By Greg Allan, tradesman and creator of Data First Coaching
What makes a business coach actually useful to a demolition contractor?
A useful coach for a demolition contractor works from the business's own numbers, not from a general list of trade advice. Demolition work carries its own cost structure: machinery and truck running costs, tipping and waste fees, an asbestos removal licence to maintain, permits and site safety obligations that other trades simply do not carry. A coach who has never priced a strip-out or argued with a council over a neighbour notification is working blind.
Most generic coaching focuses on turnover and lead volume. For a demolition contractor, the real risk often sits further back: in the price built for the asbestos component, the tipping and recycling allowance, or the time crews lose waiting on a permit before the excavator can even start moving material. A coach who only asks about marketing never gets near these numbers, so the same problem repeats on the next job.
Why does generic business coaching fail most demolition contractors?
Generic coaching often fails demolition contractors because it treats every quote, strip-out and removal job as if it ran on the same margin as a renovation or a fit-out trade. A demolition business carries compliance costs, machinery depreciation, hazardous material handling and disposal fees that shift from job to job, so advice built on average trade numbers can send a demolition contractor chasing the wrong fix.
A coach without trade background may suggest cutting prices to win more work, without ever checking what a structural demolition job with asbestos actually costs to run once bin hire, truck movements, tipping fees and site safety requirements are counted. The symptom looks like “not enough jobs”. The real problem can be that the jobs being won are not covering the cost of running the machinery and crew once tipping and disposal are paid.
What should you ask a coach before you sign up?
Before you sign up with any coach, ask whether they have actually run a demolition business, whether they will start from your own job costings and numbers, and whether they fix root causes with systems rather than handing you a worksheet. A good coach for a demolition contractor should want to see your real figures on a recent strip-out or removal job before offering an opinion.
Ask what they do when every job seems to be going fine but the bank balance is not. A coach who answers with “hire a salesperson” or “raise your prices” without looking at your tipping costs, your asbestos licensing overheads or how your crew's time is actually spent on site has skipped the step that matters. You want a coach who treats your quoting, your margin and your permit delays as connected, not separate, problems.
What warning signs mean a coach is not right for your demolition business?
Warning signs include a coach who leads with a sales pitch rather than your numbers, a coach who has never run a trade business, and advice that would sound the same for a plumber, a landscaper or a demolition contractor. Any of these should make you pause before you sign.
If a coach's first conversation is about fees and not about how you price a soft strip or sequence an excavator on site, that is worth noticing. If every answer is “you need more leads” or “you need to hire”, without asking what your site safety process costs you in lost time, or how much margin is left once waste and recycling fees are paid, the advice is generic. Good coaching for a demolition contractor should sound different to coaching for any other trade, because the jobs, the licensing and the risks are different.
How can AI agents change what a coach helps you fix in your demolition business?
AI agents, software that handles a piece of office work the way you would do it yourself, with your prices, wording and rules, change what a coach can help you fix because they free up time that used to go on quoting, scheduling and chasing permits. Once that non-billable work is handled, you and your crew spend more time on site and with customers, and the coaching can focus on the numbers that actually move your margin.
A data first approach looks at where the job actually slows down, whether that is waiting on a council permit, chasing a neighbour notification, or re-quoting a strip-out because the asbestos survey came back late, and puts an AI agent in front of that exact point so the job cannot move on without the right information in place. That is different to a coach simply telling you to get organised. It is building a system around how your demolition business actually runs, and AI agents are part of how that system does the office work in the background.
How does Data First Coaching approach this?
Data First Coaching starts from your demolition business's own numbers, through the Trade Business Intelligence, rather than from a general conversation about your business. For a question about choosing a coach, Greg Allan's approach is to look first at your job costings, your margin on recent strip-out, removal and asbestos jobs, and where delays or re-quotes are actually coming from, because that is usually where the real answer sits. The how, the systems and the step by step that follow are worked through inside the Academy, with other members, because the Trade Business Intelligence is powered by every member for every member. The Academy suits owners who are open minded, innovative and willing to share what they learn with other demolition contractors and other trades.
