DATE
10/01/2025
Data-Driven Transformation for Public-Sector Readiness
A Madison-based remodeling firm that transitioned from a part-time side hustle into a professional, certified enterprise positioned for high-value public contracts.
Businesses
Systems & Infrastructure
Strategy & Planning
Team Training & Enablement
Public Sector & Social Impact Support
Financial Foundation & Job Costing
Services
Systems & Infrastructure
Category
Businesses
Client
Elohim Remodeling
Analysis
The issue was not demand. It was structural profitability, pricing, and operational infrastructure.
Elohim Remodeling was actively securing projects and had the foundational elements of a growing company, including licensing, insurance, and a small team. However, the business lacked the financial systems, pricing strategy, and operational planning required to operate sustainably or scale.
In practice, this showed up as:
Pricing jobs approximately 50 percent below market value
No job costing or tracking of labor, materials, or overhead
No structured markup model
Limited understanding of market pricing benchmarks
No financial forecasting or staffing roadmap
As a result, the business was generating revenue but not profit, operating at margins below 10 percent and struggling to build financial stability.
The challenge was not increasing work volume. It was correcting a system that made growth unsustainable.
To address this, the focus shifted to rebuilding the financial and operational foundation while positioning the business for long-term growth and larger opportunities.
Problem
When Adapt began working with Elohim Remodeling, the business was operating part-time and faced several structural challenges:
Minimal profit margins and limited cash reserves
Projects consistently underpriced
No visibility into job profitability
No structured financial management or forecasting
No staffing plan to support growth
Operational decisions based on intuition rather than data
Limited readiness for public-sector or large-scale opportunities
As demand increased, these gaps created serious risks:
Growth would increase workload but not profitability
High risk of burnout due to underpriced labor
Inability to scale operations or hire effectively
Limited ability to pursue larger contracts
The business did not need more marketing or more leads. It needed a financial and operational foundation.
Solution
Solution
Adapt implemented a structured business transformation focused on financial systems, pricing strategy, operational planning, and market positioning. The work was delivered through a phased approach designed to stabilize the business and unlock growth.
1. Financial Foundation and Business Audit
Conducted a business audit to identify gaps in pricing, cost tracking, and operations
Established visibility into labor, materials, overhead, and project-level performance
2. Systems Implementation
Introduced job costing practices within QuickBooks to track real-time project profitability
Implemented tracking of labor hours, material costs, and overhead
Enabled data-driven decision-making for project selection and pricing
3. Pricing Strategy
Researched local market rates to establish realistic pricing benchmarks
Transitioned from intuition-based pricing to a structured markup model
Gradually increased pricing across projects while maintaining job volume
Improved client onboarding and professionalism to support higher pricing
4. Revenue Forecasting and Growth Planning
Developed a system for forecasting revenue and planning workload
Helped determine how many projects were required to support full-time operations
Transitioned the business from reactive work to planned growth
5. Staffing and Operational Roadmap
Built a staffing strategy aligned with projected workload and revenue
Created a roadmap for hiring and scaling the team
Ensured growth would increase profitability, not just workload
6. Certification and Market Positioning
Guided the business through MBE and SBE certification processes
Developed a formal safety policy to support eligibility for larger and public-sector projects
Connected the business to local energy sustainability organizations
Introduced exposure to compliance requirements such as Davis-Bacon reporting
This approach moved the business from reactive operations to a structured, growth-oriented company.
