Spotlight Session - Daniel Suter from AED Project Services

Episode Summary

Daniel Suter started AED Project Services — a Brisbane-based commercial electrical construction company — with himself and one apprentice in 2021. Today the business has roughly $20 million in secured work booked through to late 2027, and is scaling its team from around 10 people to approximately 35.

In this Spotlight Session, Stefan Kazakis sits down with Daniel — a Business Benchmark Group Legacy Advisory client since January 2025 and winner of the 2025 BBG Leadership Transformation Award — to unpack what actually has to change inside a founder before the business can grow underneath them. It's a grounded, practical conversation about delegation, standards, cash flow discipline, and letting go of control without losing quality.

Key Topics & Timestamps

• 13:31 – Introducing Daniel Suter and AED Project Services: Brisbane-based electrical construction, ~$20M secured work through November 2027, growing from 10 to ~35 people
• 21:58 – The origin of the growth decision: a Christmas party conversation that revealed there was no growth path for the team if AED stayed small
• 23:59 – Why hiring for "heart and mind" over "arms and legs" matters more than headcount
• 34:32 – "The biggest thing that had to change was me" — what shifts in a founder once the business outgrows knowing every job intimately
• 36:31–37:06 – Appointing a Head of Operations and what genuine delegation actually looks like in practice
• 40:38 – The delegation cadence that makes it work: a 10-minute daily check-in plus a deeper weekly review
• 42:38 – The two things that kill most small businesses: not enough work, or way too much work too soon without the systems to match
• 47:30 – Building cash flow forecasting muscle from scratch — going from "I knew every job intimately" to weekly WIP reporting and daily utilisation tracking
• 53:46–53:57 – The non-negotiable standard: "You always do what you say you're going to do... hire a bigger digger, get it done"
• 55:08 – Finishing the sentence: "AED will be ready to triple in size when every decision doesn't need to come across my desk"
• 58:21 – How Daniel scaled hiring without an internal recruitment function: using a specialist recruiter with a clear, non-negotiable brief

Key Quotes

"There was no growth in AED for any of my guys. If I stayed in the comfortable spot... I would've been happy and comfortable and rich. But there was no opportunity for growth for any of my team. So that's where the growth came from." — Daniel Suter

"The biggest thing that had to change was me. When AED operated at 10 people, I knew every job intimately. It worked great. Going to growing... you've really got to have a structure in place with the correct leadership and reporting structure." — Daniel Suter

"Letting go of that control... is hard to let go of sometimes, because ultimately, as a founder and the owner and the investor, I'm the one that's responsible. But you can't do it any other way." — Daniel Suter

"In AED, cash flow forecasting used to be non-existent — because I knew every job intimately. This is a completely different scenario now." — Daniel Suter

"You always do what you say you're going to do. You just never compromise on that. If you need to move a mountain... hire a bigger digger, get it done." — Daniel Suter

"If you want to be an A-grade business, you've got to be, firstly, an A-grade leader. An A-grade business has an A-grade team. An A-grade business has an A-grade supply chain. If any one of those three things is lacking, you will struggle to attract and keep A-grade clients." — Stefan Kazakis

Takeaways

• Growth is a founder-identity problem before it's a resourcing problem. The systems, headcount, and pipeline can be planned for — but the founder has to consciously change how they operate first, or the structure won't hold.
• Delegation needs a defined cadence, not just a title. A short daily check-in plus a deeper weekly review gave Daniel's Head of Operations real ownership without losing visibility.
• Hire for values fit on both ends — Daniel screens clients and team members the same way: how they treat people matters more than what's in it for him.
• Cash flow forecasting has to mature alongside headcount. What worked as gut instinct at 10 people (knowing every job intimately) breaks down fast at 35 — weekly WIP reports and daily utilisation tracking replaced it.
• Standards are the real growth strategy. "Do what you say you're going to do" was named as the one non-negotiable protecting reputation through rapid scale.
• The business is "ready" for the next stage of growth when decisions no longer need to run through the founder's desk — not when revenue or headcount hits a number.

About the Guest

Daniel Suter is the Managing Director of AED Project Services, a Brisbane-based commercial electrical construction company delivering electrical project services across Southeast Queensland. AED has been a Business Benchmark Group Legacy Advisory client since January 2025 and was awarded the 2025 Business Benchmark Group Leadership Transformation Award for progress in leadership maturity, delegation, culture, and people capability.

About the Host

Stefan Kazakis is the founder of Business Benchmark Group, helping business owners build easy-to-run, profitable businesses that enhance their lives.

Production Note

This episode was recorded as a live interview in front of the Legacy Advisory Cohort during a Business Benchmark Group planning intensive, with an audience Q&A following the formal intervie