Architecture
Long project cycles mean the work happens months before the money lands. We map your fee stages against your overheads so a slow approval never turns into a payroll problem, and so scope creep gets billed instead of absorbed.
Two decades, a lot of sectors
Industry Experience That Travels
Throughout my coaching career I have worked with clients from a wide range of industries. That has given me a clear view of the specific challenges each sector faces, as well as the problems that turn out to be identical once you strip away the jargon.
The first lesson is adaptability. Businesses in every industry are constantly evolving, and the ones that adapt quickly are the ones that survive. My job is to help you spot the places where your strategy, your pricing or your processes need to shift before the market does it for you.
The second lesson is that cultural norms differ enormously between sectors. The communication style that works in finance will fall flat in the not for profit world. Understanding those nuances is what lets me give you guidance that fits your business rather than a template.
The third lesson is how much overlaps. Effective communication, honest planning, team culture and leadership decide the outcome in every industry on this page. The tools change; the fundamentals don’t.
So no, I don’t need 20 years in your specific trade to be useful to you. I need to understand how your money comes in, where it leaks out, and who in your team is carrying the business on their back. Read why owners choose me and decide for yourself.
Where I have done the work
Industries I Have Coached
Here is the short version of what usually goes wrong in each sector, and where we tend to start:
Aviation
Compliance is non-negotiable and downtime is brutally expensive. The work here is usually scheduling, documentation and making sure the knowledge lives in a system rather than in one very experienced head.
Finance
Highly regulated, entirely trust-based, and marketing is fenced in by compliance. We focus on referral engines, client data security and a service experience that justifies the fee without breaching a single rule.
IT
My own backyard. Technician utilisation, scope creep on fixed-price agreements and recurring revenue that quietly stops growing. I have run an MSP to $5+ million, so this conversation gets specific fast.
Logistics
Thin margins, volatile fuel and labour costs, and subcontractors who represent your brand without being on your payroll. Pricing discipline and visibility over each job are where the profit hides.
Manufacturing
Capital tied up in equipment, quoting done on gut feel, and lead times that slip. We tighten the quoting process and fix retention on the floor, because training someone twice costs more than paying them properly once.
Not For Profit
Funding cycles you don’t control, volunteers you can’t performance-manage the usual way, and a board to keep informed. The work is doing more with less without burning out the handful of people doing it.
Pharmaceutical
Long approval timelines and strict limits on what you may claim. Planning has to run years ahead, and distribution relationships matter more than any advertising campaign you could buy.
Real Estate
Commission cycles create feast and famine, agents churn, and leads go cold while everyone is at an open. We build follow-up systems and an agency brand that outlives whoever happens to be on the team this year.
Recruitment
The same feast and famine, plus a candidate database that is only worth something if it is maintained. Consultant retention and a repeatable business development rhythm are the two levers that matter.
Transport
Driver shortages, compliance obligations, fuel and maintenance scheduling. We look hard at cost per kilometre, at the jobs you should be turning down, and at keeping good drivers longer than six weeks.
Plus Plenty More
Trades, hospitality, e-commerce, professional services, health and wholesale — if your industry is not listed, ask. The odds are I have either worked in it, sold to it, or coached someone in it.
The common thread
What Every Industry Gets Wrong
Different sectors, same six or seven mistakes. I have seen every one of these in businesses that looked healthy from the outside:
- Pricing set by fear. Quoting against the cheapest operator in your market instead of against your own costs.
- The owner as the bottleneck. Nothing ships, nothing gets quoted and nothing gets fixed unless you are in the room.
- Marketing spend with no measurement. Paying an agency monthly without ever being shown what it returned.
- Technology bought, never used. Licences renewing for software nobody has opened in a year.
- Cyber security treated as an IT problem. It is a business risk — see the cyber security pillar.
- Hiring in a panic. Filling a seat quickly, then paying for it for the next 18 months.
- No plan past this quarter. Busy is not the same as profitable, and neither is growing.
Your industry is not as special as you think. Your numbers are.
Robert Adelman — The No Bullshit Business Coach
How the sessions run
How I Adapt To Your Sector
Every engagement starts the same way: I come to you. Sitting in your business for a couple of hours tells me more about your industry than any briefing document ever could — who interrupts whom, where the paper piles up, which phone never stops.
From there we agree on the three things that would move the needle most in the next 90 days, and we meet monthly to make sure they actually happen. Between sessions you can reach me whenever something urgent lands.
If your business is trade-based, there is a dedicated page for you at tradie business coaching. If you run a leadership team rather than a tool belt, start with executive coaching in Melbourne instead.
Tell Me About Your IndustryStraight answers
Industry Questions, Answered Straight
Do you need experience in my industry to coach me?
No, and be wary of anyone who insists otherwise. Cash flow, pricing, hiring, marketing and systems behave the same way whether you sell aircraft parts or swimwear.
What I do need is a couple of hours inside your business to understand how your money moves. That is why the first meeting is onsite.
Which industries do you turn down?
Any business where I can’t see myself adding real value, and any owner who wants an agreeable audience rather than honest feedback.
I will tell you that on the free call rather than take your money for six months and hope something sticks.
Do you work with businesses that only trade online?
Yes. I have run an e-commerce subscription business since 2014 and an SEO agency before that, so online retail and lead generation are familiar ground.
Start with the digital marketing and SEO pillar if traffic is your bottleneck.
How small is too small for business coaching?
If you have paying customers and you are serious about growing, you are big enough. Some of the biggest gains happen in one and two person businesses because the decisions are still easy to change.
There is more detail on the small business coach page.
What if my industry is heavily regulated?
Then compliance becomes part of the plan rather than an excuse to avoid one. I work inside your regulatory limits, not around them, and I will not suggest marketing you are not allowed to run.
Where specialist advice is needed, I will introduce you to a vetted partner rather than pretend I am the expert.
Can you help if my industry is shrinking?
Often yes, but the honest conversation might be about margin, diversification or an exit rather than growth for its own sake.
Having sold two businesses myself, I would rather help you leave well than watch you hang on for two more painful years.
Do you coach more than one business in the same industry?
I am careful about direct competitors in the same city, because you deserve advice that is entirely yours.
If there is a conflict, I will say so upfront and either decline or make sure both parties are comfortable before anything starts.
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