The Construction Business Blueprint #043 - The Q3 Plan Every Construction Owner Needs (Live Keynote)

Most construction business owners plan the next quarter from exactly where they are now, the same habits, the same fears, the same blind spots, and the same reactive way of working.

That usually creates more of the same.

In this episode of Construction Business Blueprint, Marc brings together the full Q2 review and Q3 planning process.

After reviewing Q2 honestly, looking at the real numbers, finding the gaps, and working on the founder behind the business, this session is about building a Q3 plan from a clearer place.

Marc walks through how to choose one headline focus for the quarter, set proper targets across the five key business metrics, and create a weekly tracking rhythm so the plan doesn’t disappear once work gets busy again.

This episode also looks at the difference between planning like an operator and planning like a founder.

The operator asks how to do more. The founder asks what needs to change structurally so the next quarter is better, not just busier.

You’ll also hear why saying no is a superpower, why founder time needs to be blocked like a real appointment, and why your Q3 plan needs something in it for your life too, not just the business.

If you’re a construction business owner who wants Q3 to actually move the business forward, this episode will help you create a plan with focus, targets, tracking, and real commitment.

Subscribe for weekly videos helping construction business owners get more time, more profit, and more control.

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction to the Q3 planning section

00:04 - Reviewing Q2, your numbers, and the founder

00:11 - Now it’s time to plan Q3

00:17 - Why most owners plan from where they already are

00:27 - Why Q3 cannot just be another to-do list

00:38 - Drawing a line in the sand for the next six months

00:53 - Planning from a clearer starting point

01:11 - The structure of the Q3 plan

01:22 - Choosing one headline focus

01:36 - Why one focus beats a long list

01:45 - Examples of a strong Q3 focus

01:58 - Pick the hardest or most important focus

02:11 - Writing your Q3 headline focus

02:22 - Why this is the right focus

02:29 - What success should look like by the end of Q3

02:57 - What could get in the way?

03:09 - What are you going to say no to?

03:31 - Founder vs operator reminder

03:43 - The operator keeps today moving

03:46 - The founder makes tomorrow easier

04:17 - Planning Q3 like a founder

04:23 - Operator thinking vs founder thinking

04:39 - Making the next quarter structurally better

04:50 - Why less revenue with more margin can be a win

05:19 - Running every Q3 target through the founder filter

05:32 - Setting targets for the five key metrics

05:43 - Monthly revenue target

05:48 - Gross profit margin target

06:06 - Lead conversion rate target

06:07 - Average job value target

06:17 - Pipeline target

06:30 - Make the targets honest but stretching

07:03 - Building a weekly tracking rhythm

07:10 - Why tracking should not always be done by you

07:23 - When will you actually review the numbers?

07:52 - Choosing your review day

08:27 - Where the numbers will be tracked

08:39 - Who needs to be involved in the review?

09:17 - Blocking founder time properly

09:31 - Why tasks expand to fill the time you give them

09:49 - Why founder time must be blocked in the diary

10:22 - Planning something for your life, not just the business

10:31 - A plan you don’t enjoy is not sustainable

10:53 - The business should serve your life

11:10 - What will you do this quarter for yourself?

11:28 - Choosing a reward for hitting your Q3 target

12:00 - What will hitting this target make possible?

12:52 - Making your Q3 commitment

13:03 - Turning intention into defined action

13:21 - Drawing the line in the sand

13:32 - The one thing you’ll do differently this week

13:41 - Choosing your review day and monthly submission rhythm

14:21 - Reviewing what you’ve just built

14:43 - Building a Q3 plan from a clear place

14:54 - The business will only evolve when you do

15:03 - Don’t leave motivated and do nothing

15:14 - Looking at the quarter from a different perspective

15:25 - Think like a founder before reacting

15:53 - Clearly articulate the problem before making decisions

Transcript

Why Q3 Planning Starts Now

SPEAKER_00 0:00

So part three is the Q3 planning, kind of where it all comes together. So you've reviewed Q2, honestly. You've looked at your real numbers, you've found the gaps, yeah, you've worked on the founder, the person running it all now. We're gonna plan Q3. And again, I've touched on all this already. Alright, so most people plan their quarter from exactly where they are now. Okay, the same head, the same fear, it's blind spots, just plan more the same, a wee bit more progress, get a wee bit more work in here or whatever else. But you know, not just a to-do list for quarter three. Like this is this is gonna no matter how well or not well the year has been so far. I always talk about drawing the line in the sand. You've got six months to turn around here and make something of it, or otherwise just another year and a new a new New Year's resolution next year and no impact having. So we're gonna do things differently, and we always do things differently like that in here. So your plan on Q3 having just told yourself the truth about the business and yourself, and that's a completely different starting point. That's why this is at the end, that's why we had that piece in between. Because hopefully now you're thinking completely differently. Maybe I've said something that's hit you or triggered you or had an impact on you or changed your perspective, and that's why we've done that piece before this. We're gonna

Choose One Headline Focus

SPEAKER_00 1:06

go through it bit by bit again. So take your timers. I'll again set the timer so don't be rushing on filling it out. But we're gonna go, we're gonna do the one headline focus, we're gonna target on the five numbers, the metrics, and then a commitment that you can actually hold yourself to and again come back to every time. So before numbers is direction, what's the one thing that would make the biggest difference and you know to your business and your life in quarter three? So we're again we're not just talking surface level, but we're gonna look at one thing, not a list of 10 or 15 things that overwhelming, you never get through any of them. What's the one headline focus for quarter three? Is it get off the tools, improve profitability, build the team, you know, more founder time, better clients, different type of work, build the pipeline so you're not making decisions out of fear, grabbing on to the first thing you can think of. But whatever it is for you, based on everything you've seen and heard this morning, you know, your real numbers, your founder scores on the on the last one, what's the single headline focus for this quarter? And realistically, guys, it should be the hardest one or the lowest one or the one you want to avoid doing the most. Don't pick the easy thing, okay? So, like you even look at your list of to-do, I always say every day, pick the hardest thing first and work your way up. So, in the workbook there, what is your Q3 headline focus? Not one thing, not a list. So, just work through this actually as I'm talking. So, what is your Q3 headline focus? Just one thing, not a list. What's the next thing is going to be why is this the right focus for quarter three? Does it connect it to the gap you found and the pillar that you scored the lowest in? Then we want to look like what does success look like at the end of quarter three if all this goes right? So, what does it look like? What after the end of quarter three, what what impact has it had on your business or life? More time, less stress, you know, think deeper about oh, it'll be great, it'll be good. You know, what does it actually, what is the impact it's having on you? Finally get things organized, finally gets things sorted, finally have a plan in place. Some of you in here could just be not feeling like jumping in front of the bus.

Name The Risks And Say No

SPEAKER_00 2:52

So, what will get in the way? What's the biggest risk? Again, remember we talked about that self-mastery. What's the biggest risk of something getting in the way? Or what's the biggest risk going to drag you back in in the old ways and bring you off plan? And then the biggest one here is what are you going to say no to? And this is the big thing that most people, the majority of people struggle with in this industry is saying no. What are you going to say no to this quarter to protect your focus? Because saying no, we've had a few lessons on this, saying no is a superpower. You know, saying yes to everything, pleasing everybody at the cost of what? The cost of your energy, the cost of your headspace, whatever it may be, your family. So saying no more often, having those boundaries in

Plan Like A Founder Not Operator

SPEAKER_00 3:29

place. Okay, so before you set your number targets, okay, one reminder that ties the whole day together. So again, there's two rules in every business the founder and operator, and I went through it all in detail. The operator keeps today moving, it's all the stuff that makes the business go round, it's all the stuff that has to happen. And the founder makes tomorrow easier. That's what's strengthening the foundations or building the foundations if you don't have any. That's what's going to have an impact and maybe come delight three months' time, six months' time, or twelve months' time. You know, the operator stuff's the stuff that needs to be done now in the short term that keep things ticking. But the founder work is the stuff that has the big impact over time that isn't always tangible. In other words, we can't touch it, see it, feel it. But that's the stuff that moves the needle, and that's why most people shy away from it because it's not tangible. There's nobody thanking you for it, there's nobody patting you on the back, so it doesn't feel like it's productive. And again, the operator works in the business and the founder works on it. So this quarter, I want you planning as the founder, I want you know tracking these things as a founder and thinking like a founder. The operator in Q3, how do I take on more work? How do I add more jobs to the pipeline? You know, the Q the founder then asks, what do I change about the business, the pricing system, you know, the systems themselves, the team and myself, so next quarter is structurally better, just not you know, not just busier, or you know, looking at that average project value or refining your pricing structure so that your margin increase and you don't need more work because the work you're doing now is profitable. And sometimes that's a funny thing you'll see during the metrics on your on your screen on the portal. I oh like I've got them up and down, so you'll see like what's down this month and what's up. And I see some guys' revenue down by 10-20%. And if you were only looking at that one metric, you'd shit yourself. But then when you see the the margin and it's up 40 or 60 percent, that means there's less work happening, but more profit coming in the door, and that's that's that's the goal everybody wants to get to. That's where they say like work smart, not hard, and all this stuff. So again, here we we know we believe in working both ways, smarter and harder. So everything you set yourself, every target you set yourself during the Q3 plan, and I want you to run it through that filter. You know, is this an operator's plan harder, faster, more of it, or is it a founder plan? Is it better, smarter, structurally different? Because the numbers will only change that way

Set Targets For Five Core Metrics

SPEAKER_00 5:31

if you do. We want to look at the numbers. This is an easy one. Obviously, you know your five metrics. You you already know them, or you should know them. If you don't know them and you're new here, that's fine. We'll get to know them. This one will be easier. This is what you're planning to do. So, what your Q2 actual was and what your Q3 target is. So, monthly revenue, what are you targeting each month in quarter three? Gross profit margin then, and remember properly calculated overheads, salary in, not this I don't pay myself, and then counting it as profit, and you haven't taken any money out of the business. That's not profit. What margin are you protecting or building towards? Lead conversion rate. So if Q2 showed a sales problem or a conversion problem, this is where you fix it. Average job value, remember the it's the fastest lever of growth in your business. Fewer, fewer, bigger, better jobs, essentially. And then pipeline, how many weeks or months, or some cases years of confirmed forward work do you want to be carrying? So you spend Q3 in control rather than reacting out of fear. So you have to kind of think what the biggest impact is here on the business, too, when you're looking at this. What's the one causing you the most stress? That's what you work on first, like I said. So set a target for all five, make them honest, make them stretch by the way, don't make them easy. You make it uncomfortable. You shouldn't really be writing it down, thinking of how you're gonna get there, but write it down. Obviously, yes, we don't want toxic positivity like we always talk about here. Like now you're at a quarter of a million, you want to take the 10 million next quarter. Like, you know, that's not gonna happen. It's about being real but also pushing yourself or stretching yourself. So just write down your actual target or your sorry, your your actual number from the last section. If you don't know, just put a question mark in and then your target then for quarter three. So get them filled in if you're still writing

Build A Weekly Tracking Rhythm

SPEAKER_00 7:03

right away. So I want you to look at your weekly tracking rhythm, okay? And I want you to be clear, so this doesn't have to be you doing the actual tracking, in fact, it shouldn't be. Okay, someone should be tracking these things for you. If you haven't got them, that's fine. Again, there's software out there, we're building software here. The minute it's gonna take up all that, anything you're doing manually now, it's gonna be automated. So it'll be done for you. But anyway, you know, it isn't about you sitting punching numbers into your spreadsheet. You know, the real question is when is the day you're actually going to review it? Like I always say, it isn't planned, it doesn't happen. So if you're constantly saying to yourself, I need to get that done, I must do that at some point, that's never gonna happen. That time's never gonna come because always gonna be something else screaming louder than the founder work. Like I always say, the founder work is quiet, nobody's patting the back foot, but it's stuff that moves the needle. So if you don't take time to review, you could be caught out, and then that dictates everything else and puts everything else down the pan, essentially. So I want you to just write it down there, right, as I'm talking. What's gonna be your your weekly tracking rhythm? So when are you either going to either track these numbers, when are you gonna look at these numbers? Again, for some of us it could be bi-weekly, some of us it could be monthly, some of it could be even sooner than that if you're looking at a daily target for guys who are smaller reactive stuff. So when is your day that you're gonna sit down, take the time? Is it Friday at 10 o'clock? Is it whatever? Someday in the evening. What is your day for actually reviewing these numbers or or taking a stock of what these numbers are? Or yes, it could be tracking them. And it says there, I'll track my numbers in. What I want you to do for this section is slightly different. Where you're gonna track these numbers is in the trackers or a software, it's gonna be in the portal because you're gonna be doing your your your five metrics on a monthly basis. But I also want to talk, I want you to write in here who you need to be involved in that meeting or during that time, who the team members need to be involved, what are the what is the information you need gathered in order to enable you to do that? That's what's important here. So not just saying you're gonna put it down the day and then sit down at that day and go, I've nothing to review. The guy who does that's not here. So where are you tracking your numbers? What are you using? Where are you recording them? The portal's definitely gonna be one of them. Who do you need in that meeting? Who do you need to present those figures, or who or what needs to be involved, or how does someone feed into that? So that's crucial. So it's okay picking a day, but if you haven't done the work, you've nothing to review. So that should be an easy one for most people. We're just picking a day and we're sticking to

Time Blocking Founder Work Properly

SPEAKER_00 9:16

it. And again, when I talk about picking a day or blocking off founder time, you know, you open my, I haven't got my phone on maybe you open my phone and everything will be in there. Every time has a set time, start and finish, start and finish of every task. And that's important because again, that Parkinson's law that we all talked about before, a task will allow you, uh will take up the space that you give it. So if you if you say I'll get that done this week, then I'll take all week, you'll never get out of it. But blocking even time off with yourself, like a meeting to sit down at a certain time of the week or day, is important and it's crucial because if you don't, something else will fill that void for you and you you will put it last. So every week you should have your founder time, so it's in the it's in the second, blocked off. You know, certain days or times during the week where you are actually taking a step back to do these things. You know, you're here today, this is founder time, everybody booked this off, or most did. Some people got here last, you know, just to the skin of their teeth. But what happens is you're here, it shows you what you can do when you need to. Doctors' appointments, hospital appointments, funeral, that's the one everybody seems to attain no matter what's going on. But like it just shows you it is possible, but it's what you're prioritizing. So you need to prioritise yourself, you need to prioritize the business. So getting that time blocked off is crucial.

Add Fun Rewards And Meaning

SPEAKER_00 10:23

But before we lack in the commitment, okay, this quarter isn't just about the business. I want you to add something that most planning sessions completely miss, and it matters more than people think. A plan you don't enjoy isn't sustainable. So you can set the best targets in the world this morning, but if you know the whole quarter is just ground, ground, ground, and it's all about the business, and there's nothing in it for you, you'll be burnt out and you'll be resentful by the time you get to August, and then the plan goes out the window and you're back to square one. So the business is again meant to serve you, it's meant to serve your life, not the other way around. And somewhere along the way, most of us forget that, and it's easy that's easy to happen, it happens to everybody. Anyone who that hasn't happened to in here, yeah, I'd be surprised. If I say nobody said it happened to everybody, you built the business to give you a better life, and then the business at the life essentially, chewed it up, and it's time to get it back. So I want you to plan something for you or the family or whatever this quarter, not the business, but for you. So, what are you actually going to do this quarter for fun, for your family, for yourself outside of work? You know, a trip, time off, and the thing you've been putting off for years because you were too busy. Something you've never been able to do, school run. That was that was a good amount for so many years. And the powerful one is what's the reward that you'll give yourself when you hit your Q3 target? Otherwise, what's the point? You know, we need to reward ourselves for hitting targets. That's what's going to drive us on. I know we're talking about motivation, but that's self-mastery. That'll help. Won't be the be-all- and end all, but it'll definitely help. So a specific reward tied to a specific result, and it'll change how you chase whatever it is you're going after. When there's something real or something tangible at the end of it, rewarding yourself for it. And the deeper question underneath all of it is what does hitting this quarter or the target this quarter actually make possible in your life? So if it's time, what does that time provide you the ability to do? Or if it's finances, what does that finance give you to do? At the end of the day, guys, life's for fucking living. If we're not if we're not doing it, and everything's just fucking work, work, work day on day, you will like 20, 30 years will go past, and some people can vouch for this already in their business. It's it's gone in the blink of an eye, and you have very little to show for it. So we have to make it worthwhile. We have to have a bit of fun along the way. Like, write down what are you going to do this quarter for you, for fun, for your life outside of the business. What's the reward you'll give yourself when you hit your Q3 targets? And what will hitting your targets that's meant to say what will hitting this quarter? You're going to hit the quarter anyway. What will hitting your target this quarter actually make possible in your

Make A Non Negotiable Commitment

SPEAKER_00 12:44

life? Okay, so the last thing, and it's the most important thing, and it's your commitment, all right, because nothing changes in your business until a decision is made and actually followed through. And again, I know we've we've touched on it, we've probably wrote it down a couple of times in here, but I want this to be like your your headline focus here. That the one thing that you're going to look at during quarter three. So writing it down forces clarity, and it takes you out of the I'll get to that, and it turns it into a defined action with actual ownership. And it gives you something to hold yourself to and it gives you a clear view of where you're at, so you know I can guide you properly as well. So your headline focus, your five targets are already written down on the pages before, so you don't need to repeat them. This page again, like my famous line that I always say is you know, this page is a line in the sand. It's like all the rough work's done in the back. This is your this is your tidy bit, the commitment, and it's the one thing that you're doing differently starting from this week. So from this is Friday, so it times out well from Monday. What's the one thing you're going to do differently this week? And connect it to your founder work, okay, your review day, and when you'll submit your your your monthly track, your monthly um numbers to the portal. So we want you to have that your your five metrics tracking time, and also you'll submit your five, your your monthly numbers to the portal by when. So that'll maybe be if you're only still in the middle of June, it'll be your numbers for May will be getting into the portal because they should all be said and done by now. You should have all that information. So that's Stevie made a good point there. It's always going to be a month behind. So for June, it'll be for May, and so on and so forth. So get that written down, non-negotiable. I want everyone to have that headline focus, okay? And that's a that's a record of actually ever finished on time. So like that's the day, okay.

Review Reset Plan And Perspective

SPEAKER_00 14:19

Look at what you've just done. And I even if you're brand new to this, what you've just gone through that can be that can be heavy, okay. Really heavy. So review Q2 honestly, not the feeling, the facts. You found a gap between what you thought was real, you worked on the founder, the person running all of it, and you scored yourself honestly on vision, self-mastery, and energy. And now you've built a Q3 plan from a clear place with real targets and real commitments. So that's the review, the reset, and the plan. The review reset we do every 30 days. That was it on steroids. So here's what I'll leave you with, okay? The business will only ever evolve when you do. That's the fact. So you've done the real work on yourself this morning. Don't let it evaporate by Thursday. Don't leave here with motivation and then do fuck all about it. So that's how you carry today forward into a quarter that actually has an impact on the business. And then also remember the movie. I know it might seem somebody's made a struggle with that one, but what would you tell somebody you loved, or what would you tell the movie? You know, know exactly what to tell them. Try to look at everything going on in your life here and over this next quarter from a different perspective. Take time to sit back and ask yourself a question. What will this decision make, or how will I approach this decision? You know, you're sitting outside and you're getting in to deal with a problem, sit with it first and ask the question. You know, how am I going to approach this problem? What are we going to do about it? You know, I get those messages and phone calls all the time, and I enjoy those conversations. But again, never just react. Think like a founder, think from the outside looking in. What you know, if it's a team member, what could that person, what could their view on it be? You know, always, always look at things from the outside looking in. Ask yourself the question question first. And like I say during the onboarding videos on the portal, clearly articulate what the problem is and what you've already tried to solve it, or what you could do differently, or how you could approach it before making the decision.