Toolbox Talk

Today, let's talk about having a business structure and how it gives you an edge from other trades business. Let me share with you a good example from the experience I had with this plumber.

I saw this post on a Facebook group for tradies the other day about a guy who unintentionally damaged a luxury car while working on site. You bet it was not his lucky day. Bentley SUV worth a £150,000 and the damage to be fixed to the paintwork and the bodywork was £30,000. If that was you, what would you do? Here's a lesson you can learn from this guy.

Today's topic is about the mistake of not charging enough. It's easy to make it, particularly if you're new, small and don't have any costs. But... It's the wrong thing to do and let me tell you why.

It's tradie mistake # 3 - not being true to your word. And this habit damages 2 things: - Business opportunities; and - Your reputation However, this is a common human behaviour. Almost everyone does this from time to time. And here's the reason why people do it.

In last week's episode, I talked about tradies not showing up to their pre-arranged appointments when they said they would. Or promising to prepare quotes for their customers but then they don't. It's a bit disappointing and I blame it on how they manage their time. They're very disorganised. There's only one solution to this.

Who likes unreliable people? Of couse, no one does! The first mistake tradies commit is failing to show up. I know that not only tradies do this thing, but most of us who are in business are guilty too. But you can stop this from happening again, here's how.

One of the strategies to increase your work capacity is to hire people. I understand that you all have lots to do in your trades business and you can't wait to hire more people to do the work for you in order to grow and scale. 

This leaves you vulnerable to making poor decisions and rush decisions. I'll give you a warning and I know I've said this before: if you hire without discipline, you'll regret it in the end.

Trades Business Growth Strategies - How To Increase Your Work Capacity

I'd like to talk today about 'Sh*tty Email Marketing -- Don't do this!' People seem to think it works but don't do it! Email is not a good way to start a relationship. It's a great way to maintain a relationship. 

For my business, email is useful because the service I'm selling is about teaching you stuff that you want to learn: marketing, and sales, and how to grow and scale your business. But that's not true so much for trade business.

As you know, from last week's Toolbox Talk, I'm in Spain at the moment because of my dad's heart surgery. And I'm glad he's doing okay now 🙂 But, before my trip, sh*t things happened. I have to deal with my cold that I got from my holiday. 

My poor dog was dying. I had to go and euthanise my dog, which was very distressing, bury him in the garden, drive to Brisbane, fly to Spain. And I started to worry about the meetings scheduled with my clients - what am I going to do with them? I was worried about letting people down. Negative thoughts started to sink in. It was stressful. There was a bit going on. So how did I manage it?