How Tradies Can Do Business Properly
Do you want to know how to do business properly? That’s profitable, without too much stress and too much work and with people in their jobs doing a good job and liking it. You’re a tradie or a builder. You run a business. You’ve started...
How To Collect On A Debt – A Bad Debt A Bad Payer
Sometimes it happens – you do work in good faith and submit your invoice, but the payment never comes. I’ve talked before about how to protect yourself against this. This post is about what your options are if it happens. I know that what...
Understanding the Trade-Off: What You Lose When Choosing Cheaper Options
There’s tension around price, isn’t there? Always. You need to charge enough to cover your business costs and risks and make a profit or why would you bother owning and running your own business? But there’s downward pressure on you, from all...
How to Build a Strong Brand for Your Trades Business
Jon: I bought myself a new car because how I present myself is very important. People make snap judgements about you based on how you present. If I drive up to someone’s business in a s#!tty old car, they’re not going to think I’m a good...
Your Competitors (Other Tradies) Are Not The Enemy – They Can Be Very Helpful
There’s a narrative that is apparent in everything that tells us that our competitors are the enemy. You’re all out there competing for the limited business on offer – like seagulls fighting over some chips. It’s a dog-eat-dog world. That’s the story, isn’t it? It...
Why Do You Feel Like Tradie Jon?
I made this video for trades business owners on TikTok. Tradie Jon isn’t enjoying his business. My friend made a video in reply. Do you think he’s referring to me and what time I get up? While you enjoy Tradie Jon’s interview with the uppity interview, think about...
Are You Doing Your Bookkeeping Properly and Who Is Doing It?
That’s a double-barrelled and loaded question, isn’t it? Obviously, I have an opinion on this. Your bookkeeping is important and if you’re doing them properly (your books), they are a hugely valuable resource for understanding your business’s profitability. That’s...
BJs for Builders – Has Jon Lost The Plot? Or Is There Merit To The Metaphor?
Obviously, I think it’s a useful metaphor. And funny, which I like. It’s a metaphor for Relationship Marketing which you should be investing in hard (get it?) If you do business with other businesses, Business-to-Business marketing, it’s sometimes called, or B2B....
I Get My Marmite Flown In From The UK – The Importance of Language for Tradies
I do, I'm a wanker. I don't like Vegemite very much, I grew up on Marmite and I get it flown in from the UK. I order it on eBay and it ships via airmail. Do you see what I did there? 'Get it flown in' sounds fancy, like some rich expat in an old film. ‘Buy it on eBay’...
What Can You Do To Make Yourself Happier?
I sound like one of those Internet wanker gurus, don't I? Talking about spirituality or something. Don't worry. I know nothing about spirituality or wellness. I'm a business coach so I'll talk about how your business can help you be happier. Or, importantly, how you...
How To Be Successful – Mindset (Part 5)
I've talked about a range of different success mindsets – scarcity or abundance and fixed or growth. They're two pairs – one undesirable mindset and one you want to adopt because it'll help you grow. And I've talked about some mindsets that tradies and builders often...
Your Business Mindset (Part 4)
Your first reaction to this might be something like, "Shut up, Jon! I understand that I run a business now, I'm not stupid." And I know you do. I know you're not stupid, too. However… I guarantee you harbour mindsets that helped you get this far but that won't help...