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The Difference Between a Tradesman and an Amateur

Hi there! It’s Jon here again from Small Fish. I want to talk about the difference between a tradesman and a gifted amateur.

Okay, I’ve been thinking about this for a little while, I’ve got a friend who’s a gifted amateur. He’s a DIY, he’s quite experienced, he has built houses himself and done work himself. He got a job with a tradesman friend of both of ours. Being his you know… laborer, and he thinks he’s experienced, and he thinks he’s got great skills and it turns out that that’s not the same.

He’s been an experienced tradesman. I say this with all respect for my friend. This is a mate of mine. He’s skilled, he knows some stuff, and he’s learned some great skills, and he does good work.

But… when he’s on site, when he’s under time pressure, when he’s under budget pressure, when he needs to plan ahead and you can’t just go “F#%k, I’ve forgot something,” and nip down the hardware shop, and buy it, and come back because that’s eating into the time that you allowed for the job.

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So when you need to have planned jobs using your experience so you don’t have to do that shit then it’s not the same. It’s not the same as a proper qualified experienced trades person.

So my point is this…

  • You’re experienced trades people
  • And you employ experienced trades people
  • And you build systems into your business so that they may do the planning

So that…

  • They don’t waste time nipping to Bunnings or the hardware shop
  • They don’t waste time doing things thinking three things the first time because they’ve done in many times before.

And this is the difference. This is why you’re worth the kind of value rate that you charge.

So I want you to remember this:

Remember you’ve got this experience, remember that it’s okay to be charging $90 an hour or £40 or £50 an hour or whatever that you’re worth that kind of money because the alternative is someone who will take much longer, waste much more time, probably not do as good a job in the first place, and probably not leave it looking as nice and end up costing more anyway because they take so much longer.

So be proud of your hourly rate. Don’t allow the customers to make you feel like you’re overcharging because you’re not you worth what you’re charging. You need to be worth what you’re charging. You need to prove that you’re worth what you’re charging.

  • Be confident in your skills
  • Be confident in your price
  • Tell your customers what your price is, that you’re confident in it and why are you confident in it

And tell me how it goes in the comments please.

I’d like to hear. See you!

There are four ways you can engage with me:

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4. Book yourself a 10-minute chat with me. We’ll talk about whether coaching is right for you now and if it is, we’ll go further into the process before you have to make your mind up.

See you later.

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