Scaling Smart: Real Estate Firm Restructures for Profitable Growth
A fast-growing real estate company was winning more deals than it could profitably deliver. Fowobi helped them restructure operations and build the financial controls needed to convert revenue into margin.
60%
Reduction in project cost overruns
+8pp
Improvement in gross margin on new projects
18mo
From engagement to sustained profitability
The Challenge
This Abuja-based real estate and property development firm had grown rapidly — too rapidly. Revenue was strong, but profitability was deteriorating. Projects were running over budget and over time. The finance function was reactive, not predictive. The sales team was closing deals the operations team couldn't deliver at the agreed margin.
The MD had built the business on relationships and instinct. As it scaled, those tools were no longer sufficient. The business needed systems that could manage complexity the founder couldn't personally oversee.
Our Solution
Our engagement focused on three areas: financial management, project governance, and sales-to-delivery alignment.
We implemented project costing frameworks that gave accurate margin visibility before contracts were signed — ending the pattern of deals that looked good on paper but bled cash in execution. We designed a project management system that tracked budgets, timelines, and milestones in real time. And we worked with the sales and operations leadership to create a handover process that set realistic commitments and held both teams accountable to them.
The Outcome
Within 18 months, project overruns had dropped by over 60%. Gross margin on new projects improved by 8 percentage points. The finance team was producing monthly management accounts that gave the MD genuine visibility into business performance for the first time. The business went from being busy-but-unprofitable to efficiently scaling with confidence.
"We'd worked with other consultants before. The difference with Fowobi was that they actually understood the Nigerian market — the constraints, the dynamics, the regulatory environment. No generic frameworks."
Managing Director
Real Estate · Abuja
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