How Sutton Building Went From “Willy-Nilly Jobs” to Confidently Securing Big Contracts – Thanks to BuildAbility

Ever felt like you’re chasing work, contractors, and profit all at once – and still coming up short? That’s exactly where Sutton Building was. CEO Lew Deegan shared how his Gympie-based crew used the BuildAbility Course to finally get clarity, sharpen focus, and scale up their game. Here’s your blueprint.

The Starting Point: Opportunity Without Strategy

Sutton Building, covering Gympie to Noosa and Bundaberg, was solid. Commercial, insurance, residential – ticks across the board. But …

• Their website? A glorified one-pager that did nothing to grab attention.

• No SEO, no Google Ads, no digital footprint.

• Portfolio? Mostly insurance jobs—not exactly eye-catching for residential leads.

• The result? They picked up “any job” just to keep cash flowing.

Sound familiar? You’re busy, builders trust you, but your online presence is absent. You're winging it. You take whatever comes, simply because it's all you know.

That all changed with BuildAbility.

Finding Your Voice & a Clear Market Focus

One of the first modules in the course hones in on identity—who are you, who do you want to serve, and how do you show that?

Lew admits they took everything. Verandas, insurance repairs—whatever came in. But BuildAbility made them laser-clarify what really delivers profit and brand traction:

• Bigger residential and commercial projects – north of $500k and up into the million-dollar range.

• “Remedial and extension work, sure – but only when it aligned with our strengths.”

• A vision that matched their capacity to scale without drowning in admin chaos.

Key takeaway: No more “any job.” You position for specific work that moves the needle, builds margin, and doesn't overwhelm your whiteboard.

Level Up Your Online Presence

Module: “Get Found, Get Visible.” For Sutton, this wasn’t a DIY Wix fix—it meant a full overhaul.

Website Overhaul

• Transitioned from a stale one-pager to a polished site packed with:

  • Galleries featuring actual builds + 3D renders

  • Clear service breakdowns (new builds, extensions, insurance/restoration)

  • Enhanced Google search alignment

Prime Exposure via SEO & Ads

• Launched Google Ads campaigns and SEO tweaks

• Improved Google Business profile

• Established a credible “CEO behind the brand” presence – people connect with faces, not just faceless UIs

Lew summed it up: “Now, unless someone searches specifically for us, they find us. And they see who we are and what we're good at.”

Built to Sell: The Capability Statement

Soon after their online facelift, BuildAbility pushed them further: it's not enough to be seen—you've got to make it easy to choose you.

Enter Module 10: The Capability Statement.

What it does:

1. Summarises your story, brand, and vision

2. Highlights credentials and project capability

3. Matches visuals to words for polished appeal

4. Builds authority in commercial and residential sectors

5. Makes email pitches irresistible (even unlocked attention from Ark Project’s National Construction Manager—he wouldn’t open an email without it!)

Lew’s verdict? Now it’s not taboo to send cold e‑mails, because attached to it is their polished, mission‑focused capability statement.

The Game‑Changer: Recruiting Subcontractors, Temp Staff & Trades

Builders often sweat over sourcing workers for remote jobs. Sutton had that problem too – until mid-course Genius:

Using Facebook Groups & Ads—not just traditional referrals—to attract quality subcontractors and certified temp staff.

• Needed trades in Gympie for 7 days? They posted once.

• Got 10–110 applicants within 24 hours.

• Gave them what they needed to scale into regional, remote jobs with confidence.

Before this? Hours on the horn. Now? Trades and temps come to them—making resourcing smooth, ready, and reliable.

Delivering Profit (Not Just Revenue)

You can win that massive build, but without the right people and processes, delivery kills you. Sutton Building used BuildAbility to:

• Factor resourcing cost/time before accepting contracts

• Lock in reliable subs quickly and cost‑effectively

• Outsource with purpose—permanent staff + trusted temps + subcontractors with strong fit

• Hit margin and deadline targets every time

Lew put it bluntly: “If you win a contract and then can’t start because you can’t find a chippy, you fall in a hole very quickly. Now we don’t. We resource confidently.”

Results That Speak  

Why BuildAbility Course Is a Strategic Builder Tool

1. Focus on identity over everything – Builders can execute. What they struggle with is shaping a brand. BuildAbility shapes that story fast.

2. Plug-and-play marketing templates – Website copy, capability statement, SEO and Ads formulas. Grab the playbook, implement, done.

3. Recruitment becomes marketing – Tradies are resources too. Buildable teaches attracting talent like leads.

4. Live-working case studies – Sutton wasn’t the guinea pig—they were the roadmap. Seeing real results helps you go from “I should” to “let’s do this.”

Is BuildAbility Right for Your Business?

• You’re done with chasing any job.

• You want bigger contracts.

• You need margins—not just top-line revenue.

• You need real systems for marketing, recruitment, and execution.

• You're ready to treat your builder as a brand, not just “the guy with the ute.”

If Sutton’s story resonates, you're exactly the tradie we built BuildAbility for.

Wrapping Up

From outdated web presence to margin-predictable scaling. From desperate contract-fishing to capability-lifting. From resourcing panic to people-in-a-day.

Lew Deegan and Sutton Building went from “willy-nilly” to winners—all because they followed the BuildAbility playbook:

1. Identity + clarity

2. Website + capability statement

3. Strategic marketing + SEO + Ads

4. Recruitment via digital outreach

5. Profit-first execution systems

That’s social proof. That’s scaling smart. That’s what your business COULD be.

FAQs

1. What if I don’t build high-end residential?
No worries. The system still works. Identify your niche—commercial, insurance, renovations—and apply the BuildAbility tools around it.

2. Can I do this if I'm still a small crew?
Absolutely. Module 10 offers one-pager version capability statements—you don't need polished multistaff branding to build credibility.

3. Do I have to use Facebook ads?
Not necessarily—but as Sutton found, it’s a fast, effective way to attract subcontractors and staff. If you're chilly on ads, just start with groups and organic reach.

4. How long before I see results?
Lew saw traction in weeks. Website, SEO gains, ad leads… BuildAbility gives plug-and-play frameworks for quick traction.

5. Is this just a marketing course?
No way. It’s a full build-from-inside-out toolkit:

• Identity & strategy

• Marketing & capacity statements

• People sourcing

• Execution systems & profit planning