Contractor Systems & Operations Diagnostic

What is a contractor systems diagnostic?

In most small contractors I’ve worked with, the business runs on the owner’s head, phone and truck. Everybody waits on the one person who knows how things work, and the owner can’t take two weeks off without the whole thing stalling. The Systems Diagnostic is a fixed-fee look at how work moves through your company, from the first call to closeout, and where it gets stuck on you. You get a written summary with a prioritized 90-day plan, and usually a process map, a draft of who owns what, and a short list of the first procedures worth writing down.

The diagnostic does not assume anything is documented. Most small contractors run on tribal knowledge — the owner knows how everything works because the owner does everything. The diagnostic surfaces that, makes it visible to the team, and prioritizes the first three SOPs and the first delegation moves.

This engagement is not software implementation, hiring, recruiting, HR consulting, or labour-law advice. It identifies the gaps; filling them lives in coaching engagements or separate scopes.

Who is this for?

The systems diagnostic is built for:

• Construction businesses doing $500K to $10M in annual revenue with 3 to 30 staff
• Owners who feel like the business runs on their head, their phone, and their truck
• Businesses that have outgrown the “we just figure it out” stage but haven’t yet documented anything
• Owners who can’t take a two-week vacation without the business stalling
• Companies adding their first PM, foreman, or office admin and needing role clarity

This is the right starting engagement if you’re saying any of these out loud:

• “Every decision still runs through me.”
• “I’m the bottleneck on quoting, scheduling, and change orders.”
• “We need SOPs but I don’t know where to start.”
• “My team waits for me on everything.”
• “We have software but nobody uses it consistently.”

If you’re more concerned about profit specifically, see the Profit & Accounting Diagnostic. If you’re more concerned about lead flow, see the Sales & Pipeline Diagnostic.

What you walk away with

Typical outputs — what gets delivered depends on what the data and interviews support:

• A clearer picture of how work actually flows through your business — Lead → Quote → Sold → Pre-build → Build → Closeout → Warranty
• A list of the main owner bottlenecks and friction points
• A practical review of role confusion, handoff gaps, or missing process discipline
• Observations on software stack fit, over-complication, or underuse where relevant
• A prioritized operating-improvement plan for the next 90 days
• Reusable tools or templates where feasible — such as a process map, RACI draft, or SOP roadmap

If a process map or RACI draft is part of what gets delivered, it’s yours to share with your team — most clients put them on the office wall.

What’s included

• Intake review of your org chart, software stack, sample documents, and walkthrough notes
• 90-minute process walkthrough call — recorded, transcribed — where you walk Eddy through how work actually moves (not how it’s supposed to)
• Review of current workflow, owner involvement, and recurring friction points
• Role-clarity and handoff observations where data and interviews support them
• Software stack review at a practical level
• One 60-minute findings call, recorded, with transcript provided
• Written summary, approximately 8–12 pages, with a prioritized 90-day action plan
• Reusable tools or templates where feasible — such as process map, RACI draft, or SOP roadmap

What you need to provide

You upload to a private Google Drive folder we provide.

• Org chart, or a one-page list of who does what
• Software stack list — every tool you pay for (estimating, accounting, CRM, scheduling, project management, comms, document storage, takeoff, payroll, payment processing)
• Any existing SOPs, checklists, or templates — even half-finished ones
• One sample recent change order, schedule, and invoice
• Bullet-point walkthrough of how a lead becomes a job, how change orders happen, how a job gets closed out
• Top three things that consistently fall through the cracks
• Top three things you wish you didn’t have to do personally anymore

If you have no documentation of any of this, that is itself the finding. We run the 90-minute walkthrough call as primary input and build the process map from your verbal description.

How it works

Step	What happens	Timing
1	Free discovery call	Day 0
2	Agreement signed; 50% deposit ($750)	Day 0–2
3	Drive folder shared; you upload pre-work	Days 2–7
4	90-minute process walkthrough call — recorded	Day 7–10
5	Analysis: workflow review, owner-bottleneck observations, software stack review, role-clarity findings	Days 10–17
6	60-minute findings call	Day 17–21
7	Written summary delivered; final 50% due	Within 10 business days of findings call

Total turnaround: 2–3 weeks from receipt of complete intake to written summary. About 2 hours of owner time for intake plus 90 minutes for the walkthrough call.

Pricing and payment terms

Fee: $1,500 CAD, fixed. Plus GST.

Payment: 50% on signing ($750). 50% on delivery of the written summary ($750).

Refund policy: Full refund if the engagement isn’t a fit after intake review. No refunds once analysis begins.

Credit toward Fast Track: 50% of the diagnostic fee credited toward Contractor Fast Track if you start within 30 days of receiving the written summary.

What this is not

• Done-for-you operations management
• Software implementation, setup, migration, or training (Buildertrend, Jobber, ServiceTitan, etc.) — referred or scoped separately
• Hiring or recruiting — the diagnostic identifies the role; filling it is yours
• HR or labour-law advice — stays with your HR consultant or employment lawyer
• A full SOP library — writing SOPs is coaching engagement work
• A guarantee of reduced chaos without execution effort after the diagnostic