From Commodity Provider to Market Leader with a Business Health Check Partnership
The Challenge:
A 9-person regional accounting practice in Toowoomba faced intense pressure from national firms aggressively targeting their mid-market clients with promises of “complete business advisory services.” Three significant clients had already been lost to competitors offering strategic capabilities beyond traditional compliance work.
The practice’s strength lay in personal relationships and local knowledge, but clients increasingly demanded comprehensive business analysis, operational guidance, and marketing strategy – services that larger firms could provide through dedicated specialist teams. The principal feared their practice was becoming obsolete despite 20 years of successful operations.
The Partnership Approach:
Instead of competing on price or attempting to match larger firms’ resources, the practice partnered with Garry Godfrey, Australian Business Clinic to deliver enterprise-level strategic advisory services through their existing client relationships. They targeted a local construction company – 28 employees facing growth challenges – to demonstrate their enhanced capabilities.
The Business Health Check Process:
Our team conducted a comprehensive business analysis comparable to what major consulting firms provide. The detailed review revealed complex challenges requiring sophisticated solutions:
Numbers Analysis: Uncovered job costing inaccuracies resulting in 8% profit margin erosion across projects. Working capital was severely constrained by extended debtor cycles and poor supplier payment timing. Cost allocation between projects was creating tax inefficiencies and cash flow stress.
Systems Assessment: Identified project management inefficiencies causing delivery delays and cost overruns. Manual scheduling and resource allocation were preventing accurate project forecasting, while poor equipment utilisation was reducing overall profitability by 15%.
Marketing Evaluation: Revealed over-dependence on word-of-mouth referrals with no systematic business development process. Marketing spend of $2,800 monthly generated inconsistent results due to a lack of target market focus and lead nurturing systems.
The Business Health Check Transformation:
The practice presented sophisticated strategic recommendations that rivalled advice from major consulting firms. Implementation over 10 months produced substantial business improvements:
Job costing accuracy improvements increased project margins by 37%
Working capital optimisation released $180,000 for equipment investment and expansion
Project management efficiency gains reduced delivery times by 22% while improving quality
A systematic business development process increased qualified lead generation by 56%
The Business Impact:
The construction client’s transformation created a powerful case study that the practice used to win back clients who had moved to larger firms. The demonstrated capability to deliver sophisticated strategic advisory services differentiated them from both local competitors and national firms.
Word of the construction company’s success spread throughout the regional business community, generating twelve new strategic advisory clients within nine months.
The Professional Outcome:
The practice became the preferred strategic advisor for mid-market businesses in their region, successfully competing against national firms by offering personalised service combined with enterprise-level strategic capability. Strategic advisory now represents 81% of practice revenue.
We went from being the small local firm to being the strategic advisor that larger practices couldn’t match, the principal notes. Our clients get big-firm expertise with small-firm personal attention – and that combination is unbeatable.
