Increase the Value of Your AEC Firm Without Increasing Your Dependency
Work with Franne to increase profit, reduce owner dependency, and grow the valuation multiple of your
AEC firm, so you have real options for succession, internal buyout, or sale.
-
Increase profit 2-5 points by tightening how your firm prices, delivers, and leads projects.
-
Reduce owner dependency so your firm can grow, and eventually transition, without everything running through you.
For Owners of Growing AEC Firms
This is for architecture, engineering, and construction firm owners who want more profit, stronger leadership, and a business that can thrive without them at the center of every decision.
You Feel "Stuck in the Work"
You are the final decision-maker on everything, and the firm slows down, or stalls, if you step away.
Limited Profit or Capacity
Revenue is up, but margins, utilization, and leadership bandwidth are not keeping pace.
Future Transition
You want succession, internal transition, or PE-readiness, and you need to de-risk the firm first.
A Simple 3-Step Path
Every engagement starts with a clear view of firm value today, then focuses on the few levers that matter most for profit, leadership, and exit readiness. Firms in these programs have achieved material increases in valuation multiples through reduced owner dependency and stronger systems.
1. Value Builder Score
Complete a brief online assessment to benchmark your firm across eight value drivers and owner dependency.
2. Strategy Call
Review your results with Franne, clarify goals, and identify the 2-3 most important moves for the next 12-24 months.
3. Choose Your Tier
Select the advisory tier: Foundation, Growth, or Enterprise, that best matches your firm's size, complexity, and transition horizon.
Client Experience
Managing Principal
Regional Engineering Firm
2 Weeks Ago
"Franne helped us move from founder-led chaos to a firm with clear systems, a more accountable leadership team, and better margins. The business is far less dependent on me, and far more valuable."
Rating
Start With a Value Builder Score
Before any engagement, you'll complete a brief online assessment that benchmarks how transferable and valuable your firm is today across eight key drivers of company value.
You'll receive a confidential report highlighting your firm's strengths, risks, and the 2-3 moves most likely to improve value over the next12-24 months.
This is the diagnostic used before suggesting any tiered engagement, ensuring advisory work is tied directly to improving your firm's profit and valuation multiple.
-
Brief, online assessment
-
Eight key value drivers
-
Confidential report for your firm
Book a Confidential Strategy Call
In 45 minutes, review where your firm is today and identify practical next steps to increase profit, leadership capacity, and firm value.
This call typically follows your Value Builder Score, so the conversation is grounded in your firm's numbers, risks, and opportunities. However, we can complete your Value Builder Score during the call.
-
No cost, no obligation, and strictly confidential.
-
Focused on your company's financials, leadership bench,
and transition goals. -
Designed to help you decide which advisory tier, if any,
fits your situation.
About Franne
Franne McNeal, MBA, is a Certified Value Builder Advisor and former Executive Director of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, where she led initiatives supporting hundreds of growth-focused owners.
She has coached 885+ business owners, including principals of multi‑office engineering firms, architecture practices with complex studio structures, and regional general contractors, to build companies that are more profitable, transferable, and valuable.
Franne McNeal
Value Builder Advisor
Common Questions
Yes. All discussions, assessments, and diagnostics are handled with strict confidentiality.
No. Value building creates options---whether you sell, transition internally, or continue to own the firm long term.
Yes. Most engagements include both owner and leadership development so the firm is less dependent on any one person.
The work focuses on de-risking the firm---systems, leadership bench, client concentration---and improving profit
so you are more attractive to buyers and better positioned to negotiate terms, not just price.
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.
Tier 1 : FOUNDATION
Clarity: Value & Growth Diagnostic
Best for: Owners who want a clear picture and prioritized plan before making larger changes.
-
See where profit, cash, and owner time are leaking in your firm.
-
Understand how owner dependency limits valuation.
-
Pinpoint your top value drivers, risk areas, and quick-win.
-
Get a focused 12-18-month action roadmap vs. a vague to-do list.
-
Know where to focus leadership time and investment first.
Tier 2: GROWTH
Scaling: Operation & Leadership
Best for: Firms growing in revenue that need stronger leadership, systems, and margins.
-
Shift day-to-day decisions from the owner to a leadership team.
-
Raise margins by improving utilization, project mix, and fees.
-
Install rhythms so priorities get executed across offices and teams.
-
Free owner capacity for strategy, key clients, and succession moves.
-
Make performance more predictable with a visible KPI's.
Tier 3: ENTERPRISE
Exit Ready: Value Acceleration
Best for: Principals planning an eventual transition, sale, or internal buyout.
-
Increase valuation by reducing owner dependency & risk.
-
Design a realistic path to internal succession, PE, or strategic sale.
-
Develop next-generation leaders who can run the firm without you.
-
Address likely buyer concerns before they show up in diligence.
-
Gain more control over timing, terms, and legacy when you exit.