Done-for-you implementation · Built and installed, not taught
Built by someone who has been the bottleneck
TBO Consulting is David Baker’s firm. We do done-for-you implementation for owners of building, construction and trade businesses: the systems built and installed in your business, not taught to you. Everything below explains why David can do that, and what it means for the owner who hires him.
01
From the tools
David came up through the trade. He did his building apprenticeship from 18 to 22, between Whanganui and Palmerston North, then worked his way into managing crews, including a 300-panel precast job where he ran 15 staff and the materials.
What this means for you: the person designing your systems knows how a site actually runs. Processes are written for crews in the elements, not for an office that does not exist.
02
Building, and selling, a building company
David built Bakers Builds, a building company working between Queenstown and Auckland, and ran it for six years. Good jobs and a good name, but he was the business: every quote, every problem and every decision came through him.
He learned the expensive way. He lost heavily on a fixed-price volume contract, and he underpriced jobs until he started breaking every one down line by line. He built the lead generation and follow-up that kept the company busy, worked himself out of the middle of it, then sold the business and exited.
What this means for you: the contract terms, pricing discipline and follow-up we install come from losses David has already taken. You get the fix without paying for the lesson.
03
Track record: what David has worked on
David’s experience is broad rather than narrow: on the tools, running crews, building and selling companies, and installing systems in other owners’ businesses.
On the tools
A building apprenticeship, from 18 to 22, between Whanganui and Palmerston North.
What it means for you: systems designed by someone who knows how a site really runs.
Commercial precast, Queenstown
Co-ran a crew of 10 to 15 building precast panels for a large commercial development, through Queenstown winters.
What it means for you: first-hand experience of fixed-price risk, tight programmes and managing a crew under pressure.
Bakers Builds: built, sold and exited
A building company run for about six years between Queenstown and Auckland, with up to about 15 on the tools at its peak. David built it, worked himself out of the middle of it, then sold it and exited.
What it means for you: the path from owner-operator to sellable business is one he has walked himself.
Get It Moved: built and exited
Another business David built and exited.
What it means for you: more than one exit behind the advice on making a business worth buying.
RapidQS: founder
An estimating and pre-construction business with about 20 staff across New Zealand, Australia and the UK.
What it means for you: quoting, margin and job-costing systems built on how jobs are actually priced.
Industry speaking
A partner of The Professional Builder, and a speaker at its Builders Growth Summit in Auckland, presenting an expert session on pricing accurately, efficiently and profitably.
What it means for you: methods tested in front of rooms full of builders.
Implementation in client businesses
- An AI agent installed and live in a Wellington builder’s business in about three days.
- An install for a building business in London.
- Will, builder, Sydney: moved from labour only to full contract projects, with one of his own builders running the day to day.
- Georgie, building company, London: the small jobs taken off the owner’s desk.
- Gus, new builds and renovations, Christchurch: grew to $1.8M a year, with key hires taking the low-value work off him.
Full details are on the results page.
What gets installed
CRMs and automated follow-ups, written processes and video SOPs, numbers dashboards, hiring and the right person in the day-to-day seat, and marketing that brings in enquiries without relying on word of mouth.
What it means for you: the same systems, built in your business and handed over running.
04
In the industry
David has presented an expert session on pricing accurately, efficiently and profitably to residential builders at an industry summit in Auckland. He has spoken at builder events, appeared as a guest on builder podcasts, and publishes pricing breakdowns of real projects in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand on his YouTube channel.
What this means for you: the methods are tested in public, in front of builders who would call out anything that does not work on site.
05
Why done-for-you
David does not believe in paying someone for twelve months while the owner still does the work at night. In his words, “the amount of change you can make in 60, 90 days” is where the value is.
So TBO does one thing. We come in, find what is holding the business to you, install the systems, make sure they run, and step back. There are no modules, group calls or homework. While the install is underway, Catch Up, our weekly implementation check-in, reports on what has been installed, fixes what is stuck and keeps the build moving.
“David is a straight-up bloke, easy to deal with and most importantly he’s a doer. … he actually gets stuck in and helps do the doing.”
What this means for you: a fixed piece of work over 8 to 12 weeks, measured by what is running in your business when we leave.
06
Working with clients internationally
Our clients’ businesses run from Christchurch to Sydney to London. With businesses built in New Zealand, Australia and the UK, we work with trade, construction and building owners wherever they are based.
Next step
Work with TBO Consulting
A 20 to 30 minute call with David is the starting point. You will come away knowing whether we can help. See the results or how we work.