If you run a plumbing business and you want to run it better, a good plumbing business coach is the way to go. Not a generalist who coaches cafes on a Tuesday and chiropractors on a Wednesday and you on a Thursday. Someone who actually understands trades and construction businesses, and the kind of plumbing you do.
You’re flat out. The phone never stops. The vans are busy. And yet you’re still sitting there at 9pm wondering where the bloody money went. That’s usually the sign.
Most plumbers do not need help being better plumbers. You’ve got that bit sorted. You need help running the business: pricing, charge-out rates, cash flow, sales, your team, and your own job as the owner.
You’re not short of competition either. There are around 28,615 plumbing services businesses in Australia, and plenty of them are winging the business side exactly like you might be. The ones who pull ahead are the ones who get serious about running the business, not just doing the work.
So this article covers the two jobs in front of you: finding a plumbing business coach, and choosing the right one for your business.
Key takeaways
- Finding a plumbing business coach is easy. Choosing the right one is the bit that matters.
- Pick a coach whose focus matches yours. Domestic maintenance plumbing and commercial or construction plumbing are different businesses.
- Look at the language a coach uses in their marketing. If it sounds like your world, that’s a good sign.
- Credibility comes from real outcomes and real numbers, not motivational fluff or fast guarantees.
- A good coach helps you lift profit, get off the tools, and stop being the bottleneck in everything.
Why would a plumber even need a business coach?
Because being a great plumber and running a profitable plumbing business are two different skills. A plumbing business coach helps you with the business side: pricing and charge-out rates, quoting, cash flow, sales, managing your team, and getting yourself off the tools. The aim is more profit, more time, and less chaos.
You learned your trade. Nobody taught you business at trade school, during your apprenticeship, or after you qualified. Your old boss was probably winging it too.
That’s not a character flaw. It’s just a gap. And it’s a gap you can close, because if you were smart enough to learn your trade, you’re smart enough to learn the business side. It’s no harder than plumbing was.
The pressure is real, mind you. Half of Australian businesses (50%) reported their operating expenses went up in the latest ABS figures. When materials, fuel and labour all creep up and your pricing hasn’t kept pace, your margin gets eaten alive. A coach helps you see that early and fix it, instead of finding out at tax time.
You learned your trade. You can learn the business side too. It’s no harder than your trade was.
How do I actually find a plumbing business coach?
Finding one is the easy part. Google “plumbing business coach” or “trade business coach” and read a few of the listings. Once you’ve looked, the algorithm will start showing you ads, including mine, hopefully. The real work is not finding a coach. It’s working out which one is right for you.
So you’ll end up with a shortlist pretty quickly. Some will be specialist trade coaches. Some coach builders, electricians or plumbers specifically. Some focus on domestic maintenance work, and some focus more on commercial and construction.
That spread is exactly why the next bit matters so much. They are not all the same, and the right one for the bloke down the road might be the wrong one for you.
Domestic maintenance or commercial and construction? Why it changes who you pick
This is the big one. A domestic maintenance plumbing business and a commercial or construction plumbing business run completely differently. Different marketing, different sales, different ways of managing jobs. Pick a coach whose focus matches your primary focus, so you’re not getting advice built for a business that isn’t yours.
Think about your own world for a second.
If you’re mostly doing domestic service and maintenance, your business lives on a steady flow of callouts, fast quoting, recurring work, after-hours decisions, and a van fleet that needs to be efficient. Your marketing is about being found and being trusted, quickly.
If you’re mostly commercial and construction, it’s a different game. You’re dealing with builders and subbies, progress claims, variations, retentions, defect liability, and bigger jobs that run over months. Your marketing is about relationships and your reputation with the right builders.
Those are not small differences. They change how you price, how you sell, and how you run a job from start to finish.
Some coaches lean one way, some the other, and that’s fine. The thing that matters is picking one who actually gets your world. We coach plumbing businesses across both ends of it, from domestic service and maintenance through to commercial and construction, so the advice fits the kind of plumbing you really do.
You can be both, of course. Plenty of plumbers do domestic maintenance and construction work. But there’s real value in having one main focus, otherwise you’re running two types of marketing, two sales processes, and two ways of managing jobs. That’s expensive and it’s hard work.
So look at the language a coach uses in their marketing. Does it sound like your world, or someone else’s? If you want to see how we coach plumbing businesses, take a look at our plumbing business coaching.
What should I look for in a good plumbing business coach?
Look for someone who understands trade reality, not generic small business waffle. The best plumbing business coach knows how charge-out rates, quoting, variations, cash flow timing, builder relationships and scheduling actually work. They talk about profit, systems, pricing and leadership, in plain English, with real examples.
Here’s the checklist I’d use:
- They work with tradies and builders, not everyone and anyone
- They talk about profit, systems, pricing and your team, not just mindset
- They explain things in plain English without the corporate dribble
- They’ve got real examples from businesses like yours
- They’re clear about the next step, and they’re not pushy
And here are the red flags. Some of the marketing out there is straight-up rubbish.
- Big, fast guarantees, the “10x your business in 90 days” type
- Vague advice with no numbers behind it
- One-size-fits-all systems that ignore the kind of plumbing you do
- Talking down to tradies
If it sounds like a guru selling a dream, keep scrolling. A good coach sells you a process and a result, not a feeling.
How do I know if a coach is actually any good?
A good coach shows real outcomes, not fake Lamborghinis. They can point to trade business owners they’ve helped and explain what actually changed: better margins, more profit, less time on the tools. If they can’t tell you a real story with real numbers, be careful.
Let me give you a real one.
Eddie runs a waterproofing business. Wet trade, not a million miles from your world. He was a two to three million dollar business, reasonable team, going along alright. Then his commercial work dried up, he was losing money, and he had that awful sick feeling of not knowing what was going on.
We did what we always do. We started with the numbers. His gross margin looked okay on the surface, around 30%, and his job management system was showing jobs as reasonably profitable. So we dug deeper.
His cost of labour was wrong in the system. Once we fixed that, the jobs weren’t profitable at all. His blokes were spending too much time travelling between jobs and not enough charged time on the tools. His pricing hadn’t kept up with the change in his work either.
So he sorted his allowances, fixed his labour costs, and put his prices up by 30 to 40% with no pushback. Last month he did $170,000 with a $50,000 net profit. One month doesn’t fix a business on its own, and he knows he’s got to keep the pressure on. But the money’s there now, and he can see it.
That’s what credible looks like. Real business, real numbers, real change. You can see more of them in our case studies.
It’s worth knowing the bigger picture too. The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman points to poor financial management and weak leadership and management as two of the most common reasons small businesses fail. Both of those are fixable with the right coaching. Both show up constantly in plumbing businesses.
One more thing, and it matters more than people think. Do you actually like them? Do they make sense to you? Can you let yourself be told what to do by them, or at least encouraged to do things, and actually want to do it? If you can’t picture that, they’re not your coach, no matter how good they look.
What questions should I ask before I hire a plumbing business coach?
Ask direct questions and watch how they answer. A good coach answers straight. Ask who they’ve coached, what they fix first, whether they help with charge-out rates and quoting, how they lift your margin, and how they get you off the tools. If they dodge, that tells you plenty.
Start with these:
- Have you coached plumbers or trade business owners before?
- What do you usually help fix first?
- Do you help with quoting, charge-out rates and labour recovery?
- Can you help me lift my margin, not just my turnover?
- How do you help me get off the tools and manage my team?
- What actually happens in the first few weeks?
If you want to understand what healthy margins look like before you start, the ATO’s small business benchmarks are worth a look. They’ll give you a sense of where a business like yours should sit.
Is online business coaching actually worth it for plumbers?
Yes, if the coach helps you make better decisions and build a better business. No, if it’s just feel-good chat with nothing behind it. Good coaching builds better business habits: proper pricing, knowing your numbers, real systems, stronger leadership, and you finally getting out of the guts of every job.
The payoff doesn’t come from magic or hacks. It comes from doing the business part properly, week after week.
A solid plumbing business coaching program should help you:
- Price your work properly and protect your margin
- Understand your numbers instead of winging them
- Build repeatable systems so good results aren’t luck
- Lead your team so they think for themselves
- Stop being the bottleneck in everything
Want a numbers-focused starting point? Our Tradie Labour Cost Calculator shows you what an hour of your team’s time really costs, which is usually the first eye-opener on the way to better pricing.
How much does a plumbing business coach cost?
It depends on the coach and what’s included, so be wary of anyone quoting a price before they understand your business. The better question is what it’s worth. A small lift in margin on your turnover usually dwarfs the fee. Cheap by the hour can be the most expensive option if nothing changes.
Here’s the maths that matters. If you’re turning over $1,500,000 and you lift your net margin by just 3%, that’s $45,000 more in your pocket from the same workload. Against that, the fee is rounding.
A cheap coach who doesn’t change anything costs you far more than a good one who does. So don’t shop on price. Shop on whether they understand your business and whether they’ll actually move your numbers.
If you want to talk specifics for your business, book a 10-minute call and we’ll have a straight conversation about it.
Why do some plumbers choose Small Fish?
Small Fish works with tradies and builders and focuses on practical structure, systems, strategy and accountability. The whole point is to help you build a profitable, sustainable plumbing business instead of staying the busiest, most stressed bloke in the company. No fluff, just the business stuff that makes you money.
My style is simple. Call out the bullshit, fix the numbers, build the systems, and help you think like a business owner instead of a plumber who happens to own a business.
We coach plumbing businesses across service and project work, so whatever kind of plumbing you do, we’ll speak your language from day one. For the full rundown of how it works, see our plumbing business coaching page.
When you’re ready, the next step is a Money Call. It’s a 10-minute chat where we work out whether I can help you. No pressure, no hard sell. That’s not my style.
→ See how Small Fish coaches plumbing businesses
FAQs
How do I compare plumbing business coaches?
Compare who they help, how they talk, what problems they fix, and whether they understand your kind of plumbing. Go for practical experience and real numbers over polished marketing. The right one will feel like they get your world straight away.
Should I hire a general business coach or a plumbing-specific one?
Usually a trade-focused or plumbing business coach is the better fit. They understand charge-out rates, callouts, variations and builder relationships without you having to explain them. You waste less time translating your world into theirs.
Can a business coach help me with charge-out rates and quoting?
Yes. A good coach should help you tighten up quoting, charge-out rates, labour recovery and pricing confidence. Most plumbers are leaving money on the table here, and it’s one of the fastest ways to lift profit.
What’s a good profit margin for a plumbing business?
There’s no single magic number, but a sensible target is a 10% net profit on top of a proper wage for yourself. If you’re well below that while flat out, your pricing or your systems usually need work. That’s exactly the kind of thing a coach helps you fix.
About the author: Jon Dale is the founder of Small Fish Business Coaching. He coaches tradies and builders to build profitable, sustainable businesses with clear numbers, solid systems, and straight-talking accountability, so you get more money, more time, and less chaos.