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For $1M-$20M Architecture, Engineering and Construction Business Owners
We've guided 885+ business owners to create 15,000 jobs and $11B in revenue.
Now it's your turn to scale, diversify and sell without leaving millions behind.
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The Cost of Staying Stuck
Here’s the difference between going it alone vs. working with Significant Business Results.
Always stuck in the work. Final decision-maker
Growth Without Profit or Leadership Capacity
Future Transition on the Horizon
Your business runs without you
Improved margins, & leadership bandwidth
Ready for succession, internal transition, or PE
Who We Serve
We specialize in helping owners of AEC businesses who are growing, but finding that profit, leadership capacity, and firm value are not keeping pace. This is for owners who want a business that performs well today and is less dependent on them over time.
Architecture Firms
From Design Reputation to Transferable Practice:
Architecture businesses often have strong design reputations but uneven margins and principals deeply involved in daily decisions. The work focuses on protecting design quality while introducing clearer studio leadership, better fee discipline, and decision rhythms that reduce dependency on any one principal.
Principals reviewing every major decision
Great projects with thin margins
Reputation tied to one or two names
Clear studio leadership and decision rights
Stronger fee discipline and utilization
A more transferable practice with future leaders
Explore what leverage could look like for your architecture business
Engineering Firms
From Principal Firefighting to Leverage:
Engineering businesses often struggle with utilization, WIP visibility, and heavy principal involvement in technical oversight. Engagements focus on improving margin visibility, resetting role expectations, and helping senior engineers shift from constant firefighting into mentoring and firm-building work.
Principals billing most of their time
Inconsistent utilization and margins
Key-person risk across disciplines
Better leverage through role clarity and peer review
Clear targets by level and discipline
A stronger second line of technical leaders
Explore what leverage could look like for your engineering business
Construction Firms
From Volatile Jobs to Predictable Margin:
Construction businesses face job-level risk, labor pressure, and margin erosion that often pulls owners into daily firefighting. The work focuses on tightening project selection, strengthening change-order discipline, and building leadership systems so performance is more predictable.
Margins erode after the job starts
Owner is the default escalation point
Unstable backlog and job mix
Stronger estimating and change management
Clear PM and superintendent authority
More predictable, better-qualified work
Explore what leverage could look like for your construction business
WAYS TO WORK TOGETHER
Business owners follow a simple path: complete your Value Builder Score, review results on a confidential strategy call,
then choose the advisory tier that fits your profit, growth, and transition goals.
Foundation = Clarity
Value & Growth Diagnostic
Gain a clear, objective view of where profit, owner time, and firm value are leaking today. This diagnostic prioritizes the few moves that matter most, so you’re not guessing where to focus first.
Emphasis: clarity, focus, and a practical roadmap
Growth = Scaling
Operational & Leadership Expansion
Strengthen margins, utilization, and leadership capacity so growth becomes more predictable. This work shifts decisions out of the owner’s hands and installs simple systems the firm can sustain.
Emphasis: profitability, leverage, and execution
Enterprise = Exit Ready
Value Acceleration & Succession
Prepare the firm for internal transition, PE, or strategic sale by reducing owner dependency and key-person risk. The focus is on valuation, leadership depth, and buyer-ready operations—well before a transaction is on the table.
Emphasis: firm value, transition options, and control
WHAT WE DO
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Business Efficiency Assessment
The Business Efficiency Assessment is a powerful diagnostic designed to help business owners clearly understand how efficiently their business operates—and how well it can scale without relying on the owner.
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Scalability Finder Session
The Scalability Finder Session is a focused, 1:1 consulting experience designed to help business owners break through growth ceilings and build a company that scales reliably—without requiring the owner to run every operation.
Business Growth Mastermind
The Business Growth Mastermind is a 10-week, peer-based growth program designed for business owners who want to scale smarter, increase value, and reduce reliance on themselves—without chasing shiny objects or generic advice.
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Significant Strategy Support
The 2026 Significant Strategy Support Session is a focused, 3-month, 1:1 strategic advisory experience designed for business owners who want to increase company value, scale efficiently, and reduce owner dependency—without guesswork.
Trusted Results
When it comes to selling or scaling, numbers don’t lie.
A 25-person architecture firm doubled net margin over 18 months.
An engineering firm reduced principal billable time by 30%
A $16M GC stabilized backlog and improved job margins by 3 points.
why choose us
Maximize Company Value
Increase business value by up to 71%.
Create Freedom
Step back from daily firefighting without losing profitability.
Exit Proud
Scale. Sell. Your terms. No regret. Maximum payout.
Simple Steps. Significant Results.
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Take the Free Value Builder Assessment
15 minutes to find your baseline.
Book a Discovery Call
Explore growth or exit strategies tailored to you.
Systematize & Scale
Implement the 8 Key Drivers framework with coaching, masterminds, and advisory support.
Foundation is Clarity: Value & Growth Diagnostics
Growth is Scale: Operational & Leadership Expansion
Enterprise is Exit Ready: Value Acceleration & Succession
Exit or Grow Successfully
Gain freedom, wealth, and legacy on your terms.
Meet Franne
Franne McNeal, MBA, is a Certified Value Builder Advisor and former leader of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. For more than 35 years, she has advised owners of architecture firms, engineering practices, and construction companies on improving profitability, reducing owner dependency, and building firm value.
She helps AEC owners move from owner-centric operations to businesses with stronger leadership, clearer systems, and real options for succession, internal transition, or sale—without complexity.
As a breast cancer and stroke survivor, she knows what it means to turn chaos into clarity and stress into strategy. She’ll help you scale profitably, build company value, and prepare for the future—without the overwhelm.
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Client Success Stories
"Franne helped me develop my first business plan with a series of questions and feedback that were enormously helpful. In fact, I doubled my earnings the year after I worked with Franne.”
“She is able to explain and refine complex information in a succinct and understandable way. Her organizational and business skills are integral to her ability as a coach. She brings intelligence, humor and experience into the mix.”
Learn From Franne
Beyond coaching, Franne shares her insights through books, ebooks, videos, and thought leadership trusted by thousands of business owners in Architecture, Engineering, and Construction businesses
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Take the first step: download a free Value Builder ebook and learn how to increase your company’s value by up to 71%.
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Plan your exit years in advance — or months before. This guide shows you the smartest moves for your timeline.
Discover what personal freedom really means for business owners. Uncover the key metric that drives both company value and personal freedom.
Your Smartest First Step
Take the free Value Builder Assessment and join 80,000+ AEC Industry business owners,
who already know where they stand.
Questions Business Owners Ask
15 minutes, free, instant report.
No. We help you grow now and exit later, stronger.
Yes. We’ve guided owners in Architecture, Engineering, and Construction businesses, manufacturing, IT, healthcare, and more.
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