by John F Kettley | Jul 6, 2026 | Leadership, SMEs
When I look at a business, I usually start with the owner. Not because the numbers don’t matter. They do. But the numbers are often the result of decisions that started much earlier. They show the effect. The owner usually shows the cause. How someone talks about...
by John F Kettley | Apr 29, 2026 | Exit Strategy, Leadership
A lot of owners say the same thing with a kind of pride: the business needs me. Sometimes that is true. It is also usually a warning sign. In founder-led construction businesses, owner dependency often gets mistaken for strength. The owner knows every client, approves...
by John F Kettley | Apr 21, 2026 | Construction Business UK, Leadership, SMEs
A lot of construction owners still talk about turnover as if it proves quality. It doesn’t. Turnover can tell you something about activity, scale or market reach, but on its own it tells you very little about how well the business is actually run. In construction...
by John F Kettley | Apr 14, 2026 | Construction Business UK
Every few months someone says the same thing: The construction sector is dying. It usually comes from frustration, not analysis. There’s no getting away from it, the market is difficult at the moment. Output has been uneven to say the least. Confidence still moves...
by John F Kettley | Apr 6, 2026 | Leadership, SMEs
Culture isn’t posters. It’s the founder’s behaviour under pressure. If you really want to see a company’s culture, ‘don’t’ read the values slide, instead, watch what happens when something goes wrong. Culture isn’t posters. It’s behaviour under pressure. It’s how the...
