Here's a look from one of 2 directors at a 46-year-old firm with 10 employees located in Queensland, Australia.

Projects:

High-end residential, developer stock, medical, retail, fit outs, industrial, and hospitality.

Office Situation:

We rent our office for $6,500/month.

Salary:

My base salary is $115k/year plus phone, internet, car allowance, insurances, registration, and profit share.

Work/life balance:

Good…now. I've pulled back over the past 2 years.

Debt:

We have a small $50k loan from COVID times that we're still paying down. We also have a credit card that we use to pay software subscriptions and other minor expenses, but we pay it off each month.

Revenue:

We do about $1M in annual revenue with a ~10% profit margin. This has dropped off in recent years. From 2016-2018, our revenue was $4M. We don't currently put any revenue into savings or investments. Our #1 goal in the near future is to stay afloat.

Best & Worst Expenses:

Our worst expense is wages, which is 60% of turn over. But my best is travel insurance because I'm covered when I take personal leave :)

Biggest Mistake:

Buying out previous senior partners, which came with lots of great life lessons. The down sides are our new turn over (60%).

Book Recommendations:

The E-Myth Architect by Michael E. Gerber.