Commercial Constraint Diagnostic
Find the issue most limiting margin, growth quality, or management control across pricing, utilisation, pipeline, service lines, and delivery economics.
Margin. Focus. Control.
Growth advisory for Australian environmental consulting firms
Greenhat helps Australian firms move beyond headcount-led growth by tightening pricing, service-line focus, sales discipline, and management cadence.
Environmental industry focus
Sector-specific advice on markets, service lines, pricing, utilisation, and delivery models
Productisation experience
Software and hardware spin-off experience, recurring revenue price model development
Operator-led, MBA-trained
Advice from an ex-CEO with 3 exits, 2 BRW Fast Starters, and 1 BRW Fast 100 business
01 The Constraint
Busy teams. Tighter margins. More complexity.
Environmental consulting firms rarely stall because the technical work is weak. The constraint is usually commercial: how they choose markets, price risk, package expertise, sell work, and manage delivery economics. The model that worked at ten people often starts to strain at 10+ headcount.
Where it shows up
- Revenue grows, but profit and management control do not keep pace
- Pricing decisions depend on habit, history, or fear of client pushback
- The founder or managing director is still pulled into sales, pricing, and escalation
- Repeatable expertise is sold as if every engagement were fully custom
- Client and market choices remain reactive despite cyclical demand
02 How We Help
Redesign the commercial levers behind the consulting work
Greenhat starts by identifying the commercial constraint, then works with management to redesign the practical levers that determine margin, focus, and growth quality.
Commercial Model Redesign
Redesign pricing, market focus, service-line structure, proposal discipline, and client selection so the firm is not relying only on more headcount.
Execution Support
- Proposal and qualification discipline
- Pricing and margin review cadence
- Service-line accountability
- Founder dependency reduction
- M&A, integration, or turnaround support where relevant
03 Process
A practical engagement tied to operating decisions
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01
Diagnose
Review pricing, pipeline, utilisation, service-line economics, client mix, delivery constraints, and founder bottlenecks.
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02
Prioritise
Identify the constraint with the greatest effect on margin, focus, or management control, then agree the decisions that need to change.
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03
Redesign
Build the new pricing logic, service-line structure, market focus, sales discipline, or management cadence with the leadership team.
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04
Execute
Support implementation far enough that the new commercial model becomes part of how the firm sells, prices, delivers, and reviews work.
04 About
About Us
Greenhat is the advisory and operating platform of Ben Starr, built from two decades of experience scaling technical businesses across environmental consulting, B2B SaaS and IoT hardware.
Greenhat exists to help professional service companies commercialise their technological expertise in a scalable and profitable manner. Greenhat typically works with firms sized between 10 and 50 staff to improve utilisation, project profitability, positioning, operational systems, recurring revenue, and long-term enterprise value to position for trade sale.
Ben is a twice-exited founder and CEO whose career spans both entrepreneurial and corporate environments. He has founded three consulting and technology businesses recognised in the BRW Fast 100 and Fast Starters lists — two of them multiple times — and held senior leadership roles at software firm Bentley Systems (NASDAQ-listed) and global engineering firm Jacobs (NYSE-listed).
Before founding Greenhat, Ben scaled O2 Group from 2 to 50 staff, building Australia's leading soil and water consultancy. He joined eagle.io as a co-founding investor in its early days and led the team as CEO from a handful of customers through to its acquisition by Bentley Systems. He also founded SigSense, an electronics business acquired by Intellidesign. Ben holds an Executive MBA and a Bachelor of Science.
05 Track Record
Previous Projects
A highlight of recent commercialisation efforts and operational improvements.
SigSense
Built channel strategy for a regulated infrastructure rollout
Developed the commercial strategy, distributor model, and market positioning for SigSense, helping establish a leading channel position in the NSW non-urban telemetry rollout market.
Focus areas
- Channel strategy
- Regulatory market positioning
- Distribution growth
- Commercial scaling
eagle.io
Repositioned a technical SaaS platform for environmental markets
Led the commercial repositioning of eagle.io into a specialist environmental monitoring platform, improving pricing alignment, partner engagement, and market focus prior to acquisition.
Focus areas
- SaaS positioning
- Pricing strategy
- Partner ecosystems
- Market segmentation
FSA
Supported acquisition integration and operational stabilisation
Led operational and commercial restructuring activities following the acquisition of FSA, supporting leadership transition, organisational stability, and integration into a broader consulting group.
Focus areas
- Post-acquisition integration
- Leadership transition
- Operational stabilisation
- Commercial restructuring
O2 Environment Engineering
Scaled a specialist environmental consulting business
Helped scale O2 Environment Engineering from a small technical consultancy into a multidisciplinary environmental business through service-line focus, operational structure, regulator engagement, and commercial systems development.
Focus areas
- Service-line strategy
- Consulting operations
- Growth management
- Commercial systems
Turbid
Commercialised a specialist stormwater treatment offering
Developed the commercial model and go-to-market strategy for Turbid, supporting regulatory acceptance, market adoption, and recurring supply revenue growth.
Focus areas
- Product commercialisation
- Regulatory strategy
- Go-to-market design
- Recurring revenue development
O2 Marine
Established a specialist marine consulting capability
Supported the launch and scaling of a marine environmental consultancy by aligning specialist personnel, operational systems, safety capability, and project delivery structure.
Focus areas
- Specialist consulting operations
- Service-line development
- Operational systems
- Capability scaling
06 Testimonials
What operators say about working with Ben
"Ben was instrumental in the establishment and growth of O2 Marine."
Chris Lane CEO, O2 Marine
"Ben was instrumental in making the O2 group as successful as it is today."
Graeme Uechtritz Director, Turbid
"Ben's direction and ability to grasp problems is a key reason O2 evolved so quickly."
Terry Clark Director, TopoStart Here
Book a Commercial Constraint Call
Tell us where the firm is starting to strain: pricing, margin, utilisation, sales discipline, service-line focus, founder dependency, acquisition, integration, or turnaround.
Based in
Brisbane, Australia, working nationally
Focus
Environmental consulting and similar project-based professional services firms