How Gary went from a grey area to knowing exactly where he stands

The short version

Gary runs a commercial blinds and installation business. When he split from his business partner he inherited a finance setup he could not see into. Leigh turned that around, chased down money the previous setup had been quietly giving away, and only bills for the time the business actually needs.

Where they were before

When Gary split the company from his former partner he took some of the staff with him, including the person who handled the finances. From that point on he had no real idea what was going on. Everything was a grey area. He could not get a business plan together, the cost analysis was either missing or did not stand up when he looked at it, and cashflow was a constant worry because he never knew how much was owed at any one point. In his own words, it was a bit of a mess.

How they found Leigh

Leigh came recommended by the finance person at a friend's logistics company. From the first meeting he reassured Gary that he would have full control of the finances, a clear view of what was coming in, what was going out and where the business actually stood, instead of working in the dark the way he had been.

What Leigh does now

The first big change was getting the business onto Xero, so the whole picture is clear now, with proper projections in place. The day to day inputs and invoicing are handled in house, and Leigh takes the more complex work: the applications to main contractors for phased valuations, and dealing with the invoice finance company.

That is where having Leigh in the room really tells. He speaks the same language as the banks and the invoice financiers, so Gary can walk into any meeting knowing the answers will be there.

There is a fairness to how he works, too. He started at two days a week, and when that turned out to be more than the business needed, he brought it down to one, rather than hang on to the hours.

The difference it has made

Two things stand out. Leigh showed Gary that the business was overstaffed in one area, which let him trim the team and improve the margin. And he sorted out a problem that had been costing real money. On main contractor work, a slice of every job is held back on retention and released later, and the previous setup had not been chasing it. The business had effectively been giving that money away on every single job. Leigh put procedures in place to track and chase it on time, which made a serious difference to cash planning. Compared with where he started, Gary describes it as chalk and cheese.

There is more on how Leigh works with contract and trade businesses, on retention payments, and on the cash flow pressures subcontractors face.