What I would do when starting another trade business in 5 steps!

Now you are probably thinking, what gives us the right to say this… Well, for 15 years, our Founder, Kieran ran a 7 figure electrical business. He knows a thing or two about starting and growing a trade business.

STEP 1

Do a business plan and a clear end result of where I want to take it. “Build the business as if I were to sell it, even if I don’t”. The value of the business will be worth alot more by doing it this way. You can then leverage this to grow your personal finances.

STEP 2

Implement systems I can GROW into… Meaning, don’t use systems you’ll grow out of in 12 months. Changing systems when you are growing is hard and costly.

Start with a CRM (customer relationship management) software. Make sure it's an all in one platform to handle lead nurturing, email and text marketing, automation etc. AMS software is a good one… (https://www.allmarketingsolutions.com.au/)

Have a good job management platform (Service M8, Simpro, Aroflo), to name a few. You need this for your staff to log their hours, track materials and invoices etc.

NO YOUR Numbers… Have a good accounting platform (Quickbooks, Xero, MYOB).

Keynote: Make sure all these systems integrate with each other. You will save a shit load of time.

STEP 3

Have an omnipresent approach to marketing and not treat marketing as an expense. Really understand my audience. Don’t be everything to everyone. Don’t be a YES man.

• Facebook ads for special offers.
• Letterbox drops (older generations of people prefer hard copies to read).
• SEO for your website. This is a long-term solution but will compound over time.
• Content marketing (showcase the shit out of what we do)
• Reputation management (referral and reviews) build those reviews…
• Offer Sponsorships in your local area and attend trade shows etc.

Keynote: Don’t be just another trade business. We’re all unique humans. Add your personality to the business, and make it fun. Don’t be that tradie who hates life and is still hating life at 65 but hasn’t made any change.

STEP 4

Hire the right people. Started with low-cost staff (apprentice) to help get through more work but then a tradie to give my time back to focus on business growth. Do this until around 5 staff, and you’ll find yourself off the tools completely. Mainly because you’ll have no time to be on the tools .

Hire an admin person to remove the lower-value tasks from you. Combine an admin team member and AI to make their job efficient. The next hire would be an operations manager to run the crews. I would sell and quote…eventually hiring estimators.

STEP 5

DO NOT RELY ON 1 OR 2 sources of income…

Builders or commercial clients can give you a lot of work, but they can also take that work away at the drop of a hat. Price check you, give the work to a friend, who knows?! I’ve seen it happen too many times.

This is why getting your name out there and marketing in the early days is so important. Otherwise, if you have a team of staff and this happens with minimal work to fall back on that will cover your overheads, you’ll go backwards real fast.

Finally, get to a stage and remove myself from the business by hiring good people and offering good incentives to entice them to perform at their best.

If you are in the grind of your trades business and wanting guidance on lead generation, systems and teams. Book c all on the link below.

Book a meeting here

Or Call (07) 5241 1135