Why Am I Writing All This?

Several clients have asked about my background, my connection to the construction industry, and how the firm came to be, so I decided to share it here. I prefer to lead by example, but if you want to read all this, you're certainly welcome to do so.

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I started my working life early. At 17, I joined the army, where I learned the value of discipline, accountability, teamwork, resilience, and clear communication under pressure. I was honorably released at 21 and soon afterward went to work on the oil rigs in Northern Canada, saving money for college and gaining an even deeper appreciation for hard work, personal responsibility, and the people who make demanding operations run safely every day.

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Learning the Reality of Construction Work

After college, my first direct connection to construction came through a commercial contractor. I worked installing windows on high-rise office buildings from a swing stage. It was physically demanding work, but it gave me an early and lasting respect for the people who work in the field—those who build, manage projects, solve problems in real time, and carry responsibility for quality, safety, schedules, and the customer’s expectations.

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That experience taught me that construction is not simply a collection of projects. It is a business of people, handoffs, commitments, changing conditions, and margins that can disappear quickly when the work is not well controlled.

It also gave me a practical appreciation for the gap that can exist between what happens in the office and what has to happen in the field to complete a job successfully.

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Learning to Sell, Listen, and Qualify

I was later challenged to move into enterprise sales in the telecommunications industry, selling complex capital equipment and related systems. That experience taught me how to listen carefully, understand business needs, qualify opportunities, communicate value, and help owners and senior decision-makers think through significant investments.

 

It also reinforced a lesson that still influences my work with contractors today: successful business development is not about chasing every opportunity. It is about understanding fit, asking better questions, qualifying the work, and pursuing opportunities that create value for both sides.

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For an owner-led contractor, that means having the discipline to pursue the right clients, the right projects, the right geography, and the right margins—not simply more bid volume.

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A Career Working With Owner-Led Businesses

In 1998, I made a lateral move into management consulting. Over the next 28 years, I worked with small and mid-market companies across the United States, with a substantial portion of that work focused on construction companies, specialty contractors, skilled trades businesses, home-service companies, and the broader built environment.

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During that time, I had the opportunity to call on, speak to, meet with, evaluate and work alongside more than 10,000 SMB businesses across the US. Approximately 70% were trade-related companies. That gave me a rare, ground-level view of the pressures faced by contractor owners across a wide range of markets, trades, and stages of growth. I have seen what happens when a contractor grows beyond the systems that once worked. Revenue increases. More employees are hired. More projects are taken on. The owner becomes busier. But estimating discipline, project handoffs, field accountability, job costing, cash visibility, leadership capability, and operating systems do not always keep pace.

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Eventually, the owner becomes the operating system holding everything together. That pattern is common—not because owners are unwilling to work, but because growth creates complexity faster than most companies build the structure to manage it.

 

Learning What It Takes to Build a Business

Along the way, I was involved in launching and building three professional consulting firms. Those experiences taught me what it means to take risk, build a team, serve clients, manage cash flow, and meet payroll. The first firm grew to more than 80 employees within six years. The second was, candidly, an experiment that folded after two years. While it was not successful, it provided valuable lessons about timing, structure, leadership, and the realities of building a company.

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The third began in 2014, when I became a co-founder, minority owner, and one of the original six people who helped launch a management consulting firm. In fewer than four years, the company grew from six employees to more than 120, achieved a reported growth rate of approximately 1,900%, and earned the number 243 position on the Inc. 500 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies.

 

These experiences gave me more than consulting knowledge. They gave me the perspective of someone who has helped build businesses, experienced setbacks, managed growth, led people, and understood firsthand the pressure owners carry. That perspective matters when working with contractor owners. Advice has to work in the real world—where payroll is due, crews need direction, customers expect answers, projects can go sideways, and the owner may still be the person every important decision comes back to.

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Choosing the Next Chapter

In May 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, I chose to step away. I wanted more time with my family, greater flexibility, and the opportunity to decide what the next chapter of my career should look like.

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That next chapter began in the summer of 2024, when I met George Lauber while working on a project in Atlanta. Neither of us was ready to retire, and we shared a belief that there was a better way to serve small and mid-market, owner-led contractors.

We wanted to provide experienced, senior-level advisory support that was practical, hands-on, and built around the realities of contractor businesses. We also wanted to move away from open-ended hourly billing and offer fixed-fee engagements, giving owners greater clarity and confidence around the cost of outside support. That idea became Shapcott Lauber, LLC.

 

The Evolution of Shapcott Lauber

In 2025, George experienced unforeseen personal circumstances that required more of his time and attention away from the business. We agreed that I would assume full ownership and leadership of the firm, with George remaining available as a Senior Advisor when appropriate.

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The Business Today

We are a focused boutique advisory firm serving small and mid-market contractors throughout the Southeast and Texas.

Our work is focused on helping owner-led contractors build stronger businesses through:

 

• Better operating systems

• Clearer roles, responsibilities, and accountability

• Stronger business-development and bid-qualification discipline

• Improved estimating-to-operations handoffs

• Better project execution and field-office coordination

• Greater financial visibility, job-cost control, and margin protection

• Deeper leadership capability

• Reduced dependence on the owner

• Increased long-term enterprise value

 

Why This Work Matters

At the center of my work is a simple belief: contractors do not need more theory. They need practical structure, experienced guidance, and solutions that fit the realities of their businesses. They need help turning growth into greater control—not greater pressure.

 

My passion is helping contractor owners build companies that perform more consistently, protect their margins, develop stronger leaders, create more value, and give the owner greater freedom and confidence about the future.

 

That is why Shapcott Lauber exists.