How to keep the passion for your tradie business

And never lose sight of what you love

I bet no one warned you about the vicious tradie business cycle. You’ve started your ideal business with the most awesome intentions. Then BAM – you’re spinning out of control.

You’re overloaded with work (great, but not great)

You’re stressed out (and snapping at everyone including your dog)

You’re forgotten what ‘spare time’ is

You’re losing your passion for your trade…

But it’s not all doom and gloom – I promise you. There’s a few little tweaks you can make in the day to day running of your business that’ll free up your time.

I bet you’re wasting time without realising it

If you’re serious about getting your passion back and freeing up some time, humour me and do this little experiment (I promise it’ll help and it’s not that hard to do):

1. Over the next couple of days, document everything you do. And I mean everything (well maybe not your ‘pit-stops’). Keep a little notepad in your pocket – it’s a tad nerdy but cute all the same. Record what you do and how long it takes you.
2. Grab 3 highlighters:
   a) Colour everything that wasn’t totally necessary although it felt good to bludge off (watching TV, chatting on the phone to mates, social media). These are tasks that are totally not related to your business.
   b) Colour everything that you MUST do for your business but hated doing (answering the phone for bookings, invoicing, chasing suppliers, returning phone calls, bookkeeping…). These are VITAL business tasks but ones you hate.
   c) Colour everything that you LOVE doing (your actual trade, spending time with your family, a hobby, drinks after work). These are your passions – you need to do more of this.

Keep doing what you love in your tradie business

All those tasks you highlighted in (c) are the ones I want YOU to do forever. It’s the only way you’ll keep your business passion alive. They’ll also allow you to do those tasks you highlighted in (a) without feeling guilty for wasting time.

Let’s chat about (b). Why would you want to keep doing tasks you hate? And just because they’re ‘vital’ is not an excuse. Have you considered outsourcing these tasks to someone who loves them? Yep, there are crazy people out there who love tradie business admin.

Meet electrician Rick – a convert to outsourcing his admin

Rick hates invoicing at the end of a job. He simply wants to go home and chill out. He found that his hatred of invoicing soon turned to putting it off for days…weeks. Clients didn’t chase him (seriously – they’re not going to throw their money at you if you don’t ask them too). Money started getting tight, arguments were a constant thing and Rick’s stress levels were through the roof.

I asked him his hourly rate. ‘$150 an hour’.

I asked him how long his daily invoicing would usually take. ‘Around an hour depending on how many jobs were booked. But it’s an hour I’d prefer to sit on the couch, watch telly, have a drink and relax’.

 I told him outsourcing his invoicing is easy. ‘I only charge $50 an hour – that’s $100 and an hour’s time you could save’.

 He asked ‘But how – that seems like work too’.

 I explained:

1. We can use a whole range of online apps where he can record his daily work schedule/jobs/client details/time spent etc.
2. I see the jobs performed, produce the invoices and send them. I can even set reminders for follow ups for those niggly late payers.
3. Or, if that’s too high tech, a simple phone call or email at the end of day with the details will be just as effective.

He signed up and now invoices his clients within a day of the job being completed, increasing his cash flow and reducing his stress levels. And HE LOVES HIS BUSINESS AGAIN.

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