Small Fish: Business For Trades -Business Coaching for Tradies and Builders

Small Fish: Business For Trades -Business Coaching for Tradies and Builders It's coaching, it's training, it's resources and it's tools.

Growing and scaling trades businesses - with coaching and with tools - so you can make more money and so your business can work without you being there all the time. Tradies Toolbox is a coaching program to help you (the owner of a trade business) grow and scale your business - so it makes you more money, so it generates consistent and secure income for you and for your staff and so it can operate without you in the thick of it all the time.

I think business coaching is about building your confidence. Read more to find out why 👇Two of my clients recently told ...
24/09/2026

I think business coaching is about building your confidence. Read more to find out why 👇

Two of my clients recently told me about tricky situations with customers.

Before coaching, they would have caved.

Now they're confident to stand firm.

Matt (Residential builder) - an architect approached him wanting him to quote on a house.

Matt says, "Let's meet up and see if we're a good fit for each other, and if we think we are, I'd like to meet the client before I think about quoting"

In the past - he would have jumped to quote "Yes, sir, right away, sir", like you do.

Being confident enough to say that and stick to his guns.....

Felt really good.

Alex (Carpenter - resi projects) - just like you, pushed on price. Always asked if he could do better.

Now he says, "No, that's already my best price, I'm afraid"

He's more confident about his pricing and more confident about saying "No".

That feels really good.

How's your confidence?

Are you the busy, stressed, tired, working IN it, with little spare money, trades business owner? (watch the video - fin...
23/09/2026

Are you the busy, stressed, tired, working IN it, with little spare money, trades business owner? (watch the video - find out. link in comments)

Or are you the relaxed, in control, leading, working ON it, with more spare money, trades business owner?

And which would you like to be? It’s obvious, really, but how do you get there - it’s all in changing your behaviour. Assess yourself - your behaviour and make some changes.

One of my clients shared this week that his sparky gave his number a builder he does work for, the builder called him an...
23/09/2026

One of my clients shared this week that his sparky gave his number a builder he does work for, the builder called him and gave him 20 jobs.

Just like that!

The sparky did that because he thinks putting the two of them together will be good for both of them.

The relationship between my guy and his sparky mate is good enough that the sparky felt comfortable making the referral - he knew enough about how my guy operates and likes him enough to want to help.

We all get referrals but I'm sure you'd like a few more.

So how much time do you invest in your network of people who could refer you?

If it's not very much, maybe you should invest a bit more.

21/09/2026

What do your tradespeople really cost?

Have you thought about the time spent driving, the time wasted, the time spent on errands...

Are you factoring this time into the price you charge your tradespeople out at?

No? You should be.

Download our Tradie Labour Cost calculator and start factoring it in. Link to download is in the comments.

How to Check if Your Trade Business Is Making Money (Properly)Remember — you’re not just a tradie anymore. You’re a busi...
20/09/2026

How to Check if Your Trade Business Is Making Money (Properly)

Remember — you’re not just a tradie anymore. You’re a business owner.
And it’s your job to make sure your business is trading profitably.

A lot of people don’t do this properly. Don’t be one of them.

Here’s a simple monthly money check-in I do with all my clients — and I want you to do it too.

âś… Step 1: Log into your accounting software
(Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks — I’ll use Xero as the example)

âś… Check your cash
Your bank balances. All business accounts. No hiding. Enough cash to pay wages? Good.
My clients log these in our Big Numbers Tracker.

✅ Check what you’re owed and what you owe
In Xero: "Invoices owed to you" and "Bills you need to pay".
Make sure data is up to date. Are you owed more than you owe? Not too much overdue?

✅ Check the month’s revenue
Look at your P&L. Did you invoice much? If not, can you? If you can’t — why not?

âś… Check your gross margin
That’s Gross Profit ÷ Revenue.
Builders: aim for 20–30%
Other trades: 30–40%
If it’s outside the range — investigate. Materials bought but not invoiced yet? That’s fine, but fix it next month.

âś… Check your net profit
Target: 10% of revenue (after paying yourself properly).
If you’re not hitting it, ask why.

Common culprits:
- Underquoting or discounting
- Inefficient team or poor scheduling
- Travel/project management time not quoted properly
- One-off expenses
- Poor job setup

If your margins are off, something’s wrong. Fix it.

This is your job now. Stay on top of it.
Don’t put your head down and hope it sorts itself out.

I can help, of course.

If you’re not doing this and you need your arse kicked — come and find me.

My clients use the Big Numbers Tracker. You can have it too — $39 to get started.

Comment below.

And give it a đź‘Ť or share for the algorithm.

Jon

Is your trade business actually healthy?Check again.10% net profit marginA market-fair wage — for YOU tooA 40-hour week ...
17/09/2026

Is your trade business actually healthy?

Check again.
10% net profit margin
A market-fair wage — for YOU too
A 40-hour week (yep, including you)
4 weeks' holidays, actually taken
Your team doing their jobs without you hovering

If you're not hitting this...
You're not bad at business. You're just winging the business part, as everyone does at first.

Good news is this is fixable.
Get better at the business part
Watch the full video. Link is in the comments

16/09/2026

It’s what I’m selling — business coaching so you can get more money, more time and more freedom. But what do I mean? (and isn’t that what every other business coach is selling?)

I’ll explain.

And yes, it kind of is what every other business coach is selling.

We all have a slightly different perspective on what it means, different styles and different approaches.

But the reason we’re all selling money, time and freedom is because that’s what everybody wants.

It’s not a mystery.

(Us included — me included).

16/09/2026

Tradies, have you seen this?

A giant, inflatable air dome that goes over a building site. Keeps dust and noise in so the neighbours don't get upset and keeps the weather out so the job doesn't get rained off.

I've seen similar things in NZ with scaffolding wrapped in plastic.

Why don't we have it in Australia?

Do you think it'll catch on?

(Speaking as a business coach, because that's what I am, I guess it is a financial consideration - how much does it cost and how much are you likely to save by not having a build interrupted?)

Some recent wins and challenges:Client - Customer wants us to start a big build before we get the required approvals, so...
14/09/2026

Some recent wins and challenges:

Client - Customer wants us to start a big build before we get the required approvals, so they get start trading sooner. Should I?

Jon - F**k no. Who gets in trouble if you get caught?

Client - We do

Jon - This is an existential threat to your business, really - you could jeopardise your license just so your client can have a few more weeks of trading. I say no.

(He didn't just tell them "f**k, no" he worded it nicely and said it was a high risk to him and his business and he was not able to do that. People try s**t on, don't they?)

Jon - Sorry I missed your call on Friday.

Client - No worries. I wasn't in a good frame of mind, was calling to dump on you. The client's committee didn't approve us for that big job on Thursday.

But they called this morning and it's approved so I'm feeling pretty good now.

Jon - I should miss your calls more often



(I didn't really say that but I wish I'd thought of it at the time)

Same client - the contract for that job has come through. It f**ked. They are asking for KPIs like daily OH&S reporting and daily progress reports. It's going to f**k my margins.

Jon - No, f**k that. You don't have to accept it just because they've put a clause in a draft contract. That's a material change to the scope you've quoted for, you can push back on that and tell them they can have it but it's a change to the scope and it'll cost extra.

Do you want me to look at the contract and see if I can spot any more of those and help you plan your response?

Client - Yes please and do you want to meet me and the lawyer and then me and the client to work on the contract negotiation, too?

Jon - Yes, no worries.

(It's a big job, good margins. No point in letting bulls**t conditions eat into them)

13/09/2026

Do you want more money, more time and more freedom?

“Sure Jon, but what are you talking about? Because that sounds like bo****ks.”

I realise it sounds like bo****ks which is why I’ve made a video to explain.

In brief, if you run a trade or construction business you’re probably short on at least one of them — possibly all three.

I’m selling business coaching (obviously) that helps you fix that.

If you make less profit than you’d like, work more hours than you’d like or have less freedom from stress and responsibility than you’d like — or all three — then I’m talking to you.

If you have a business you don’t like or don’t enjoy very much because of the money, time, freedom thing, you probably want to change that.

(If you have a business you love that makes you plenty of money, where you don’t have to work harder than a normal person and you’re not stressed or tied to it, you know, good for you. You’re lucky.

Or you worked to create that. Well done — you probably don’t need business coaching.

There’s a longer video on YouTube if you want to watch it; the link is in the comments.

Address

Byron Bay, NSW
2481

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5:30pm
Tuesday 9am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 9am - 5:30pm
Thursday 9am - 5:30pm
Friday 9am - 5:30pm

Telephone

+61485990882

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Small Fish: Business For Trades -Business Coaching for Tradies and Builders posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category