Building a Business Worth Passing On with Revive Timber & Decking

Andy
Then their 21-year-old daughter, Sophie, stepped into the business, and that changed everything. 

Ange
Because it wasn’t just about getting through the week anymore, it was about building something that actually had a future. 

Andy
Fast-forward just eight months after getting the right help, they’ve gone from reacting day to day to having structure, better cash flow, clear communication, work booked ahead, and a business they can actually see a future in.

Ange
And today, we’re unpacking what they’ve done, what’s changed, and what it actually looks like behind the scenes at Revive Your Timber in Sunny Queensland. 

Andy
You’re 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
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Michelle
G’day, Ange. G’day. 

Jono
G’day.

Andy
Oh, you guys are superstars, and we’re really looking forward to having a good chat with you today. You’ve come so far in these eight months. I know everyone out there listening are absolutely gonna love you. So listen, let’s start with telling us a little bit about Revive Timber and how long you’ve been in business and what made you niche into reviving timber decks.

Michelle
So we’ve been in and out of business, uh, for twenty-five years. So I’ve had a business background. Jonathan’s got his farming background, and we’ve been weaving in and out over twenty-five years. So what made us niche into timber was probably around the time of COVID. I think that was when, uh, we started to lightly question, uh, not in any kind of structural way, but lightly Jono might think about things and I might think about things about what are we gonna do? Who are we? Uh, you know, especially during COVID, people were at home and painting their own houses. Were they really gonna need painters anymore? So there were a couple of things that happened where, uh, one of Jono’s best mates out west had heaps of timber work on one of his properties that Jonathan got involved with. We also had a connection with Cabot’s and Dulux, and, uh, they were, uh, starting up a program called Done by Dulux, and they were testing the market to see if they could provide a service to customers directly, and we would contract to them. And so we were excited to be a part of that, and I think that was six months’ worth maybe.

Jono
Yeah, we, and we, we took the opportunity to, um, grow our book from that. 

Michelle
What they were doing was they were doing the advertising, they were sending us the leads, and then we would go and do the work. Was not profitable. But what we were building was a future base for clients that we could go back to and do the maintenance on the decks. And so I guess painting kind of slipped away into the background also because Sophie hates it. Um, so niching into timber, actually, if we were building something that was going to be for Sophie, it was not going to be a painting business. So that was part of it as well, yeah? Yeah.

Sophie
Yeah. I was, yeah, working at the time in a couple of other fields. I had three jobs before working with mom and dad, and yeah, I wanted to do something in construction, and yeah, it sort of fell in my lap working with mom and dad, and then the painting was not my favorite, so, but the decking, really satisfying start to finish, and yeah, that’s the part I probably enjoyed, so we just kinda veered that way instead of towards painting.

Andy
Yeah, I love that, and I just love the story that you guys have been entrepreneurial. You’ve done a few businesses in the past. You’ve done farming. You’ve done a bit of everything, and then you’ve landed here, and in the end you’ve, you’ve landed here reviving timber decks, which is absolutely awesome. 

Ange
So crew, I want to take you back a little bit. You guys have been members with Lifestyle Tradie for a short eight months, but let’s take you back to the time before you joined Lifestyle Tradie. What did the business actually look like day to day?

Michelle
Messy. It was just messy. Yeah It was messy. Uh, like when I think of what did it look like, it looked like we were all putting our feet in mud- … and kinda dragging and pulling each other across at certain points. We were able, you know, to pay ourselves- Function and have a wage. Yeah. Yeah, we were able to function and survive, but it was certainly messy and glitchy. And what did you say before? Just bumpy and- Bumpy …

Sophie
And reactive as well, like all- Mm-hmm … just kind of- Yeah, we’re now- … grasping at straws it feels like. 

Jono
When I wasn’t pulling my hair out, Michelle was pulling my hair out.

Andy
Yeah, exactly. I, I just love it when Ange goes, “What did the business actually look like day to day?” And, and, and the listeners- … they can only listen, right? But we’re looking at your, your faces, and all of you just went, “Ah,” big cringe- … and screwed your face up. So obviously things have changed a lot. But I wanna ask Sophie a question. So be really honest here, Sophie, what did you actually think of the business when you first started working in it? 

Sophie
When I first started working with it, I was only really on site helping Dad, and it didn’t seem that messy or chaotic because I wasn’t too much involved. 

Andy
Yes. 

Sophie
Yeah, it kinda looked pretty all right from sort of the outside. Um- Like most businesses But then… Yeah. Yeah. But then I started to, like, get a little bit more involved step by step, and yeah, just kinda noticed that things are a bit glitchy, and yeah, no one really had, like, strict responsibilities. It was all kinda just everyone’s hand and it was, yeah.

Ange
Stepping on each other’s toes perhaps.

Sophie
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. 

Andy
And I just find it interesting when, ’cause, you know, when you have someone or your daughter coming into the business- Yeah … and they’re young, and they’ve, they’ve got different outlook and, and they’ve just come out of school or uni or whatever, they’ve done a few different jobs, and then they come in. And they’re normally, you know, most people Sophie’s age are pretty tech savvy. They know their way around a computer and phones, and then they join us older people, and they look and go- … “What are you doing? Come on!” You know? Um, so yeah, it’s great that Sophie could come in. And I get it, from the outside you’re working with your dad, you’re having a good time. You’re thinking, “This is amazing. I love this. I can certainly see myself as a part of the business.” Like most tradies or most people that work in a business, they don’t really know how much extra work there is behind the scenes. And then you started coming in behind the scenes, Sophie, and then all of a sudden the book was opened, and you were thinking to yourself- “what the hell have I got myself into?” 

Sophie
Yeah. Yikes. Yeah, I think it was good as well ’cause I could, like, bridge the gap a little bit between- Yeah … like, Dad on site all the time and, like, Mum back in the office, so. 

Andy
Yeah. Love that. Love that. 

Ange
Like a mediator. Exactly. So Michelle and Jono, let me ask you this. You guys have been in business for quite some time. What made you realize that something had to change? 

Jono
Well, I’ve, I’ve been flogging a dead horse for many, many years.  And I was still getting the same result. So it’s, um, it, it basically I have to do something different, ’cause I didn’t have the answers, and I spent a lot of time, uh, vacillating about what I should or shouldn’t be doing or what, what I should do first. And, um, yeah, I just didn’t know. You guys came along, and that’s what… You seem to know what you’re talking about so I’ll, uh, I’ll follow this one for a while. 

Michelle
I think for me, what made me realize we had to do something was last year Jonathan had a back injury. And actually, before meeting you guys, I was going on a different tangent going, “Oh God, we won’t have a business if Jonathan is injured. Quickly I need to go and do something.” So I’ve actually homeschooled all my kids. I’m in the last year of homeschooling. I’m was thinking, “Okay, where can I upskill? What can I do?” Enrolled in, um, international coaching accreditation, and I was down that path. And then I also realized at some point, obviously we were wanting to build something for Sophie, and how could we package something for her? Like, this whole time we’re saying, “Oh, one day when Sophie takes over. One day when Sophie takes over.” And I think it was just a moment of, what are we actually handing over to her? We don’t have anything to give her other than a van and some tools, but that’s not fair. What’s the fair thing to do? If she’s got to go and borrow money to buy into the business, if she has to get loans, we act- actually have to give her a packaged little thing. And I think for me, that’s when I knew something needed to change. Because we were saying, and also Jonathan’s back injury, okay, it’s gonna be… maybe it’s gonna be sooner that Sophie comes in. What is it that we’re actually gonna be giving her? 

Andy
Yeah, and that’s great. Uh, and I love that. I- I just gotta dive back to Jono and ask you a question, mate, ’cause I know this happens to a lot of blokes like you and I and, and tradies out there in the field. You were saying you’re flogging a dead horse. It wasn’t really working, but you didn’t know what you didn’t know. Now, let me ask you this question. Would you have come to Lifestyle Tradie? Just say, you know, Michelle wasn’t in the business and wasn’t… Would you have come to Lifestyle Tradie by yourself, or did Michelle drag you kicking and screaming? Like how did that all work out? 

Jono
I’d like to say I would’ve done it by myself but, uh, honestly, no. Honestly, I wouldn’t have. Um, it’s more Soph and, Soph and I arguing about, uh, basics on, on site. Uh, and occasionally in front of o- other people, which shouldn’t happen. 

Andy
Yeah. 

Jono
Um, and, uh, and I knew something had to give, otherwise, uh, Sophie wouldn’t have been working for me, and then Michelle definitely wouldn’t have been working for me. Um, so yeah. So, uh, and, and we had… The year before we did do some, um, we did get some help from a business consultant and, um, but it just wasn’t… He was a good business consultant, but it wasn’t, he wasn’t a tradie. I didn’t understand. Yeah, yeah. So, there were so many things we had to do. 

Andy
Yeah, it was great to see that you saw the light and you joined Lifestyle Tradie, and it was really high on your priority list to get your business foundation sorted. Everyone hears me say that all the time. If you don’t have the right structure, you don’t have the right foundations, you don’t have the right systems, you’re in trouble. So what’s one of the first things that you implemented that made you go, “Hang on, hang on, this is changing the game for us”? 

Michelle
Right up there on my notice board is the PDF of the flow of a job.

Andy
Ah, love it. Yes. 

Michelle
It was the first thing I printed out. I think it’ll stay there forever. So the flow of the job was what helped me put everything into a block and then work on a block at a time. Because what I noticed after joining you guys was, you know, Ange, you talk about chasing too many rabbits. Jono says a cat with five mice. It was like that. I was reactive to things. And so the flow of the job, I then categorised learned a bit more about ServiceM8 and how ServiceM8 could help us a bit better, and I categorized ServiceM8 queues with the flow of the job so that every time I was looking in ServiceM8, I could see that I was actually making progress through something, and also stop and not get interrupted by something else that I was being distracted about. And it just kept bringing me back. Okay, no, no. Finish here. So that flow of the job was the first thing that I went, okay, here we go. Now, I can see the light. Mm. And I can easily explain to Sophie and Jono what it is. I mean, I’ve had that in my head, I think, for 25 years, but not like that.  

Andy
It’s not as simple and easy as we set it up to help you and guide you.

Michelle
Yeah. That’s right.

Ange
You need structure to be able to become like a helicopter above your business, to look down, to say, “Well, what are the stages that we need to slow down so that a customer actually makes a buying decision?” Or even- Mm-hmm … once they’ve even said yes, you know, I know that you’ve been tracking these guys from a time perspective, Michelle. I know you’ve gone through a period where you’ve been hammering them, like every couple of hours going, “How long did that fit take, and why did it take that long?” And it’s really, really good- It’s good.

Andy
I can imagine those comments go really well sometimes.

Ange
Well, it’s great, it’s a great education.

Michelle
Thanks, Ange. Yeah, thanks, Ange.

Ange
I know. I support you, Michelle. 

Andy
Yes, yes.

Jono
We just look forward to hearing a voice every hour.

Andy
Yeah. I can, I can just imagine, mate.

Ange
Do you know what, though? For Michelle, who’s not on the tools with the, with you two, Soph and Jono, she doesn’t quite grasp necessarily how long stuff takes, but she needs to know, especially from a scheduling perspective, to help. Or I know s- um, Soph, you really do the scheduling. But when you’re, even when you’re on site for you guys, like, this is where we lose time, which means we lose money. So I love that you’ve really gone in hard about this to actually grasp some stages, so.

Andy
I, I think the big thing here is- Yeah … majority of older business owners in the past, we’ve all been do and charge, and it didn’t really matter how we did a job because it just took what it took, and the customer saw you were there. They’d pay you for what it took. But we all know that doing and charging at a low hourly rate equals no money. You may be paying yourself a wage, right? So then you go, “Well, how do I make more money? Well, I’ve gotta quote, and I’ve gotta knock these jobs over fast.” So, that’s where it’s really important. And, as you guys have heard me say before, you know, there’s too many tradies out there that have made their businesses so overly complicated, and they don’t even realize they’ve done it, and it sucks the living out of them and their staff. And you’ve just gotta get back to basics like McDonald’s. You do it this way, that way, this way, that way, this way, that way, simple, easy steps that anyone can do. And when you have it set up like that and everyone does it the same way, shazam, all of a sudden you’re all on the same page, and you don’t have as many headaches and dramas and fights and arguments because everyone knows what to expect.

Michelle
That’s right. Yeah.

Ange
So Soph, tell us what are the wins that you’ve had in the last eight months.

Sophie
I have… well, we’ve hired more people, and that’s sort of been mostly my responsibility, so that’s been a big win, just having that help on site, those extra hands, and then they’re casual, so the flexibility’s good. And I also, like you mentioned earlier, I’ve, uh, worked with Integrain, one of our products that we work with all the time. They’ve given us, um, color samples, so it’s been good for the clients to see, and I talk with them a lot, and just having those things to help them make an easier decision. We’ve got like a profile of all of our work, all of our reels on Instagram and stuff. We’ve now got heaps up there. They can have a look through all of that. So I think they feel more comfortable seeing all of the work that goes into, like, previous jobs. They know we do a thorough job. We’ve got all of this, like, stuff to show them, and we’ve also got like really thorough about the information we put into quotes and- I think it just helps them feel confident about choosing us.

Ange
I love that you’ve taken ownership of helping customers make that buying decision. We’re so visual, right? Humans are really visual. Mm. So to add that little sample board of what wood color that they’re gonna end up painting their timber is really important, and I love- Yeah … well, the obvious, look at your age. Like to go- Yeah. … in on showcasing socials about before and afters, you’ve done an exceptional job about that, which definitely helps a customer actually understand the quality of your work and the capability of what’s gonna actually happen to their timber deck so that they can proudly actually, you know, p- entertain and have people over. I mean, at the end of the day, you live in Queensland. Yeah. What a wonderful database to have, to- You know? Like, so solid. What about you, Jono? What do you feel has been one of your biggest wins in the last eight months? 

Jono
There’s been a few. Um, having, um, clients that own buildings on, uh, on the islands- … uh, is pretty good because, uh, we go over there and take a week to do a day’s job. It’s not good for profit, but it’s a very good RMR. The lifestyle. So the, um, the biggest wins I’ve had is the flow of a job basically with quoting. It keeps me on top of quoting, um, because without the quoting nothing else happens. And, and the other biggest win with, with quoting is that we don’t visit most places anymore. We, um, ask for their, their measurements and photos and I quote from that.

Andy
Beautiful, and that saves you a hell of a lot of time, mate.

Jono
Yeah, and then, then when we turn up, we just do a check measure, but we’ve always told them that that’s what we’re gonna do. And we basically, uh, outline that we only charge for what we do, so if they’ve made a mess up, mess up the measurements and it’s a lot smaller, we only charge them for what’s there. So yeah, so that’s been a huge win. 

Andy
Yeah, I love that. It saves you running all over the place, and you guys sort of work in quite a broad area as well, right? You’re happy to do a bit of travel here and there and hang out at the islands and work bloody hard, Jono.

Jono
You know, it’s tough.

Andy
Yeah, mate. It’s tough. I get him. I’m just seeing you back in the afternoons having a beer, mate. This is life. Phones are silent. There’s no ringing every hour, “What are you up to?” And it’s just living the dream.

Jono
I know, invite Michy over.

Andy
Oh, that’s nice. 

Ange
Good. She’s allowed to come over. Nice. I feel out. One of the things that I do know you, you had a massive win with was over Christmas. Your industry, of course, when everyone’s on holidays this December, January period, most of us as tradies just agree that we all take January off. It’s the time of month we don’t make money. In fact, we go backwards. But you guys had this realization that it was the perfect time to lock in work for the future, meaning instead of actually getting smashed in November and you don’t have time to do the work, make sure through our training that you actually lined everything up for February. Tell me about how that changed your business. 

Michelle
I was… I think Andy might have posted in the group, “Now’s a good time to watch this video about the leading to Christmas,” and it was around October. And it’s so simple. It’s so simple. I’ve been so brainwashed for my whole life, living in Brisbane, living in Queensland, it’s just a given. Everybody shuts down for two weeks over Christmas, and we’re just doing the same thing. And then you made me question, actually, why do we shut down when everybody’s sitting on their decks? looking at their decks and thinking they need to do something. We should actually be more proactive in that time. But also, we do get flooded with inquiries and we would, we’re taking bookings, and then I was just asking them, “Do you have a special requirement to have this done before Christmas? Can it wait until January?” And they would say, “Sure, no worries. Wait till January.” Okay, great. We’ve got some more space for those people that were coming in and saying, “It’s gotta be done by the 24th of December.” And that led us to being booked out for four to six weeks. I think we were booked for five weeks when we went and had our break. That’s never happened. We’ve always gone into our break with a bit of exhaustion, well, with a lot of exhaustion- Yes … and then straight into panic. What are we gonna do? We, wh- where’s the work gonna come from? Oh my God. Oh my God. We’re never actually, we’re resting over that time. That was the biggest win for us. And to be able to say we’re, you know, four months down the track, we’re still booked four to six weeks in advance all the time.

Ange
I just love it.

Andy
All the time. It is such a big thing and, and those out there listening right now, like, the, the typical tradie is they run off their feet into Christmas, can’t breathe, can’t think. All they’re thinking is the finish line. They’re not thinking about next year. They don’t care. They just wanna get to that finish line. Then they get to the finish line, they’re exhausted, they have Christmas, they have a bit of a break. They gradually decide to come back if it’s the start of January, mid-January. And then there’s a few little things here and there, but they don’t care because they’re just chilling out, and then maybe there’s a few jobs that start the back end of January into Feb, but then all of a sudden it’s crickets and they’ve got nothing. And majority of people then, they’re too quiet coming into March. They’re too quiet coming into March, and then we had the war hit, and then everyone’s like- Mm … ‘Whoa, I’m not doing this.’ Panic stations. So listen, it’s been a real year for tradies to just be like, holy shit, and this all comes down to setting your business up right the year before to make sure the next year starts off with a bang. Hey Sophie, I just wanna ask you about scheduling because you’re doing all the, a lot of the scheduling now and organizing the team. What’s it been like stepping into that- Mm-hmm … um, responsibility and, you know, who is in your team? 

Sophie
So we have three casuals and then us, three that work full-time. And yeah, most of them work four to five days a week. 

Jono
Yes. 

Sophie
So that’s been really good, but scheduling has been a bit of an eye-opener. I haven’t realized how much sort of goes into it, but I think it’s given me more of a drive to really get through the work, knowing, like, that I’ve got to schedule a certain budget that needs to come through at the end of every week. You know, weather’s involved, the casuals, you know, some people don’t, can’t rock up, they get sick or whatever, and then all the clients, and managing all that. So it’s been a lot, and there’s definitely sometimes things that slip through the cracks. But I like it, I enjoy doing it, and I think that I’m, you know, getting pretty good at it. Our biggest issue is working around the weather. Yes. But, yeah, I think so far so good. But yeah, it’s definitely been a big learning curve taking in all these other things, ’cause it’s not just slotting a job in here when it fits. Um, there’s a lot of, like, travel, and making sure materials are there, and all this. So it’s, um, yeah, a much bigger picture than I realized before.

Michelle
Can I add something in there? 

Andy
Yeah, definitely. 

Michelle
So I would- Suggest that that’s probably been one of the hardest things for Jonathan to let go of. 

Andy
Yes … 

Michelle
because he’s very good at obviously knowing how much money’s gotta come in, how much we’ve gotta bill, how long things take, which suburbs to do close together. Uh, if we wash this deck, we could go and start coating that deck. He was, uh, he was doing all of that in his head, and there came a point where he had to actually relinquish control and pass that across to Sophie. And when I’m just listening to Sophie speaking about all of the things that it takes to schedule, I don’t know how she… I don’t know how they did that. Yeah, how they- They, they did something there- Yeah … because that’s all been in his head. So everything that she has learnt has been by watching and doing and getting it wrong and getting it right. Um, but also on the other hand, I’m pretty proud of Jono that he was able to let it go, ’cause I know it was hard.

Andy
Yeah, huge achievement, and there’s no doubt about it, all of us tradies are control freaks, Jono, and no doubt you were as well. So then when you’re trying to hand over some of this stuff to Sophie, your 21-year-old daughter, it’s like, “Can she do this? Can she do that?” But a huge credit to all of you to make sure that you could work together and get this absolutely flying.

Ange
I wanna add into that. Huge kudos to you, Sophie, for stepping up and taking on that responsibility. You’re clearly very capable, and you’re clearly really passionate about this business, so that’s amazing. And to Jono, I grasp also how difficult that is too, when that’s just in your head and now you actually have to speak out loud the way you think, ’cause that’s the only way Soph’s gonna learn. It’s a huge thing to be able to do that. Has that changed your communication between the three of you, do you think, over this period of time? 

Andy
Imagine it’s a year from now. You wake up, the sun’s out, and instead of rushing out the door stressed, you’re taking your time and enjoying your coffee. Your business is running smoothly, your cash flow is steady, and your weekends are actually yours. Sounds good, doesn’t it? But if you’re like most tradies I’ve met, that feels miles away from reality right now. I’m Andy Smith, and I know the grind. I know the late nights, the endless stress, and the feeling that your business owns you, not the other way round. But I also know what it takes to turn that around, and I wanna show you. Let’s jump on a game plan call. It’s just 10 minutes. We’re gonna cut through the noise, figure out what’s holding you back, and build a clear roadmap to get you to that better place. So go to lifestyletradie.com.au, tap the game plan call button, or scroll down and lock in a time that suits. You’re closer than you think to building the business you’ve always wanted. One call can change everything. Let’s make it happen. 

Sophie
Yeah, I’d say so. Um, it’s been a little bit like who manages what sort of, you know, sometimes it can be a little bit clunky. But I think that it’s taken a big weight off Dad’s shoulders. He’s able to focus on a lot of other areas, tidy up other things. Um, but I now primarily just work with, um, Mum with the schedule, and we just pretty much manage that just ourselves. And I only-

Michelle
Unless it rains, like this week and Jonathan wants to step in, you know. Yeah, yeah. But that’s it. We got through it. 

Andy
Southeast Queensland. Southeast Queensland, you’ve been having a lot of wet weather, haven’t you? I’ve heard that. Yeah. Jono, from your side on the tools, and I know you’ve had some huge wins, but over the last eight months, like it’s been hard letting go. I understand that it would’ve been, ’cause it was always hard letting go of myself. But you’re doing things so differently now. But what’s been the biggest shift for you in these last eight? What’s the biggest thing that you’ve just loved in the last eight months? 

Jono
Well, um, I was painting pretty much, uh, out west and, um, the job went a little bit longer than, uh, it was supposed to, like a couple of weeks. And, um, me and my team deserted me because, uh, ’cause Se- Soph doesn’t like painting and she, um, she also doesn’t like haunted houses or mice plagues or, um… no- Air con, no Wi-Fi.

Michelle
No air con and no Wi-Fi.

Ange
Sounds like you’ve got some stories about that place.

Jono
I couldn’t understand why, but anyway, so I said, “Why don’t you go back to Brisbane and keep going with the timberwork and, and I’ll finish this out here. It’ll only take me a couple of days.” And, uh, a couple of weeks later, I was finished. And, but, but in that period of time, most of the gear sort of broke down as things happened.

Michelle
Here in Brisbane.

Jono
Here in Brisbane. And, um, and I said, “Well, I can’t help you ’cause I’m out here.” Yeah. And, um, so a kudos to Soph and Michelle for handling everything. Um, it gave me the belief that they can handle it, so it w- made it really easy to let go after that, so.

Andy
The mind shift you needed to go, hang on a moment, I don’t need to be a control freak. I’ve gotta let go. Let’s let go, and the girls have picked it all up, and they’ve been running with it. Yeah?

Jono
Yeah. 

Sophie
Yeah, it kinda forced him to stay a little bit out of it. Yeah. Because there was no reception. 

Michelle
And I think- Couldn’t touch him. Yeah. And I think that it w- also, Sophie and I kinda challenged ourselves with, and this is because we were working with you guys, and everything that I’m doing at the moment is, “Oh, there’s gonna be a system or procedure for this. Let’s slow it down.” And that was part of that, was, okay, how much of this can we handle without calling Jono?

Andy
Yeah.

Ange
Amazing.

Michelle
And so that, you know, Sophie said, “Oh, well, I’ve done that…” I don’t know, something technical with the starter switch, and I didn’t even know what she was talking about. But, you know, I don’t know if she would’ve done that before. She probably just would’ve left that to Jono. But she was doing some kind of electrical thingy. I don’t know. Tinkering. Tinkering and tapping, and I’m like, “Oh, go you. Okay, I think we’ve got this.” And yeah, then w- being able to tell Jono when he finally had Wi-Fi, “Cool, this thing happened, and this is how we fixed it.”

Ange
Amazing. 

Michelle
Yeah. Yeah, I think it gave Jono the reassurance, but it also gave us the confidence that, like- Yeah. 

Andy
Win win. 

Sophie
It’s all good.

Every day you do something, just baby steps, that you can stop and pat yourselves on the back is a huge win. I’m very conscious that you guys have changed the cashflow in your business. You know, you hit the bass now and have money. You finished your website that had been sitting there dormant for a couple of months. Like- Mm-hmm … you really are throwing yourself into creating change inside this business, all for the better for all of you. And, and it’s quite clear that the confidence in all of you is growing and, and the communication between you all, which I absolutely love. So seeing you’ve achieved so much in such a short time, I know there’s lots more that we need to do, but I love this layer of thinking that you have now, which is amazing. How are you feeling about business these days?

Michelle
Confidence. You know, uh, we’ve just, like you mentioned before, Andy, this year has been strange. And, you know, in March there’s been a war, and then all the talk about diesel, and there certainly was a moment of, “Oh, crap, here we go again.” But it was a moment. It was, “All right, we know what to do. We’ll just keep doing what we… We’ll just keep doing it.” So I think it’s almost like the fear that I would’ve had in the past with something like that happening is not there because, uh, we’ve got this foundation and this grounding. And I just keep saying to myself, “But we’re still booked four to six weeks in advance.” Oh, we’re still booked for four to six weeks. Uh, and I- I’ve been doing that a bit more often and going, “Oh, no, yep, still six weeks- Oh, okay, good, still six weeks.” And whilst leads might have slowed down, work hasn’t slowed down. So I think, you know, we’ve had an interest rate ri- two interest rate rises. All the things that would normally send me into a poverty spiral- … um, and doom and gloom, I certainly don’t have that energy about it. 

Andy
And I’ll have to say, Michelle, there’s a lot of people out there that have gone down that negative spiral, and the doom and gloom, and where the biggest problems are. I mean, I had a guy ring me, and, um, wasn’t a member. He’s like, “Oh my God, I’m not gonna survive. Uh, it’s gonna cost me an extra 50 bucks a week in petrol.” And I’m like, “Dude, you’re probably losing $500 a week in your business every day. Just fix that and it won’t be an issue.” Mm. You know? And, and this is- Yeah where everyone gets caught up in all the hype, and this is where it’s your mindset. But this is where, when you’ve got clarity and you have direction, you feel good about yourself. And when something else happens that’s out of your control, you don’t go down that spiral, or not for long. You realize, hang on, we’ve got this. We’re a good business. Let’s keep going. And, and all of our Lifestyle Tradie members have felt that way. It’s all the people on the outskirts that don’t have any help, don’t have any- Mm … structure, doing it all themselves right now, that are thinking to themselves, “The world’s coming to an end. Am I gonna do this anymore?” Yeah. “Maybe I should give up.” Mm. I just wanna say to all of our listeners, don’t give up. Get help. Get structure. Get focus. I guarantee you, you’ve got a great business there. You’re just doing a few little things the wrong way. 

Michelle
Can I add in there, the other thing that’s worked really well is the Lifestyle Tradie community.

Andy
Yeah. Yeah. 

Michelle
Massive. That, and watching the support, uh, in the private group, and knowing that we can reach out. You know, one of the members was talking to another member about the cost of diesel, and they gave them another perspective of, “If you break that down, and you divide this, and you add that, it’s only an extra $1 an hour. Can you make an extra $1 an hour?” And I’m like, oh my gosh. Okay. It’s the optimism that keeps inspiring us to continue. Yeah. Yeah. So being a member has certainly helped.

Sophie
I think as well it’s just, like you said, changed our mindset and our attitude. Like, we’ve still obviously got challenges that come up all the time, and it’s just not like- Every business does oh, this again. It’s more like, “All right, cool, like how are we gonna fix this?” Mm. Like, it’s just a different w- we’re just looking at it a completely different way. And I think it’s good to always have like that Facebook group, ’cause we’re always seeing people that are coming across issues, and there’s just all these solutions from all these other members, or support, and it’s just kinda like, okay, well this is just another little hurdle. It’s just a different way of looking at things. Mm. So I think that’s been pretty consistent, like our, our attitude all together. 

Andy
No, I absolutely love that. So if you’re looking at your business now in the long term, what are your plans? Where do you guys wanna go? 

Sophie
I would, um, love to have a couple of teams running around and managing that. We are all over the place, like you said earlier. Um, I think it would be good to have, you know, a north side team, south side team to help manage all the workload. Less driving for, you know, just one group. And yeah, I think that would be where I’d wanna grow it. That’s kind of the next thing I’m seeing. 

Jono
Yeah 100%?

Sophie
Yeah, 100%. Um- 

Jono
More than, more than a couple of teams, but yeah. 

Sophie
Yeah. 

Jono
Um, yeah, that’s, that’s where we’re going, so. 

Michelle
I’ve, I’ve also, thanks to Lifestyle Tradie, just looking at other opportunities and other possibilities outside of residential. And we’ve had a couple of commercial clients like, you know, the Hamilton Hotel was one of them. So opening our minds to get a different piece of the pie and, you know, we’ve got the Olympics coming up here in Brisbane. What can we do? Who can we collaborate with? How can we get in on something? I’m not sure what. That’s where I see a bit more growth, is o- coming outside of residential a little bit. 

Ange
I love thinking about that, and I think the obvious, the fact that Jono has had an injury has been a bit of a shock to the system, which a lot of tradies are like that as we get older. Andy will, you know, talk to this often, that you’ve got knee problems, back problems, or whatever. You can’t be, you know, for some of our tradies, in s- roof spaces, under houses. Like, we just can’t physically function like that anymore. I love that it’s important to bring in Soph. You have this next generation opportunity which a lot of trade business owners don’t have, that now Soph actually gets this choice. But now this can truthfully be a passive income for you two, Jono and Michelle. There is just, there’s so much scope, so much opportunity. You have this most incredible business, and I feel like we’ve only just scratched the surface, which is amazing.

Michelle
Yeah. It’s exciting.

Ange
So I have one last question for you. For anyone listening who has the next generation of family having joined the business, what advice would you give them to set themselves up for success? 

Jono
Basically, uh, you have to systemize, obviously, is one. Be patient. Be patient ’cause slow, slow growth or slow improvements are long-term. If you do them rapidly, they’re short-term. And you’ll be surprised how quickly growth does happen, um, just by doing a few little things. 

Michelle
I would, uh, essay get outside help. Um- Yeah … I think for, if I think back to before Lifestyle Tradie, before we had the, our other coaching, it was just we were looping. We were in a loop of not going anywhere and wanting to go somewhere, and not even being clear about what we wanted. So having that outside help helped us to create a vision. What is it that we do want in our lives? What do we want? Where are we going? You know, we’re at the top end now. What’s our act three gonna be? Or act two. Maybe it’s only- Act two. Yeah, so, uh, definitely seek some kind of outside assistance, ’cause you, you cannot grow as a family. It’s just too hard. You’d need somebody else communicating and guiding you. 

Sophie
Yeah. Another outlet I reckon is very helpful, but I think also just having boundaries that you kind of revisit as well with the three of us. Like, sometimes they, like, get overstepped and stuff, but when you start to be like, “No, actually, no. I can’t listen to work stuff right now” I think that’s helped for sure. 

Andy
Yeah, and I think it’s just a different outside perspective, and, um, I’ve had phone calls from many of you over different bits and pieces. And, and, uh and obviously I just, you know, chat. And, you know, it’s just about seeing it from everyone’s side, I think. And, and sometimes we just see it from our personal side and go, hang on, let’s look at the business in general. So no, that’s great. I, I know- Mm … you guys have just come so far, and we’re so happy for you all. We’ve got a little game we’re gonna play. Um, I’m gonna ask you three rapid-fire questions. They’re gonna be really quick. It’s gonna be less than 10 to 20 seconds each. Are you ready? 

Michelle
Yeah.

Sophie
Yeah. Hell yeah.

Andy
Let’s go. Let’s go. Hell yeah.

Ange
Okay. First question. This one’s probably, well, it’s for any of you really. What’s one decision you made in business that changed everything? 

Jono
I would say getting Lifestyle Tradie and getting systems that we all could follow that’s relevant to our industry.

Michelle
For me it was, uh, going all in. So I had to, I was in and out as the wife doing the accounts, paying this, doing that, random. I had to make the decision to own it and go all in. 

Sophie
Yeah, I’d say probably Lifestyle Tradie, when we saw you guys in Brisbane, and then just the mindset shift from all of us from that point.

Andy
I love that. I love that. And what’s one small thing that makes a massive difference in your day to day? 

Sophie
Mine is where I’ve started, now that I’ve got all this scheduling responsibility. I’ve been a lot more organized with, okay, this job’s coming up, I need to have all this sorted and the van packed and I’ve just been a lot more proactive, I think, and that’s really helped the job flow on site. Mm. Yeah.

Andy
And you actually understand what it takes now to do that, and how organized- Yeah … and structured, and how if everything is ready the right way, everything runs smooth, right? So it’s a- Yeah. It’s a different perspective from being on the tools and just- Yeah 

Ange
Save time, save money- you know? When- … make profit.

Andy
Yeah. So I- Yeah … I used to adopt a drip when I had some staff that were just not really doing what I wanted. I’d actually bring them into the office for a week and make them deal with the other boys. And then all of a sudden- Yeah. Yeah … they understood, “Oh, he’s not doing this.” And, “Oh, yeah, it’s interesting that you don’t do that either.” You know? They’re like, “Oh, okay, I get it. I understand now.” Yeah. 

Ange
What about you, Michelle, Jono?

Michelle
Big d- difference, uh, day to day, I don’t have a very successful day if I haven’t taken time out for myself first thing in the morning.

Andy
Oh, I love that.

Michelle
With no distractions. It’s just, uh, yeah, I know when I’ve missed that, I’m not a tolerant person. Um, so, you know.

Ange
So what do you start with, Michelle? 

Michelle
I just start with waking up in the morning, going to my little special place, which isn’t in my head, it’s actually a special place that I’ve created at home, and I just sit in stillness outside.

Ange
Perfect.

Michelle
I don’t have my phone. I have a cup of tea or coffee, and I’m just still out there for a while, maybe 20, 30 minutes, and con- either contemplating the day ahead or listening to the birds.

Andy
Love that.

Michelle
It just grounds me so that the day flows. 

Ange
Jono?

Jono
I’d probably get up in the morning and just check, check the quotes that are coming through to make sure I’m- Mm … on top of that. And, um, if I keep on top of that, then it’s not a big job to do. So then I feel a lot freer in my mind to start the day.

Andy
So you don’t fall down the trap of a lot of people, and like you used to do, you let them all pile up, pile up, pile up until you explode because you’re under pressure. Do that little bit every day, and it just takes that pressure away and makes you feel comfortable that you’re on top of everything. 

Jono
Yeah. If I, if I, if I stay on top of it, it’s, uh, really easy. Yes. And, um, if I don’t, well, I’ll… then I’ve got a lot of work to do. 

Andy
Great.

Michelle
He’s been so amazing at taking on something so challenging as computer tech. You know, uh, he’s using ServiceM8. He has to look at things on his phone and press buttons.

Sophie
Hey. Like two years ago, he- Well, two years ago, I was asking him to do those things, but you know- He pushed back … now he can see. But yeah. Yeah. It w- it would be a pushback. But now he can see the results of s- staying on top of the quotes, following, following the flow of a job, and that it makes his life easier. It’s not making his life harder. Yeah, he’s been a great doctor. 

Andy
Yeah, I can still remember the first day, though, catching up with you, Michelle, and Sophie, like, yeah, yeah, yeah, and Jono. I could just feel the sense of overwhelm, not sure where to go next, almost that I know we need help, but shit, is this gonna take more time ’cause I got no time? Like, the typical tradie mentality, and I will have to jump on that and say, Jono, absolute legend, mate. You fucking stepped out of your comfort zone. Every time I see you, you go to another level in business, another level, and you just feel more comfortable and you’re smiling more. I can just see it and hear it in your voice- Yeah every single time.

Ange
Pressure’s getting lighter. 

Jono
Yeah. Yeah, it is. So it’s, uh, yeah, no, it’s been very good. 

Ange
One last final question. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? 

Sophie
Mine is, I heard this a while ago and it just sticks with me, but does it need to be said or done? Does it need to be said or done by me? Does it need to be said or done by me right now? 

Andy
Mm. Ooh.

Sophie
And I just feel like that’s, I don’t always remember it, but- Mm. When I do remember it and just think about it, I think we avoid, like, some conflict when you just kinda step back and, like, it’s not necessary sometimes. Dad’s mentioned before, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” And I just think that’s a good- Sorry I took yours.

Andy
Jono, is that what I was gonna say.

Sophie
I think they, I think they can sorta go hand-in-hand and, you know, sometimes just take a step back. Like, does it, do I have to be the one to do it or can someone else do it? And I think that’s been really good for us as well. Like, we’ve been able to pass responsibility on to different people and just. 

Ange
So the fact that that quote has played in your mind in the past, it probably just subconsciously now is a way that you act. Probably. You’ve probably just become- You’ve become it. Mm. What about you, Michelle? Mm. 

Michelle
I had so many. Um, and, you know, of course know your numbers. That’s the first one that jumps into my head.

Ange
You’ve been brainwashed.

Andy
Yeah, yeah.

Michelle
I have been brainwashed by Andy. That definitely has been a great piece of advice, but also, uh, slow down. Slow down and don’t do things out of high need. So when I feel myself, “Quick, quick, gotta go, gotta go, gotta go,” it’s my reminder to actually s- okay, slow down, step out- And then come back in from a different perspective.

Andy
Love that. Jono?

Jono
And, uh, the best piece of wisdom that I’ve received is from, uh, for family and, and, and work colleagues, never lose your temper at the same time.

Andy
Yeah. Wow. Love that. Love that.

Jono
So, um, yeah, so it’s, that’s always been good with obviously dispute resolution and all that sort of thing. So you just go, “Okay, if they’re upset, well, I can’t get upset.” 

Andy
Mm-hmm. Yeah, no, I love that.

Ange
Great piece of advice.

Andy
It is. It is. Hey, guys, legends, I love that you’re playing along with that. I mean, listen, guys, we just wanna say well done. Like, you’re absolute superstars. We love you guys. The leadership you’ve shown, especially in setting this up for Sophie for the future, and showing her what’s actually possible when you get the business model right, that’s what this is all about, right? There’s so much more to do, and we still have our challenges every day. Even the best businesses still have their challenges. But you are absolutely on the right track. You are cracking forward every single day. You’re having your, your days. We all have our days where we go, “Fuck, what’s going on?” But as you said, those times of overwhelm have gone, and when you do have an issue, you know how to deal with it, you know how to do it quickly, and you move on, and you don’t get tied down to this downward spiral of chaos. Everything’s out of control. So I just wanna say a huge thank you, guys, for being with us today. 

Michelle
Thank you so much. Thank you. That actually was fun. Yeah. It’s been great to re- Well, it’s been great to reflect on it, so thank you so much. 

Ange
Yeah, you’re welcome. Thanks for joining us on The Tradie Show. There’s actually no doubt in my mind that you have been an inspiration to other generational trade business owners out there who- truthfully wanna ensure that their business has legs for the future. That’s what we wanna do, is make sure trade businesses survive forever in the economy. And if you have this opportunity to hand it over to someone in your family, give them a choice about what they actually wanna do with this business, whether they wanna continue it, whether they wanna passively earn money from it, whether they wanna sell it. Trade business owners, we are in such a fabulous niche, and I just love what you guys are doing, so kudos to you all.

Andy
And if you’re listening to this and thinking, “That sounds a lot like my business”…

Ange
You’re busy working hard, but no real structure, no clear numbers, and just figuring it out as you go. 

Andy
Well, take this as proof. You don’t need years to turn it all around. You just need the right focus and to actually implement the right things.

Ange
Yes. And what we love about this one is it’s not just about them. It’s about building something for the future, something that gives you choice.

Andy
And if you’re sitting there right now thinking, “Where do I start?”

Ange
Ooh, yeah, great question. Well, book in a game plan call with us. We’ll take a look at your business, where you’re at, and map out what this could look like for you and your family. 

Andy
Head to lifestyletradie.com.au, book a call, and let’s get you moving in the right direction. 

Ange
All right, see you in the next episode.

Andy
Hell yeah. 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.