3 Trade Business Growth Options: Pros And Cons
Trade business growth path choices. If you own and run a trade business, you've got some choices about what that looks like, don’t you? You could be self-employed, that's a business. You can just find work for yourself to do and do it yourself. You can grow a little...
Stop Selling Yourself Short – Learn How To Build Self-Confidence
Are you selling yourself short? (Hint: You might be). I’d like you to stop selling yourself short. In my job as a business coach for trades and builders, lots of people come to me lacking confidence in their business skills. When I wrote this yesterday, I thought, “Well why would you come to a business […]
How To Choose What Matters (How To Prioritize)
The sh*t that doesn’t matter versus the sh*t that does. My client and my friend was talking to me the other day. We were talking about a complicated and naughty annoying problem that’s been bothering him for some time and that we’ve been trying to solve. And the problem is not the issue. It’s […]
Read moreRecommended Reading: How Good Work Culture Wins
Having A Good Culture – Is It Necessary In Your Trades Business?
How to have a good culture in your trade business? Culture is not just ping-pong. I've talked about your team and how to have the best team. I've talked about hiring, leading and managing. And this final installment is about how to have a good culture. Culture can...
The Best Way To Manage Your Team Of Tradespeople
How to manage your team of tradies? It’s Jon here from Small Fish Business Coaching and I’m helping trades businesses grow and scale, and put the systems and structure in place so you grow and scale properly. Part of that is managing your people and looking after them. And if you’ve been paying attention you’ve probably noticed […]
Trades Business Management 101: How To Lead Your Team Properly
How to lead your team of tradespeople? You run a people business. A trades business is a people business. You’re making money by your people going out there into the world and doing skilled work. And you make more money by having more people doing it (there’s not really any other way around that). I’m […]
Your 5 Step Hiring Process To Attract The Best Tradies to Your Team
Welcome to this week’s Toolbox Tip and it’s called, ‘An Interview Trick To Get Tidy Tradespeople Or A Silly Gimmick?’ Or, ‘Hiring Well: Process Vs Gimmicks’. A trade business relies on its people. Your business is one where skilled tradesmen and women do skilled work for your customers and your business profits from that work. […]
Price VS Risk Series
Remember, you need to charge enough to have good margins and sustainable business and, in order to be able to charge enough, you have to be able to explain why you are worth what you’re charging (and it has to be true, there’s no room for bullshit here). This little series of videos is about […]
How To Tell If Your Customers Are Lying
I wrote two short videos commenting on how your customers tell lies. Sometimes they tell bare-faced lies and sometimes they tell little white lies. Sometimes to trick you into giving them a better price and sometimes to save embarrassment (for you or for them). It’s good to remind yourself that not everything everybody says is […]
Know Your Value As A Trades Business – How To Achieve Stability
Your Value – Stability This is another video in the series on ‘Knowing Your Value’. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, ‘Customers don’t buy your price. They buy your value.’ It’s important that you articulate your value in your marketing and sales process, so they can weigh up the value you bring against […]
Here’s what your employees really cost you
I’m still on the topic of charging enough (I almost never am far away from it – because it’s so important). It’s hard to resist the downward price pressure if you’re not sure whether the pressure is fair or not. Maybe you’re too expensive. Maybe there’s something you don’t know or don’t understand and you’re […]
Trades Business Hack: How To Get Off The Tools And Win More Time To Yourself
So You Want To Step Back From The Tools? The Short Read: You need to spend time off the tools or off the job site so you can do the work that will give you a good business – marketing, sales, understanding your numbers – all that stuff. But you’re scared your team will not […]