The Profitable Tradie Podcast

Are you struggling to get paid? Sometimes it isn’t as easy as it should be. And God forbid your business goes into the red just because somebody else can’t cough up the funds to pay your what your fair wage. Getting paid is a fundamental in business. But exactly how you can guarantee this is often glossed over. That is why Tony & Phil sat down and recorded an episode on how to get paid and on...

Ungrateful employees are the worst. You may be struggling in the trenches and doing your best to stay positive.. But when one of your guys starts whining about whatever it is this time, how does that NOT send you over the edge? After all. You're paying this guy serious money. Investing all your smarts into him. You might even be allowing him to get away with using a company vehicles or materials o...

Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently. Henry Ford said that. Now I'm guessing you wouldn't label Henry Ford as a failure? But in Henry's time he failed A LOT. So has Tony. And so have you. But we're not outright failures just because we have chequered business pasts. In fact the opposite. What sets us apart is our ability use losses and challenges to fuel us and set us on th...

Did you know printing money isn't illegal? It’s called hiring top quality workers. You might be thinking, "great workers aren’t out there". And you might feel like hiring is a bit of a lottery. If so, I'm sorry to say that you've fallen victim to one of the 5 huge hiring mistakes. You want to avoid these mistakes when building a great team, so Tony and Phil sat down and recorded an episode This is...

Mistakes are bound to happen from time to time. There are some howlers for sure. Like someone not installing a drain correctly in an upstairs bathroom.  Free shower downstairs.  And I don’t think they can ever be avoided 100%.  But most owners don’t understand the financial implications of mistakes that require rework to be done.  The financial mistakes are huge and t...

By now we’re almost certain you’ve heard about AI (artificial intelligence)… But even if you haven’t, this will still be the perfect episode for you. Parts of AI are exciting, parts are scary. No, we’re not going to instruct you to head to your local store to buy foil to wrap around your head. But it is important to understand how it might affect trades, subcontracting, and construction businesses...

Revenue has doubled. They have a motivated and productive team. They’ve opened a new division. They’re working on the tasks they enjoy doing. And profits are up $60k per month. That’s Tas & Sam’s story over the last 4 years. And we’ve just interviewed them to find out how they did it. A lot can be achieved in 4 years. But having said that, bugger all can change in 4 years as well. It all comes...

Ever struggled to get your guys to fill out their paperwork? To them it’s just an extra step on the job which they can’t be bothered doing. To you it’s crucial for making sure you can invoice the job. It’s a simple step, but sometimes it feels like pulling teeth and despite reminding them over and over again they still don’t do it. The thing is, there’s a lot more going on under the surface that w...

If you do any marketing or are planning too anytime soon, this is important. It’s called the marketing lag problem. Understanding this problem will help you get to grips with the time between marketing for a job. And actually getting paid for that job. You know what causes the time gap, or “lag”. Then you’ll be able to get the most out of your marketing. Giving yourself the ability to generate a c...

Do you have an accounts receivable process? If you answered no, there’s bad news for you… Because that’s the second thing on this list of cashflow mistakes to avoid. The other 6 are covered in the episode. Almost every business will encounter problems that are a result of poor cashflow at some stage. And absolutely every business could be better at managing cashflow. It’s really important because...

Back when Tony was a kid, he was helping his dad on the family farm. He was out with his brother helping their dad move livestock. They were told to go down the hill to help move the temporary fence. Tony’s brother was just in front of him, walking confidently. Until disaster struck. His brother slipped and hit the ground harder than a roofer using socks as work boots. His back was painted head to...

We actually did a training on this strategy for our members, and it booked 273 jobs in 30 minutes… You’ve got a phone, right? It’s hard to live without one. There are undoubtedly times where you wish you didn’t have one. But today your gonna be glad you do… Because it’s the only thing you need to be able to use this sales strategy. Making it a super cheap and easy way to get more jobs. It’s a simp...

Do you ever talk yourself up and down when pricing work? Thinking “will they accept this if I charge this much?" This leads to undercharging what you’re worth (or charging from your own pocket). It’s tricky though because if you need the work, risking charging what your worth can feel scary. The thing is, there's a 4 step system that means you can not only increase the amount of quotes you win, bu...

Remember when you were an apprentice… Trying to learn how to do something. You sat there staring at the workbook for an hour and a half. And after that you still felt like you had no idea how to do it. Then you’d go to site and the boss would have you shadow one of the older guys. They’d talk you through how they did that job as they carried it out in front of you. After 30 minutes you felt so muc...

Sales isn’t just something you do, it’s a whole profession. There’s lots of techniques and tricks you can use to fine tune your selling. Here’s one you can use straight away. It’s called the Four Sales Questions. They’ll help you... Spend less time pricing work just for someone to say no Win you more jobs Have more control when selling Spend less time on the phone with tire kickers There will alwa...

How many of your days are full of disruptions? With you getting pulled in each and every direction by everyone needing something different. Your time is chewed up by your team not dealing with things on their own. It seems like they won’t even wipe their own rearend without asking you how to do it… And getting your express permission to do. Sure, some of your guys might not be that confident or sw...

WHAT YOU’LL GAIN FROM IMPLEMENTING TODAY’S PODCAST: The 5 reasons you should go into a partnership 3 parternship situations that will end in disaster How to set up a partnership in your business so it doesn't go wrong How to keep your power and control when working with a partner Partnerships are a slippery slope. But there doesn’t seem to be much of a middle ground. When done right they make busi...

For trades business owners it’s easy to get stuck on the hamster wheel. You end up just going through the motions instead of working toward something. It could be that you’ve always found it difficult to set goals for your business. If you don’t know what is possible, it’s hard to know where to put the goal posts. That makes it difficult to get motivated and get yourself on track, especially when...

In business and in life, controlling your thoughts is super important if you want to win...  That’s not just some psycho babble… Because how you think about something, determines how you respond to it.  Being able to think about things in the right way will help reduce the stress that comes with running a business. And let you get the most out of your team. As well as helping you enjoy a...

Dive into the world of marketing and why it's essential for business owners to get it right. With a focus on Business to business marketing, Tony and Phil explore the "3 M's" of marketing and why starting with the "who" is key. Tony talks duck shooting season and how it relates to choosing the right approach in marketing. Learn how B2B marketing can lead to fast and sustainable revenue growth, a b...

There’s one key characteristic that shows up time and time again in trades business owners that build really successful businesses… They learn.  Not only do they like to learn but they prioritize making learning part of their routine. They understand that if you’re not continually learning then you’re standing still. Or worse. Going backwards. This is an especially important characteristic fo...

I’m sure you’ve noticed how different tradespeople are these days. Whether it’s through hiring or just meeting different people onsite, there’s such a wide range of personalities out there. Gen Z’s who don’t even want to pick up a tool, lazy people who will do anything to get out of work, stubborn traditionalists who won’t be told what to do. The ‘one size fits all’ leadership approach doesn’t wor...

This week we are doing things a little different… Subbing in for heavy knowledge hitter, and well, a heavy hitter himself, Phil, is a World Champion Kick Boxer and Co-Founder of Groundplan, Rex Redden. We talk about taking hits and the journey to becoming a World Champion Muay Thai Kick Boxer. We dive into his complete change in direction to business and building a 3 million dollar revenue company...

This week we’re going to uncover the secret to understanding the bits of marketing that count… Because we know that for small, medium or even large business owners who’ve come up through the ranks in the trades, marketing can seem like a foreign language!  After watching this episode, when you’re talking to marketing agencies, or trying to do it yourself, you won’t need to get bogged down in...

How would you rate your sales game? It's time we unveil the harsh realities of NOT measuring your sales performance. We'll dive into what over estimating the effectiveness of your sales process might be costing your business. Not just in terms of cash but also time! Tony and Phill will help you discover how you could be unknowingly chasing lost causes, repeating the same mistakes, and missing out...