Case Studies

Systems that hold up in the field.

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General Contractor: From Chaos to Control

Industry: General Contracting
Annual Revenue: $15M
Engagement Duration: 6 months
Primary Focus: Operational Systems & Financial Visibility

The Challenge

This general contractor had grown from $5M to $15M in three years, but growth came with chaos. Every project felt different. Quality was inconsistent. Deadlines were missed regularly. The owner was working 70-hour weeks, putting out fires instead of building a business.

Before

  • •No standardized project processes—each PM ran projects differently
  • •Financial reporting was 60 days behind reality
  • •Project margins varied wildly: -5% to 25%, with no predictability
  • •On-time completion rate: 45%
  • •Owner involved in every decision, creating bottlenecks
  • •Team turnover at 40% annually
  • •Cash flow surprises every quarter

What We Did

1. Operational Systems: We mapped their current processes (which were mostly informal) and built standardized workflows for project kickoff, daily operations, quality control, and closeout. We created clear checklists, defined roles, and established communication protocols.

2. Financial Visibility: We implemented real-time job costing, set up financial dashboards, and created reporting that showed project profitability weekly instead of quarterly. We built cash flow forecasting and financial controls that prevented overspending.

3. Leadership Structure: We defined clear roles and responsibilities, established KPIs for project managers, and created accountability systems that focused on results, not blame. The owner could step back from day-to-day operations without losing control.

The Results

After (8 months)

  • •Project margins stabilized: 12-18% range, predictable
  • •Overall margin improvement: +12 percentage points
  • •On-time completion rate: 78% (up from 45%)
  • •Financial reporting: Real-time, updated weekly
  • •Owner hours: Reduced from 70 to 45 hours per week
  • •Team turnover: Down to 15% annually
  • •Cash flow surprises: Eliminated
  • •Project managers operating independently with clear accountability

KPI Snapshot

Owner time in daily issues

70 hrs/week → ~45 hrs/week

Schedule adherence

45% → 78%

Margin variance range

±12–15% → ±4–6%

Reporting cadence

60-day lag → weekly updates

Metrics reflect measured ranges during the first six months. No guarantees.

The Impact

The owner could finally step back. He wasn't involved in every decision. Projects ran smoothly without constant intervention. The team knew what to do, when to do it, and how to do it right.

Financial visibility meant they could make decisions based on data, not gut feel. They stopped taking unprofitable projects. They knew which clients were worth keeping and which weren't. Cash flow became predictable.

Most importantly, the business could scale. They're now positioned to grow to $25M without the chaos that came with the first growth phase. The systems work whether the owner is there or not.

"We went from constant firefighting to predictable operations. Our margins improved 12 points in 8 months, and I finally have visibility into what's actually happening. I can take a vacation without everything falling apart. That's worth more than the numbers."

— Owner, General Contractor

Case study by The KPS Group team

CASE STUDY 01

TND Texas, LLC

Industry: Residential & Light Commercial Construction

Starting Point

When The KPS Group began working with TND Texas, the company was doing solid revenue but operating almost entirely from the owner's head.

  • •8–12 active jobs at any given time
  • •Owner involved in most scheduling, decisions, and problem-solving
  • •No consistent job setup or closeout process
  • •Margins varied significantly job to job

Nothing was failing — but nothing was scalable.

Core Problems Identified

  • •Job execution depended on who was running the job
  • •No standard workflow from estimate → job start → closeout
  • •Financials reviewed monthly, not tied to individual jobs
  • •Owner averaging 60–70 hours/week just to keep things moving

What The KPS Group Actually Changed

Over the first 90 days, The KPS Group worked with TND Texas to:

  • •Standardize job setup and closeout across 100% of projects
  • •Define clear responsibilities for owner vs. crew leads
  • •Implement basic job-level margin tracking
  • •Establish weekly operational and financial check-ins

No new software. No complex dashboards. Just consistent execution.

Measurable Results (6 Months In)

  • •Owner involvement in daily operations reduced by ~35–40%
  • •Job overruns reduced by ~25%
  • •Average gross margin variance tightened from ±12–15% down to ±4–6%
  • •Missed details and rework incidents dropped noticeably (tracked weekly)

KPI Snapshot

Owner time in operations

60–70 hrs/week → ~40–45 hrs/week

Job overruns

Down by ~25%

Margin variance

±12–15% → ±4–6%

Rework incidents

Noticeably lower week over week

Ranges observed after 6 months of disciplined execution. No guarantees.

Bottom Line

The business stopped relying on memory and constant supervision to run correctly.

CASE STUDY 02

Multi-Crew Residential Contractor

Location: Dallas–Fort Worth Area

Starting Point

This contractor had:

  • •3 active crews
  • •A consistent backlog
  • •Strong demand

But the owner was still acting as the default problem-solver.

Core Problems Identified

  • •Crew leads had different expectations and standards
  • •Problems surfaced late, usually after costs were already sunk
  • •No consistent weekly reporting from the field
  • •Owner spending 2–3 hours/day resolving preventable issues

What The KPS Group Actually Changed

The KPS Group helped the company:

  • •Define written expectations for crew leads
  • •Implement a simple weekly reporting rhythm (jobs, blockers, labor hours)
  • •Introduce scorecards tied to schedule adherence and rework
  • •Move accountability conversations upstream, not after the fact

Measurable Results (First 4–6 Months)

  • •Owner time spent firefighting reduced by ~30%
  • •Schedule adherence improved from ~70% to ~88–92%
  • •Rework-related labor hours reduced by ~20%
  • •Crew leads began resolving most issues without escalation

KPI Snapshot

Owner time in escalations

2–3 hrs/day → ~1 hr/day

Schedule adherence

~70% → ~88–92%

Rework labor hours

Down ~20%

Issue resolution

Most handled by crew leads

Observed during the first 4–6 months across three active crews. No guarantees.

Bottom Line

Accountability stopped being reactive — and became routine.

CASE STUDY 03

Owner-Led Construction Company

Size: 10–15 Employees

Starting Point

Revenue looked healthy on paper, but the owner couldn't answer basic questions with confidence:

  • •Which jobs actually made money
  • •Which crews were most efficient
  • •Why cash flow felt tight despite strong sales

Core Problems Identified

  • •No reliable job costing
  • •Financials reviewed 30–45 days after the fact
  • •Pricing decisions based on instinct
  • •Cash flow planning done week to week

What The KPS Group Actually Changed

The KPS Group worked with the owner to:

  • •Tie labor hours and material costs directly to jobs
  • •Review job margins weekly instead of monthly
  • •Identify underpriced scopes and recurring cost overruns
  • •Establish a predictable financial review cadence

Measurable Results (Within 3–4 Months)

  • •Identified 2 service types consistently underperforming by 8–10%
  • •Adjusted pricing and scope — restoring margins on new work
  • •Cash flow predictability improved (no more surprise shortfalls)
  • •Owner confidence in financial decisions significantly improved

KPI Snapshot

Margin review cadence

Monthly lag → weekly review

Service lines underperforming

2 identified at 8–10% below target

Cash flow surprises

Moved from quarterly shocks to predictable forecasts

Pricing adjustments

New work scoped with restored margins

Captured after 3–4 months once weekly financial rhythms were in place. No guarantees.

Bottom Line

Decisions stopped being guesses and started being informed.

Testimonials

Pull-out quotes from operators who installed People · Processes · Profit with us.

Client voice

Verified operator quotes

“Working with The KPS Group cut the amount of time I was personally involved in day-to-day problems by at least a third.”

Operations Director, GC

Client voice

Verified operator quotes

“We didn't magically make more money overnight — but we stopped bleeding it in places we couldn't see before.”

Owner, HVAC Contractor

Client voice

Verified operator quotes

“The biggest change was consistency. Jobs stopped depending on who was running them.”

Field Superintendent, Roofing

Client voice

Verified operator quotes

“For the first time, I could look at our numbers and actually trust what I was seeing.”

President, Specialty Trades

What Makes This Work

This case study isn't unique. The pattern is consistent: businesses that are scaling but don't have systems hit a wall. They're reactive, not proactive. Margins shrink. Chaos increases.

The solution isn't more people or more technology. It's systems. Clear processes. Financial visibility. Accountability. When you build these right, the results follow.

But it requires commitment. The owner in this case study was involved. He made decisions. He enforced the systems. He didn't expect us to fix everything while he watched. That's why it worked.

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