End of Financial Year: Why You’re Still Stuck

Andy
Yep, like Groundhog’s Day, over and over again. And now you’re in your 40s, got issues with your knees, the kids are all grown up, and you’re starting to regret that the business took over your life. 

Ange
Ouch, there’s a load of truth in that because for us trade business owners, the business is a big part of our life. In fact, it funds our life. So the question you need to ask yourself is this: Is this business giving me what I want? 

Andy
And if the answer is no or even I don’t know, then now is the best time to have this conversation. I’m talking about setting goals for the business so it makes the money you deserve with less stress, and setting goals for your life so you squeeze every moment with that family of yours.

Ange
So in this episode, we’re going to get practical and walk you through an end of financial year exercise that every tradie should be doing right now, and share with you an end of financial year business reset guide. It’s a simple way to review where you’re at, where you wanna go, and how to make sure you don’t end up repeating the same year all over again.

Andy
Because the end of financial year shouldn’t just be about finishing the year, it should be about deciding what you want the next one to actually look like. Let’s get into it.

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
Hell yeah!

All right, 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’re 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, cash flow 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 gameplan call. It’s just 10 minutes. We’re 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’re stuck with cash flow issues, team headaches, or just feel like you’re drowning in endless work, well, guess what? I’ve got your back. So here’s what you need to do. Head to lifestyletradie.com.au, hit the big green gameplan 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!

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 these give you some inspo on what you can do in your business. Ange, what do we have this week? 

Ange
All right, so we’ve got some great hell yeahs to share today, Andy. First up, a big shout-out to Jared, who runs a painting company in Perth, and he writes, “This week wasn’t about winning jobs, it was about tightening up the business. Starting with knowing my numbers, I checked in properly with each team member, made some really uncomfortable but important decisions, and reached out to some other business owners for advice instead of sitting in my own head. Trying to move from reacting all day to actually leading. It’s a big hell yeah from me.” 

Andy
Mate, definitely a big hell yeah. Keep going, Jared. You put a lot of things in place very, very fast, and all those 10, 20 years of just doing the same old thing, what you have done in the last year has been incredible, mate. Well done. So who’s next, Ange? 

Ange
Okay, so next up is John, who operates a plumbing business in Queensland. He’s been a member with us for seven years and going super strong with his partner, and he shares, “I was a guest speaker on a panel at the local business breakfast, way out of my comfort zone, but I really enjoyed it. Also, we fully moved into our new factory, which feels like the culture and team has improved instantly.” 

Andy
Well, that is another hell yeah. That’s what happens with our Lifestyle Tradie members. They come in not really understanding business, and before you know it, they are absolutely brainstorming it and helping a lot of people around them as well, which is great for the trade industry in general. Last but not least, Ange, who is up next? 

Ange
Okay, this last one is Courtney, who operates a building company in Toowoomba in Queensland with her husband James, and she writes, “We won Best Home Renovations in Toowoomba in the Quality Business Awards, third year in a row.

Andy
Woo-hoo. … 

Ange
And also took home the win for Best Home Builder in Toowoomba. Making a name for ourselves in this town is exciting.” 

Andy
It’s all about authority, isn’t it? Winning awards, being the authority person within your town, and having that business that everyone wants to go and work with. That is another big hell yeah, and that’s what we’re all talking about here, helping tradies take back control, make the changes, and see the wins roll on in.

All right, the end of the financial year is probably one of the best times of year to hit the reset button as a business owner. Fresh financial year, clean slate, new targets, new direction. Because if you’re going to intentionally change where the business is heading, now’s the time to do it. 

Ange
So the reality is most tradies head into a new financial year hoping things will improve, but without ever properly stepping back and looking at what actually needs to change.

Andy
So for the record, hope is not a strategy. It’s not gonna get you better results next year. So let’s talk about the actual problem here. Tradies know how to work hard. We all know that. In fact, being busy is like a badge of honor, but being busy working on the wrong things is not moving you or your business forward.

Ange
Yes, it’s true. The business is like a broken record going round and round playing the same song. It’s like every year kinda feels the same. We’re talking about a business being stuck on repeat. Same stress, same cash flow pressure, same staffing frustrations, and the scary part is a lot of tradies don’t even realize they’re stuck in it because they’re just busy.

Andy
Yeah, they actually assume, “We must be doing okay.” But being busy and building a good business are two completely different things, aren’t they? Some of the busiest tradies we talk to are actually the most financially stressed because they’re saying yes to everything, every customer, every job, every opportunity There is no filter. 

Ange
And you know, then there’s no targets or plan behind the business, and everything starts running reactively. You know, you’re hiring reactively, you’re even quoting reactively, you chase work reactively, and before long the business starts controlling you. 

Andy
And this is the big thing most tradies never stop to ask, is this actually the type of business I want? 

Ange
And you know what? The next minute you’re down a rabbit hole doing a load of work you don’t really enjoy with customers you don’t really like, and you wonder why you’re not loving your day-to-day work. 

Andy
Oh, I’m exhausted just thinking about it. 

Ange
I know. Me too. And that’s why now at the end of the financial year is the perfect time to draw a line in the sand. The cycle’s gotta stop. The business needs you to tackle things differently. 

Andy
Actually, you need to tackle things differently if you wanna mix up your life. But I hear you, where on earth do I start? Well my friend, did I tell you that you’re in the right place right now?

Ange
Yes. Okay, so let’s get practical. Let’s start with some facts because data doesn’t lie. 

Andy
No, you’re right. Data does not lie, and what it does do is give you a serious reality check because there’s a lot of trade business owners I talk to and they’re always believing their own bullshit because it makes you feel good. But stop telling yourself life isn’t that bad when potentially the reality is you’re bleeding money, you spend no time with your family, and you can’t remember the last time you took a holiday and you didn’t stress out about what was happening back in the office. This is something that you need to fix now. 

Ange
Ouch. You don’t like beating around the bush, do you, Andy? 

Andy
It just really kills me to see some incredible humans out there doing what they love, incredible tradies, but they get so bogged down in the bullshit of running a trade business. You know, Ange, you and I, we lived it, we understand it, and if you’re feeling that pain, you do not want to be going down that path because it almost broke us. 

Ange
Well, you and I both know it’s actually fixable. 

Andy
Yes, it is fixable. So let’s get practical and fix this. 

Ange
Right. I agree. So firstly, I wanna say the mistake most tradies make is they only look at how much revenue did we do. That’s it. They don’t look to the future to set a target, and they sure as hell don’t talk about profit margins. 

Andy
There can be part of the blame that you can blame your accountant or your bookkeeper, and I hear it often from trade business owners saying that, but you guys need to understand the data in your P&L as well. I understand it is not your wheelhouse, and the accountant can definitely help you with this. But if you don’t understand your nu- numbers, you don’t understand your data, and you’re the business owner, there’s a problem right here. 

Ange
Yeah, fair sentence. I think it’s important that business owners learn to ask really intelligent questions because this is gonna give them far better answers. They actually need to make it a priority to understand what the data’s even telling them. 

Andy
And the big one here, guys, we’ve heard it all the time, having big revenue, having big sales is good to have. We know that. But it all comes down to what is happening at the other end. What is your net profit like? What is your cash flow like? Because I’ve seen a lot of businesses with poor cash flow, and listen, you can be broken from this. 

Ange
Yeah, it’s true. So the rhythm of revenue, like money coming into your business, is a great trend to understand. It’s gonna give you really good insight when it’s broken down by market segments because then you can see the gaps and actively do something to fix it.

Andy
When you’re talking at the end of the financial year, there’s a few things I believe everyone needs to consider. Want to cut your business costs without cutting corners? Buy4Tradies makes it simple. This is a buying group built by tradies for tradies, plumbers, sparkies, solar and air con techs, 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 sign-up fees, just real savings with trusted national suppliers. So if you’re ready to keep more cash in your pocket and less in your overheads, jump onto buy4tradies.com.au. That’s buy, the number 4, tradies.com.au, and join for free today.

You need to look back over the last 12 months and think to yourself, “Where did I actually make money? What were the good jobs? Where were the money jobs?” Not just what was that big turnover invoice, because I talk to a lot of guys a lot of times, where are you making profit? Like, I’m talking not 5%, 10%. Like, I’m talking chunks of profit in your business. And I think everyone listening out there right now would know over the past 12 months, there’s certain areas where you could say, “I absolutely brained it.” And it’s really important to understand what they were and get more of them in the next 12 months. 

Ange
Well, then you can connect the dots, right, with this style of work with what we call this A-grade customer. If you think that they’re easier to deal with, and even if the team enjoys the work, and you get paid on time, then we know this is the type of work that we actively need to say yes to moving forward.

Andy
Yeah, when we work with our members, we go through this exercise and it always surprises them, but pretty much every time, the jobs they think that are making money aren’t often the ones creating the best outcome, the best net profit at the end. 

Ange
Well, you and I both know that sometimes that the low profit margin work isn’t because of the style of work itself. Sometimes it’s because the team lacked efficiency. Like, if the numbers show promise and the client is considered an A-grade customer, then perhaps we need to approach this differently and actually challenge the way we quote, challenge the way we run our jobs, and even challenge the way we communicate with the customers.

Andy
We certainly can’t be sitting here thinking about the good old days and the way we did it 10 years ago is going to be acceptable today. We need to be better. 

Ange
Well, you can’t even say that even five years ago was okay. We’re moving so fast. 

Andy
We are moving super fast. And customers, their expectations are at an all-time high. Their trust radar is on high alert. And listen, AI soon will take over a lot of the admin tasks that you never thought possible. We have to be open to change. We need to get out of our comfort zone, and we need to be really the L plater in the room. Like, learning these new ways how to run business. That’s what everyone should be doing right now.

Ange
I like that, L plate learner. We have to be okay about being challenged, right, and learning new things. This is where you’ve got to take the emotion out of it. We need to look at the past, we need to look at trends, and then we need to look to the future. Like, what would the ideal business look like? 

Andy
Yeah, and instead of starting at the revenue side of things, start with the outcome you actually want. What do you want your business to give you? More income, more time off, more stability, less stress, a cash buffer? Because those goals shape the financial targets properly. 

Ange
Yes. So you need to really think about your life too. What would the ideal day look like for you? And connect dots with the profit the business needs to generate to fund a future for business development and growth.

Andy
So instead of thinking turnover first, think profit first. Instead of wanting to do 3 million in revenue this year, the better question is what profit do we actually wanna make? What is the business producing? What can we get out of this business? 

Ange
And what do we want the owner to personally earn? Because there’s a lot of tradies running big businesses, but personally still underpaying themselves, which means they’re not even paying themselves super. That’s why we say turnover is vanity and profit is what changes your life. 

Andy
And once you know the outcome you want, you can reverse engineer the numbers backwards, which suddenly makes the business feel way more strategic instead of emotional. I’m talking data like how many high-profit jobs do we actually need, and who is that customer? What average dollar sale do we need? How many leads are required? How many jobs does that equate to per month? How many quotes do we need to convert? And suddenly the business stops feeling random and instead is led by data. 

Ange
Ooh, which also makes marketing easier because if you know we want more of this type of work, now you can actually build marketing around attracting those exact customers, what we call your A-grade customer, instead of just chasing any inquiry that comes through.

Andy
Okay, that’s all great, but now we need to build a plan around achieving this. 

Ange
Yes, we do. You can’t say, “We want more profitable work this year,” but then nothing changes operationally. Same marketing, same customers, same habits, and then they wonder why the business keeps producing the same results. 

Andy
Yep, a different outcome, you need a different strategy.
You’ve just proven through data where you need to focus next. 

Ange
Yes. 

Andy
You connected the dots about what you actually want in life and what an ideal day looks like for you, so let’s do something about that. 

Ange
Yeah. So let’s say you review your numbers and realize that our most profitable work comes from repeat clients, as an example. Well, now the question becomes how do we strengthen those relationships? How do we create more repeat work? How do you actually stay top of mind? 

Andy
Or you might realize there’s one single client that is in- destroying your margin, and you might think, “Oh, okay, what are we gonna do about that?” Now you can start planning. You can review the stages in the job and check that you’re even quoting right in the first place. Maybe you’re simply going about it all the wrong way. 

Ange
Yeah, or maybe you need to learn how to improve direct marketing, how to attract better fit customers, and how to reposition the business as an authority in your geographic area because growth isn’t just let’s work harder. Let’s become more intentional. 

Andy
And sometimes the biggest improvements aren’t the massive dramatic changes. Sometimes they’re the small ones, and you may be working with the right customer already, but you might need to start improving your quoting, tighten up pricing, improve your systems, and follow up some of these leads better.

Ange
Yeah. I reckon a great deal of tradies are actually sitting on a really good business already. They’re just diluted. Too many wrong jobs and maybe too many distractions. And when you start removing these low-profit, high-stress work, the business often improves faster than tradies realize. 

Andy
And this is where your targets fit in nicely because once you’ve reviewed your business properly and set the future, you can agree on targets. They give you something to strive for. 

Ange
Yes. It can put that fire back in your belly to make your business great again when everyone is aiming for the same thing together. 

Andy
It gives you that business direction, and it gives you a future. 

Ange
Yeah. The beauty about that is suddenly everyone in the team has a united vision about where the business is headed. You can actually look at a job and say, “That actually doesn’t fit where we’re trying to go.” And that’s a huge mindset shift. And that’s where targets become powerful because they stop the business drifting. 

Andy
Love that. I’ve always loved this topic. I think the biggest takeaway from this whole conversation is your business will keep drifting unless you deliberately decide where it’s going, and most tradies never stop long enough to do that, and this is what we do with our members of Lifestyle Tradie. We make them stop just turning the wheels and challenge their thinking. It’s incredibly important if you want a business that actually makes good profit and literally changes your life, you need to do this. 

Ange
And honestly, some of the best business decisions happen when owners finally become more selective. I’m talking about being selective with the work, the customers, the pricing, and where they’re trying to take the business into the future. 

Andy
Because every yes shapes the business. Every client you accept, every low-margin project you take on, it all compounds over time. And at the end of the financial year is a really good opportunity to interrupt that cycle, to stop, to review properly, and to intentionally decide what we actually want this next year to look like, not just financially, but personally as well.

Ange
Because success isn’t just having a really big turnover. It’s about enjoying the work you do, having clients that you love working with, and having breathing room financially so that you actually have the money to invest in your team, maybe upgrade your equipment, and definitely have more time for your family and friends.

Andy
So remember, don’t just drift into another financial year hoping things improve. Use this right now as a reset point. Download our end-of-financial-year business reset guide so you can properly review the last 12 months, identify what’s actually making money, and set clearer targets for the financial year ahead. We’ll put this into the link in the show notes, or go to lifestyletradie.com.au and check out the free resources page because small intentional changes now can completely change where the business sits 12 months from today.

It’s Tradie Dilemma time, brought to you by Buy4Tradies, the buying group helping tradies like you save serious coins on materials, fuel, vehicles, tools and other services. If you’re not using it, you’re 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 all out. 

Ange
Okay, so today we have a question from Sam, who owns an electrical business in Melbourne, and he writes, “Hey, Andy and Ange, I’ve been listening to your podcast for a few years and love what you share. You speak about A, B, C, D customers and the importance of attracting more A and B grade customers. What advice do you have to actually do that?” 

Andy
Great question, Sam, and it’s great that you’ve been listening to us for a few years. Yeah, the A, B, C, D customer is great. What we find is most business owners have about 20% of their work in A and B, and 80% in C and D customers. And the C and D customers probably aren’t paying on time, you’re not making enough net profit and, and maybe it’s some of the work you don’t actually wanna do. And so that’s why we do these A, B and C, D customers. If anyone wants to listen back to that podcast, we’ll put a link in the show notes. Your question about how do you attract more A and B grade customers?

Well, listen, you gotta know who they are first. Once you know who you are, we do this thing called an avatar training, but once we know who they are, then you need to be marketing in the right place where you’re getting the right quality customer that fits what you want in your business. Too many people fill their business up with these C and D customers, as we said, and it stops you from bringing in constantly new A and B customers, and that’s where the gap is, and that’s where the challenges are.

Ange
Thanks for writing in your question, Sam. And remember, if you want Andy and I to answer your most challenging question, then send it our way to podcast@lifestyletradie.com.au. If this episode has made you stop and say to yourself, “We actually don’t have a clear plan for the business,” that’s more common than you think. Most tradies are incredible operators, but nobody’s ever shown you how to step back and build the business strategically. 

Andy
Yep, that’s true. And if that resonates with you and you think you might need help to turn your business around, how about you jump on a game plan call with me? And let’s make that next financial year the one that sets you up well into the future. Go to lifestyletradie.com.au and click on the big green game plan call button, and let’s have a chat. We’re super passionate about helping tradies understand their numbers, improve profit, build structure, and create a business that actually supports the life you want to live. 

Ange
Because the goal isn’t just growth for the sake of growth. It’s building a business that works financially, operationally, and personally. 

Andy
Let’s not roll into another financial year on autopilot. It’s time to do things differently. Isn’t that what you want? 

Ange
Yes. So let’s start this new financial year with a game plan. That’s it for us today. See you in the next episode.

Andy
See ya. 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.