cheap. Has your coach run a real business? Made real payroll? Lost real money? If not, you're paying for theory.

  2. 02 · They understand the trade economics

    A coach who's only worked with SaaS startups doesn't get progress claims, retentions, or subbie payment terms. Industry context matters.

  3. 03 · They're long-term, not 90-day

    Anyone offering a 90-day transformation is selling you a course, not coaching. Real change in a $5M business takes 18–24 months minimum.

The endgame

A construction company that doesn't depend on you.

It's not about disappearing from the business. It's about choosing when to be in it. The end state for a builder I coach looks like:

  • → A site manager or operations lead who actually leads — not a glorified scheduler
  • → Quoting handled by an estimator, with you only on jobs above a certain threshold
  • → A 90-day cash buffer instead of milestone-to-milestone
  • → Margin you can actually see in real time, not at end-of-quarter
  • → A four-week holiday taken without your phone
  • → A business that's saleable, fundable, or scaleable when you choose
Is it worth it?

Direct talk on cost.

Fortnightly coaching is from $2,000/month + GST. Weekly from $3,000/month + GST. Six-month minimum either way. A $1,500 Altitude Audit stands alone or rolls into coaching.

Compare that to: a single bad quote that costs you 5% margin on a $1M job ($50,000). A site supervisor hire that doesn't work out ($30,000+ in cost). One client you should have said no to but didn't ($100,000+ in stress and time).

Real coaching pays for itself the first time it stops you making the same mistake again.

By city

Builders & Construction coaching by city.

Coaching is delivered globally over Google Meet — but if you’re looking for the city-specific page:

Builders & Construction — Melbourne →
Builders coaching for Melbourne-based owners.
Builders & Construction — Sydney →
Builders coaching for Sydney-based owners.
Builders & Construction — Brisbane →
Builders coaching for Brisbane-based owners.
Not ready to apply?

Find out where your business is, before you book a discovery call.

The Altitude Audit tells you exactly where you are in the BEF and what to fix first. From $1,500. Standalone — no coaching commitment.

Book the Altitude Audit →
For builders & construction

Builders-specific pain — the brutal economics of $5M–$30M.

Four things I hear from builders owners in the first call. If three or more land — we should talk.

  • 01 Your last project margin came in 4% below the quote. Not because you got the build wrong — because two suppliers shifted price mid-job and you absorbed it.
  • 02 You're running three jobs concurrently. You're personally on site at all three because the supervisors can't make the calls you make. The week disappears.
  • 03 You've learnt to live with sleepless nights about the cash flow gap on the new build. Settlement comes when it comes. Your wages bill is weekly.
  • 04 You won the bid. Now you're trying to staff it with a labour market that's 40% short. The contract margin assumed a workforce that no longer exists.
Real examples

What we'd actually work on.

Three current/recent engagements in this space. Names redacted, specifics intact.

Example 01

A residential builder at $12M turnover where every variation got verbally agreed on site and formalised three weeks later. We rebuild the variation process — written before work, signed off before billing. Margin recovery: 6% across the next four jobs.

Example 02

A commercial builder where the owner did the high-stakes client conversations on every job. We rebuild the relationship architecture — senior site managers own the relationships, founder available for escalation only. Founder hours per week drop from 70 to 48.

Example 03

A construction business at $24M revenue where supervisors couldn't close out variations or sign off subcontractor invoices. We give them the authority + tools. Founder gets back two days a week.

Ready to step off the tools?

The $1,500 Altitude Audit is the entry point. One hour over Google Meet, full BEF map, written plan — yours to keep whether we work together after or not.

Apply for coaching → $1,500 Altitude Audit