Triple Your Take-Home: Real Strategies from Real Tradies Who Won Big

Andy
You’ll hear from John and Emily who built a profitable plumbing business around John’s sporting career. Talk about building a lifestyle business. We’ll hear how they doubled their revenue and their profits, plus they increased their quote conversions from 50 percent to a whopping 80%. 

Ange
Then there’s Jamie and Ashley, who didn’t just grow their roofing business, they quadrupled it. And finally, Tim shares how he built a massive money buffer to give his plumbing business the stability it needed to thrive.

Andy
These are real stories from tradies just like you. Honest, raw and full of lessons you can take into 2025. So grab a drink, settle in and get ready to be inspired. Let’s dive into these real life tradie profit stories.  

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!  Tradies, let’s get real. You’ve been busting your gut. You’ve been hustling. You’ve been doing 60, 70, maybe 80 hours a week. You get to the end of the year and you think, Let’s look at this revenue. Here comes the big bucks. And Bam! It turns out your profits are about as impressive as your budgie smugglers on a cold winter’s morning. So here’s the deal. We’re hosting a one day live event called Stress Free Tradie, where we’re going to teach you how to triple your profits in 12 months, and actually be able to keep some of that hard earned cash without the endless headaches. And the best part will show you how to stop attracting Discount Dan and Low Board Lisa that treat you like a bloody discount store and makes you wonder why you even picked up the tools in the first place. And if you’re sitting there thinking, yeah, right, I’ve heard all this before, then challenge accepted. Come and hang out with us for one day. Worst case scenario, You have a few laughs and you have a good time, but best case scenario, you’re going to walk away with a plan to make sure that 2025 is your best year yet. So if you’re ready to go from stressed out tradie to stress free legend, grab your ticket today and let’s make the next 12 months the most profitable and the best year yet. 

All right. It’s time to kick things off with some. Some hell yeah wins from our amazing Lifestyle Tradie members. Hell yeah!  These are the legends who’ve been smashing it in their businesses, proving that small changes can lead to massive results. And what have you got this week? 

Ange
First up, we have Jimmy from Victoria who says, I stopped working for my best client three months ago after signing up with Lifestyle Tradie. Thanks to you, I quickly learned they were a D-grade customer. Guess what? They liquidated this week. Luckily only owing me $1,600. I was doing around 90K per month with them. Trust your gut. 

Andy
That definitely deserves a massive hell yeah. And listen, guys, it’s hard. It was his biggest revenue customer. It was a massive chunk in his business, but he was smart enough to see the signs. He worked out who his worst customers were, and he was really concerned with this customer. Well done, buddy. That is a game changer. You have saved yourself just a world of pain. 

Ange
Next up, we have Johnny from South Australia who says, we’ve booked out January and February in two days. He says he’s been making lots of changes to their sales and marketing approach, attracting more A-grade customers plus their follow up is improving. So huge way to go for you, Johnny. 

Andy
Hell yeah! Well done, buddy. Yes, it is amazing what you guys have put in place. You went through, worked out your ideal customers and then you thought, you know what, we’re just going to go for A-grade customers. You put in all the work, you put in all the credibility packs, you did everything that needed to make you stand out from the crowd. You went back in, attacked the A-grade market, and you are smashing it. Two months full of work. Well done, superstar. 

Ange
So next up we have Stacey from New South Wales who says, We added another award to our stash of awards. It’s our fifth win for the year. 

Andy
Yeah, that’s a big hell yeah as well. Well done, Stacey and Jack. You guys are superstars. There’s no doubt about it. Winning awards is a big part of running a successful business. Customers want to know that you’re successful, you’re doing the right thing and winning these awards really does put you up on a pedestal and help you win more quotes. And made more money.

Ange
And Colleen from Victoria had a whole lot of wins, so I’ll just mention a couple. She writes, Our GM won the door prize at a networking event. One week of digital billboard advertising at a shopping centre valued at $3, 700. She has an admin assistant starting as well as a new scaffolder. Inquiries are up and the pipeline is filling for the new year. What a week! 

Andy
Hell yeah! That is amazing, Colleen. Well done. One week of this digital billboard. I can’t wait to hear what those results are. I know you guys are the kings now of test and measure. That is amazing. A new admin assistant starting in another scaffolding. This all happens by setting up your business the right way. You guys are kicking some awesome goals, filling up the pipeline. Wow. What a week. Keep it up. I hope just some of these shares inspire you and remember, we and all the members here at Lifestyle Tradie are here to help you on your journey to trade business success. All right, let’s get to the good stuff. We’ve put together some of the most inspiring stories we’ve heard this year. Tradies who have made incredible transformations in their businesses. These aren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet, they’re stories of hard work, tough decisions, and the rewards that come when you finally take control of your business.

Ange
Exactly. Each of these stories is packed with lessons, and while everyone’s journey is different, There’s one thing that they all have in common. They made the decision to stop treading water and start making changes. Whether it’s fixing cash flow, setting better systems in place, or building a business that’s more stable, these tradies show what’s possible when you put the right strategies into action.

Andy
So let’s dive into our first story. And this is John and Emily, and they run a plumbing company in Queensland. And these two have built an incredible business that’s not only thriving, But also fits around their incredible lifestyle. John, he isn’t just a plumber. He’s the captain of the Gold Coast Polo Cross team and plays for Queensland, but he’s also an Australian representative as well at Polo Cross. So their business needed to be flexible enough to support his sporting career without everything else falling apart. 

Ange
And they’ve done an amazing job of it. John and Emily doubled their revenue, which is an incredible achievement, but they quickly realized something important. Revenue is only part of the equation. To really make the business work, they had to dig into their numbers and make sure their profit was growing along with it.

Andy
Let’s have a listen and see how they approach things.  

John
Yeah, it’s made a massive difference, obviously, showing data to our tradesmen about productivity, billable hours, markups. A lot of people shy away from it. Obviously, they think that you’re basically showing them how to run a business. Yeah. Obviously. Yeah. Which potentially yes, but at the same time, they need to know and their productivity since showing them their data has gone skyrocketing.

Ange
Isn’t that interesting? 

Andy
Yeah. And then part of the Lifestyle Tradie, we always say, and I’ve always done that in Dr. Drip is you show everyone what the hell’s going on. But most people are like, Oh my God, they’re going to see how much I make. And they’re going to understand what’s going on. They’re going to go out on their own. They’re all scared. And most trade business owners are doing that all wrong. 

Emily
Yeah. And I think the thing is, it’s also, you know, one of the questions that John and I had recently was, you know, we’re, we’re looking at billable hours versus what they’ve got in their timesheets. And, you know, three hours versus 8 and a half hours to 11 in our timesheet. And John was like, well, I would have to do that work though. I would have to sit there and do the invoicing and, and all of that work. So that would add, you know, another four hours to my day. So in that sense, it’s worth those sorts of things. So it’s just weighing up what’s worth and what’s not. And also, I mean, if you don’t invest in people, you get nothing out of them. And, you know, like people are tradesmen and some people don’t want to work for, they don’t want to run their own business. Yeah. But they want to know and they enjoy doing it. And I think the trade shouldn’t be limited to just walking and working on the tools. I also think they need stimulation, you know, thinking about what they’re actually doing and actually looking at a job and quoting it and knowing the numbers themselves as well. And why not guide them? Because it saves us doing it.

Andy
I think the thing is, the old school way of running a trade business was getting guys in, hitting them with a stick, treating them pretty rough, you know, but go, go, go, go. Everything was go, go, go, get it done as fast as you can. But you realize now that’s not the way to get the best out of tradies. And no one used to train their tradies. Now, obviously at Lifestyle Tradie, that’s what it’s all about. Getting the best out of everyone in your business, paying them really good money, but getting a great return out of it. So I love it. What you guys have obviously done. 

Ange
Well, I love the fact that you’ve touched on the fact that you’re open to developing all of your team, because at the end of the day, like you said, it just means that they’re going to improve. And subconsciously they’re saying to themselves, Oh my gosh, John and Emily actually care about me as a, as a, a human. They care about my development. They care about my future. I’m going to stay here forever. And that’s the thought process we all want, right? So you’ve also improved. I know your quote winning rate, like your conversion rate. I’ve heard from 50 percent to a whopping 80%.  That is incredible. 

Andy
That’s incredible.

Ange
Yes. I’d love to know what you’ve been doing differently to see these fabulous results. 

John
Yeah, it’s as simple as following up your quotes, communication back and forward to the client is the key. What’s the point of going out and doing a quote if you do not want to win it? 

Ange
It’s an interesting sentence, isn’t it? 

John
Even if a client says no, until they’ve told you that the job’s been done by someone else, it doesn’t mean no. No, generally nine times out of ten actually means maybe. 

Andy
Yeah. And I, and I think that’s amazing. And that quote flow conversion that we teach everyone and we make sure we do, it’s changing the tradies world. Like there’s like 25 to 30 percent of extra work out there without paying marketing costs are sitting on your doorstep. And most aren’t even tapping into it, which is absolutely crazy.  

Ange
What an inspiring story from John and Emily. I love how they use transparency with their team to create a sense of ownership and drive productivity. It’s such a smart move and the results speak for themselves.

Andy
It just goes to show that understanding your numbers and involving your team can make all the difference. Speaking of big transformations, our next story is from Jamie and Ashley who didn’t just grow their roofing business. They quadrupled it. Let’s hear how they managed to scale so successfully without losing control along the way.  

Jamie
Yeah, so I was, uh, contracting roofing, um, in a niche market of roofing for about 10 to 15 years, uh, for multiple contractors, multiple, uh, businesses. Um, I always had it in the back of my mind to start the business. Um, but I got a little bit sick of the roofing and, and the market that it was, was heading. Yeah, I was heading. Yeah. So I went and got a second trade and I was working offshore for close to five years. Uh, but it was always in the back of my mind to pull that up and come home and spend more time with the kids. And then when COVID hit, it was the perfect kickoff that I needed to start a new business. Yeah. So we started out as roofing. Um, so obviously my, my, my passion, my love, but obviously when you start a business, you take on whatever you can get. Um, I’m actually quite handy with my hands. So I did start offering the odd property maintenance. Um, and then straight away I realized I was going to get busy in the roofing site. So we focused on roofing maintenance rather than property maintenance. Yeah. Now we didn’t take it out of our name because it does ring true with a lot of property managers, which is a large, uh, market segment. Once we realized that property managers was a good segment for us and that we can offer them exactly what they’re looking for, uh, we really dived in deep and now I think we’ve got between 50 and 70 property managers that basically mean that when it rains, instead of not having five or six employees standing around pushing the broom, um, uh, emails going crazy, we’re able to get that instant service to the property managers. And that has allowed us to grow as a business. Of course, no property manager wants to send you a work order and then have to chase you in two weeks time to say, Hey, what happened with that work order? When we realized that communication was the key, we just dived straight into that. We set up our, um, touch points. And basically now, you know, the property manager will send us an email. We’ll contact the tenant straight away. We contacted the property manager to say what we’ve done. Each way, each step through the process, the property manager knows where they stand. So if their landlord says, Hey, how’s that going for my quote? How’s that roof leak going? Yeah. They don’t have to ring us and chase us straight away. That just became amazing for our business. So the major strategy that we took on board was definitely again, once it was our communication, um, a big thing that we were noticing to start off with was I can’t believe you dropped up. We’ve had three guys out here and haven’t received a quote. One lady even said, you’ve walked up, you’ve got the job. I didn’t even give her a price. Wow. Um, straight away I thought, if I can, if I can nail this communication piece, if I can just be that guy that robs up and sends the quote when I say I’m going to send the quote, then the business will just take care of itself. And that has, that’s basically our main strategy of growing.

Ashley
I think, if I can add to that as well, in terms of some of the skills around qualifying questions and segmenting. That was a really big piece, I think, initially for us when we joined and really honed down on what our qualifying questions were, the A, B, C, and D customers as well, which has obviously been great with the communication piece, but it’s allowed us to work within those segments and save ourselves a lot of time around the customers that might Not being the customers for the business. You know, I think business bias, take a chance, you know, take a risk. Sometimes the biggest risks that you take are the ones that pay off the most. So yeah, people, you know, surround yourself in a community. I think that is something that has been fundamental, obviously for us. You know, we’ve got a great community around us. 

Andy
Wow. What a story from Jamie and Ashley quadrupling their business is an incredible achievement. But what I love most is how they focused on scaling with control. It’s a great reminder that growth is only sustainable when you’ve got the right systems in place. 

Ange
Absolutely. Now let’s switch gears to Tim’s story. He’s a plumber from WA. Tim made a powerful decision to create a money buffer in his business, giving him the stability and peace of mind to navigate whatever challenges came his way.

Andy
Yeah, he had a pretty hectic accident on the football field. Let’s take a listen to how he overcame this.  

Tim
Yeah, so during my apprenticeship, my boss actually encouraged us to become a subbie after finishing our apprenticeship. So the day I finished my apprenticeship, it was one o’clock. I was at my first savvy job doing tube outs, they’re running all the pipes in the wall. Alpha was awesome. I was making three to four times the amount of money I was an apprentice. Life was great. Some of the work I had coming through was like 400 to 800 dollars. I hired mates to help me and we’d go off in the morning, we’d set out. So we’d dig all the drains in before the slab got poured. And then we’d shoot off and go and do a tube out. And then once that was all running and tested, I would then go and start the next one while they were mudding up. And so  I’ve done some long days. If there was still light at the end of the day, I’d go home and start prepping the work for the next day. One stage we had, I was working for five different plumbing companies and worked for everyone. And I was, I was loving life. I thought I had all this money coming in. But My biggest weak point was my admin and I would forget to invoice jobs. I wasn’t even checking to see if I was being paid. And yeah, so sometimes I would just find a work order in the back of the car, like, oh shit, I haven’t sent that one off. I better set that off today. 

Ange
I remember those days. So did I? Did I hear you had an injury?

Tim
Yeah, so I  broke my leg playing Grine and the doctor told me I need to have four to five months off work. 

Ange
Wow. 

Tim
Turned out to be closer to six months. And that was for me going back on my duties. I lost all those contracts with those other plumbers. And so I just closed the business down. And so I just work it out once I’m back to work. So I learned very quickly that I didn’t know a thing about running a business. So during that time off, I tried to claim income protection through Gridiron and I had to prove that I was making a steady, consistent income. And then I started looking at my books and I was looking at like, I don’t even know what I’m looking at. So I had a friend come in and help me. And I realized that I wasn’t making the money I thought I was. There were outstanding invoices that were nearly a year old  that hadn’t been paid. And the mates I had working for me, I was paying them cash. I was paying them like nearly 30 an hour cash. And at the end of the day, I was only making about four to 500 a day myself. And I was doing about four or five hours more than them every day.  And then to top all that off, I had to pay the tax man. And because I was paying them cash in the tax man’s eyes, I was the one earning all the money. So my tax bills were huge. And yeah, I just looked back and I said, I could be working less hours, less stress, just as much money if I’m just doing one job a day. For me, it was understanding, like you said, my numbers and actually knowing what I need to charge now, what my breakevens are. Yeah. What are my overheads and where can I cut the fat out of the business to make more profits? And then once I understood that, I started implementing simple profit first. So I know you guys have talked about a lot and I created like a three to six month buffer within my business that like since COVID happened, I just wanted to be able to have money in the bank to cover all my expenses for the next three to six months.

Andy
That’s cool. And I, and I won’t say the figure, but um, you did stand up in front of all of our Lifestyle Tradie members and mentioned how much you had in your bank account and, uh, There were a few eyes like, Whoa, my God, go Timmy.  So that is really good. 

Tim
Just doing a lot of research and reading audio books and trying to learn about how to run a business. Joining you guys completely changed the way everything works for me now, and now I can’t be happy.  

Ange
I love how Tim focused on building that financial safety net. It’s something so many tradies overlook, but it can completely change how you feel about your business. When you’re not stressed about every dollar, you can actually think strategically and grow.

Andy
What I love about all three of these stories is how they show that real change is possible. Whether it’s building a financial safety net, scaling a business the right way, or making your profit margins soar, the common thread is that they All made intentional decisions to take control and focus on what matters most.

Ange
And that’s what we want for you in 2025. If these stories have sparked ideas about what’s possible in your trade business, then our live one day event is the perfect next step. It’s called Stress Free Tradie and we will teach you how to triple your profits in 12 months without the headaches. 

Andy
We’ll be in Melbourne on February the 4th, Brisbane on February the 5th, and Sydney on February the 11th. What we teach is practical, proven, and it’s designed specifically for tradies just like you. Head to www.lifestyletradie.com.au/events to grab your free tickets. Let’s make 2025 your best year yet.  

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 www.lifestyletradie.com.au.