4700 Australian Builders Went Insolvent In 2025 — The Hard Truth Nobody Talks About

Check out our partner, Hazard Co! https://www.hazardco.com/au/ Check out our tools partner! Bretts: https://bretts.com.au/ Checkout our the best timber out there! https://highwood.com.au/ Follow me on my Socials! (  / duaynepearce  ) (  / duaynepearcebuild  ) (  / duaynepearcebuilder  ) Check out Adam and his work: 🔹Mackay Goodwin - https://www.mackaygoodwin.com.au/ 🔹Financial Health Check Tool for Business Ownershttps - https://www.mackaygoodwin.com.au/fina... 🔹LinkedIn -   / mackay-goodwin   🔹Mackay Goodwin Instagram -   / mackay.goodwin   🔹Instagram -   / marcus.petrovic   Check out Duayne’s other projects: 🔹 Live Life Build — https://livelifebuild.com 🔹 D Pearce Constructions — https://dpearceconstructions.com.au 🔹 QuoteEaze — https://quoteeaze.com/Free-Offer.html 4,700 construction businesses went bankrupt in 2025. Is yours next? In this episode of Level Up, I sit down with Marcus from Mackay Goodwin Advisory & Restructuring to talk about one of the most important, and most ignored — topics in the building industry: bankruptcy and insolvency. This isn't a doom-and-gloom episode. It's a survival guide. Marcus has spent 20+ years helping small construction businesses restructure their debt, negotiate with the ATO, and get back on their feet — without losing their license, their home, or their sanity. We get into the real numbers, the real stories, and the real options that most builders don't even know exist. TIMESTAMP: 0:00 – LEVEL UP with Duayne Pearce 4:13 – Sponsors: HazardCo & Bretts Online 6:35 – Introduction: Why this topic matters 7:16 – The stats: 4,700 construction insolvencies in 2025 8:10 – Meet Marcus from Mackay Goodwin Advisory 10:30 – What Marcus actually does (hint: not tax returns) 12:02 – Real case study: How a disputed payment spirals into ATO debt 14:31 – The Small Business Restructure (SBR) explained 16:19 – How 1,000 builders got their overheads wrong 17:40 – Builders paying themselves nothing — the hidden problem 19:54 – Duane's confession: "$8M turnover and I still had no money" 20:31 – The bookkeeper who tried to save him 21:42 – Six to eight years on the rollercoaster 22:44 – "I was ready to throw a rope around a tree" 23:00 – How property masked the real problem 25:11 – The remortgage trap: same mistake, different project 25:53 – The real fix: identify it, isolate it, change something 26:43 – Don't be too proud — asking for help saves businesses 27:15 – How the SBR notification process works 30:13 – Director Penalty Notices (DPN): what they are and why you can't ignore them 31:13 – Voluntary administration vs. liquidation vs. SBR 32:33 – SBR eligibility: the 4 criteria (under $1M debt) 34:13 – Sole traders: why you need to change your structure NOW 35:13 – "Your accountant is doing your tax — but are they protecting you?" 37:13 – Director loans: how builders unknowingly steal from their own company 40:13 – The tax-is-profit trap: when your accountant says you made $80K but the company lost $110K 43:43 – Why you need to see your accountant every 6–8 weeks (not once a year) 44:13 – Paying cash: the culture that's costing the industry 46:13 – Marcus's 3 key takeaways for every builder 48:13 – "I've had guys call me with gas bottles in the car" 50:13 – Mental health and financial stress in construction 53:13 – The zombie business problem: COVID stimulus + ATO debt collection 55:13 – From 750 insolvencies in 2021 to 4,700 in 2025 57:13 – $100 billion in outstanding tax debt — and the ATO has $500M to collect it 1:02:13 – Building your business as an asset worth selling 1:05:13 – What's coming: a tougher market ahead 1:09:13 – Marcus's final advice: take accountability, act early, reach out 1:12:13 – "Don't borrow more money if nothing has changed" 1:13:46 – The old bloke who refinanced everything — and still lost it all 1:15:35 – "No one trains us for this" 1:27:13 – Your business IS your biggest asset — are you treating it like one? 1:34:13 – Wrap up & how to contact Marcus at Mackay Goodwin