The Profitable Tradie Podcast

Do you pay yourself a salary?  

How about a fair market salary? 

Maybe you’re not quite sure what that is?  

Many trades and contracting business owners don’t know either. 

They just make up a number that seems right. 

And continue working 60+ hour weeks, effectively getting paid below minimum wage... 

Others pay themselves whatever’s left over at the end of the month. 

Basically, just taking the scraps to cover bare minimum expenses... 

Or worse, they take money out of drawings whenever they need it. <...

In 1954, Roger Bannister ran a mile in under 4 minutes. 

Before him, nobody thought that was possible. 

Today, more than a thousand runners have done it. 

Bannister showed how far the bar could be raised, inspiring his peers to reach further. 

Do your friends inspire you to take your business to new heights?

Do they stretch you?  

Seeing their achievements inspires you to reach further... 

Challenge you?  

To be serious about your business and do the hard work to improve it... 

Set an exampl...

Builders & General Contractors are tricky, right? 

They can be super unorganized, which can mess you around and kill your profits.  

If you’re not careful, they can also use you like a bank...  

On the other hand, they can bring in a lot of work opportunities.  

So, how can we work with Builders and General Contractors in a productive way? And what’s the key to ensuring they call you the next time they need a job done?  

On this week’s The Profita...

Do you ever get to the end of a long week and think to yourself...

“What’s the point of it all?” 

Despite working 50+ hours, you’re still left... 

Scrambling to meet unreasonable demands from your customers. 

Fixing team mistakes and answering the constant barrage of questions. 

Stressed about getting paid and how you’re going to keep the team busy. 

And for all of that, you’re probably getting paid less than your top tradesmen.  

But that’s not the worst part... 

The stress starts to c...

"I need to hire an [INSERT TITLE HERE], let me promote [INSERT EMPLOYEE NAME HERE] Because he’s my best worker” 

Here’s the critical mistake. 

A move from a tradesman to operation manager or similar role is not a promotion. 

It’s a career change. 

You should absolutely reward your best worker in any way you can 

But it’s important to understand the different skills required for on the tools and in the office. 

You can’t pick your Opps manager off merit and loyalty unfortunately. 

Family & Friend Discounts. 

There’s something about it that makes us feel good.  

Especially when we use the skills our business offers to give them a valuable service. 

There are so many business owners who sacrifice a little bit of monthly profit to help their family and friends out. 

I just wish more of them knew the real cost... 

Because it’s not just the job profit you’re sacrificing.  

Everybody knows there’s a cost for doing this type of work. 

But It’s scary how few know...

Do you have issues in your business but just haven’t had the time to fix them? 

Let's say your system for tracking your numbers. 

You know if you get it sorted, your profit will improve. 

You might even have a plan about how you’re going to do it 

But to this day the issue is still there... 

It's probably because you just don’t have the time to make these changes to your business. 

But unfortunately, the more you put it off the more urgent these fixes...

If there’s one thing I miss from my days as an employee, it's the certainty.  

Getting home at the same time every day and being able to enjoy time with friends & family. 

Don't get me wrong, being a business owner is much better than being an employee... 

But having a guaranteed income does have its advantages. 

That's why landing large jobs is appealing. 

They give you 6-12 months' work that's worth decent money. 

And instead of constantly finding, pricing, completing and invoicing lots of little jobs 

Big j...

How much should you pay your employees? 

It’s not actually all that complicated. 

But let’s get one thing clear. 

There is no golden number. 

For example, I could say that you should pay a new employee $41 per hour.  

But that number is one I made up and more than likely isn’t the right figure for you. 

But here’s the good news.  

It’s not rocket science. 

Every position for every business has that golden number. 

A number which is high enough...

Is your work flow up and down? 

One month it feels like you’re two employees short and the next it feels like you have too many. 

Phil & I have noticed more and more businesses suffering from this setback. 

So we recorded a training on what it is and how to avoid it. 

WHAT YOU’LL GAIN FROM LISTENING TO TODAY’S PODCAST: