Jingle All The Way To The Bank … Your Tradie Guide To Q4

For so many of us, the days are longer. Thanks to daylight savings, the sun is getting super, super strong. There is no denying the end of year is coming in hot baby. Do you know what that means, Ange? 

Ange
Yep, that flies are really bad. 

Andy
Yep, that is certainly true, especially here in Sydney when it’s blowing from the west. But as a tradie, there is generally only one thought that crosses most of our minds, and that is the Christmas rush is coming.

Ange
Oh, really? What about beers and holidays? 

Andy
Well, definitely beers and holidays. We definitely talk about that, but we have to get through the work first. So for us tradies, this time of year can be pretty crazy. 

Ange
Yeah, that’s so true. It can be a crazy time of year. The preparation and planning for the end of year rush actually starts in October. So not to mention it will help you out leading into January as well. 

Andy
Yep. Preparation and planning is key and you don’t have a plan for the end of year, you plan to have a snack. 

Ange
Um, is that the actual saying? 

Andy
No, no, it’s not even close. Actually, I don’t know what I meant to say there. 

Ange
So what’s our goal today, Andy?

Andy
Well, we want to make sure you’re not sweating it out these next few months and losing your cool because we want to make sure that your team is absolutely smashing it and you’re ending the year on an absolute high. 

Ange
Yeah, that’s true. We want to ensure that you’re smashing it in terms of completing jobs with top quality workmanship.

Andy
Yeah. We’re also going to share with you how to keep everyone focused on what’s important. So you’re not left with a hangover in the new year, business wise, I mean, but you know.

Ange
I reckon there’ll be plenty of actual hangovers too.

Andy
I reckon I’ll probably have one as well. 

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 and wife team, and co-founders of Lifestyle Tradie. Are you ready to have some fun? 

Andy
Hell yeah! Now, the reason we’re even having this conversation is because a lot of the time, the end of year hustle hits us tradies like a ton of bricks. 

Ange
Yeah, every year without fail, actually. 

Andy
Yeah, and I know at Dr. Drip, we got smashed every year as well. And over the course of time, we learned a thing or two on what just might help everyone out there. We certainly spent the first few years doing it all wrong until I worked out how to do it right. 

Ange
Is that actually the wrong way? 

Andy
Well, a hell yes for that, because the work is so full on. The team is getting so tired and overworked. And the pressure can easily get the better of you, but especially them. And you’re just burning the candles at both ends. You got your summer Christmas party nights with your mates, back and up to full physical days out on the job site in the hot sun, and sometimes it can just feel relentless. 

Ange
Yeah, that’s fair. Okay, then let’s talk through what perhaps this Christmas period will look like for most tradies and how they can get through unscathed and profitable.

Andy
Okay, let’s do it. I know we’ve spoken to a heap of trade business owners that have commented on the fact that jobs have been slowing down a bit as they’ve approached the back end of this year. 

Ange
True. 

Andy
That said, there is no doubt that that phone will start to ring off the hook with pre-Christmas emergencies.

Ange
Yeah. All those people who’ve been putting off repairs or odd jobs will start to come out of the woodwork, and of course those jobs will all of a sudden become absolute emergencies. Right?  

Andy
Oh, some people, they just do my heading, you know, like suddenly that downstairs toilet, which hasn’t been working for nine months, is a priority and has to be done, you know, within five hours on the 24th of December.

Ange
Well, as much as that’s great for the wallet it brings in its fair share of headaches though, right? Right. So for one, it’s all too easy to find ourselves over committing to work. 

Andy
Yeah. We think we can slot it in and we like to say yes to every customer. But once you start doing that, you start working later in the afternoons and maybe into the nights and you may also be pushing into the weekend. And not only does everyone get quite tired, it leads to a bit of a blowout big time of, you know, time and a half and extra time as well. 

Ange
Yeah. And look, the flow of effect from that, Andy, is the pressure is on your team. And that’s the first point we want to talk about, actually. You want to take advantage of the work, but be really careful not to over commit with promises to have jobs completed by Christmas day. Otherwise, you really will be pulling in favors for late nights and weekends with your team. 

Andy
Which, as I mentioned before, it only means more overtime payments, but The real big one here is the increased stress levels on your team, you know, of course there’s a mad dash, there always is right up until Christmas, but you gotta make sure your team don’t burn out between now and then. It would be a big stress to have guys all of a sudden, they start calling in sick, or they fall off the face of the earth, when you’re under the pump. 

Ange
Talk about the importance of the team looking after themselves, right? 

Andy
Yeah, we always did a fortnightly toolbox meeting and we chatted a lot about the morning routine and maybe going to the gym, a quick run with the dog, whatever it may be to keep your body and mind fit and strong. And we used to talk about staying healthy on holidays as well. 

Ange
Staying healthy for holidays, like eating well, drink lots of water now so that you’re ready to smash up the beards once you’ve hurt them. Is that what you mean? 

Andy
Well, water’s recently over in Bali and there’s been many a bingtang drank, but there’s quite a lot of fluid in there that helped me be hydrated.

Ange
Is that what you think? 

Andy
Yeah. But at this time of year, we need to make sure that everyone’s spirits are at a high. And you’re looking after your team. 

Ange
I agree. This is actually the second thing you used to do really well, I’d say. This is the busiest time of year and sometimes your team is just going to get over it. Right? So it’s really important that you stay connected, like revving them up in person during the toolbox meetings or sending personal messages to them or to the entire team using like Voxer or WhatsApp, like stay connected. 

Andy
Yeah. It’s interesting. It’s a time of year where everyone’s under the pump, but it’s extremely important to make sure you stay connected with your staff and constantly, I mean, constantly tell them how well they’re doing and how much you appreciate it. I know for some of us it’s like, Oh my God, but that’s what staff want to be told these days. And I’ll just say simple things to And you’re going to be having a couple of weeks off up the coast or overseas, but just keep praising them and making sure they’re feeling good and they know, you’re there as well, and you’re potentially working as hard as them, they’d love to see that. 

Ange
Yeah, that’s fair. So, if you work on big jobs or projects, and maybe you’re stuck on this one site for a week or so, I’ve actually got a really fun suggestion for you, or maybe a challenge, call it. 

Andy
Okay, what have we got? 

Ange
Well, take the time to literally drop off some doughnuts or something to the team. 

Andy
Yeah, it’s interesting. I think we’re talking about eating healthy and you’re talking about bringing out the doughnuts. 

Ange
Well, a sugar rush never hurt anyone, right? Besides, every tradie I know loves a doughnut. 

Andy
Yeah, you don’t always have to take a doughnut, but I get the trick, but you could get your leading hand to head out and grab something. It could be a boost juice, you know, and, and drop it off to the guys. It could be a smoothie, you know, there’s all types of different things, but I think it’s the thought that counts as well. And sometimes when they’re in the hot sun, just buying them up. One of those slushies is an absolute godsend. There’s like, oh my God, this is the best thing I’ve ever had. 

Ange
A dollar slushie from the servo. 

Andy
Yeah, exactly, exactly. 

Ange
You know what? I think to your point, even though we’re talking about how to kind of look after your team coming into this Christmas period, don’t kind of go over the top. I think what is important is that you do this actually a little bit Ad Hoc, like don’t do it all the time. 

Andy
Yeah. Well, I suppose the big thing is, if you want to make a fuss and, and you know, they’re working so hard, but you’re not going to be doing this every month of the year. So, you know, be smart about it. 

Ange
True. So what about the guys that are doing lots of little jobs then and are driving around on the road in the vehicles alone? What do you reckon we should do for them? 

Andy
Yeah, it’s a bit trickier, I suppose, because they’re driving all around Sydney or wherever you are and it’s hard to catch them on the go. You don’t know how long they’re going to be on jobs. But if you can drop it off at a house, they might be doing four or five jobs a day or maybe one or two. But, you know, I’m still a real big fan of the fortnightly bacon and egg rolls and a barbecue, but you can spice things up again. And, and maybe instead of doing a barbecue at the workshop, you actually take them into a cafe instead, or you, you know, you do a, you do croissants, change the break. Well, well, you know, most of the young guys these days, it’s got to be avocado on toast, you know, the point is, you know, you’ve got to mix it up and sometimes just these little things that makes your team feel valued.

Ange
Okay. I want to talk about the Christmas party then for a moment. 

Andy
Yes. Well, you’re not going to reveal any of those embarrassing moments, are you, Ange? 

Ange
Well, only just that time when you jumped on the, uh, okay, I’m just kidding.

Andy
Oh, we’re definitely not repeating that. My mind actually went to what are some of the stories we could possibly share to put me in the shit? And guess what? I know there’s about a million of them. 

Ange
You know what? I wouldn’t actually do that to you. That’s a bit slack. But we have had some rather fun Christmas parties over the years, right? 

Andy
Definitely, definitely.  

Ange
Let me ask you this question then, what I want to ask everyone is, have you actually arranged a Christmas party with your team yet? Like I’m talking, have you locked in the date? Do you know where you’re going? Do they even know about it? And who’s coming? We actually used to block the first Saturday of every December, didn’t we? And that way everyone, including partners, if they were included, never had an excuse that they couldn’t make it.

Andy
Yeah. It was like one in, all in baby, and it was always on the same time and 95 percent of the time, everyone was there and if they weren’t, hmm, not good, not good. 

Ange
Well, we mentioned it literally when they were first employed and we discussed and locked it in around July and that way everyone knew in advance. No excuses. 

Andy
So, I can only imagine, lots of tradies are arsing, so what the hell did you guys do with them? 

Ange
Yeah, look, good question. We always had both male and females, right? So, meaning the tradies and the office team. So, we needed to actually consider everybody. 

Andy
Yeah, sometimes we would head out to a nice lunch with the partners and other times we’d go to skirmish and shoot the sh** out of each other.

Ange
God, I remember you guys coming home with some seriously decent welts from that one. 

Andy
Yeah, we did. And we’ve also done days out on the boat in Sydney Harbour, going to local restaurants. I mean, you name it, we’ve tried it and a lot of them have been a heap of fun. 

Ange
Yeah. It’s getting everyone there, isn’t it? So if they know in advance, hopefully they can all come. So another thing I’d like to touch on is actually being prepared for the Christmas period in general. And what I mean by that is like the work hours and people taking holidays. Cause this is usually something you would have prepared well in advance.

Andy
Yeah. We always had a policy that said that no one was allowed to take holidays in November and December, unless it was something big like a trip to Europe or something like that, because it was our busiest time of year and we knew we needed all hands on deck to maximise every job and, and make, you know, a ton of profit. I mean, it was a really good time when we made big chunks of money. 

Ange
Yeah. We actually communicated this to the team in our employee handbooks. Everyone knows about it in advance. So the fact that November and December was not a time to take holidays, that’s what was really important. And then we also dictated that everyone takes holidays from Christmas day for two weeks.

Andy
Yeah, we actually had skeleton staff over that period for two weeks and we’re also 24/7. I mean, that roster was decided well in advance, you know, you need to have a conversation with the team about whose turn it is, who wants to work that Christmas period. 

Ange
Yeah, that’s fair. Whoever worked the Christmas before was not the one that was rostered on to work this coming Christmas. That way everyone took turns because we had to keep it super fair. 

Andy
Yeah, but it’s interesting, obviously the, the older crew with a family, they didn’t want to work on that Christmas period as much, but some of the younger crew were actually putting their hand up and saying, that’s the time I want to keep working so I can have holidays when everyone’s sort of going back to school and so forth.

Ange
Yeah, agreed. This all needed to be communicated super early though, hey, so it’s all crystal clear and everyone knows exactly where they stand so that you don’t have these blurred lines coming into these actual Christmas period. This is the time, like we said, that your team are starting to get a bit burnt out. And you are putting the pressure on them, you know, for us in maintenance, October, November was so busy coming up to Christmas. Everyone wants everything done. So you’ve got to look after them. And this is one thing that’s going to piss them off real fast if they don’t actually understand when they’re going to get a break.

Andy
Yeah. So just to point out there, um, you know, staff get four weeks a year. We used to dictate when they had to have two weeks off a year and that was written into their contract at the very start. Alrighty, there’s two more really important things I want to cover to ensure we do these things the right way over the Christmas period. And the first thing is making sure your team doesn’t get complacent and start forgetting the important stuff. And what I mean is don’t get so busy racing from job to job that you’ve failed to continue to do those little things that matter, like the exceptional experience provided to your customers or the actions required to lay the seeds for the future work that’s going to come. 

Ange
Well, that’s interesting. Tell me more about that. There were actually really two important things you just said. Do you think that tradie companies drop their standards of service when they are too busy? 

Andy
100 percent baby! There’s no doubt about it. Majority of trade businesses out there, as soon as they get busy, everything flows to this out of control state and they don’t follow what is meant to be done and, and although they get the job done and maybe the payment is made, when you drop your professionalism and if you’re racing the clock and now you perhaps you’re short with the customer, do you think the customer may notice this? 

Ange
Yeah, they will. 

Andy
And that’s what I noticed my boys were doing over this period too. And I just noticed there were less testimonials, which to me meant like my boys were trying to cut corners or they were in a rush because they were super, super busy. But we nipped this in the bud very quickly because the professionalism of how you enter the house, how you speak with customers is super important. You know, you might be in a bit of a hurry, but you still need to do those little things that count. 

Ange
Yeah, that’s true. So you mentioned another thing that I want to tap on. You said to ensure that you don’t get complacent by making sure you still do the things that lay the seed for future work. Can you just go back and actually explain what you mean by that?

Andy
Well, in our maintenance business, you know, inspection reports on every property were a standard expectation. To encourage additional work, both immediately and for future work and that’s a big one. And we noticed a massive reduction of inspection reports when the boys were busy, that just didn’t want to do the additional work that had so much already to do. So in their wisdom, they decided it wasn’t important and they hence stopped doing our inspections. But what that meant was January now was light on work because there weren’t the quotes to be followed up and to make sure we converted. 

Ange
Yeah. That’s interesting. Hey, those inspection reports were a crucial part of the process to increase profitability at that time, but also to confirm this repeat work so that you are what we call like feeding the beast. You want to ensure that you’ve got work ongoing now so that you’ve got work January and February or whatnot. 

Andy
Yeah. And we’re really quick to make sure no other Christmas periods suffer the same way, you know, we’re keeping up with inspection reports on every single job. And Dr. Drip was averaging around 77 percent repeat customers. And this is all because we didn’t get complacent with doing those things that really mattered, regardless of how busy we were. 

Ange
Yeah, that’s a big one actually. Even on big jobs, like businesses who have jobs with a high transaction value, big builders and, you know, landscapers with, or planters with really big jobs. If these guys, or you guys, if you drop the ball on things like going out and meeting customers to then get the opportunity to provide a quote, it could, or will, have a huge impact on your quarter one results for the following year. 

Andy
Yeah, you just can’t drop the ball on these things, guys. You know, you’ve got to keep it up with attracting and following up on potential new leads, doing the quotes and following up quickly so people are paying their deposits in preparation for the new year.

Ange
Exactly. Set yourself up right. So there is one last tip I’d like to share about how to prepare for the Christmas period the right way. Which is keeping up your relationships with your current customers. So this time of year, I can only be talking about Christmas gifts. In other words, you get to play Santa Claus. How cool is that? 

Andy
Not that cool for me. Cause red’s not really my color and I don’t have that gut anymore. But I do have a couple of, uh, greys creeping in. 

Ange
Oh, okay, Mr. Funny Man. There’s no question that our trade industry is built on relationships. Fair? So showing some gratitude and appreciation at this time of year is an absolute winner.

Andy
But the key is you want to be number one, baby, you wanna be the first. And at Dr. Drip, we would gift our key customers in the first week of December. And this is why we’re telling you now, so you can do it this year. 

Ange
Yes. So can you explain why it’s so important to be first with this gift giving? 

Andy
Cause I love winning. No, no, it wasn’t that it’s because you stand out amongst your competition. You know, they remember that first gift. It kind of marks the beginning of the Christmas season and because they’re given so many during this period, if you aren’t the first and you’re not maybe even the best, then they tend to forget about you and maybe you want to leave it to January to be different.

Ange
Yeah. I agree with that. Like a welcome to the new year gift or something. 

Andy
Yeah. We used to do a gift on Australia Day actually. And we thought that was a great way, but we had a bit of pushback on that too later on, but I’m not going to dive into that. But you know, sometimes you just want to mix it up a bit and make sure you stand out from the crowd. You know, that was what we did one year. We waited until Australia day in January. 

Ange
Yeah, fair. So I can imagine people are saying in a practical sense, how did you actually make this happen? So to share how we did that, Andy and our leading hand literally went out together on a day to hand deliver gifts to the project managers or the strata managers that we worked with. And sometimes that might’ve been a bottle of Moe or sometimes we took a basket with all of our branding all over it, basically something they could share with the team inside that office. 

Andy
Yeah. One time we had probably around about 10 strata managers out of 40 of them in the building. And we just got everyone a bottle of Moe and, if people go, why would you give it to the managers that you don’t do work for? And you know what? It was really strategic. And it was a great way to get more strata managers on board. And the strata managers that were working with us were telling everyone how amazing we were. And behold, we picked up about another five or six strata managers just by doing that little thing.

Ange
And just by doing that little thing first literally in that first week of December. Yes. So another idea about gift giving is to make it really personal. So say you work literally with one person, like that builder, for instance, and maybe, you know, they’re a really big fan of the Broncos, then buy them a pretty jersey.

Andy
Oh, sorry. Sorry, did you say Broncos? Yeah. Oh, sorry. Sorry, you Bronco supporters. Sorry about that. But I’m a Manly fan. Go Manly. Well, say maybe they’re a big lover of scotch, then you can get them one of the best bottles of scotches you can find. 

Ange
Yeah, that’s fair. So think about the gift as an investment in that person, knowing that they love you and being first with your gift and a handwritten card makes an absolutely huge impact. 

Andy
So guess what? It’s Tradie Dilemma time. And this is our Ask A&A Anything segment, where you can let us know what you’re having trouble with in your business, and we can give you our best advice. 

Ange
Okay. So today we have a question from Danielle from New Zealand and she writes, what do you use so staff can ask for leave? Like a form online? We’ve had a situation where one of our guys verbally booked a week off. Then on the day he was due back, he asked or said, No, I asked for a week and a half, which I know is not true. What should I have done? 

Andy
This is a tough one because there are definitely two sides of the coin I can see here. But as bosses, we normally say just… Get back to work, you said this date, and you sound like you do remember the conversation pretty clearly, Danielle, but the problem is it’s your word against his or hers. 

Ange
Yeah, that’s right. He could really believe that he told you a different date, but maybe he actually forgot. But on the other side, he could also be trying to pull the wool over your eyes, which it sounds like you think he’s trying to do. So at the end of the day, though, you don’t really have a leg to stand on because you didn’t get it in writing. 

Andy
Look, this has obviously shown there’s a glaring hole that you need to plug up in your employee process. So listen, that is a real positive thing, right? 

Ange
Yeah. And hopefully this is a good lesson for you.

Andy
So here’s what we did in Dr. Drip. We used to use the accounting software Xero and staff could have the app on their phone and in this they could see their payslips and all of their annual leave entitlements and holiday days accrued. Plus they could see their sick days as well, which wasn’t so awesome. 

Ange
Well, in the app, you can apply for leave at any time. So literally you open up in, in there, they’ll see a leave section and it shows leave balance, leave requests, and any previous leave that you’ve taken. 

Andy
Yeah. And it’s such a simple app, isn’t it Ange? And in that section, there’s literally a button that says a new request and all they have to do is follow the prompts and that’s it. 

Ange
Yeah. So simple. So now this process is something you want to set out in your employee handbook. So we made a rule where our guys had to give at least 4 weeks notice. 

Andy
And they also had to wait for approval before they could be granted that annual leave.

Ange
Correct. And this meant everything was documented and signed off so that there was absolutely no confusion. So, in your situation, Danielle, if you had confirmed your conversation with this guy and had it been documented in your system, you could have replied to him and said, as per your holiday leave application, your return date was agreed to be this date, for example.

Andy
Well, they can’t argue, can they? When it’s something as black and white as that. So, okay, Ange, what would you do if they don’t have something like Xero set up? 

Ange
Yeah, good question. There’s plenty of other options. I know other companies use different portals, but we could go back to something super basic, like even using your email.

Andy
Yeah, just a real simple and easy process. Email is start totally fine to start with, right? 

Ange
Yeah, absolutely. I would actually suggest just having like a paper template that they could fill out an email or literally hand to you just so that you’ve got a PDF file, for instance, that has fields that you fill out. You know, they have to write down their name and the requested dates and how much annual leave they might want to take. It would literally signify the annual leave start date and their return date. And because they feel it in and send it back to the office, you know that they’re waiting approval from you and it’s all black and white.

Andy
Yes, but you need to make sure it’s communicated that nothing is approved until they’ve heard back from the office approving it. So as the business owners, you would need to sign it and then send it back with your signature and a tick or something that tells them it has been approved. 

Ange
Yeah, they can’t just presume that just because they’ve applied for leave that leave’s been approved. They’ve actually got to receive the approval. 

Andy
Well, another thing I want to bring up with you, Ange, is our holiday rules were, you know, set up for our plumbing business, Dr. Drip, and we talked about that a little bit earlier today. 

Ange
Yes. Our team knew that they couldn’t take leave over November and December unless of course they were perhaps doing a big trip like Europe or something, and they’ve actually had their leave approved well in advance.

Andy
And we were always skeleton staffed when we, over that Christmas period, and that meant that everyone knew they had to keep those two weeks worth of annual leave up their sleeve because we closed the business or we got them to take annual leave over that time in that skeleton staff role. 

Ange
That’s right. And as we mentioned, the staff members rotate amongst the team year on year. So Danielle, in your situation specifically, because you didn’t get anything in writing, I would say that you’re not really in a position to dictate that your guy gets back to work, especially if they’re actually already on leave. The issue that we have with that, of course, is the fact that you’ve actually scheduled work for him. 

Andy
Yeah. And that’s the problem with scheduling of work. Now you’re potentially upsetting the customers as well, or you’re rescheduling the whole team. And this sometimes can piss off everyone within your business.

Ange
Yeah. So, Danielle, I hope you’ve actually got a lot out of that today and that you understand the process for leave and taking holidays because things like this need to be communicated well in advance. To be honest, there’s not much you can actually do about it, which is definitely a hard pill to swallow when you truly believe you’re in the right. However, you can see this as an opportunity to put in a new business process so that in future, Everyone is aware of what’s expected around holidays and how to take annual leave. 

Andy
That’s it Ange, our lessons can become great opportunities. Sorry Danielle, if that wasn’t exactly what you wanted to hear.

Ange
Remember friends, we’re here to help you navigate the road of being a successful trade business owner. 

Andy
Yeah, we’ve been through the ups and downs of running a trade business, and we’ve got the secrets to help you navigate those tricky waters. 

Ange
Which is why we’re serving Andy up on a platter for you. Just kidding, but we do offer a strategy call to help you on your business journey. 

Andy
Ah, okay. Yes. Now picture this. This is going to be a fun, relaxed chat with me about your business, your challenges, and of course, about your dreams. There’s no pressure. There’s no boring pictures. It’s just a casual conversation that could change the game for your business. Whether you’re stuck in the weeds or just looking for a fresh perspective, I’ve got your back.

Ange
If you’re ready to make 2024 your year, then head over to our website at lifestyletradie.com.au or check out the show notes for a link to schedule your call.

Andy
Can’t wait to connect and help you rock your trade business in a way that suits your lifestyle. 

Ange
No more excuses. Let’s make 2024 your best year yet.

Andy
Hell yeah!

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