Why You Don’t Need More Jobs. You Need Better Ones.

Being busy is no longer the issue. Making it pay is.

If your order book is full, your team is on site, and the phone keeps ringing, you're clearly doing a lot right.

But if profits aren’t where they should be, and your business still feels stretched despite solid turnover, you’re not alone.

For construction businesses turning between £1m and £5m, this is a familiar stage. The jobs are there. The pipeline’s strong. You’ve built a decent operation.

But the financial return still isn’t matching the effort.

It’s easy to assume you just need more work. But in reality, you need better work.

More projects won’t fix low margins

When cash is tight or profitability isn’t clear, it’s natural to try and fill the calendar. Book more work. Keep the lads going. Stay busy.

But the problem with that thinking is that not all projects move your business forward.

Some look viable during estimating but turn out to be complex, margin-light, and resource-heavy. You get paid, eventually, but the return isn’t worth the internal cost.

Often, these jobs:

• Soak up your most experienced staff
• Create delivery bottlenecks that delay other work
• Tie up cash due to slow or unbalanced payment structures
• Increase risk without increasing reward

You don’t feel it immediately. But over time, these projects chip away at your margins, your energy, and your ability to grow.

At this level, the problem isn’t effort. It’s alignment

Most £1m-plus construction firms aren’t short on hard work. The issue is fit.

You’re accepting work that may have made sense when you were leaner – smaller team, lower overheads, fewer moving parts. But those same jobs no longer serve a growing business.

You now need projects that fit your current capacity, pricing model, and delivery strengths.

That means being more selective. Not because you’re turning work away. But because you’re protecting the business and its long-term viability.

This is the shift most successful firms make at this stage

The businesses that build profit and sustainability don’t do it by adding more to the schedule. They do it by streamlining what they take on.

They get clear on:

• Which types of jobs consistently hit margin targets
• Which clients pay on time and stick to scope
• What scale, location, and complexity fits their team
• Which project types lead to future, repeatable work

From there, they develop internal filters. Simple criteria for deciding what’s a good fit and what isn’t.

It’s not about doing less. It’s about making every project count.

Why larger jobs aren’t always better ones

A big project can look attractive. It fills the calendar. It keeps your team busy. The revenue headline feels impressive.

But large jobs often bring longer timelines, more demanding stakeholders, tighter cashflow, and more exposure to risk. If the pricing is tight from the outset, there’s little room for anything to go wrong.

Without strong commercial controls, these jobs can drain resources and delay better opportunities.

Some of the best-run firms generate higher margins from mid-sized, repeatable work. Jobs that match their process, their people, and their pricing model.

Large projects aren’t the issue. But they need to be commercially viable, not just big.

What you can do right now: Review your last five jobs

This isn’t about hypotheticals. Your business already holds the data.

Take your last five completed projects and ask:

• Were they delivered on time and on budget?
• Was the client responsive and reasonable?
• How did the job affect your team, your cashflow, and your operations?
• Did the profit reflect the effort?
• Would you take on that job again?

Chances are, you’ll notice patterns. The profitable jobs – the ones you’d repeat – will have traits in common. So will the jobs that drained your resources or fell short financially.

That insight is gold.

Define what “good work” looks like for your business

From that review, start shaping your internal filters. These are your rules of thumb – simple criteria that help you decide whether a new project is worth it.

Here are a few examples other firms are using:

• Minimum gross margin of 30% or higher
• Projects in locations you can service efficiently
• Payment terms that protect cashflow and minimise exposure
• Well-defined scope with client buy-in before work begins
• Clients who make timely decisions and respect your process
• Work that matches your team’s current capacity and capabilities

Start with three to five. Keep it simple. The point isn’t to be fussy. It’s to be focused.

Once those filters are in place, you’re no longer reactive. You’re choosing the work that builds your business, not just fills your calendar.

Because better jobs mean better results – financially, operationally, and for your team.