What Happened to The Tradie Dream?

Ange
Shocker. I’m actually excited about the fact that we are actually back for a new year. 

Andy
We are back, baby.

Ange
And did you know it’s the start of a new season of the tradie show? Did you know we’re up to season 12? 

Andy
That’s Awesome, right? It’s so good, 12 seasons down and there’s nothing better than helping all you tradie bosses out there. 

Ange
Yeah, that’s it. There’s going to be way more of that to come. The helping part. So we are committed to being in your ears as you drive to work every Monday morning. 

Andy
Yes, I know you’re all saying what fabulous company we must have having Ange and I in your ears in an early morning on a Monday. 

Ange
Nice and early. So Andy, we’ve had a massive 2023 and we’ve spoken to what feels like thousands of trade business owners. And I thought it would actually be a really good idea to recap the key issues you think trade business owners faced last year and therefore what perhaps is in store for 2024. So are they on track to live the tradie dream?

Andy
Oh, well that’s definitely interesting. I’ve got plenty of stuff that I want to share on this topic, but how long do we actually have Ange? But all serious though, listen up people, I think a lot of you are about to have an aha moment in your business. 

Ange
So it’s time to get out your crystal ball, Andy, and gaze into the future. By the end of this show, we hope you’ll walk away with clear steps to make 2024 your best year yet. 

Andy
Okay, let’s get stuck in. 

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

Andy
Hell yeah!  

Ange
Before we dive into today’s episode, we’ve got something super exciting to share with you. If you want 2024 to be your year and you’re tired of the endless grind, then join us at our brand new in person event, Lifestyle Tradie on Tour. 

Andy
No more late nights, quoting and invoicing. No more second guessing your decisions or missing that Arvo surf with your mates. Don’t miss out on this game changing opportunity. We’re talking real actionable strategies that have already changed the lives of thousands of tradies just like you.

Ange
Well, what are you waiting for? Head over to lifestyletradie.com.au and register now.  So Andy, let’s think back to 2023, the year that was. In your opinion, What were the key challenges faced by trade business owners last year that we need to be conscious about because you believe we’re going to be affected by them this year? 

Andy
Okay, so let’s talk about internal influences and also external influences. There were lots of external influences that are somewhat Out of our control. Like I’m talking like the, the obvious ones that have been happening, like inflation, um, materials, price hikes, you know, petrol costs, and even the cost of cars these days, and it’s had a huge impact on trade businesses all around Australia and, and New Zealand and around the world, and, and you’ve really got a way up. Is your hourly rate able to cover all these increases? 

Ange
Yeah, exactly. So, you definitely need to be confident that you’re making profit on your work when you factor in this stuff. I can’t see this changing anytime soon, to be honest. 

Andy
No, either can I, but we do need to understand our numbers around each job because there’s a lot of guys I’m talking to now and they quote a job and at the time they go, yeah, I’ll make good money. But by the time the job starts and by the time the job finishes, a lot of them are saying, wow, we pretty much just broke even. Ooh, we’re going backwards. 

Ange
So what else would you say has been an external factor? 

Andy
Well, there’s been lots of conversation about this one and how difficult it has been to find A-grade rockstar qualified trades people in the last year and they’ve been few and far between haven’t they? And that’s really caused a lot of headaches for a lot of trade business owners and when you do have these new recruits coming in they’re so empowered that they pretty much call the shots, you know, they want like a huge hourly rate and they want all the benefits in the world and you’ve had to roll the red carpet out for them just to plead Plead for them to come and work for you.

Ange
Yeah. The problem we saw were actually so many business owners were so desperate that they were actually paying anything just to get a bum on seat, right? 

Andy
Yeah, that’s right. And that’s the trouble that we are finding is a lot of business owners have paid these inflated wages and realistically they’re now moving into the new year and they sort of feel a bit stuck that they’ve got a big percentage of their team on these high hourly rates. 

Ange
So do you think it’s still hard to find great tradies now? 

Andy
Yeah, it’s, it’s always hard to find great tradies, but I think the tide is certainly turning and what I’ve noticed is that started in Sydney and a lot of the times it does start in Sydney, but it started in Sydney where more and more tradies are becoming available. Then it moved to Brisbane and I’m hearing a lot of our members are being doing quite well, getting good tradies in Brisbane. And now I’m hearing Melbourne is getting a lot easier as well. So it’s starting to move around the whole country and they are some really good rock stars out there again that some of our members are picking up and they’re like, wow, these guys are top quality. And if you know how to be the first on the market to lure them in, then you know what, you’re getting the first pickings. And that’s another point where a lot of trade business owners have just stopped looking. 

Ange
Right. So I’d say we all want to be first to select the best and be more in control of what hourly rate we agree to, so that’d be amazing for this year. Andy, you mentioned there were internal factors that affected trade business owners last year that you think we’re going to carry through to this year. Can you share a few of them? 

Andy
Yes, there’s two that really come to mind, Ange, but the very first one is complacency. You know, there’s too many tradies that have been so, so busy that they’re literally just bogged down in the day to days operating of their businesses. They’re not spending any money on marketing. They’re not chasing any work because Work has just come so easy to them, but now that things are starting to tighten up and they’re being dragged back to what I’d probably classified as the good old days, where you’ve got to start fighting for your work again.

Ange
Well, that’s going to be a huge eye opener for a lot of people then.

Andy
Yes, it is. While still paying their team, higher wages and more benefits than ever before because this complacency has seen a lot of tradies have a brain fart really when it comes to being consistent with the activities that we all know drive work day after day.

Ange
I’ll have to drag you back and say, brain fart, that is seriously one for the books, this is like the growing Andy-isms. 

Andy
So really in my opinion, they are going to be faced with a new year where they’re going to struggle because they haven’t got their structures and systems in place, ready to hit 2024 between the eyes and take it to another level.

Ange
Yeah. Good one. So you actually mentioned that there was a second internal factor. What was that one? 

Andy
Oh, well, this has got to be the biggest one, because everyone needs to listen to this. STOP BELIEVING YOUR OWN  BULLSHIT! 

Ange
Oh no, I feel a ramp out to come on. 

Andy
Oh, you know, this isn’t just last year, this is a forever thing in the trade industry. You know, the number of business owners over the last 15 years that I’ve spoken to either on a strategy core or at one of our live events that tell me they’re killing it. And when I actually ask them about their revenue, their material spend, the size of the team, I know immediately that they aren’t making anywhere near the money that they should, but they literally defend themselves to the death that they are doing okay. Seriously people, stop the bullshit because you can’t fix something that is broken. If you don’t first acknowledge it’s broken. And what gets me the most about this is that I know for a fact that every trade business owner wants to make more money and I mean profit, gain control of their business and be systemized and have a stress free business. And ultimately get their time back. But it’s actually this single thing that is getting in their way. 

Ange
So this is the ultimate dream crusher. 

Andy
What do you mean? 

Ange
Well, pretty much every tradie that goes through TAFE has a goal to own their own business, right? But what you’re saying is that the way they think, or maybe it’s perhaps their pride that’s getting in the way of actually succeeding of owning that profitable business that works without them. It’s their ultimate dream crusher. 

Andy
Yeah, that’s 100 percent right, Ange. They self-sabotage and they don’t even know they’re doing it. And they’ve been telling themselves the same lies for years and years. 

Ange
And the sad truth is it gets in the way of everything. We’ve seen this play out too many times. Like they tell themselves their marketing is great when in fact they rely completely on word of mouth marketing. They don’t do anything else. 

Andy
Or they say they know their numbers, but I’m making big financial decisions like putting on a new tradie or buying an expensive piece of equipment based on just a belief that they’re hoping that they’re making money. 

Ange
Or they say they’ve got systems for their team, but they take every phone call from their qualified trades people and answer every question without asking them to think for themselves. Talk about a bottleneck. 

Andy
Yeah, all they say to their partner, I’ll just be another hour in the office, love. When they know it’ll take them four, and they shouldn’t even be in the office in the first place that late at night. 

Ange
Okay, okay, enough of the “you” bashing. 

Andy
Yes. 

Ange
I could actually play this game forever. So the point I think that needs to be shared here is this was you, Andy, back in the day, right? You’re actually talking about yourself. 

Andy
I am talking about myself and I believed my own bullshit as well. And I desperately wanted to believe everything was okay. But there was a period there that. Dr. Drip was making super, super money, but then for a lot of reasons it seemed like overnight things just changed. And when this was all happening, my solution was to just work harder,  work longer,  but you can only do that for so long until you hit burnout. And you know what? I agree. That was a tradie dream crusher right there. 

Ange
So can I just interject here for a sec, because if you’re new to this podcast, then perhaps you actually have no idea what Andy’s talking about. Just to get you up to speed. Can I suggest you go back and listen to our story in season one? It was episode two called Our story – surviving the ups and downs of owning a trade business. I guarantee you’re going to have a few aha moments in that one. Okay. Sorry, Andy, back to you. You were talking about tradies believing their own bullshit. 

Andy
Yes, I was because it’s a common thread in the trade industry, right? And it’s really killing the opportunity for successful businesses everywhere. And it’s just got to stop because otherwise the industry will not grow from strength to strength like it needs to. 

Ange
Yeah. Well. If we want to live the tradie dream, they have to stop believing their own bullshit and be open to doing something different because clearly what they’ve been doing for years just isn’t working. So in your opinion, if trade business owners want a killer year this year, where do you think they should start? 

Andy
Well, the perfect place to start and that is a great question, but the answer is really simple, right? And that is to get a coach. And I don’t mean just any coach, I mean a tradie business coach. You know, for us tradies, it’s one thing to be excellent on the tools, know your trade back to front, but it’s totally different to understand business. Because the thing is, it’s not the best trades person that’s the most successful, it’s the best business person that’s really braining it out there these days.

Ange
Oh, good sentence. That’s the benefit of tradies of today, right? There were no tradie business coaches back in 2005  when we needed help. And although I will say we did invest 35, 000 for a year in a coach. And in three short months, we realized we were actually coaching him because he knew nothing about trade. He actually didn’t even own his own business. 

Andy
Yeah. And that was a lot of money 20 years ago. I’ll tell you, but it obviously makes sense to pay someone who has the knowledge to help you fast track. 

Ange
Right. So just like you with your personal trainer, Andy, you’ve been with him for almost two years and you’re looking fitter than ever might I say, so 

Andy
Keep those hands to yourself. 

Ange
I remember you saying that you wanted a PT who had done the work themselves, who’d literally been in the trenches and have the results that you wanted. Fair? 

Andy
Yeah. I mean, I, there’s plenty of PTs out there and some still walk around eating McDonald’s all day and sleeping to midday, but no, I really wanted someone that looked really fit and it was strong, was super dedicated on their path and who would challenge me on all my bullshit excuses. Don’t worry when it comes to training, I’ve got a million bullshit excuses I can tell you. 

Ange
I bet you love that then. 

Andy
Yeah. I don’t love being called out, but you know what? I do appreciate it because I want results. And I’m the same. When I coach people in business, you know, as a tradie business coach, sometimes I’m going to tell you to do stuff you just don’t want to do. And, and I’m also going to call you out on your bullshit. And the reason I do this is because I care about you getting results and too many tradies are doing it tough in business and a tradie business coach can save you so much time and a bucket load of money.

Ange
Yeah. Well, look, it’s no secret that this is what we’ve been doing since 2009.  That’s like 15 years. It’s a program built by tradies for tradies. And what I love is that we’ve developed a process that immediately identifies the bottlenecks and gaps in a business through our workflow scorecards so that we can address them quickly.

Andy
Yeah, that’s true, Ange, and we do address them quickly, but we both know that to grow or scale a trade business the right way requires a systematic approach to build the right foundations for growth first, you know, because when you’ve got these right foundations, you can then scale the business to whatever heights you want. And I’m sure every single one of, you know, someone who has grown their trade business to a team of like 10 or 12 and quite quickly have scaled back to four or something, because a lot of them think, it can’t be done and it’s not profitable, but simply that just didn’t have the right business model in place. And so when they scaled, they actually scaled chaos. 

Ange
Yeah. No different to the fact that you wouldn’t build a house without plans and a solid foundation, I suppose. 

Andy
Yeah, exactly. It’s all about the right systems and structure, and it’s about getting the business model right. 

Ange
Yeah. So we teach a very specific roadmap to follow to ensure you focus on the right area of the business at the right time. It’s all about gaining excellence in the flow of one job so that we can scale this easily and profitably. 

Andy
Yeah, a great tradie business coach will teach you everything about business that you just didn’t learn at TAFE. And we all know that rules and regulations are one thing and our previous boss only taught us how to be an amazing tradie, but that didn’t teach us how to be a business owner. So no wonder your business isn’t humming the way you’d like.

Ange
Yeah, exactly. I guess you just don’t know what you don’t know, right? 

Andy
And you know what else is important with your hunt to find the best tradie business coach? You need to find one that provides access to a group of other savvy, driven, and motivated trade business owners. And as the saying goes, you become more like the people that you hang around. So doesn’t it make sense that you find your people? 

Ange
Yeah. The power of your success is actually the collective brains of others to drive ideas and solutions and support that you can tap into. 

Andy
Yeah. It can be bloody lonely operating a trade business and the decisions you have to make. And sometimes they’re big financial ones and you don’t want to do that kind of stuff alone. 

Ange
Well, you know, I’ve actually heard some statistics that say that you make 36, 000 decisions in a day. Like that’s a lot. And as a business owner, you generally don’t have anyone you trust or to chat to, to make sure you’re making the right decisions. It’s basically a recipe for disaster. 

Andy
Yeah, it can be. And when I think back to those early days, I did feel really isolated. You know, everyone was so secretive about what made their business successful. 

Ange
Um, you’ve got to admit though, Andy, you were actually like that back then too. You didn’t share your trade secrets.

Andy
Yeah, I know. It’s so true. And that’s why I know it’s so stupid. Look, I think there’s this competitive nature amongst all of us tradies and it’s probably just built into our DNA somehow. And it just takes a bit of a shift of your mindset and to think that you can actually help each other. I mean, I remember one of my past bosses, one saying to me, Andy, there is enough customers out there for all of us. And that really has resonated with me and stuck with me for a very long time. 

Ange
Yeah. I wonder if that’s one of the reasons why you and I’ve ended up closing this gap in the industry, providing like a safe place to share ideas and ask questions and basically help each other. It’s like a brains trust or a collective intelligence.

Andy
Yeah. It’s these conversations with other experienced tradies and leaders in the industry that lead to creative solutions and all these amazing ideas and this is one of the things that I absolutely love seeing in our community. 

Ange
Yeah. You get ahead way faster in business when you just ask the right questions to the right people at the right time in your business.

Andy
And you can learn from other people’s mistakes as well and experience that to your advantage. You know, avoid massive pitfalls you may not even see coming. This really can fast track your journey. 

Ange
Yeah. That’s why there is such power in bringing people together. That’s got to be the thing I know we are most proud about with our members of Lifestyle Tradie, the fact that they actually have each other’s back.

Andy
So I guess at this point, I want to say if you are serious about your trade business, and I know you are, then you’ve got to take a good look at how things are going right now. So if you were to rank your business between zero and 10 and zero being totally out of control, you owe money everywhere. Um, you’re about to go into liquidation or 10 is you are totally crushing it. It’s a business that works without you. It has amazing profit margins, your system, your structured, you could go away for three months at a time and your business is running like a well oiled machine. As I mentioned, that’s a 10. So, I want you to think about between zero and 10, where do you actually think you are sitting in business right now? If you are anything less than an eight out of 10, then you need to do something seriously different this year. Otherwise, you’re going to end up with the same results and you’re just told me that that isn’t so great. So, what do you decide? You know, cause you do have a choice, right? And I know for a fact that it’s only a matter of time that things will implode simply because you don’t know what you don’t know. And trust me, I’ve been there, we’ve been there, and I certainly don’t want you to go there. If you want 2024 to be the year that you draw a line in the sand and say no more, let’s get serious about this and stop believing your own bullshit because life can be different if you simply decide it’s okay to ask for help and stop doing it alone.

Ange
Yeah. Look, it’s time to live the tradie dream and the fastest way to see your results is to find a trade business coach, someone that you actually gel with. Do the research to see what they offer. Make sure they understand your trade well, that they have rungs on the board by having owned their own trade business, someone who completes an analysis of your specific situation to give you the right advice and someone who will teach you a systematic approach to get your business model right. Plus, it’s not just all about them. They need to provide access to a support network of incredible human beings that have your back. 

Andy
That sounds a little bit like us, Ange.  

Ange
Yeah, look, it is. But the point I want to make is stop doing the same old thing, because you are going to get the same old results. You’ve got to do something different this year. 

Andy
So what are you gonna do? If you’re open to it, let’s get cracking right now. Book a strategy call with me and let’s look at your business together. We can break down your goals for the future. 

Ange
Or come and meet us in the flesh. Andy and I are heading around the country. We’re visiting every capital city with our free event called Lifestyle Tradie on Tour. We’re actually meeting up with a group of trade business owners to talk systems, structure, strategy, and marketing specifics for tradies. We’re going to have a chat about AI too. We’d love for you to join us and you know what it’s free and it will certainly be worth your while. If I do say so myself, you can register today by going to lifestyletradie.com.au. 

Andy
You don’t want your business to just drift through 2024 without any direction. Actually, you don’t want your future to drift anymore. Full stop. You want certainty that you can turn this business into the profitable streamlined business you always planned it would be. It’s time to stop believing your own bullshit, step up as a leader and have a decent crack.  

Member’s Testimony
Definitely join Lifestyle Tradie, the amount of support and knowledge, which is within the program is valuable.

We knew that we needed to know numbers, but we didn’t know which numbers to look at and learning the right numbers to be watching and the right numbers to be looking at was able to  double and triple our business really within a year, two years. 

I’m a hundred percent sold on that. It’s worth it. Just do it. 

Don’t wait. These guys are very honest and open. They share so much information personally as well as business. It’s a holistic approach to life, not just how to run your plumbing business.

Lifestyle Tradie has a huge sense of community, just a great group of people just helping everyone out and they help you out. Just hanging out after the events is always fun as well. Some great speakers come along  and definitely always, always learning stuff from every event we go to. 

There’s been so many times where I’ve learned on the community’s advice. Where we’ve had certain issues that we’ve been able to bring up in our, you know, Facebook group. You get plenty of answers that you can actually action. 

Don’t hesitate. Every year that you put it off is just an extra year that you’re losing. If you need help, get it.  

Ange
I love listening to all those amazing members and their success stories. Real tradies with real results.

Andy
Changing lives, Ange, and that’s what I love about it as well. It’s incredible. 

Ange
As you can tell, we are super passionate about this and we’re seriously keen to help you too. And that’s why you should join us at our one day live event coming up called Lifestyle Tradie on Tour. It’s not just an event. It’s a game changer for your trade business. 

Andy
And here’s the best part. You Get to meet us face to face where you get a shake of your hand, hear your story and answer any questions you may have about your business. 

Ange
So what are you waiting for? Jump onto lifestyletradie.com.au and secure your spot for our one day live event, Lifestyle Tradie on Tour. Or you can click the link in the show notes and claim your seat today. It’s your opportunity to transform your trade business. 

Andy
2024 is your year to shine and it starts with Lifestyle Tradie on Tour. Let’s make it a breakthrough year together. Hell yeah!  

Subscribe to The Tradie Show wherever you get your favorite podcasts.  Rate and write us a review or for more information about Lifestyle Tradie, head to lifestyletradie.com.au.