The £10K Hour: Stop Solving Problems. Start Building a Business.

The £10K Hour: Stop Solving Problems. Start Building a Business.

You’re flat out.

Every job has your fingerprints on it.

Your team depends on you to chase clients, review tenders, fix site issues, check cost reports.

You’ve built a decent team. PMs, office staff, maybe even a QS or estimator.

But somehow, everything still runs through you.

If you’re honest - you’re not leading the business.

You’re holding it together.

And that’s not sustainable.

Why You’re Still in Every Decision

Most construction owners reach £1m turnover by working harder than everyone else.

But past that point, hard work becomes a limitation.

Here’s what typically happens:

You start hiring to “free up time.”

But you don’t build systems. You don’t set clear expectations. You don’t train your team to think like owners.

So they keep coming back to you. For answers. For approvals. For hand-holding.

You stay busy. And the business stays stuck.

This is the £100/hour trap:

You’re doing high-stress, mid-level work that someone else could be doing - if you built the right structure.

And it’s dangerous. Because the bigger your team gets, the worse this problem becomes.

You think you’re being helpful. In reality, you’re training your business to rely on you for everything.

What the £10K Hour Looks Like

A £10K hour is a task that creates permanent leverage.

It’s work that builds systems, trains leaders, and removes you from the middle.

Here’s the contrast:

£100/hour work (busy, reactive, drains time):

• Chasing subcontractors
• Writing RAMS or site reports
• Approving every supplier invoice
• Attending site meetings because “the PM can’t lead it yet”
• Rewriting the same client email every time an issue comes up

£10K/hour work (strategic, one-time, creates freedom):

• Training your PMs to own client communication
• Building a reporting dashboard so you see project status in 10 minutes
• Creating a playbook for job handovers or client updates
• Systemising your quoting process so you’re not stuck rewriting every bid
• Mapping your org chart and defining clear decision rights

You do a £100 task once - you’ll be doing it again next week.

You do a £10K task once - and your business runs better every week after that.

What’s Really at Stake

This isn’t just about your time. It’s about your growth, your stress levels, and your options.

Let’s be clear - if you’re still the central brain of your company:

• You can’t take time off without stress
• You can’t scale without chaos
• You can’t sell the business for real value, because no one wants to buy a company that collapses when the owner leaves

If you're always the safety net, you're also the ceiling.

The opportunity cost is massive.

Jobs that could be systemised get stuck.

People who could step up never do.

Margins stay thin, decisions stay slow, and the business never reaches its potential.

You didn’t start this business to stay trapped in it.

So the shift must start with how you spend your time.

How to Shift into £10K Mode

Here’s the process I walk clients through:

1. Track your time for one full week.

Write down every meeting, task, and fire you dealt with. Don’t sugarcoat it.

2. Categorise it.

Was it:

• £10/hour (admin)
• £100/hour (mid-level management)
• £10K/hour (strategic leverage)?

3. Pick one recurring £100/hour task.

Then document it. Delegate it. Or automate it.

You don’t need a 40-page SOP.

Just a checklist, a screen recording, or a 10-minute walkthrough for your team.

4. Review your team structure.

Who owns what? Where are the gaps?

Are your PMs or QSs clear on their authority and KPIs?

Start designing a structure that reduces your involvement - not increases it.

5. Create a “leadership rhythm.”

Weekly team check-ins. Dashboards. Standard reporting.

So you lead with information - not involvement.

Actionable tip for you

What’s one decision your team brings to you every week - that they should already know how to handle?

Write out the decision framework.

Train them.

Step back.

Then repeat.

The Bottom Line

You’re not the only one who can do the job.

You’re just the only one who’s never built the systems to replace yourself in it.

That’s what £10K hours are for.

They’re not about working harder - they’re about working once on the right thing.

Stop solving every problem.

Start building the business.