Paul Wicks on Letting Go, Leveling Up, and Locking in $3.5M in Work

Andy
But the road there wasn’t easy and staying motivated once he hit those big goals has been its own challenge. If you are a tradie who’s stuck in survival mode or questioning what’s next? This episode is packed with insights you won’t wanna miss. Let’s go.

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 are 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.

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Ange
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Andy
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Ange
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Andy
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Ange
So Paul Wicks from Unique project group in Canberra is here with us in the studio today. So Paul’s a builder who’s gone from grinding 80 hour weeks to leading a multimillion dollar business.

Andy
And just quietly, he’s gearing up for a marathon too. Paul, it’s great to have you on the show and in the studio here today in Sydney, and we appreciate you driving up from Canberra. 

Paul
No, it’s awesome being here. Glad the rain stopped for me.

Andy
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So, let’s rewind for a second and set the scene before things really started growing. What did life actually look like running a business in your day to day? 

Paul
I’ve been in business now for roughly about 10 years. When I first started business, I, well, before I started business, I was working for a big builder, making him money, and I thought, well, I need to start doing it myself. So yeah. So started a business thought, yep, let’s go. I reached out to a heap of, uh, real estate clients, just doing residential maintenance and small carpentry works is all I’ve thought that I’d wanted to get into. And, um, yeah, pretty much fake it till you make it. I, you know, was pretending I was a huge business and we can do all this work. And they took us on and that was good. But at a point there, I realized I was doing a lot. Burning the candles from both ends. Having to, to work on the tools during the day, flat out. Then coming into the office in the afternoons, writing out, you know, my day sheet, writing out what I’d done for the day, doing the quotes, doing the invoices quite often till, uh, early hours of the morning. Then it came on to employing people to kind of take on more work. And then I just realized it’s not sustainable and how do these big companies do it? Because to me it just wasn’t working. It just seemed like more employees are putting in more work I’m having to put in. So it wasn’t sustainable at all.

Andy
Yeah. I remember when I first had a chat with you and, uh, we definitely dived deep with a lot of that stuff, and it was certainly a stage where you knew you needed help and needed to be better.

Paul
Yeah, absolutely. 

Ange
So Paul, I’m aware this is an era too that you and Naomi had children. So what was that like coming home knowing that you’ve actually had to balance this life at home too?

Paul
At that point it was probably, you know, when I realized that something had to change because, you know, I went into business for myself thinking, you know, I, I get more time with my family. I was working for someone else, not seeing my kids when I was leaving for work. You know, not seeing them when I’m coming home. And then, you know, working six days a week, I get to see my kids one day a week. What’s the point in having kids? Right? So, yeah.

Ange
Absolutely.

Paul
Um, so I thought, oh, I’ll start my own business, you know, more family time. It seemed like it was completely opposite, um, at times, especially, you know, having the office at home and, and then quite often Naomi would come in, well, I’m still doing paperwork, and she’d give me a baby that won’t sleep. And then I’m, yeah. You know, nursing a baby while trying to do quotes and stuff like that. So, um.

Ange
We’ve all been there. 

Paul
Certainly balancing was hard. Um, but at the same time I knew, you know, something has to change. 

Ange
So can I ask, what was it that actually pushed you over the edge? 

Paul
Yeah, probably not seeing the kids like I thought I was gonna be seeing and just realizing that it’s not sustainable. Um, I need help. I need to do something. Also, it’s very hard to find those people to talk to that are dealing with similar situations, although probably lots of ’em are, everyone kind of likes to keep their own stories to themselves a lot of the time. So, yeah, I think that was the point where I was like, well, what else is out there? I need some kind of quitting business wasn’t an option. It was never an option. I loved doing it. Working for someone else wasn’t an option again, so it had to work. So I just had to, to find a way. 

Andy
So it’s interesting, isn’t it? You started off with a boss, you left your boss, you went out on your own, you contacted a few small real estates and got a little bit of work here and there and, and the next minute it was absolutely crazy and things weren’t going that well at all. Now. Let’s fast forward from those early days and things have gone absolutely crazy to winning multimillion dollar defense jobs and how on earth did that opportunity even come about? Like it’s a big difference from being a person doing maintenance work for real estate agents to now doing multimillion dollar defense jobs. Like how does that happen? 

Paul
The road there was long, uh, I suppose, you know, you don’t just kind of go straight into it. Building those systems was definitely part of that. You know, working with Lifestyle Tradie for example. I’ve got access to plenty of resources which I could implement into the business and then all of a sudden hire the right people into those positions as well. You know, letting go of some of that micromanagement power that, you know, I thought that I needed to have. And then, yeah, really just taking the next leap of, um, what’s the next job. So then I moved into kind of, the strata industry and worked with a few very good clients that gave me really good opportunities to, um, do some decent renovation jobs in strata buildings and upgrade works or, um, remediation works. And, um. From there, I got engaged with some good people. So as far as the defense stuff goes, I managed, I was working with a contractor at the time, uh, who was doing one of our, uh, strata jobs. He was all right. He was a good carpenter. And then he, um, he then moved into a defense contractor, right? Um, company as a project manager. He contacted me and then said, um, that he wants more businesses like ours. He really likes the way we operate. He likes the way we do things and wants more businesses like ours to be doing the work that he’s in control of. So it was quite a big process to get him on board with, with them. And it’s probably about six to nine months, I suppose, with um, clearances and stuff as well that needed to be done. Yeah. But I suppose once we got in there, it was a little bit of an unknown and I was still skeptical, but then we showed what we could do. Um, we took on some. You know, some decent, um, jobs. And then from there, defense, you know, started spending some money that really became opportunities for us, particularly around that COVID era where they wanted to support small, medium enterprises and we capitalize on that. So it was just a matter of getting it done. 

Andy
So, yeah, truly interesting. We’ve been working with you for six, seven years now, and, and I still remember when you first came to us, you’re doing more of this smaller work. You’re doing a little bit on the edge of the strata, but the thing with you, Paul, is everything we talked about, everything that we discussed that needed to be done. You weren’t afraid to do that work. You just got in there and did that. You, you built credibility packs, you had great relationships. You met a lot of people. You got out and about, you socialized, you did everything you needed to help with that growth. And I talk about that a lot, that there’s a lot of tradies out there that live in their bubble and they wonder why they’re not getting work. Like you really put yourself out there. So hat’s off for you, mate. You’ve, you’ve done an incredible job to get to where you are so far. 

Paul
Yeah. I appreciate that. I mean, it doesn’t come without hard work and, you know, support and that’s what kind of got us there. Yeah. But also finding that niche as well, you know, finding the jobs that people aren’t competing for and just those opportunities that come about for that. And then building a team that can support you, that wanna actually do that work as well. Because not all the trades people that I’ve hired in the past have wanted to do the work that I’ve wanted to do. So, um, you gotta find those people that align as well. So. 

Ange
What you’ve been saying so far, what I hear through this is that, this is absolutely built on relationships and connection. So not only did you have a skillset and you backed yourself about the capability that you and your business and your team could actually do the work, but you spoke with so much confidence to these people that they just believed you. And I don’t discredit your skillset. You clearly have that. But my point here is knowing that you’ve made those connections and you built those relationships and therefore you spoke with confidence and you proved yourself, is really important to hear if other trade business owners hear that sentence because confidence in business is about doing the work, getting the business model right, that we talk about in Lifestyle Tradie. And therefore, as your confidence grows in what you are doing, you are the epiphany of what happens to a business owner when you do the work. So a huge hat off to you about that. 

Paul
I appreciate that. 

Ange
So as you’ve grown your business, your team gets bigger, the jobs get bigger, new challenges arise. What, therefore, is your role in the business now? Like how do you figure out where you are actually needed? 

Paul
Yeah, it’s probably a big thing that I’ve, I’ve had to deal with and, and I’ve,

Ange
Because you’re a control freak? 

Paul
No, probably more that I just like to wear a lot of hats and I like to be in control of certain jobs that come.

Andy
What does that mean control freak?

Paul
No, I just wanna train my people to be the best.

Andy
Yes. Perfect, perfect. I know, mate. I know.

Paul
So, I’ve gotta do the job before I pass it on to someone else. So I think at a point when I’m doing a task or I’m doing a specific job that it’s taking too much of my day or too much of my week, or too much of, you know, my role, then I know that I need to put a person in place for that. So then it’s finding that right person, or maybe it’s someone I’ve already got, and then giving ’em that part of the job. So at some point there, you start giving away all these hats and stuff, and you’re like, where do I sit now? And sure, you know, I can sit there and I can look at the numbers and look at the forecasting and look at, you know, speak to our customers and clients and you know, go for lunches and things like that. And sounds all great, but at some point there you kind of go, oh, what’s my, what’s my reason for now? And that’s kind of where I got to, you know, last year I think it was. Where I was like, what is my reason now? And I wasn’t enjoying work as much as it was before.

Andy
But Well, just to say that, right? Because I remember you were sitting at one of our member events and you were talking to one of our guys, and you were saying that you’d lost your why. Like you’d, you’d come from such a long way, you’re a great business kicking massive goals. You had a great team and you felt like you’d really made it, but then all of a sudden it was like, well, I’ve ticked all those goals now, and you felt a bit stuck. So just elaborate a little bit more about that. 

Paul
Yeah, a hundred percent. I, I did. Um, and that was what was great about coming into an event with, you know, a reason as well. Uh, you know, it’s something that’s bothering me right now because that was kind of my, my reason for being there. I wanted to reach out to, you know, other members and other, um, you know, and the rest of our community about, you know, whether they’ve been in that before. And it just so happened that, yeah, I, I went in for a swim one morning before a conference day and event. And, uh, Simon, one of our, you know, gun, one of your gun members, uh, joined me in the pool. And, um, he, he were just talking about, you know, general stuff. Then he said, how’s things going? And I said, well, look, you know, right now I’m, you know, in a bit of a limbo land where I’m not really enjoying things as I used to. And so Simon and I dug deep into that and, um, really kind of looked at what are my goals? What’s my purpose in business now? And you know, why am I focusing on those kind of things? And then start chipping away at those little things and do some reflection of, of what you’ve achieved so far to get to where you’re going now. And I did that. And then I also sat down and went, well, what did I enjoy in business that I didn’t before as well? And you know, why can’t I do that anymore? And one of those things was, you know, running projects. I do enjoy running projects, but I know that I can’t commit myself to the same way as my project manager can. Yeah. Because, you know, that’s their job. I’ve got a whole business to run with multiple employees that I’ve gotta support. So it, it just wasn’t, wasn’t sustainable. So instead of that, I started looking at other ways of how I can, um, enjoy business again. And so one thing now I’m in control of is some minor works jobs that, that I actually enjoy doing. I pick, um, the jobs that I want, you know, it might be something specific that’s interesting. It might be a new client that I’m trying to get on board with, you know, that I really wanna impress. Generally it’s something that I, you know, it’s pretty straightforward for me and things that I’ve done for 20 years. So, yeah.

Andy
So, and you feel like, I think you said that was 12 months ago or whatever you feel like now your mojo is back. I mean, since then, I know you’ve done BMW motorbike tours, you’ve traveled the world with the family, like you’ve done some pretty cool stuff as well. Is that all part of the process of getting back to where you are today?

Paul
Yeah, a hundred percent. Like I think life goals I was okay with. I was all right with running a life and enjoying things. It was just more my reason for being at work and yeah. And numbers showed at that time. Yeah. Like it was showing that, you know, we were on the decline because maybe I wasn’t turning up every day. Maybe that was reflecting on my team, um, that I wasn’t turning up every day to be my best and, and motivate them. So today, I think definitely my, um, I try and be more supportive of my team. I try to be more involved with everything and you know, as a result, things are looking a lot better.

Andy
What I loved that you said then, which is so critical, you know, we’ve been on this whole journey, but then you started growing at Rate of Knots and you became this bigger company. Things were just perfect for you, but then things changed and all of a sudden you were stepping away a bit and dollars and cents weren’t coming in the door as sticking fast as they one did. Maybe there’s a few staff that turned over and all of a sudden you started questioning, oh, hang on, I’m, I’m not really enjoying it as much, and you’d taken your foot off the accelerator and we talked about businesses. You take your foot off the accelerator, you start going backwards, baby. So that’s when you’ve stepped back in and you’ve gone, okay, let’s run with this. And no doubt we’ll talk about this a bit later in the chat today, but you’ve really kicked another gear again. So, but it’s, that’s the story of life. Um, people hear me say it all the time that it doesn’t matter how good your business is going out there, just wait. It’s only a step or a moment away from a brick hitting you between the eyes, bang! And you just come from nowhere to put you on your ass and be a reality check. 

Paul
Yeah, a hundred percent. And not just like financially as well, it’s probably more just not turning up and not being there in the best person, you know? Yeah. I think that reflected the numbers as well, because, you know, my team, for example, maybe they were taking longer on jobs, maybe they were messing around a little bit because I wasn’t around. Yep. Or maybe I was around, but I just wasn’t, you know, focused as I was before, so.

Andy
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. 

Ange
It’s interesting because we talk about these phases of business from startup, scale up to sell up, and you know, we talk about what changes with this and how you grow your team. And you know, after you’ve put these foundations in, we as a trade business owner have to recreate who we are so that we show up being the best version of ourselves. You were once on the tools, you were the technician. You now have to become a manager of people and tasks, and then you, you also have to be this leader that people wanna be around and still have this entrepreneurial flare in the same moment of releasing control and allowing your team to take on responsibility and being okay about it. Like it’s, it’s a really huge learning curve for any human. So I grasp that you got to this point whereby as the business grew, you just got faced with new challenges. So how do we constantly be better to deal with each one of these phases in life?

Paul
Yeah, exactly.

Andy
But the thing is now you’re actually running a marathon. Tell me about that, because, uh. You know, not many people in this world have run a marathon, but yeah, I have. But um, I just wanna point that out. I just wanted to claim that I actually did. I did, I did. I did. But there’s a stat out there that there’s a very low percentage of people in the world that have run a marathon. Do you know that stat?

Ange
Paul’s gonna be one in a moment.

Andy
What’s the stat? 

Paul
I think it’s less than 3% or something like that.

Andy
Yeah, baby. Bring it on. Bring it on. 

Ange
You’re in the top three Percenters.

Paul
Yeah. Did you run at all though?

Andy
Uh, well, I’ve sort of crawled across the line the last 12Ks, mate. I wouldn’t call it running. Um, and I did a terrible time of over five hours. If you can’t beat that mate, there’s something wrong with you. I’m telling you.

Paul
I shouldn’t drink too much coffee. I haven’t done it yet.

Andy
No, no. Anything can happen. Quick question. How many hours did you work last week and now how much profit did you actually make? If those two numbers don’t light up, then we need to talk. Our one day live event – Stress Free Tradie is designed for tradies who are working their guts out, but still can’t figure out where the hell the money’s going. We’ll show you what the top 5% of trade business owners are doing differently and how to fix the leaks that are draining your time and your profit. We kick off September the second. It’s free and it’ll change the way you run your business. Hit the link in the show notes and grab a seat before they go. 

Paul
But yeah, no marathon training. Yes, so that came about I suppose, with my life, my life goals. Um, last year I decided to run a half marathon. Previously to that, uh, roughly about 12 months before I did that, I got told by a doctor that my running days were over and I wasn’t gonna be able to run again. And I was looking down the path of probably getting my ankle. 

Ange
Screw them.

Paul
Yeah. So. 

Andy
What would they know?

Ange
Exactly.

Paul
Exactly.

Ange
Bloody doctors.

Paul
Yeah. Um, like I was waking up with pain most days and, you know, dealing with that, As well. Mm-hmm. Um, and then I just started, well, I, I’ve gotta find a way. So I started working with physios and my podiatrist to come up with a plan and, and strengthen things to, to relieve that pressure on the ankle. Now I don’t get any pain at all, which is awesome, and I run.

Ange
How cool is that sentence?

Paul
Yeah. So that is excellent. So complete life change on that. But I did the half marathon and I felt good. You, there was a lot of build up to the half marathon. Um, you know, I was training, I had a strict plan that I was doing, I was eating, um, well, I was, you know, following nutrition plans and things like that. And then it kind of came to the point where I ran the half marathon and I did it a good time. I was happy with exactly the plan and I did that and I went, oh, okay, that was good. And then, after the, um, the half marathon, I actually went well. You know, I’m not doing anything anymore. Like I don’t have that goal anymore. I don’t have that, you know, that reason why I am getting up in the morning and running, you know, five or 10 kilometers or something like that. Sure. I was still doing some runs here and there, but I wasn’t motivated like I was before that, so I was like, I gotta do something. So that’s why yeah, I went, oh, I have to do a marathon. 

Ange
So it is clearly a reason that you thrive on having a goal in front of you, right?

Paul
A hundred percent. Yeah.

Ange
So why do you think it’s so important for you? 

Paul
Uh, now it’s probably because I got told I wasn’t gonna run again. And, and because I, I, I enjoy having that goal and I enjoy the training plans. Like I hate it when I’m doing it, but when you achieve it, you’re like sweet. And you know, even up the buildup. I’ve done three half marathons now up to it. And before that, that was my goal. And now I’m doing ’em off the cusp. 

Ange
Let’s be real. You live in Canberra and you get up at what, five o’clock in the morning to go for a run? And what temperature is that? 

Paul
Uh, two days ago it was minus two when I was running seven and a half kilometers.

Andy
Oh mate. You can have that. You can have that.

Ange
You can have that. 

Paul
Well, I just don’t look at the temperature before I go, so once I’m permitted, I’m, I’m going. So,

Andy
Well, I, I’ll say this, that some of the most influential people I know and some of the big, the best business people I know, actually almost every one of the best business people I know, set goals and have a goal to attract. And if you are out there right now and you don’t have a goal, get out there, do a marathon. It’s easy and get amongst it. But let’s talk about this trip to Europe, because that’s another goal that you guys had as a family. So Angie mentioned earlier, you’re gone for a month. Like I was watching socials, it felt like two months. So. How long were you gone for and what was it like? 

Paul
Yeah, we went for four weeks and absolutely it was a goal of ours. We were probably a couple years into business and after we had kids and stuff, we went, well, we’re gonna do an overseas trip at some point. We wanna do it when the kids are old enough to enjoy it, old enough to be, you know, semi independent, I suppose. And um, yeah, we’d kind of worked around that, that the age was gonna be around about the eight, you know, to 10, uh, to 12 kind of mark. And they’re 10 and 12 now. So it was like, well, we’ve gotta do it. So fortunately enough, one of our good friends. They moved over there for a year to, um, the Netherlands. And so we made a perfect excuse. We’d gone on a Europe trip.

Andy
Beautiful.

Paul
So we planned that and um, you know, bought the flights and went away and planned everything. So, sure it was pretty unnerving leading up to it, you know, thinking is everything gonna be all right with the business? You know, this is a long time I’m not gonna be, you know, in contact. Um, you know, the good thing about Europe is while they’re at work, I’m asleep in Europe and you know when I’m awake, they’ve already finished work for the day.

Ange
They can’t talk to you.

Paul
They’ve already dealt with all the stuff for the day. It worked out really well.

Andy
How, like you went away for four weeks, you came back, what was good, what was bad? Was there anything bad? What happened?

Ange
Did anything break? 

Paul
Um. No, everything was fine. Yeah, everything went well. I did touch base with the team while I was over there, but they were like, what are you doing? Have fun. You know? You don’t need to talk to us. So, um.

Andy
So lemme just ask, because when I asked you that question, you went no, like there’s, there’s some little mm..

Paul
Well it was full on when I got back because my, um, project manager had just had twins just before I got back. Yeah. So he’d, um, he was off on paternity leave and, uh, Lachlan, our, um, our junior project manager, he also had a planned overseas trip and so he was away when I got back as well. So it was kind of stepping back into the business, you know.

Andy
So you went, you went from being four weeks off to dropping into, holy crap, what’s going on here?

Ange
I’m running the show.

Paul
Well, all of a sudden putting all these hats back on and, and going, I gotta, I gotta step in again and step up. But it was fine. Like the, the rest of the team stepped up because they knew that they were away as well. Um, so they stepped up and having those people in my team that can do that and actually care is really good. Um, so, you know, credit to them. Mm-hmm. Um, and realistically, we, you know, we tread water for a little while. We didn’t take on anything new or anything like that. We just kind of went through our projects that we already had lined up. And, you know, dealt with the problems as they came. And then fortunately now they’re back at, we’ve been back for, uh, about six weeks now from our trip and the whole team’s back on board. Uh, we had our first team meeting this week with everyone in it, which is our first one of the year. Wow. So that was excellent. So, mm-hmm.

Ange
How many people were there, Paul? 

Paul
13. So, yeah. Not including me, but yeah.

Ange
How amazing is it to now have a team that you trust them all? They’re happy to take on extra responsibility and they’re prepared to step up. And actually get their job done. And they actually don’t need to come and ask you any questions. Yeah. It’s an amazing feeling. 

Paul
Yeah, a hundred percent. And our systems aren’t perfect. We’re not the golden business, in that respect. We still have some flaws and, um, yeah.

Andy
Right. Every business has, every business has.

Ange
Of course, they change constantly, right?

Paul
Yeah, yeah. But the people there are the, what, what makes the business at the moment. And they know what they’re doing and um, and they want to grow. And they, you know, they want the whole business to grow, which is what finding those right people is all about.

Andy
And you nailed that. You’ve nailed that, which is awesome.

Ange
Paul, I’m gonna change tact a little bit because I know it’s really easy for business to take over your whole life if you let it, right. Especially when there’s a family in the mix, and I know you and Naomi have clearly found a setup that works best for your family. What I wanna ask is, what’s been the key to making that balance between business and personal life actually sustainable and is there something that you both agreed on early that’s helped keep things in check? 

Paul
Yeah, these days are a lot different to what it was when we first went into business, that’s for sure. When we had young children, Naomi did step into the business and she helped out, um, doing administration and bookkeeping work and things like that. Mind you, we were pretty young and we couldn’t afford what I thought. We couldn’t afford those, those people. Um, so I was generally doing it and then, and then Naomi stepped in and helped out with that. As we grew, again, there was a lot of demand for Naomi and, you know, I was constantly pushing her and so it was affecting our relationship that degrees. I was coming home and going, well, what about this? You haven’t done this, this, this, and it was a little bit full on. So it did come to a time where Naomi had the option to go back to work. Maternity leave is over. Or to step into the business. And we kind of had those discussions of, you know, where she wants to go. And she said, well, look, you know, I went to university to be a school teacher. I wanna be a school teacher. I enjoy that. I don’t particularly enjoy what I’m doing with you. So, um, I wanna go back to school teaching. So when she did, I, I ended up hiring a bookkeeper and what worked out to be, what she was doing ended up being like 20,000 a year worth off the top line, uh, off the bottom line, sorry. So at the end of the day, you know, what’s $20,000 compared to what? You know what we have. So she still supports me and my business, and she understands what’s going on, and I have those discussions with her when I come home about maybe a staff member or, um, maybe a problem I’m having now. She’s kind of that voice outside of the business that’s kind of giving me a little bit of a non-biased opinion, which is really good, and lets me kind of step back and go, oh, she’s right. I, I shouldn’t have these discussions now. I shouldn’t sack that bloke now. Something like that and, and that works well. 

Ange
I like that you’ve had this conversation that, you know, she had this moment to be home with the kids and then she had a choice to do whatever it was that she wanted to do. And I think that’s actually really important that not every husband and wife couple should work together, nor should they feel like they need to, unless they choose to. So I love that she’s gone back to being a teacher. She’s amazing at it and clearly is her love and passion. But I agree with you. This table talk is amazing. So, you know, I think it is important for trade business owners to know you just do what’s right for you, I think is the point, right? 

Paul
Yeah, a hundred percent. And I know you guys have, you nailed it during your business, but a lot of companies and a lot of couples, sorry, haven’t nailed it. And as a result. You know, they’ve had relationship breakdowns.

Ange
Totally.

Paul
You know, the business hasn’t gone well because of that. And the funny thing was when Naomi did go back to work, she had people telling her, oh, what are you doing? He’s got a trade business. You are the wife. You should be doing all that. Why are you hiring people? You can’t, you know, that’s not how it works. But we had to go, this is how we’re doing it.

Ange
It totally can work.

Paul
Yeah. And it, yeah, and, and it’s working for us and you know, so it, it was funny, but you know, people, some people do have different opinions.

Andy
That’s right. It doesn’t really matter. You know, you just gotta work out what’s right for you. That’s what this life is all about. So listen, it’s clear your business has come a long way. And, um, it’s not just about stepping back off the tools. You’ve also had some huge wins over the time. Some of the projects you’ve talked to me about and, and I’m not gonna talk about these net profit numbers on here, but like they’re being just outta this world. And I know you’ve done a really good job over the Christmas period and I’d love to chat about that. What made that job so successful? 

Paul
Yeah, well, I mean, it probably came off the back of me finding my why again, I suppose, and you know, taking control and, you know, finding those opportunities to, then going to a live event with you guys. Yeah. And then we’re talking about why we’re not making money over Christmas and you know, we have this Christmas shutdown in the building industry. Yeah. It’s two to three, four weeks before everyone’s back and you’re starting to.

Ange
Everyone’s on holiday.

Paul
Yeah. So there’s, there’s literally no, no revenue at all during that time.

Ange
But you still have to pay the wages.

Paul
You still have to pay everything and everything’s still coming off the bottom line. So, um. Kind of got me thinking a little bit. And then I had an opportunity with a client. He said all his staff are going away over Christmas and they can, whatever staff left, can work at home and they wanna get this work done in their new office. So I said, no worries. So we had a look at it. I didn’t think it was gonna be possible, but then I had a chat with some of our contractors and he’s like. No worries. Well, I’m not going away anywhere, so I may as well work. And he was happy to take on the job. And then, yeah, it took a little bit more work to get materials organized before suppliers shut down and things like that. But in the end, yeah, it was a 50% gross profit margin on the job in a, in a time where we don’t generally make any. So yeah.

Andy
And it was huge because at that event when we did that presentation, there was a room full of 200 tradies and, like a good chunk of them, made a conscious effort for that Christmas period. And the amount of people that had come to me and went, oh my God, you just saved our ass. Not having that down ’cause so many people make money up to Christmas, but then they forget about what happens in January ’cause they can’t be bothered. And then January comes, they lose all their money and then all of a sudden they’re starting February, March, April and they’re struggling again. So doing these things, um, is huge. And as I said earlier, in chatting with you. You are that guy that you listen to, you learn, and you actually do. So hats off to you for that.

Paul
Yeah. Cheers. 

Ange
Well, talking about momentum, I heard you’ve already secured a ton of work for the next financial year before it’s even kicked off. Can you tell me a little bit more about that? 

Paul
Yeah. Again, credit to, you know, my great team is the, the good thing about this is they’ve handled it. You know, everything up to now as far as procurement and, and quoting and everything. But then, uh, we did secure our largest project to date, which will kick off in the second half of this year in the new financial year. And we’ve got a couple continuations from our current projects where they’re extending, you know, works that extend the scope and we’re gonna be doing more. So yeah, I mean, it’s great to be able to have that security moving into the new financial year where basically it’s probably three quarters of our revenue is already secured. Um, and we haven’t even, you, you know, we’re not even gonna be at our capacity as far as our resources go. So we’ve got opportunities to, to still take on more work, which is excellent. So for me, now, that means that I can, you know, focus on other things. Um. And not have to kind of worry about making sure everyone’s bills are paid. Uh, and all our staff are keeping busy. So.

Andy
And I just love that mate, because profitably might I add, you know, you had, you, you know, just go back to that journey of your ride, you know, I’m not gonna go over it all again. But you, you had the bit of a downtime and you come into this Christmas period, and then the next minute you, you’re going away for four weeks through Europe with the family, and you’re coming back and now you’ve got, uh, I won’t say the, the dollars and cents, but like as you said, three quarters of a year is completely already done. Good profit margins will come with that work and you just set up and like that’s a good, solid business. You know, most people that are scrambling this time of year and you’ve already got it all lined up for next year. It’s gonna be absolutely huge. So what is next for you? You know, what is next for you? I know you’ve got a lot of work coming up, but when you look down the 3, 5, 10 years, where do you see the Unique Project Group going? What? What’s your plan? 

Paul
Yeah, well, well, I mean we’ve really drilled down into this remediation space, particularly in Canberra, where I think where the best there is, as far as it goes. Our team is educated. They know what to look for, they know where to find defects and, and how they don’t comply with the Australian standard. I think that’s what’s driven us to get good jobs. Yeah. But I also feel that there’s a lot of opportunities coming. We’ve gone through some pretty tough years over the last few years, but I, I feel right now we’re kind of at the tail end of that and things are gonna be starting to be pretty good in a lot of space. So we’ll probably look for that, that next niche and that next thing. And I’ll probably work on that. We also spoke about expanding outside of the Canberra region as well. Yeah. So probably look at doing something along that line as well. But probably now, for now, you know, with having three quarters of our revenue secured, um, I can focus more on this kind of system. I can focus more on my people, um, the training and you know, the clients that we’re working with, um, having more control in that. And then just kind of looking to excel in the business. So. 

Andy
Well, mate, I can honestly say it’s only gonna be up and up for you. I’m gonna change tact a little bit here. We’ve got a segment mate. It’s called Rapid Fire, and we are gonna ask three questions. You have 10 seconds to answer them. Are you ready?

Paul
Oh, yeah. 

Ange
Okay, here we go. Question number one. So Paul, what’s one strategy you use to start your day right? 

Paul
To start my day Right. Okay. I have a cold shower every morning. Uh, so I get up and I, because,

Ange
You’re not cold enough in Canberra.

Paul
No. And the water’s fricking cold. Yeah. Um, I get up and I, um, check a few things, uh, emails have maybe read, read a few things. And then I either go for a run straight away and then come back and have a cold shower or I get into it and uh, have a cold shower. Cold showers I think are awesome. It gets your adrenaline going, it pumps you up. And now I don’t even have coffee in the morning. I have a cold shower instead. So.

Andy
Mate, that is absolutely huge. So what is something that has made you smile recently?

Paul
Made me smile coming back from overseas and, and seeing that everything was fine, that made me really smile.

Andy
Yeah. Oh, of course.

Paul
And just being over there with my family, that was excellent. And having that time with ’em. So yeah.

Ange
Making memories right.

Paul
Making memories. Absolutely.

Ange
Yeah. So special. 

Paul
Yep. 

Ange
And question number three, what’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? 

Paul
Uh, not necessarily what I’ve received, but something that I follow would be, don’t get upset over things you can’t control. Don’t let those things you can’t control take over your emotions. Things go wrong, but could something you are in control of have made a difference, or could something you’re doing now make it better? That’s where you look. If answers to them are both, no, then you’ve just gotta focus on what you can control and do, do well at that. 

Andy
Mate. And that is a hundred percent right. And I think, um, you know, a lot of the best business owners, we all have challenges, but all of a sudden they’re not. You know when you’re smaller and you’re stressed and you’re wearing all the hats and everything’s a drama, everything becomes a bigger drama. But I think as you get a bit bigger and a bit smarter and a bit wiser, you listen to what the problem is, you, you make decisions on how to fix it if you can, and you move on and you just keep doing that. And when you do that, business just seems a bit easier because you’ve gotta structure a system and a way to deal with it. Mate, we can’t thank you enough for coming here today, seeing us in the studio and being on The Tradie Show. We really appreciate you sharing your incredible journey from just working with a real estate agent to straddle to where you are today and some of the big jobs you are winning today in what some people would say are tough times, and you’ve already lined up pretty much your whole year. It has been incredible and thanks for sharing your journey. 

Paul
No, thanks so much for having me. It’s been awesome. And yeah, thanks for having me in the community. It’s, um, I really enjoy being here. 

Ange
We a hundred percent appreciate you as being a part of Lifestyle Tradie, as we constantly say, is that tradies live in this world of secrecy where they don’t share any success stories, right? Or even the failure stories, which we all learn from. So I love that you are super open about sharing your journey with others. And that you are there to support other people. So, uh, so thanks for being the type of human that you are to support everyone else around you. We really appreciate you. 

Paul
No, absolutely. It’s been great.

Andy
And no doubt, mate, at our next event, there’ll be someone coming up to you and asking for advice and this is what happens, the world goes, what goes around, comes around, right? So totally where everyone’s there to help each other. Mate, thanks for being here. We’ve really enjoyed it. I know all the listeners would’ve absolutely loved this podcast as well. And we’ll chat with everyone very soon. Before we go, Paul, we’re gonna do a 3, 2, 1. You’re ready? 3, 2, 1. Hell Yeah!

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