Canberra Business Owner Spotlight Hub
Building a Canberra Construction Business That Evolves With the Market
Canberra business Paraco Projects delivers civil and commercial construction services across Canberra for government, commercial and residential clients.
Business Snapshot
Business Name: Paraco Projects
Owner: Antoni Paragalli
Industry: Construction & Civil Works
Location: Canberra
Who They Help: Government, commercial and residential construction clients
Website: https://www.paraco.com.au
For more than two decades, Antoni Paragalli and the team at Paraco Projects have built a reputation around tackling the kinds of jobs many businesses avoid.
From structural upgrades and civil works through to complex remediation projects and commercial construction, the Canberra-based business has steadily evolved alongside the city itself. What started as a family business built alongside Antoni’s father has grown into a multi-disciplinary operation delivering projects across hospitals, universities, government infrastructure and custom residential builds.
At the centre of it all is a simple mindset: stay adaptable, keep control of the fundamentals, and never shy away from hard work.
About The Business
Paraco Projects is a family-run Canberra construction business with deep roots in the local industry.
Antoni’s background in engineering, combined with building expertise shared across the family, helped shape the direction of the business early on. Over time, the company expanded from concreting and civil works into larger structural and commercial projects, eventually developing capabilities across building, remediation, maintenance and project management.
Today, the business delivers work across Canberra Health Services, university infrastructure, government maintenance programs and specialist commercial projects. Their portfolio ranges from structural strengthening works through to playground upgrades, civil maintenance and high-end custom homes.
One thing that stands out about Paraco Projects is their willingness to adapt as conditions change.
Following COVID, the business shifted away from relying heavily on labour-intensive subcontract work and moved further into head contracting and project management. That decision required major changes internally, including restructuring the team, changing delivery models and bringing in more operational leadership.
For Antoni, adaptability has always been part of survival in construction.
“There’s always phases where work slows down or changes direction. You’ve just got to keep applying yourself, keep putting the fillers out and stay present in the industry.”
That mindset has helped the business navigate everything from changing government spending cycles through to labour shortages and shifting market conditions across Canberra.
Q&A with Antoni
What inspired you to start the business?
I started the business with my father because I just felt working for others wasn’t going to get me ahead. I wanted more control over my time, my career and the kind of work we took on.
My younger brothers were keen to get into the industry too, so we built it together as a family business.
What are you most proud of in the business?
Being able to sustain the business for more than 20 years as a family business with three brothers running it.
We disagree on plenty of things, but we’re all working towards the same outcome. The business supports multiple families now and we’re proud we’ve been able to build something that’s lasted.
What has been one of the biggest challenges?
Getting work consistently at the moment is probably the biggest challenge.
A lot of our work is government-based, and with spending tightening up, we’ve had to adapt again and move back into more subcontract work while still maintaining our turnover and staffing structure.
Construction moves in waves though. You can go months with very little and then land a few million dollars’ worth of work in a week.
What decision helped the business grow the most?
Becoming head contractors instead of relying only on subcontract work made a massive difference.
It changed the structure of the business completely, but it also gave us more control over the projects and the direction of the business.
What advice would you give other business owners?
You need to know exactly where your business is at financially at all times.
I’ve seen businesses fail because they don’t know what’s coming in, what’s going out or where they actually stand. I’d rather micromanage than lose the business.
What does success look like over the next 12 months?
Maintaining turnover and profitability is the big thing for us.
If we land a couple of these larger projects, we’ll be in a strong position, but construction is a very fickle industry and you’ve always got to stay proactive.
What are you working towards personally?
I’m already thinking about retirement and putting the right people in place to eventually take over more responsibility.
A few years ago, I couldn’t have stepped away for five weeks. Now the business has evolved enough that I can step back more and focus on the bigger picture.
One thing that stood out
One thing that stood out in this conversation was how often long-standing Canberra businesses survive by evolving their structure, not just working harder.
As businesses grow, the challenge often shifts from simply delivering the work to building systems, leadership capacity and operational visibility strong enough to handle changing market conditions. Businesses that recognise that shift early tend to create far more resilience over time.
Let’s Put Your Business in the Spotlight
Canberra Business Accelerators is a Fyshwick-based business coaching and advisory practice led by Natalie Sammons. It helps established Canberra business owners improve profit, reclaim time, strengthen teams, build leadership capability, and create scalable systems through one-to-one coaching, planning days, team development, and practical business workshops.
Canberra Business Accelerators is a Canberra-based business coaching and advisory practice led by Natalie Sammons. It helps established Canberra business owners improve profit, reclaim time, strengthen teams, build leadership capability, and create scalable systems through one-to-one coaching, planning days, team development, and practical business workshops.
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