From Zero to Landscape Hero: Matt’s Unbelievable Journey

Ange
No way. 

Andy
Oh wow. 

Matt
Cause I don’t want to do this anymore. I can’t. That’s when I had to join Lifestyle Tradie in the back of my head. And I was like, ****. 

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

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

Andy
Hell yeah! Before we see out, 2023, it’s important to look back at how your business has performed this year. Take some time to really figure out where your numbers landed. Did you make enough profit? Did you make any profit? And once you’ve done that, then it’s time to look forward to 2024. With the new year fast approaching, think about how you can set your business up for success. Is it implementing structure and systems so you can take time out of your business? Is it looking at cash flow? Perhaps employing more staff or creating a better culture within your business. Whatever it is, I would love to help you succeed. I’m offering a free one-on-one strategy session to give you personalized advice so you can have the lifestyle you deserve. Make 2024 your best year yet. Head to lifestyletradie.com.au and lock it in now. Hello team and thank you for tuning in for today’s episode of The Tradie Show. We know you’d love meeting our Lifestyle Tradie members and hearing their stories and you’ll be happy to know that we won’t disappoint in this episode. We have a very special guest and one hell of a story to share. 

Ange
Yeah, you’re so right, Andy. So this guy literally went from one single job worth $440 to earning over 1 million dollars with a healthy profit margin in three short years. That is some serious progress to brag about. 

Andy
I think that needs a big, hell yeah!

Ange
Totally. 

Andy
For a fella of 27 years of age who has the world at his feet and has just recently had some exciting news to share as a trade business owner. But guess what? I’m going to let him tell us a bit about that later. 

Ange
Andy the intrigue. Well, to be honest, it hasn’t actually been all smooth sailing. He almost gave it in before he sought help to fast track his journey. And you know what? What a bloody great idea that was. 

Andy
Yes, I don’t know why more trade business owners don’t get help sooner instead of trying to reinvent the wheel. 

Ange
Yeah, true. Well, maybe sharing Matt’s story will jolt a few of them into action. So let’s bring him in. Like, literally, Matt is such a champion. He’s flown all the way from Melbourne to hang out with us in the podcast studio today. 

Andy
That is definitely commitment, buddy. Welcome, Matt, and great to have you in the studio. 

Matt
Hello. Great to be here. 

Ange
All right. So Matt, you’re the proud owner of Ferguson Landscape and Design in Melbourne, which, correct me if I’m wrong, you started three years ago in the year 2020 as a sole operator just at the start of COVID. What a great idea that must have been. 

Matt
Yeah, it was absolutely, uh, terrible. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely terrible mate. Like, yeah, no good.

Andy
No, no, it was a tough time for a lot of businesses out there. I know a lot of people. Why would you want to start a business in the middle of COVID? What a terrible time.

Ange
Well, to support you, Matt, you wouldn’t have any idea what you’re about to face over the next couple of years. And to be fair, most tradies that go to TAFE have an intention to start their own business. So you just did exactly what you wanted to do. 

Andy
Yeah, but I think business at the best of times, as we all know is tough, but to actually try and start in the middle of COVID, crazy, but to set the scene for our listeners, Matt, can you tell us a little bit more about your business? Like where are you based? We know it’s Melbourne, but what do you do for work and the current size of your team? 

Matt
Yeah. Yeah. So we are a landscape construction company. We operate obviously out of Melbourne, having been operating for three and a half years now. And, um, we do a lot of work to mid to high sort of residential sort of stuff. So we do a lot of pergolas, deckings, pavings, all that sort of stuff. And, um, yeah, we have a team size of eight. 

Andy
Team size of eight. And what I’ve noticed recently with you is you guys are really good on Instagram, aren’t you? You’ve done a lot of videos. There’s a lot going on. How did you get into all of that?

Matt
Um, it was just really sort of having my own Instagram account and, um, sort of everyone getting on Instagram and that’s sort of the trend nowadays is just Instagram. So yeah, jumped on that and started taking good content and, um, you know, people love it. So now it gets us a lot of work as well. 

Ange
So if I take that back to our 17 year old daughter, I know you’re not 17. But I can imagine you’re learning because you’re using Instagram yourself, like you just said. So do you, have you kind of grown up now taking selfies of yourself like our daughter does?

Matt
No. 

Andy
Shirts off in the backyard and doing the landscaping. 

Matt
Yeah, there’s a lot of shirtless pics on my own.

Ange
I think you’ve just got a lot of followers on your page Matt.

Matt
Yeah, yeah. I think, uh, maybe not on the, on the business one, but, uh, definitely on a personal level. 

Ange
I would imagine that this is where a lot of that confidence came from though, is because you’re so young and Instagram is such a platform for you just personally to Connect with your mates. Then it became so natural to use Insta for your own business. That’d be fair? 

Matt
Yeah, it was. Yeah. Actually getting in front of the camera at the start, like I was terrible, like I couldn’t do it at all. But like once I did it once I was like, Oh, this is actually pretty, pretty easy. Like not too bad. So.. 

Andy
You just got to get stuck in, don’t you? Like, I mean, a lot of people probably don’t realize, but I struggled in front of a microphone and a camera in the early days. But then, you know, as you move forward, you get better and better. You like everything in life. You get better, the more you do it and the more relaxed you get as well. 

Ange
So Matt, I want to take you actually right back to the start. I mentioned that you actually began your business in 2020, which was literally the start of COVID. Can you tell us a little bit about what was going on in your world back then? 

Matt
Yeah. Um, I was probably a young shy lad back in the days. Uh, you know, probably still partying, still kind of now still partying as well. So at 27, I would hope. Yeah. Um, but yeah, no, I was playing footy, you know, hitting the gym, you know, life was good. I was just, um, still working for my old boss while I had just started this business. And, um, you know, yeah, so I did my first job just before COVID. And then, you know, that’s when I only made about 400 bucks in a week’s work. And then that’s when I sort of, over that eight week lockdown sort of, you know, found you guys and did that six week course.

Andy
Yeah, that’s cool. And you know, the life of a 24 year old is meant to be super, super fun. You’re just hanging out with the boys, taking it easy, partying hard, as you said. You decided to start a business in the middle of COVID. Why was that time the right time and how did it make you feel? 

Matt
I feel like it was probably the best time because, you know, we weren’t doing anything. So.. 

Andy
Yeah, you’ll start, especially in Melbourne, you weren’t. 

Matt
Yeah. I was just locked in my room and, um, yeah, that’s when I jumped on with you and Ange with the Zoom meetings and sort of doing that, uh, Unbreakable Trade business. And, you know, that really sort of got me off the ground with sort of basic foundations and, um, all that sort of stuff. So. 

Andy
Yeah. Cause you were really raw back then, right? You know, sitting in your, in your room and, and reaching out to us and we’ll go, okay, so how big’s your business? Well, I’ve done a $400 job. Um, that’s about as big as it gets, you know, so obviously there was a lot of learning and, and I know you worked quite closely with Ange over that time and started putting all the stuff in place, which really has set you up to where you are today, right?

Matt
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Especially over that time as well. Like, you know, I was doing a lot of 10 hour days. Um, seven day weeks and you know, it literally got to a point, you know, obviously before I joined Lifestyle Tradie, it was um, you know, I still, I remember doing this job on a Sunday to this client. I remember I absolutely butchered it and um, cause I was just so overworked, so tired and you know, I didn’t even want to really be there. I remember I got home that day and I just went on to Google and I was like, you know, how do I cancel my ABN? Because.. 

Ange
No way. 

Andy
Oh wow. 

Matt
Cause I don’t want to do this anymore. Like, and that’s when I had to join Lifestyle Tradie in the back of my head. And I was like, I’ll just tie up tomorrow. And yeah, the reason why I didn’t quit is because I also didn’t want to be known as a failure between my friends and family as well. So, um, yeah.

Ange
Because had you already resigned from your previous job? 

Matt
Yeah. 

Ange
So you’re gone, I’m all in. All guns are blazing. And you only had literally one job and COVID kind of hit and then you had no work. Like everything dried up. 

Matt
Yeah. Yeah. Everything dried up and it just, you know, I was sick of it. Like I was just this close just to Packing it in. Packing it in and yeah, that was it. 

Andy
And um, you know, obviously we talk about this a lot with your mental, how were you mentally at that time? Like were you at an all time low? Like explain a bit about where you felt like you were at then. 

Matt
Yeah, well, that’s when I wasn’t playing. I had to stop playing footy. Stopped going to the gym. You know, I had no life, no personal life. Yeah. Just try to work on the business and I was getting nowhere. Yeah. So… 

Ange
Why is that, right? Like, you go to TAFE for how many years? Did you go to TAFE to be a landscaper? 

Matt
Three and a half years. 

Ange
Yeah. It’s a long time, right?

Matt
Yeah. Yeah. 

Ange
So, did you learn a lot of business principles back in TAFE?

Matt
Oh, they get you to Learn how to quote, but like, it’s nothing like it’s no idea. And um, yeah, they teach you nothing about sort of trade or like business sort of stuff. So it was pretty much a joke. Like half the time you just go home early anyway on a, on a trade school day, like it was just a, it was just a piece take of it, other things. So you learned nothing. You learned all your stuff at work. 

Andy
Yeah. Yeah. So you, you went all in, you’re working with a boss and then you decided to have a crack on your own. And then it obviously, you ended up having not much work and through the COVID, but then all of a sudden you got busy again and then all of a sudden you’re like, I’m super, super busy, but I’ve got no money and I’m burned out and I’m stuffing my jobs up and I’m over it. And you went online to go, how can I shut down this ABN? I’ve had an absolute gut. It’d given up your footy, you probably weren’t talking to your mates. You’re at a pretty low time and that’s what really triggered, I need business help and I need it now. And I’m assuming that’s, that’s, as you said, that’s when we came in, right? Just gave you that direction. 

Matt
Yeah. 

Andy
But you know, in your life as a young guy coming through in your footy, like you, you’re a winner. You’re always been a winner. So how did it beat you down so bad to be at that point? 

Matt
Just, just the workload. Like I just, I just couldn’t do it anymore. Like, and I was literally thinking to myself, I’m like, I, is this what trade money, trade business is like? Like I just, I had no idea. And I just like to talk to my mates who have businesses as well. And you know, they were pretty much going through the same sort of thing as well. And I’m just like, well, I need, I need help. Yeah. So, you know, I found it and I said, it’s probably the best thing you could ever do. 

Andy
Yeah. And you never look back obviously three years later, you’re absolutely crushing it. 

Matt
Yeah. 

Ange
Well, I remember one of the things you said to me, um, when you first joined with Lifestyle Tradie that we were talking about your hourly rate calculator. Was that a shock to you? 

Matt
Yeah. So I went part, I put my numbers in and I looked at it and I was like, how can I charge this?

Andy
Yeah. Yeah. 

Matt
I looked at it. I’m like, You can’t charge this like, I must send and redid it again, just make sure I put it in right and it was the same number and I’m like, okay, well, this must be right. So yeah, I put up my prices and people were accepting it and it just worked out well and you know, actually started making profits on top of my job.

Ange
And how did that make you feel? 

Matt
Well, I could actually, yeah, have a life again. So yeah, I actually had money to pay staff and yeah, it turned out really well. 

Andy
So that’s where the stress in running a business is so hard. I mean, if you’re running a business and it’s run poorly, but you’re still sort of making money and you got money in your bank, like most trades sort of push through, but when you’re running a business and you’ve got no money and you’re working your ass off and nothing’s running, like it’s a really tough thing. And this hourly rate calculator that we get everyone to do, makes you realize that this isn’t us telling you what you should charge. This is your business finding out your expenses and how much, you know, what you’re spending on and how many holidays you want and all this kind of stuff to give you an hourly rate that you need to survive and have a great business. And I just want to point this out and our listeners have probably heard this before. I have seen a lot of good businesses that don’t charge much and they struggle constantly. You need to be making good money, good profit, because if you can do that, you can spend money on marketing. You can look after your staff. There’s a lot of things you can do, but when you’re running a business that’s just a very basic unorganized break even business, you’re in a world of pain and it sounds like that’s where you were. 

Matt
Yeah. It was just, um, yeah, I couldn’t really sort of handle it and it was just. Yeah. It was just no good.

Ange
So most of our members actually do this hourly rate calculator, say every three to six months or perhaps when they’ve had a major change inside your business, like you’ve grown, you know, you did your hourly rate calculator when it was just you, you’ve now grown to a team of eight. So have you found… 

Andy
Are you doing over a million bucks or something like that at the moment these days?

Matt
Oh yeah. Just, just over a year. 

Andy
Yeah. Yeah. Well, man, that’s great. In three years, you know, there’ll be a lot of people still sitting back. They’ve been doing it for 10 years and they can’t even crack the 400, 000. You know, and this is the thing, you’re a goer, there’s no doubt about it, but you’ve got to make sure you’re working hard and you’ve got the money there to get some people around you to actually help you. Otherwise, you’re just a slave doing the same thing every day. 

Matt
Yeah, yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Um, we use the business, um, hourly rate calculator probably like every six months. Whenever we sort of buy a new asset or like a new truck or a new, um, excavator, we sort of just redo that and then, you know, obviously change the prices and go from there.

Andy
Yes. So a lot of people talk about it. I can’t charge that hourly rate and it’s a mindset thing. You even said it. I can’t charge that. Customers won’t pay that, which is absolute rubbish. And anyone that’s saying that, it’s rubbish guys. That’s in your own head. Customers will pay for a good service, good quality work, but you’ve got to be able to sell them the product that you’re offering. And that’s obviously what you do well now. And they can see your Instagram and they can see how you do your quoting and how you talk to the customer. You’re not getting much pushback these days at all. 

Matt
No, no. So our sort of price range is probably mid to high at the moment. 

Andy
So against other landscapers. 

Matt
Other landscapers. So definitely when I first started my prop, like it literally doubled my hourly rate, like double it. 

Andy
So you’re a really bum crack. 

Matt
Yeah, I was doing nothing. Nothing at all. 

Andy
And now you’re like giddy up, giddy up. 

Matt
Yeah. So, yeah, when I did, I was just like, sure you can’t be charging that, but you have to, and it’s just, yeah.

Ange
Can I just layer in here for the listeners? I think what is important though is, it wasn’t the fact that not only did you do the Hourly Rate Calculator and yes, you did increase your prices and no, you didn’t get pushback, but professionally you are seen as an authority in your space. And although you can go, Oh no, hang on a minute, Ange, go back to when I was just a one man band and it was just me and I literally was just starting my business. What I see from the outside is very professional, well presented, even down to your uniforms, your website, your Insta, everything you do as a business, your brand is very strong. 

Andy
It is. 

Ange
So I think it’s really important to understand for the listeners, you can’t just up your prices and just go, everyone’s going to be okay. They’ll only be okay because you are so professional and so solid that, you know, hand on heart, you’re going, I know I’m the best in the business and I deliver an exceptional service and you are going to love everything I do. And you do that, Matt. 

Andy
So what you’re saying Ange is, if you charge like Billy Bumcrack, you act like Billy Bumcrack, You look like Billy Bumcrack. You are Billy Bumcrack and you can’t charge those rates. We need to be successful business owners. 

Ange
Correct. You can increase your prices, but be very conscious about how you are seen in the marketplace, because of course that is when you’ll get pushback. 

Matt
Yeah, exactly right. 

Ange
So I want to just change tact a little bit because we do talk a great deal about the flow of a job and ensuring that you have excellence through the flow of one job. Because if you don’t do that, you’re actually scaling chaos once you get more jobs. And we talk a lot about implementing systems and structures. So I know you do a lot of this, Matt. So can you give our listeners a bit of an example about what you’ve actually implemented and how perhaps you feel now that you’ve got this structure?

Matt
Yeah. Yeah. So it was probably back when I first joined Lifestyle Tradie, obviously I had no idea what systems and structures were. So, obviously when you guys sent out the textbooks and all that sort of stuff, you sent out a Dr. Drip sort of template. And when I first saw that opened up and I’m like, like, what am I looking at again? Like, I’ve got no idea what I’m looking at. So, and you know, I said to myself, like, I need something like this. It was a long process, but we were sort of, you know, doing one at a time, you know, just one, sort of all the important ones of basically the flow of the job, which was probably the most important one. And then once we sort of did that, I brainstormed a lot as well, but I obviously couldn’t do it by myself. So something I did was for over a month, every time the boys would call me, I’d actually write down in my notes what they called me for. 

Andy
Yeah. Great. 

Matt
They’d be like, Hey Matt, can you call the supplier? Can you call the surveyor? All that sort of stuff. And then brought it to them in a toolbox, had it categorized in like, admin, operations, and pretty much presented them and said, all right, how can we process this so you don’t have to call me again about this. 

Ange
So showed them steps, as instead of me calling the conveyancer for you, here’s what you do when you call the conveyancer. Here’s the questions you ask, this is what you say to them, and you should do it yourself people. 

Matt
Exactly. And, and, um, yeah, just pretty much we all wrote processes out. Tested them, what didn’t work wouldn’t be changed up and then sort of just revamped it. Then yeah, got it professionally done. And then they’ve actually got their own sort of book in their car now. It’s got all processes, systems, and that’s also all uploaded in System Hub as well. So.. 

Ange
How do you feel about that? 

Matt
Oh, it’s just. We call it the Bible. Yeah. It’s, uh, the boys absolutely love it, so. 

Andy
And you got buy-in from your staff because they developed it with you. 

Matt
Yeah, exactly. 

Andy
No, that’s absolutely awesome because you know, a lot of trade business owners I talk to go, ah, yeah, I’ve got systems, but no one follows them, you know, but, but this is the thing. You’re just telling me you’ve got a team of eight now and they love these systems, right? 

Matt
Yeah. Yeah. They absolutely love them because they actually, like you, contributed to them as well. So, and you know, the team, like we’ve got a good culture, like the boys actually buy into what you want to do. Um, and they see the direction that you want to go as well. So they’re very, like really invested in the business and they actually want to grow with it as well. So… 

Ange
That’s very clear about expectations, right? Like that’s what I love is, There’s, There’s no guesswork. Everyone’s on the same page. 

Andy
But this is what I love, Ange, about the young teams, like Ferguson Landscape, like he’s a young guy, they’re young teams, he’s got young people, lots of energy, they’re rip roaring, ready to go. They’re really motivated. 

Ange
They want to help each other. 

Andy
Yeah, it sounds like you’ve got a killer, killer team. 

Matt
Yeah, no, they actually love it. So, um, yeah, it’s really good. 

Ange
So we commented that Matt actually came up to Melbourne and you know, his frame, like he’s like trying to walk through the front door. It’s like he can’t even fit. Well, it’s clear that you go to the gym and you look after yourself and you’ve got a bit of a routine now. So what I love is you tell me that you gave up footy, you stopped going to the gym, stopped hanging out with your mates because the business overtook you. But life is very different for you now, Matt. Can you share, kind of what your routine is a bit now? 

Matt
Yeah. Yeah. So I developed a really good morning routine. I really felt like that’s really helped with business as well. Just making sure that I get my morning routine sort of right every single day, um, which sets me up for the whole day. So,

Andy
So what is it? It’s a run for it. 

Matt
Yeah. So I literally wake up, I’ve got a list on my notes of just tick off. So it’s just like having a glass of water and making sure I have breakfast and then I hit the gym. I came back. 

Andy
What time is that? 

Matt
That’s 5am. Yeah. Hit the gym and then get back, have some breakfast, make sure I take my multivitamins. Brush my teeth, wash my face and then literally just head off to work. So, and that is consistent every Monday to Friday. So obviously Saturday, Sunday, have a little, little break, can’t do it all, can’t do it everyday. But it really sets me up before work. And when we’re actually at work, every Monday to Wednesday, office days. So we have all Systemized in Asana, like dot points of what I do every single day and we tick it off, all the important stuff. And then once that’s all done, we actually work on the business with Lifestyle Tradie as well. So, yeah. 

Ange
So each of your days are even allocated down to say, Tuesdays are like bookkeeping and accounts day. Thursday is working all on Lifestyle Tradie stuff to ensure that I’m working on the business, not in it,  even down to that. 

Matt
Yeah, yeah. 

Ange
Which I love. 

Matt
Yeah. So yeah, Monday is just basic sort of catch up from, from the week before, then Tuesday, all my quote days, send quotes, and then Wednesdays sort of like Lifestyle Tradie or stuff as well.

Andy
So Matt, let’s just talk about, cause you, you’ve got some help in the office, right? And what has that done when you brought someone in? Like, how did it go when you’re doing it by yourself, to then, how did it go by bringing someone to give you a hint? 

Matt
Yeah. So when I was sort of completely wrong. When I had, um, Angel came in and helped me. 

Andy
Angel’s a superstar. Let’s just point that out. 

Matt
Yeah. Yeah. She’s really sort of changed the whole admin side of the role because she’s come from a place where she’s done it before. Yeah. And yeah, she’s really sort of systemized her whole admin role. So I can just, she’s just like sick, just walk straight in, do her role.

Andy
So the moral of the story is sometimes when you’re a one man show or you’re a, you’re a small team and you’re trying to do everything, you know, you’ve just got to bring the right people in to give you a hand. But obviously you’ve got to have, you know, someone like a right Lifestyle Tradie helping back you as well. So mate, I just want to talk financially because you have gone from strengths to strengths. I mean, knowing where you’ve come from, you’ve increased your revenue by 300%. You’ve got a super healthy profit margin. I’ve got a round of applause. I’ve got to congratulate you for that. But what I love is also you put all these assets along the way. But you bought one recently that most of our listeners don’t know about. Can you let us know? What is it? 

Matt
Uh, it’s a factory. 

Andy
Yeah, mate. Yeah, that’s a huge milestone. So in three years, you’ve increased your revenue by 300%. Your profitability has gone through the roof. You’ve bought a heap of assets and you bought a factory from 24 when you’re going to chuck it into 27. My round of applause. That is incredible. 

Ange
Truthfully, the listeners would have learnt so much from your share already, but I do actually want to ask you one very important question, Matt. If you had to share three things about business that helped you get to where you are today that others could truthfully duplicate, what tips would you share?

Matt
Yeah, one would definitely, scheduling time to work in the business and make sure you build some structure and foundations and there’s no point sorting a way on the tool every single day until you’re 65. So yeah, definitely schedule in time to work on the business. Another one would be definitely get a coach straight away as soon as you sign up because there’s no point trying to work things out yourself. Yeah. You know, just get a coach straight away and just make sure, you know, they can help you out and sort of set you up. Yeah. Go straight away. 

Andy
And I think what you’re touching on then and why it’s happened for you and any of our members that are young and green and they’re starting their business, you’re not making All these mistakes along the way, you made a mistake at the start, then you joined us. And then it’s just a pattern. You just flow that pattern. It’s worked for thousands of thousands of businesses already around Australia, and it definitely worked for you. But most people try and do it themselves. And then three years, five years, 10 years, they’re going, Oh my God, this is absolute rubbish. And then when you’re later in life, it’s a lot harder to turn the business around. As we say, it’s like turning the Titanic around. It’s slow, but when you’re young and you’re green. It’s really easy to be able to make sure you do it right from the very start and everyone hates change. So even your teammates change. So if you can get it right at the beginning, then you’re always following a process.

Matt
Yeah, exactly. Right. Yeah. So definitely invest in a coach.

Andy
Yeah. Yeah. Thanks, mate. 

Ange
What was tip three, Matt?

Matt
Uh, tip three is actually get yourself out there on the camera. Yeah. Get yourself out there on the camera. You know, I’ve had so many clients actually say to me that like, We picked you because of your Instagram. Like, we love your Instagram, like getting your face out there and earning trust from the customers. 

Andy
But I will have to say, have you had a professional do a lot of that? Because your staff is like Mickey Mouse, get on there on Instagram, Ferguson Landscapes. You guys have done it well. Or is that just you?

Matt
No, no, we had someone come out and do it, all that stuff. So he’s done a really good job. And, um, yeah, he can come, we’ve got a schedule with him. So he comes out like once a month and sort of does a day with him. And, 

Ange
He follows you around. 

Andy
But as I said, I’ve watched it and you look like an amazing company and the product is always amazing. So customers are saying that they just want you because they can see what you can deliver. Price isn’t such a big thing. They just want you and that’s how you’re able to charge what you need to make the profit that you need.

Ange
I think it is important to add, because of your trade specifically, I can see before and after very quickly through photos, but even better when you show me video and because you’ve added the music, like it does make me change my state about how I feel about you as a business. So any companies, any trade companies out there who literally I can, you know, builders that kind of like your industry really leans to use Instagram well because I can totally see before and after. But we should be doing this across all of them. Like, we say that for Dr. Drip with plumbing, it’s like, well, we do work and then we cover the whole lot up, right? And then we charge X amount of money. It’s like, well, why aren’t you showing this stuff even on Instagram to actually go, look, green grass at the back, look, we’ve dug up the whole thing. Look at the beautiful pipe work that’s underneath. And now we’ve actually filled the whole thing in. So you’ve done exceptionally well by sharing your trade actually online and your Insta truthfully is amazing.

Matt
Yeah, yeah. Nah, he does a really good job with um, But all the videos and that sort of stuff and sort of Angel does all the behind the scenes stuff on Instagram as well. So it works really well. 

Andy
A good team effort, mate. A good team effort. So before we wrap it up today, we like to play a little game with our guest speakers. I’m going to ask you three rapid fire questions. You’re going to have, you know, 20 or 30 seconds to respond. Are you ready, Matt? 

Matt
Yep. Ready to go. 

Andy
So, Matty, what is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? 

Matt
Uh, would be, focus on value and the revenue will follow. 

Andy
Oh, yes. Love that. Love that. 

Matt
So, I reckon within our business, we value the customer and I feel like we’re sort of really unique with what we do. And, um, always say to the boys that make sure you like 110 percent with the customers because we want to leave that wow factor when we leave. And, you know, that it’s just basic sort of stuff that we do is just, you know, every day communicate, knock on the door, say, Hey, this is what we did today. This is how we did it. This is how you can maintain it. And you know, just simple stuff like that is what they love. So, um, even like a little gift box we give at the end, even some customers go like, never seen this before. And you know, they even come back with gifts like giving us gifts. So it works out really well. 

Ange
Leaving behind is really valuable.

Andy
Yeah. Yeah. Love that. So what has been the biggest mistake you’ve made in business? 

Matt
Definitely would be saying yes to everything. 

Andy
Yeah. Yeah. Trying to do everything. 

Matt
Yeah. So when I actually started getting a lot of work, I was just saying, yeah, yeah, yeah, no worries. I can do it. I can fit it in. And then it just gets to a point where I couldn’t fit it in. So, and then I’d just let people down, and the schedule would go crazy. So yeah, always learn to say no. 

Andy
Yeah. I love that. 

Ange
And say yes only to your A and B grade client. 

Matt
Yes, exactly right. Yes. Yes. Only yes to the good ones. So. 

Andy
Yeah, exactly. And finally, what do you love most about being a Lifestyle Tradie member?

Matt
Uh, definitely would be the R&R’s like, there’s always a solution to your problem. Like when you sit on people with your tables, like you’ve got a problem, someone’s got an answer to it. And, you know, I feel like everyone is there to support each other and give you advice. And, you know, it’s really helpful because, you know, You’re going through a lot of problems in your business and there’s people there that can just straight off the head just give you advice on what you need to do.

Andy
Because everyone’s been through the same stuff, right? Everyone’s like, yeah, no, like a lot of people think out there, you know, when you’re not involved in the community and doing what we do, that they’re the only one going through this. Every single tradie is going through this and everyone’s got a solution and they’ve been there before and they can help you get out of it as well.

Ange
Well, it’s a lonely and isolating job being a trade business owner. You’re often, you know, out on the tools or in your vehicle by yourself, coming up with ideas by yourself. So it is really awesome and advantageous to have a community of others who are like minded and can share exactly what’s actually happening inside their business today that’s getting results. So I agree. The community is second to none. 

Andy
Yeah. So I just want to say a huge thank you, Matt, not only for sharing your story, but flying all the way up from Melbourne to see us. And I guess that means Matty, you and I, buddy, we are heading out for lunch. 

Ange
Yeah. Massive thanks, Matt. We’ve loved every minute of having you here.

Matt
Yeah. Thanks guys. Thanks for having me. 

Andy
Well crew, I know you got lots of gold nuggets from Matt today. What an absolute legend. 

Ange
Yeah, I love his attitude to life. A real go-getter. 

Andy
That’s for sure. Ange did you know that after hearing that I’d done a marathon, Matt said to himself, well, if Andy can do it, then so can I. So he signed up on a Monday and did a 42 kILOMETER RUN ON THE SATURDAY, WITH NO TRAINING. CRAZY! 

Ange
Oh my god, seriously, this guy is next level. But that’s what I love about him, he’ll give absolutely anything a go.

Andy
Yeah, he’s an absolute cracking guy. Well, okay crew, that is it from us today. It’s always been great having you here to listen to us on The Tradie Show. Have a fantastic week. 

Ange
See you at half past five next Monday.

Andy
Woo. That’s early, but not for us tradies. 

Ange
I know, right? But that’s what time our listeners know that they can tap into our voices. They’re keen as masters to learn how to make improvements in their business. 

Andy
Perfect. We’ll see you all at 5:30am on Monday. See you!

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