$1M+ Trade Business Playbook

Andy
We had no systems, no control, and no clue. And it turns out we are not the only ones, and that’s why we created this thing called the $1 million Trade Business Playbook. 39 Business Secrets Every Aussie Trading needs to know but isn’t taught. 

Ange
You know what? These are the lessons we wish someone had taught us years ago. The stuff that separates a six figure tradie from a seven figure business owner. 

Andy
In this episode, we are pulling back the curtain and cheering the truth. No one tells tradies like why number seven is my absolute favorite, and how number 21 literally got us out of trouble. 

Ange
And trust me, once you hear a few of these, you are going to wanna grab the full list and tick off how you are really tracking. 

Andy
So stick around because if you’ve ever thought there’s got to be a better way to run my business, you are about to find out why no one told you the truth. And how to fix it.

You are listening to The Tradie Show. This is the podcast for trade business and contracting bosses like you who wanna lead with confidence, make more profit, and create a better lifestyle. 

Ange
We’re your hosts, Andy and Angela Smith, husband & wife team, and co-founders of Lifestyle Tradie. Are you ready to have some fun?

Andy
Hell yeah! Want to cut your business cost without cutting corners. Buy4Tradies makes it simple. This is a buying group built by tradies for tradies, plumbers, sparkies, solar and air contacts, landscapers, just to name a few. Join for free and unlock trade only deals on materials, fuel, tools, finance, IT, and heaps more. There are no contracts, no signup fees, just real savings with trusted national suppliers. So if you are ready to keep more cash in your pocket and less in your overheads, jump onto buy4tradies.com.au. That’s buy, the number four, tradies.com.au and join for free today.

All right. It’s time to kick things off with some, hell yeah wins from our amazing Lifestyle Tradie members. Hell yeah! These are the legends who’ve been smashing it in their businesses. Proving that small changes can lead to massive results, and hopefully this gives you some inspo on what you can do in your business. Ange, what do we have this week? 

Ange
So we’ve got some great hell yeahs to share today, Andy. First up, a big shout out to Courtney, who’s a builder in Toowoomba Queensland with her husband James, and they share. Got a load of marketing material updated and ordered for our new company name, and James had his first design meeting with new clients and our designer. The wheels are seriously in motion to change this business model for the better.

Andy
And that is an incredible hell yeah. And this is why I sat down with these guys. I had a chat about their renovation business and where they were struggling. And where they wanted to take their business to the next level. And by the end of that meeting we’d redesigned. We had a better, clearer understanding of exactly what they wanted. They’ve gone out, they’ve done all their marketing, and they’re already kicking some big goals. That is a big hell yeah! And what is next Ange? 

Ange
Okay, so next up is Jared. He is a fairly new member with Lifestyle Tradie, who runs a painting business in Perth. He is absolutely crushing it. He writes, systems are humming, quotes are flying out, and the JMS is finally earning its stripes. Every week’s feeling sharper and stronger. Hell yeah! 

Andy
Yeah, that is huge, mate. And sitting down with you, when you first joined Lifestyle Tradie, you’d been in business for a very long time. You felt stale. There wasn’t a lot in place, and it was all about you. You’ve taken it on board, you’ve listened to what we’ve said. You’ve actioned the plan we gave you. And you are absolutely kicking some big goals. A big, massive Hell yeah for that mate. Last but not least, who’s up next, Ange?

Ange
Okay, so last is Simon who runs a solar business on the New South Wales Queensland border with his wife Laura. I love that his hell yeah ’cause it was literally a photo of him and his brand new four wheel drive wheels.

Andy
Yes, BYD it was. And um, he’s loving his new BYD um, he’s been kicking some amazing goals, does a lot of solar. He loves the battery sort of space and that’s why no doubt he’s gone down BYD. I will just say too, he just won, I think it was a $1.5 million contract the other day on an incredible job. A big hell yeah for you too, mate. That’s what we’re all talking about here, helping tradies like you take control, make changes, and see the wind roll on in. Alright, let’s get stuck into it. The truth, no one tells tradies. These are the lessons we had to learn the hard way and the ones we now see tripping up trade business owners all over the country. 

Ange
And they’re all straight out of the $1 million trade business playbook. This is 39 business secrets every Aussie tradie needs to know but isn’t taught. We’ve actually picked five that really hit home for just about every tradie we have ever coached. 

Andy
And if you’re driving right now. See how many of these ring a bell, and when you grab the full download and checklist later, you’ll be able to see how your business stacks up.

Ange
You know what? This is gonna be fun. Let’s get into it. 

Andy
This one stings a bit. We’ve heard it before. Profit comes first, not last. When I started Dr. Drip, I thought being busy meant being successful, well turning over a couple of million bucks and I was high fiving the boys like we’re absolutely killing it.

Ange
Yeah, I remember those days. Your success metrics were turnover numbers of vehicles on the road and the number of tradies, how wrong we were. 

Andy
Then the accountant called one day and said, we’re losing 50K a month. And I remember sitting there thinking how is that even possible? The foes were ringing off the hook. We were working our guts out. But the harder we seem to work, the more we seem to lose. 

Ange
Well, be thankful that the accountant did actually ring that day, I guess.

Andy
Yeah, that’s right.

Ange
Most tradies we speak with don’t know they’re losing money or that they’ve even lost money to the end of the financial year when they visit their accountant. And you know what, by then it’s actually all too late. 

Andy
You’re right, Ange. For us tradies, we understand money comes in from jobs completed. Money goes out to pay the bills and whatever is left over is the cream, the profit. And if there isn’t much left over, we generally say that’s the way it all works. 

Ange
Yes. But you and I both know now that we had this all wrong, the profit needs to be built in from the start and watched closely to ensure that we are constantly ahead. 

Andy
Yeah, the truth is I had no real idea about the costs. I’d price a job, I’d hope for the best. I’d crossed my fingers. There was something left at the end. You know what? That’s really not business. That’s gambling. 

Ange
So once we started calculating charge out rates properly, you know, factoring in wages, overheads, and actual profit, everything changed. Suddenly we weren’t chasing jobs, we were actually choosing the right ones. 

Andy
Now that you know the right hourly rate, and you are sitting back listening to this thinking, yeah, but my customers won’t pay that mate. Well, I’ve got something I wanna tell you. The right ones will. And if you build your profit into every job, you’ll stop feeling like you are working for nothing. 

Ange
Well, that’s the power of knowing your numbers, right? You can be the hardest working bloke in town, but if you don’t build profit from the start, you’re actually gonna stay broke.

Andy
So when you go through the checklist, look at how confident you are with your pricing. If you tick, I don’t know, my true profit margin, guess what? That’s your sign to fix it first. 

Ange
All right. Let’s move on to number seven. You can make or break a sale the moment you say hello. 

Andy
And before you switch off thinking. Yeah. Yeah. First impressions matter. Hear us out. Most tradies have no idea how much money this is costing them in their business right now. 

Ange
We’ve seen the data from our members. If your team answers 10 calls a day and you lose just two because someone sounds rushed or tired or distracted, that’s hundreds of thousands of dollars gone every year. It’s not a small change. 

Andy
And this is where most tradies get it wrong. They think it’s about being friendly. It’s not. It’s about having a system, a process for how every call is answered, every quote is booked, every lead is fired up. 

Ange
So at Dr. Drip, we literally built a system. So every call had a specific nine-step script, how to greet them, what questions to ask, how to explain the next steps. And once we train the team, our conversions jumped by 30%. Same prices, same leads, just a better process. 

Andy
And that’s the difference between winging it and winning it. You can’t just hope your team sounds good on the phone. You’ve gotta train them, track them, and also hold them accountable. 

Ange
And that’s the kind of stuff we unpack with our members. We don’t just tell you to sound friendly. We literally need to give you the exact scripts, the templates, and the core flows that actually convert callers into paying customers. 

Andy
Because if you don’t fix it. You’re not just losing jobs, you are bleeding cash every single day. 

Ange
So once you’ve nailed that first impression, that hello, it doesn’t actually stop there.

Andy
That’s just the start. The real difference comes from how you communicate throughout the process. From the first call to the moment, the customer says, yep, go ahead. That’s where number 21 comes in.

Alright, let’s cut to the chase. When was the last time your business worked for you? Instead of running you into the ground? If you are sitting there thinking, yep, that’s me, then we need to talk. I’m Andy Smith and I’ve been where you are. Long hours, cashflow nightmares, no control. Does any of this sound familiar? But here’s the thing, you don’t have to keep living like this. There’s a way out, and it starts with a game plan call. It’s just 10 minutes. We are going to identify the bottlenecks holding your business back and map out a clear, straightforward plan to get you moving forward. Think of it as your shortcut to make more profit, more control, and more time to actually enjoy your life. And if you are stuck with cashflow issues, team headaches, or just feel like you’re drowning in endless work, well guess what? I’ve got you back. So here’s what you need to do. Head to lifestyletradie.com.au. Hit the big green game plan call button, or just scroll down on your phone. Listen, if a 10 minute call could save you hours of headaches, why wouldn’t you take it? Make the move. Let’s turn things around and get your business working for you, not against you. Hell yeah!

Ange
Communication builds trust and sales because trust is what turns a quote into a job and a job into a new referral. 

Andy
Most tradies don’t realize how much good communication shapes the way the customers feel about your business. It’s not just what you say, it’s how clearly, how consistently, and how confidently you say it. 

Ange
Exactly. Customers want to feel looked after. They wanna know you’re organized, and that you’ll keep them in the loop and that you’ll actually deliver when you say you will. That’s what gives them confidence to go ahead with the job in the first place. 

Andy
Yeah, that’s a great sentence. The first goal should be to literally just get on site for a chance to quote, and then it’s getting them to say yes to the quote itself. You can’t jump these stages because it just doesn’t work properly. 

Ange
Well, one thing we talk about a lot is this trust escalator and the fact that there are actually five stages to the buying decision for a customer. You actually need to know exactly what to do and say at each stage.

Andy
And it needs to be specific to the customer. Like talking to the pain points with a residential customer will be completely different if you are speaking with, say, a strata manager. 

Ange
Yeah, it’s a great point. So there’s actually a science behind communication. It’s all part of your customer experience. It’s actually how you stand out without dropping your price. Clear updates, follow-ups, and a bit of personality can actually go a long way. 

Andy
Little things seem so obvious. Like if you ghost a customer for three days after sending a quote, they assume you don’t care. But when you check in, it shows professionalism, and that builds trust faster than any discount ever will.

Ange
Yeah, agreed. So when you’re doing the checklist later, ask yourself, do I communicate with confidence and consistency or do I just react when someone calls me? Because that change could be the difference between chasing jobs and choosing them. 

Andy
All right, number 29, systems create freedom, and this one changed our life.

Ange
Oh, yes. Before systems, it was pure chaos. We were double and triple handling things, costing us precious time, and creating masses of unnecessary stress. 

Andy
I was doing a lot of things by memory, quote, scribbled on yellow job cards, jobs getting missed, invoices being delayed. You name it. It probably happened.

Ange
Well, I remember dropping into the office and our tamon one day with our daughter, and there were two of our work vehicles in the warehouse downstairs, and I randomly checked inside the doors to find these yellow job cars, which was how we operated our work at the time. There was a stack of them in the sun visor and down the side of the car doors. So I took them upstairs and handed them to our office team, only to discover that they were actually jobs completed months ago. Never invoiced. I’m talking six grand, 14 grand, two grand. Like talk about a mess. 

Andy
Yeah, it was a mess. We had a crazy amount of work coming in, like I’m talking crazy, but we had no systems to manage the flow on a daily basis and I was part of every decision. And although I love being their go-to guy, the reality is it was absolutely killing me. 

Ange
You know what? I get that it’s great to feel important until it ends up being the thing that literally slows down progress. 

Andy
And that’s when we started documenting everything from how to answer the phone, to how to quote to how to order materials. We worked with a system specialist and we designed over 250 flowcharts that captured how, who and what to do for every single part of the business. 

Ange
And it delivered the ultimate dream. You got to a point that you’re only working in the business two hours a week while it was streamlined, systemized, and made consistent profit.

Andy
That feeling of freedom is super weird. I have to say, you know, not being needed can be a blow to the ego, but hey, that’s when you know you’ve created a true lifestyle business. When you have the choice to be involved or not, and the wheels, don’t fall off. 

Ange
It’s the reason systems are one of the key areas we teach with our Lifestyle Tradie members. Literally how to build systems that give your life back. Because although it’s a cliche, freedom doesn’t come from working harder. It actually comes from working smarter. 

Andy
Alright, so let’s finish with this one. Number 36, and it’s a huge one. Mindset sets the course, and I love this one because running a trade business will test you like nothing else. You have the pressure of staff, customers, cash flow, and you still have to keep it all together when you head home at the end of the day. 

Ange
Yeah. When everything was falling apart at Dr. Drip, it wasn’t just our systems or pricing that were broken, it was actually how we thought and we blamed everyone but ourselves.

Andy
Yeah, I remember that and I was just angry all the time, like when things aren’t going wrong and you’re just not sure where to turn, it just seems, you just seem to be off and cranky all the time, and this is just how it is in business. Toughen up I used to say to myself, but that attitude nearly broke us and once I realized that every problem in the business started with me, yes, me and how I was thinking, how I was reacting, and that’s when things change, when I self-reflect on things I was doing so wrong. 

Ange
Well, the truth is you can’t always control what happens around you, but you can actually control how you respond. So when you choose to see challenges as a lesson and not disasters, you start to lead instead of react. 

Andy
We see it all the time. You get two trade business owners, they both have the exact same problem. One sees it as the end of the world, and the other sees it as a chance to improve. That difference in mindset is priceless. 

Ange
Exactly. Your mindset is the foundation for everything. You can have the best systems, the best marketing, even the best staff, but if your head’s not in the right place, you are going to always end up back in chaos.

Andy
And that is why this checklist is so valuable. It isn’t just about what you do, it’s about how you think. As you tick through those questions, notice the stories that you tell yourself, I’m too busy. The customers are tired asses. It’s just the industry I play in.

Ange
Yeah. If you want a different result, you’ve gotta start thinking differently.

Andy
A hundred percent.

Ange
There couldn’t be a more important subject than this. Literally changing how you see yourself as a business owner. 

Andy
And learning that skillset required to change from being a tradie on the tools to managing staff to leading a team. This switch will make the difference to your business, guaranteed.

Ange
We’ve learnt every one of these lessons, and if there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s been a great tradie doesn’t automatically make you a great business owner, but it’s a skill that you can learn. 

Andy
Exactly, and that’s what this whole episode’s about. The truth, no one tells tradies. Once you know better, you can do better. 

Ange
And we’ve only had the chance to speak to points 1, 7, 21, 29 and 36. There are literally 39 of them in total. All epic lessons for an aspiring trade business owner. 

Andy
If you are keen to mix things up in business, make decent profit and basically get your life back. The way you expected life would always be owning your own trade business, then I would suggest you start by downloading the $1 million Trade Business Playbook, 39 Business Secrets Every Aussie Tradie needs to know but isn’t taught.

Ange
This might just be the reality check that you’ve been avoiding, but once you complete the checklist and see the truth, you’ll know exactly where to start. 

Andy
It’s Tradie dilemma time brought to you by Buy4Tradies, the buying group helping tradies like you save serious coin on materials, fuel, vehicles, tools, and other services. If you’re not using it, you are probably paying too much. This is our Q&A segment where you let us know what you’re having trouble with in your business and we’ll give you our best advice to sort it out. 

Ange
Okay. So today we have a question from Jeff who owns a maintenance plumbing business in Darwin, Northern Territory. And he writes, Hey, Andy and Ange, hoping you can help out. I have a leading hand. He’s been with me for five years and he is a legend of a bloke. But recently we’ve employed a new tradesman who is twice his age and for some reason they don’t see eye to eye. I’m not sure if the new bloke doesn’t wanna take orders from someone his junior, or if my leading hand just has a complex about someone twice his age to manage. How do I sort this out so that everyone just does their job and gets on with it professionally? 

Andy
Yeah, Jeff, this is an absolute cracking one. You know, the first thing could be the old dogs coming in and he doesn’t wanna listen to the young dog and the young dogs in there, and he thinks he’s better than the old dog. And there’s all this miscommunications and it’s a common thing, but the thing that you need to do is I would be going to your leading hands you’ve had for five years first because you know him, you love him. He’s been with you for a long time. I’d be sitting down over a cup of coffee, but not in the workplace necessarily, and just having a real heart to heart about what this new guy is like, what you’re doing well, where the challenges are, because I think you’ve gotta give. This guy that’s been with you for five years, the chance to explain what he’s seen and then I would pull in the new guy as well and say, Hey, listen, how’s things going? And, and try to get a bit of an understanding between the two of them about what’s going on and now you know what your long-term guy thinks. You know what the new new guy thinks. Then I think that’s where the plan comes into place. How do we get these people to join together? How do we get them to respect each other and potentially if they are working with each other, how is that gonna work? So that would be the game plan for me, mate. Sit down with ’em both to get a clear understanding, have an action plan, then get them together and have a meeting with both of them and make sure you can clear this up ASAP, please don’t sweep it under the carpet. It’s certainly something that you need to fix because you know you could lose your long term and then the new guy may not be really what you wanted in the long run. 

Ange
Yeah, great answer. Thanks for riding in with the question, Jeff. That was a great question that I know there’d be plenty of listeners saying that’s my exact issue that I’m having in my business right now. So for all of you, remember, if you want Andy and I to answer your most challenging question, then send it our way. 

Andy
Alright, legends, that’s a wrap on the truth, no one tells tradies. If any of those business secrets hit home. Don’t just nod along and do nothing about it. 

Ange
Grab the $1 million Trade Business Playbook, the 39 Business secrets every Aussie tradie needs to know but isn’t taught. It’s free and you can do a quick self-assessment to see exactly where your business is at. 

Andy
And once you’ve got your score, the next step is joining us. They are stress free Tradie live event. That’s where we will show you how to fix the chaos, make more profit, and finally get your life back. 

Ange
You’ll find all the links in the show notes.

Andy
See you, legends! Subscribe to The Tradie Show, wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Rate and write us a review or for more information about Lifestyle Tradie, head to lifestyletradie.com.au.