by: Morgan Coleman

 

As an entrepreneur and management consultant, my job is to help businesses solve problems and unlock more value—or put simply, make more money.

Now, every business owner I meet thinks their business is different. Special. Unique. And look, I don’t want to argue with your mum—she’s right, you are special. But when it comes to business challenges, you’re not as unique as you think. And that’s a good thing. It means the problem has already been solved—you just need to apply the right fix.

Most business owners have a sense of what’s slowing them down, but they struggle to pinpoint the real issue or decide what to fix first. That’s where understanding bottlenecks comes in.

 

Your Business is a System—And Every System Has a Bottleneck

Every business runs as a system, and every system has a constraint—the one part that limits how much work can flow through. Optimising your system isn’t about improving everything at once; it’s about fixing the bottleneck first.

For an electrical business, your workflow probably looks something like this (I’ve kept this simple for my own sake):

1. Lead generation – Finding potential jobs
2. Pricing – Preparing tenders and quotes
3. Contract administration – Finalising agreements
4. Execution – Doing the actual work

Now, for most electricians, pricing is the real bottleneck. You’ve got plenty of leads, you can finalise contracts quickly, and you can ramp crews up or down as needed—but tendering takes time. And with only so many hours in the day, you can only price a limited number of jobs.

That means improving lead generation, contract admin, or execution won’t make a difference if you’re already maxed out on pricing. The system is constrained by how fast you can price jobs—so that’s what needs to be fixed first.

How to Fix the Bottleneck

There are two ways to optimise a bottleneck:

1. Increase the capacity of the bottleneck – Find a way to get through tenders faster.
2. Keep the bottleneck constantly active – Ensure there’s always a queue of jobs ready to be priced.

The first fix is obvious: Use better software. If you’re not already using Esti-mate for tendering, do yourself a favour—stop reading and sign up now. Seriously. This one change will reduce the time it takes to price jobs while improving accuracy, instantly increasing your system’s capacity.

But even with software making pricing more efficient, you need to make sure the bottleneck never sits idle. That means having a surplus of leads so there’s always a tender ready to be priced. Not only does this keep work flowing, but it allows you to prioritise higher-value tenders, increasing profitability.

Optimise First, Then Fill the Pipeline

By using Esti-mate, you remove the pricing bottleneck and increase your system’s output. Now, you can shift focus to lead generation—not just bringing in more leads, but ensuring you attract the right jobs.

Too many businesses try to generate more leads before fixing their system. But there’s no point in bringing in extra work if your process can’t handle it efficiently. First, optimise the system. Then, feed it more jobs.

That’s how you unlock serious profit in your electrical business

Need Expert Help?

If you’re looking for a tailored business consultancy to help optimise your operations and increase profits, Morgan is the man—drop him an email at morgan@mcdevelopments.com.au.

And if you haven’t yet, don’t forget to sign up for your free trial of Esti-mate for faster and more accurate tendering!