Sparky Coach

Ever been in the middle of a business storm so hectic that it was rattling you 24 hours a day?  Chances are, if you have been in business a while, the answer is yes.  When you’re in the hurricane, the best question to ask is “what decision/s led up to this moment?” So often, if we truly go there in ourselves, we find that one bad decision led to another led to another and then led us into the hurr...

Back on the lounge today with have Joe Pratt who doubles as the director of Benchmark Electric Co (Coffs based) and one of the coaches here at Sparky Coach.  Cam + Joey chat through many items including price books, forecasting, scheduling the workload, finding  chasing new work, quoting projects, quoting service work, failing forward, always getting better at communicating, plus much much more. ...

Working hard or hardly working?  Working smart or hardly working?  Our ethos here at Sparky Coach is simple. Work hard. Work smart. Be kind. Get result. Go together.  There’s no point working hard if the invoices aren’t getting sent and if the jobs aren’t being measured (and managed).  There’s no point working smart if you aren’t prioritising the priorities.  On second thought, not prioritising th...

As we always say around here, the money is made or lost in the office.  In this pod Cam breaks down why admin shouldn’t be an afterthought or an after dinner activity, and why it should be at the absolute top of the priority list week in week out.  Let’s face it, the admin isn’t going anywhere and we all know that a successful back office is key to business success.  Our goal is to inspire to you...

This week on the lounge we have my good friend Dave Berner from Kinde.  Dave is a founder, a dad, a coder, a tech wizard, a lego organiser, a husband, a boss, a UK punk / grime enthusiast, a Bangalow gym 6am junkie (lol), basically an all round legend worthy that the lounge is no doubt unworthy of.   We have many great chats about life and business around the camp fire over a couple of beers, so h...

Ah job management systems, what an age we live in.  On this pod series Cam takes us through the importance of a well oiled job management system, and the joy it can bring to your life once set up properly.  Summary of benefits including, but not limited to:  -centralised location for quoting, job, contacts, client info etc  -smart scheduling -faster + more accurate invoicing -supplier automated in...

Ah job management systems, what an age we live in.  On this pod series Cam takes us through the importance of a well oiled job management system, and the joy it can bring to your life once set up properly.  Summary of benefits including, but not limited to:  -centralised location for quoting, job, contacts, client info etc  -smart scheduling -faster + more accurate invoicing -supplier automated in...

Ok we are doing something a little bit different in this one!  We are posting a session we did on our paid program a couple of weeks ago. Tom Ryan, from Ryelec, runs our “Business Automation” sessions every Friday at 10am.  Today he gives us a run through of Groundplan, and how he uses it for effective quoting + pricing.  Session best watched via video but hey I’m sure you will pick up a whole bun...

Ah job management systems, what an age we live in.  On this pod Cam takes us through the importance of a well oiled job management system, and the joy it can bring to your life once set up properly.  Summary of benefits including, but not limited to:  -centralised location for quoting, job, contacts, client info etc  -smart scheduling -faster + more accurate invoicing -supplier automated integrati...

In a “hit it and quit it” generation it’s time to flip the script and build long term relationships.  Of course not in a blind loyalty “I will never get another price from anyone else as long as I live” kinda way, but in a way that puts people and service in a similar or even higher playing field than money.  It’s people that make the business’s wheels spin. Staff. Suppliers. Clients. Probably in...

This week we have Joe Pratt on the lounge, who is the self appointed and self anointed unofficial mayor of Bellingen (northern NSW).  Joe is one of our coaches here and is an absolute weapon in the finding work space, Simpro, Service M8, people + team management.  He truly puts the “hustle” in “hustle-off”.  What a time to be alive.  Enjoy the pod x 

In this episode we are joined by the self appointed and self anointed real estate lord Joe Pratt. Rumour has it he gets his close friends and family to refer to him as the “Real Estate God” during business hours (9-5pm).  His after hours “call out” is that he makes them say “Real Estate God” in double time, though not 5 times in the mirror for a significant and relatively justified fear of the rea...

I was having a couple of beers the other night around a fire with my friend Dave.  He asked me “what’s your ICP?”  I replied by asking “what’s an ICP?” Then he said “an ICP is your ideal customer profile”.  Oooohhhhhhh, a GYM! (lol and Simpsons reference incase you have been living under a rock omg).  In this episode we talk about your ideal client, or ICP as Dave likes to say.  Starting out in th...

This week on the lounge we have the honour of hosting Brandon who has (more than likely) sworn at you via online sorcery aka ads re: taking your digital marketing back in house.  Brandon runs “Where U” out of Perth, which is a digital marketing company throwing the horns up and screaming a big “F U” to the current telemarketing state of his industry.  Brandon is giving power back to the people to...

In this session we go through all the different ways to find work as an electrician.  If you want the document I run through in the vid pls reach out via insta or website and we will send it over.  Get after it and let us know your wins / what’s worked from your end xx 

Another member question which was no doubt sent down via stone tabernacle through the ongoing sorcery of the electrical gods.  Honestly a really good question. How do you start out? How do you take the leap? When do you consider hiring? Who is the best first hire? What should I eat for lunch? How many coffees should I have per day?  We discuss this, and much more, in the pod.  Enjoy xx 

Ok we’re onto some hectic member questions which were no doubt assigned and aligned by the electrical gods.  A member known only by the unique online trading name of “Lord Voltemort” so eloquently asked us what we thought about diversification.  We have many thoughts here, so listen up and make sure the trade gods are happy that they gifted you with one mouth and two ears (lol). There really is no...

We welcome Tom Ryan from Ryelec Automation back on the lounge for a good ole fashioned chinwag. We discuss multiple topics including his recent jobs, finding work, social media, cool automation stuff, his involvement with CEDIA in bringing a home automation course to life, his love for 90’s punk music (oh hey Lagwagon + NOFX), and much much more.  Always a pleasure when Tommy comes past, one of ou...

Ah cold calling. What an absolute stitch up am I right or what.  I guess the harsh reality is that it does actually work (eventually).  It’s just a super low percentage play.  But how do you go about it? What do you need in place? How many of the calls do you have to do? How long is a piece of string? We answer these questions, or at least attempt to, in this pod.  Enjoy xx 

Ok ok so we know it’s still the same old you, but what if the same old you got a little bit better?  Sometimes in life we need a good reset, and sometimes something like July 1 (aka financial year) can be exactly what the trade gods ordered.  At Sparky Coach we have simplified our goals to this: close the week, close the month, set + achieve goals. Everything else will be exposed from doing these...

The self anointed and self appointed “Ford Lord” is back in the house!!  We discuss heaps of stuff including staff management, finding work, coffee, client retention, staff retention, business growth and so much more.  As usual, it’s always a good time when Fordy drops past.  What a time to be alive!  Enjoy the pod.  Much love xx 

Yeh so everyone wants to get to 7 figures am I right? Or 8 figures? To the mooooonnn.  7 minute abs! No!!!! 6 minute abs!!  But ask anyone who’s ever been to 7 or 8 figures before, and they will tell you that you 100% don’t want to get there unless your numbers foundations are correct.  And what does it even mean to get to 7 figures anyway?  Usually the 7 figures is just a whole bunch of 3, 4, 5 +...

Yeh so everyone wants to get to 7 figures am I right? Or 8 figures? To the mooooonnn.  7 minute abs! No!!!! 6 minute abs!!  But ask anyone who’s ever been to 7 or 8 figures before, and they will tell you that you 100% don’t want to get there unless your numbers foundations are correct.  And what does it even mean to get to 7 figures anyway?  Usually the 7 figures is just a whole bunch of 3, 4, 5 +...

Joining Cam on the lounge this week is Angela Lee from Codification.  Based out of the Northern Rivers, Angela is an absolute weapon in the Accountant and Business Advisor space.  We are lucky enough to have her on the team here at Sparky Coach, and most of our members that meet her (more often than not) will cross all their accounting over to her.  She’s smart, honest, kind, diligent + more. A ge...

This pod is a bit of a continue on from our “The True Cost Of Being An Average Business Owner” series.  Actually it was only two episodes, can it really be called a series?  What constitutes a series anyway?  I guess, in a way, who really cares.  Back to the point though, we discuss how to have your sharpest week.  It possibly can be summed up in this one sentence: clearly define the difference be...