When Craig Waldron became Managing Director of Cortrols Temperature Systems, he inherited something rare: a business with more than four decades of hard-won reputation behind it.
Established in Victoria in 1980, Cortrols had spent over 40 years building an enviable name in the HVAC industry, delivering innovative building management systems, energy controls, and technical consultancy to schools, hospitals, commercial buildings, and government facilities across Australia. Craig himself had been part of the Cortrols team for over 30 years, a trained instrument technician with deep practical knowledge and a Graduate Certificate of Management from Deakin University.
The business had real substance. What it lacked was the structure to match.
"I was blinded by being too busy," Craig reflects.
The Challenge
On paper, Cortrols was functioning. In practice, Craig was the one holding it all together, and that was precisely the problem.
Decision-making was slow. The team was frustrated by a chaotic work environment. Profit was inconsistent despite strong technical capability and a loyal client base. And Craig, caught in the middle of it all, simply didn't have the time or headspace to lead the way he knew he needed to.
"The team was frustrated because it was a chaotic work environment. Decision-making was slow. There was procrastination. I didn't have time to give to my team. I was stuck in my own headspace."
The ripple effects were becoming impossible to ignore. Key people were at risk of walking out the door. Customer service was under pressure. And Craig could see clearly that if nothing changed, the consequences would be serious.
"I'm absolutely certain that we would have lost key people. And I think on the back of that, we wouldn't have been able to service our customers properly. I think that would have been catastrophic for our business at that time."
He was the choke point. And somewhere beneath the busyness, he knew it.
Craig reached out to Business Benchmark Group at a moment when the pressure had become too much to carry alone. What he found on the other side was something he hadn't expected: to feel understood.
"The immediate feeling I got was that I was understood, that I wasn't alone, that there was support there. Business Benchmark Group had a clear understanding of what I was feeling, what I was going through, the state that I was in, and the business was in."
That sense of being seen, rather than judged, made all the difference. A plan began to take shape quickly.
"We quickly developed a plan for a way forward. We created clearly defined roles within the business. We worked on what I could let go, which was a big one, because I was the choke point. I was the one holding the business back. And it was that realisation that Business Benchmark Group helped me to see."
In the weeks and months that followed, the transformation Craig experienced was as much personal as it was operational.
The chaos that had lived rent-free in his head began to lift. Frustration turned into possibilities. For the first time in a long while, Craig could think again.
"Frustration turned into possibilities. I could think again. And probably more importantly, we made time. The structure, and looking back and having a look at the whole thing. I was blinded by being too busy."
Through BBG's coaching, Cortrols implemented clearly defined management structures across multiple departments. The team was brought into the process in a way they never had been before, included in strategy sessions, given ownership of the path forward, and empowered to make decisions.
"Having them involved with the strategy sessions means they feel like they have ownership in the path forward. They are more committed to the journey when they feel involved. And not that they feel involved. They actually have been involved."
The accountability structure Business Benchmark Group put in place also gave Craig something invaluable at the moments when growth felt frightening: the confidence to act.
"I have hit that point a couple of times in my journey. They are always a little bit terrifying. But that is where the support and confidence come from when you have a mentor who helps you work through the different processes involved. Confidence and clarity."
With Business Benchmark Group's guidance, Cortrols Temperature Systems has undergone a steady and significant transformation:
"The business can just about function without me. A little bit more to go, but overall the business can function pretty well without me. We have clear management structures and processes across multiple departments. My staff are empowered to make decisions. We have had consistent profit growth year on year."
And through all of it, BBG has remained a constant, accessible presence.
"The beauty of Business Benchmark Group is they have always been there to pick up the phone, always checking in, always on track and on point. We never drift away from the process and the objectives. It is always about moving forward and growth, and ultimately what the business owner wants."
Craig's advice to anyone sitting on the fence is straightforward and comes from lived experience.
"The biggest difference that Business Benchmark Group had on me in particular was the difference between going alone and having support. For me, frustration turned to clarity, chaos and procrastination turned into structure and processes, and I cut through the noise and uncertainty that was living in my headspace."
He is also candid about timing.
"I wish I had reached out earlier."
And on the value of the broader BBG community, beyond just the coaching itself:
"I have certainly loved meeting all the other business owners, hearing their stories, and hearing their challenges. I can really relate and, on occasion, have reached out to them directly."
Business Benchmark Group helped Craig Waldron make the shift from an overextended, isolated operator to a confident, clear-headed leader whose business now runs with structure, consistency, and a team that is genuinely invested in its future.
Controls Temperature Systems is not just older and busier than it used to be. It is sharper, more profitable, and built to keep growing.
"I think I would have been okay without Business Benchmark Group," Craig says. "But I would not be anywhere near as successful as I am today without Business Benchmark Group."
That is the honest truth from a man who has spent more than 30 years in one business, and finally has the structure to match the standards he always held.
Craig Waldron is the Managing Director of Controls Temperature Systems, a Victoria-based provider of building management systems, HVAC controls, and energy solutions established in 1980. Controls serves clients across schools, hospitals, commercial buildings, government facilities, and more throughout Australia.