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

Saw an osprey in the beach, eating a fish it had caught. Said to Michelle "Ospreys are cool. They have a mask, like a bandit"

She laughed at me "Haha bandit"

Look! Looks like a bandit!

I am Daenerys & this is my dragon 🐉 Got some really rad video footage of this one devouring a fish yesterday. #osprey #wildlife #nature #raptors #birdsofprey

How to be more of a Businessperson (and less of a tradie)

Which are you?

Assess yourself. Get the worksheet. Link in comments.

Someone abandoned this puppy near my friend's house by tying it to a fence with a toy and a can of food and fu***ng off.

(Don't worry, he's found a home now)

Whoever it was got a puppy, which involves accepting some responsbility and then decided they didn't want a puppy after all. Rather than find a new home, they tied him up and left it for someone else to deal with.

This happens in business. I bet you do it. (I suspect we all do it a little bit)

Sometimes you can get away with it. More generally it will cost you and your business.

Your emotions and fears and weakness wants you do do it.

A brave you takes care of your responsibilities and your business and, as a result, your business does better.

I'll explain with examples.

As a tradie in business, I bet you've been ghosted by a client who asked for a quote and then didn't have the courtesy to tell you they wouldn't be going ahead. They just fu**ed off, like the dog owener.

Tradies do it to me, too. They book a call and don't show up nor send me a message saying they've decided not to go ahead - they just f**k off.

They are failing to deal with the discomfort of giving me the bad news that they don't want to buy my coaching or they are afraid I'll give them a hard time so they avoid the discussion.

Your customers are doing the same to you.

This feeling is natural - nobody likes giving bad news or confronting uncomfortable situations - but, if you wantyour business to be successful, you need to do this.

Your business will be better if you do.

Now, the consequences of not showing up to a meeting with a business coach are pretty minimal, just like the consequences of not responding to your quote are minimal.

But the consequences of avoiding confrontation or discomfort are significant. I'll list some examples:

Not looking at your money because you are afriad it's not good news

Not doing difficult jobs (like profitability analysis) because it's painful and boring

Not firing someone who probably shouldbe fired

Not addressing someone's performance - and ending up having to fire them when you could have fixed the situation

Putting your head down and cracking on with busywork rather than doing the things that will improve your business

That last one is a biggie.

Your job, if you want to be better at business (More Business, less Tradie, remember?) is to recognise when you do this and not allow yourself to make an excuse.

See yourself doing it and try to resist.

If you get me as your coach, I will point it out if I see you doing it.

If that sounds like something you don't want, maybe you're already avoiding something you should do

Haha

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Most tradies and builders are undercharging for labour… without even realising it.

If you don’t know the TRUE cost of your people, your profits are taking the hit.

That’s why I created the Tradie Labour Cost Calculator — a simple tool to help you calculate what your tradespeople really cost your business, and what you should be charging.

Download it now and get clarity on your numbers.