“I was trying to run a business and all these things were going on and really… I didn’t know what to do. I felt like all I was doing was work work work. No time for me or the family. I was wearing all the hats and I didn’t know how to change. I didn’t really understand my numbers and relied on checking the bank account at the end of the month to see how we were tracking. Since joining Profitable Tradie I’ve systemised my business which has allowed me to grow and spend more time with the family. I now price for profit, not to win work; That took a real mindset shift. I now understand all my numbers and more importantly can use them to make my business even better in the future. I’d recommend the program to anyone out there who is struggling, or doesn’t know much about business and wants to know more. People that are flat out and want to make a change. Its really helped me go from being out of control, to having a full system in place.”
Success Stories | See What Others Are Saying
“We were working crazy hours, 70+ a week with this constant demand, chaos and pressure… We were wearing too many hats, trying to get everything done and thought we were doing okay. Since jumping on board with Profitable Tradie, we’ve taken back control and grown the team so that we could get our time back to spend with friends and family. Since learning the ropes of all our margins, they’ve increased from 32% to now hitting 45-47% across the board. We’ve systemised the whole sales process, to ensure our customers get the best results and fast… We’ve created a hiring process that ensures our team culture is strong and we’ve grown our team from 7, to now having a team of 14. We now have the systems in place to make the business less reliant on us, improving our lifestyle and health and the best is yet to come…”
“I was working crazy hours, didn’t know how much money I was making and had no time for my young family. I was on the tools by day and up all night doing paperwork. I was too nice and at the mercy of the customer. Since joining Profitable Tradie, I’ve taken control, no longer giving out discounts and got a true understanding of my financials. I now price all my jobs for profit. Along with implementing a strong hiring process to grow the team from just myself, to a team of 8 that consists of 6 tradesmen, 1 office person and myself growing the business. My business has gone from turning over $200k to now turning over $1.2m. Our Gross Profit Margin has also increased from 17% to consistently hitting 38%. All these improvements mean a better lifestyle and more time with my young family…”
Jason & Kirstie Brown – Owners of Jason Brown Plumbing
www.jasonbrownplumbing.co.nz
“I used to have no vision and the whole business was in my head. I was at the mercy of the customer and wasn’t able to spend time with our young family. I was on the tools during the day and invoicing by night… Since joining Profitable Tradie, we’ve gone from a team of 3 to a team of 6 using their strong hiring process. This got me off the tools, so I could work with Kirstie on growing the business. I’m now spending more time with our family and taking more holidays. And a HUGE win for me, having enough time to coach one of our girls’ soccer team. We’ve started back costing and pricing for a target margin, rather than just slapping on some Mark Up. This has helped us increase our Gross Profit Margin from 15% to constantly hitting 42-43% which has not only improved the profitability of our business, but also helped us buy back time and give us the confidence to grow…”
“We used to chase jobs because we just wanted the work and because we didn’t check the dollars on them, we wouldn’t know where they were at. Now we’ve got a back costing system so we know who our best clients are and it also shows us where we’ve been letting things down. After back costing our jobs we found out that we were losing money on our ‘best’ client, making 19-21 trips to simple house builds! We’ve also put a lot of systems in place and use a management program. In 12 months our turnover has increased by 40%, gross profit margin has increased from 18% to 35% which has allowed us to pay off all our outstanding debt with the merchants & tax man and because of our systems, we’ve freed up our weekends which is gold”
“I used to think I could do it all myself, I was hesitant to expand and I used to be at the mercy of the customer by pricing just to get the job. Now I’m all about my profit margin and I’ve managed to keep a strong margin while increasing my turnover from $300,000 to $800,000. I have a structured sales process so I know when I walk away from pricing a job I’m confident I’ve got the job. I also used to be all over the show, forgetting jobs, forgetting invoicing but now we run a good management software and the team are more confident in me, they know what they are doing and they’re way more organised with our new home checklists. Since being on the program, I’ve become a lot more financially secure, I’ve bought a house and my wife Tori doesn’t need to go back to work after having a baby”
Chris & Lee-Anne – Owners of K10 Plumbing
www.k10plumbing.co.nz
“In the early days, Chris was doing horrendous hours and we had a very young family at the time. Now that we are working together, and we’ve got systems in place and our structures are in place, it just means that we have got weekends back again, he is more involved with the family life there’s generally just a better, happier feeling all around. Back in the early days when we were pricing, it was always the cost plus, and we were doing 30%. When we met with Tony there was a lightbulb moment for us and we finally understood what the profit and loss statement actually meant and how to read it, the forecasting, the planning, budget, sales and all that sort of stuff. That has then grown our margins from about 30% to 45%”.
Johnny Gardner – Owner of Inline Plumbing
www.inlineplumbing.co.nz
“Our business had no vision, I never said ‘no’ to work and I used think being on the tools was the most important thing. Now that I’m working ‘on’ my business rather than just ‘in’ it, we have a lot of onsite and office procedures put in place as well as a job management program; the team are a lot more positive as a result. Now I can take holiday with the family and actually enjoy them without worrying about the business and coming back to a bunch of headaches. Our margins have also increased by 13% and the biggest thing is understanding my margins, I’ll be honest, I struggle with that side of it but now I understand them it’s been huge and it’s allowed us to claw ourselves out of debt over the past 12 months”
“I used to think I could run the whole business by myself and I wouldn’t let anyone in to help me. Now we have systems in place and they’re working well. We have let go of the controls and put trust in our staff which has given our lifestyle back after it was taken away for many years. The numbers aren’t in my head anymore, they aren’t ‘yup we’re making money… I think…’ we know where we are making money, we know what areas we are making money in and we know the profit margins through the whole business. Turnover has increased by 60% and gross profit margins have increased right across the board”
“Before we started on the program we were stuck in a rut with our mind-set and weren’t open to new ideas. Since being on board with Tony, we’ve hired more staff, systemised our business, automated our marketing and created a killer sales process where we convert 20% more quotes into jobs and we get more of the high profit work we want which as seen our gross profit increase from 28% to now consistently hitting 40%. We now take regular holidays and have our lifestyle back”
“I was sitting there staring at the wall… Frozen… Too much paperwork, working crazy hours, didn’t know how much money we were making and had a bunch of people owing us money… Since getting together with Profitable Tradie I’ve changed my mindset, from thinking small to thinking much bigger… Dreaming… We’ve now moved out of our small office at home and bought a premise with a workshop. Hired 2 more people. 1 tradesman and 1 in the office, who brought in $40k in overdue invoices in her first month. I’m no longer working nights and weekends and I’ve gone from tradesman to businessman. Once I leave the office, that’s it…”
“Everything was in my head, everything was going a million miles an hour and nobody in the business knew what was happening… I was working 70+ hours a week. Nights and weekends trying to do everything. Since making the decision to join Profitable Tradie we’ve systemised the jobs for our tradesmen along with Quality Assurance Checklists, meaning we have much less comebacks. I no longer have to work nights and weekends, I get to watch the kids play sport and in the last 12 months we’ve gone from turning over $1.6M with only $14k profit… To now turning over $1.8m but with $150k profit… The proof is in the pudding. I now have the confidence to grow the business and it’s finally enjoyable…”
Kaden Clark – Owner of Clark Plumbing & Gas
https://www.rossclarkplumbers.co.nz/
“I used to work 80 hours a week when I could have earned the same working for someone else – without the hassle! I didn’t understand the different types of profit and our workflow was a roller-coaster. Since joining the program I now understand my numbers – back costing and pricing for margin has increased my margin from 25% to 40%. We’ve also increased our sales by $20,000 a month which has given us the cash flow to get an office, hire more employees and do the things that will progress our business. I enjoy my business a lot more now, I see it as a project and this has rubbed off on our staff and customers”
“To begin with, we didn’t even know what our margins were or how to calculate them. After attending a Profitable Tradie Boot Camp about Financials, it clicked! We jumped on board and Tony has been truly amazing with helping us understanding those numbers, resulting in our margins increasing from 25% to 40% and higher. After changing our mindset, the business has completlely changed for the better. After spending time on new uniforms and getting new vans, our staff members are really happy and the team spirit is on an all time high.”
“Before we started at Profitable Tradie our family life, free time, and our lifestyle was all maxed-out and we had no down time at all. We had no systems in place and we weren’t heading in the right direction. Since coming on board with Tony, we’ve increased our charge out rate, started back-costing our jobs, and pricing for Margin not Mark-Up, which has increased our Gross Profit Margin from 23% to now hitting 52%. We’ve implemented the Default Diary, hired 2 new tradesmen and started using Job Management Software. The business has never looked this good!”
“The jobs were starting to slow down, we were working too many hours, one of our tradesmen had jumped ship to another company and we were starting to get worried about where the business was heading. We then came across Tony and the team at Profitable Tradie and they outlined everything we needed to get done and the best way to achieve our goals. We have implemented the 11-Step Hiring Process, Job Ad Examples and DISC profiles to hire 2 awesome new staff members. We have now started Back Costing our jobs and pricing for our target margin resulting in our Gross Profit margin going from 31% to 49%”
“My step father (Managing Director) was working 60 hours a week, we had far too many call backs because of mistakes made on jobs, and staff morale was really low. I returned from my travels and took over the Managing role, came across Profitable Tradie’s emails and it was really answering all my questions and pin pointing everything we needed to work on. We starting doing regular Performance reviews, setting Key Performance Indicators, got new staff, more team fun days and saw the staff morale increase immensely! We have our lifestyle back, we aren’t working crazy hours, we couldn’t be happier with where the business is at”
“For me, it wasn’t so much about the financials, it was more about getting a balance between business and family. At the start of the program I didn’t want to grow the business, but I look back now and the realise that I had it all in my head. Tony’s managed to simplify things and strip it all down so its quite simple”
“When we started on the programme we were stressed and over worked. We have systemised our business quality assurance checklists, enquiry scripts and default diaries… We have put our prices up (without complaint) and our margins are growing. We have changed our mind-set and become more positive, organised and confident.”
“We’re now looking at the numbers closer than ever, we know how much money we are making and where it’s coming from. We have set target margins we look to hit and now hold the power with negotiations so we can turn around to commercial clients and say no to retentions. Our cash flow issues are a thing of the past – outstanding debts are 2% max. This has helped us grow our business so we can put a management team in place and have time to spend with family”
“We’ve just cracked our best month ever! Our new website is bringing in around $14,000 a month, we’ve hired a new Plumber, Gas Fitter and Apprentice plus we’re getting more done during work hours and working less at night. Having processes and someone to hold us accountable has been massive!”
“We used to work nights & weekends but since we’ve changed our mindset, got an understanding of our financials and re focused our team everything’s changed! The guys can see our new passion for the business and they’ve bought into the vision we have for the company”
” When I started the programme I was barely breaking even, working 70-80 hrs per week… Now I’m systemising my business and my Gross Profit has increased by 79%…”
Brooke Owen – Owners of Peter Owen Plumbing
“Before we met Tony we had no direction, no goals, no focus. We felt like we had lost control of everything. But with Tony’s help were able to focus and get things back on track…”
I was working my arse off and always behind on paying suppliers and doing about 60 hours on the tools each week. We crunched our numbers and worked out that our profit margin was about 17% and now we’ve gone up to about 36% average. We’re pricing properly, I check my hourly rate, and profit margin is right before I put the job through. All the changes are making us an extra 10k gross profit per month!
“We’d been in business for nearly 40 years and while things had gone OK I knew that we could do better. I was working big hours and always tied to the phone. Plus we wanted to set the business up for our retirement so we could sell or continue to get an income from the business. Profitable Tradie helped massively to increase our margins by 12% meaning we are now making $10,000 to $15,000 more profit each month – simply by learning to price and back cost our work properly. Plus we’ve systemised the business and taken on more staff which means we’re on track for our succession plan. In the first 4 months on the Million Dollar Plumber program I learnt more about our numbers than in the previous 40 years in business!”
“Before joining the program we were the classic plumbing business. We had 10 odd tradesmen and an office team but we were running around busy, hectic and not really sure whether we were making money. We’ve now got our numbers sorted out and our margins and profits are improving massively. Our labour utilisation was killing us at around 70% and now we’re hitting around 90%. We’ve also got our website, ad words and No Cow Boys up an running. We are getting around 60 leads a month and 30 to 35 jobs. I’m still amazed at how well it all works.”
“Before I met tony I was working 80 hour weeks and only returning a 17% gross profit margin. I’ve been on board now for 6 months and in that time we’ve increased our profit margins to 35% which has given me and extra $117,231. We’ve hired 2 guys and just have a lot more time off the tools”
Profitable Tradie teaches great plumbers, electricians, gas fitters and drain layers how to become great business owners.
Our members have implemented proven strategies (tested with over 1354 Plumbing, Electrical and similar Businesses since June 2008) to solve the three big challenges: Working too hard, having a business that is too reliant and wanting more profit.
Click here to learn more
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