Jones Power Up Your Tradie Business

A Blueprint for Success
1. Auflage 2017
ISBN: 978-1-925648-07-2
Verlag: Matthew Jones
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 200 Seiten

As a tradie business owner do you feel the harder you work the less profit you make and less time you have? Do you want to build a business that can earn more and have you working less? Do you find it easier to do the job instead of working on the business? Finally, a book demystifying business to provide tradies with a highly profitable and proven 'Blueprint for Success' four-stage framework. Power Up Your Tradie Business identifies the common mistakes that are enslaving business owners to the job, and outlines step by step how to create a business that serves the owner to deliver personal wealth and provide a lifestyle of choice.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Jones, Matthew

Leseproben

Introduction

ENSLAVED TO THE JOB

I looked at myself in the mirror with tears welling in my eyes. I felt like a failure, overwhelmed and angry. I had no money in the bank, bills were piled high and I had mouths to feed. On top of that, I had just received a letter from a liquidator stating that the debt collector I had engaged to recover $30,000 owing from my builder client had gone into liquidation. You have got to be kidding me, right? The debt collection company has gone bankrupt? No! The debt collector had also taken me for the $3000 I paid them to recover my $30,000. So I was $33,000 down. I was done.

This position of despair that I found myself in early 1997 was a culmination of all the choices I had made during the preceding seven years operating my plumbing business. My problem was not that the customer didn’t pay or that the debt collector went broke. The problem was me. Looking into the mirror I could see history repeating again. Win some, lose some. Boom, bust. Money in the bank, no money in the bank. In control, out of control. Great clients, Mr. Creature clients (more on them later). I can do this, I can’t do this. Who am I kidding?

It hit me at that moment I needed to make drastic changes fast. I couldn’t keep running in survival mode year on year. The excitement of starting the business – with its promise of providing personal and financial freedom – was a distant memory. In its place was frustration and anger. I started the business because I wanted to run my own show, to have control of my own destiny. However, right now I was out of control.

This brought a lot of questions to the surface. How did I get myself into a situation where I had created a job for myself that enslaved me? How come clients did not value the work we delivered? Why did clients keep coming back trying to drive down the price? Why did it seem the harder I worked, the less money I was making? Why was it that being great on the tools and delivering great work didn’t automatically convert to money in the bank?

BETTER AT BUSINESS

At this point I realised being great on the tools was not enough – I had to be great at business. And to become great at business, I needed serious change. I had to put my hand up and admit I needed help – something that was not commonplace in the construction game at the time. What would my old South African boss who I started my plumbing apprenticeship with in the 1980s have thought if I showed any sign of weakness? Back then, it was work hard, and then work harder. It was get on the shovel and dig. It wasn’t asking questions; it was just saying yes and getting on with it. It was being grateful for what you have, or getting kicked up the bum. No whinging, just do it.

Putting my hand up for help, even though I was at my lowest point, gave me a huge sense of relief, because I knew I could change my destiny. I could get control and make positive change. Rather than looking at my past as a series of failures, I changed my view to seeing it as the harsh learning experience I needed at that very moment in time. I knew this experience was going to make me a stronger person, and was an investment in the university of life.

I began feeling the same excitement that I experienced when I originally started my plumbing business, which had been extinguished a long time ago.

‘This is it,’ I told myself, and I made a promise to myself that never again would I be in this situation of helplessness. Never again would I rely on other people for my own success. Never again would I lack belief in myself. Never again would I surround myself with people who wanted to keep me down.

Now was the time to put my future plans into action. I began to feel sick as my head raced with all kinds of crazy ideas and selfdoubts. I had to push them aside, however, and remind myself I was hungry to be great at business. I was hungry to learn what it takes to be great at business. I was hungry to provide a great lifestyle for my family.

Three months after receiving the letter notifying me the debt collector I had engaged was going into liquidation, I closed my plumbing business. I began applying for corporate jobs and tertiary study even though I couldn’t turn on a computer, and I didn’t even know what the internet was. This was scary, because change is scary. The last time I studied was when I completed my advanced plumbing at TAFE. At the time, I remember thinking, You beauty! This is the last time I ever have to study. Looking back now, I am thankful that I was very wrong.

LEARN EVERY DAY

After I closed my plumbing business, something happened that changed my life forever. I enrolled in a community college evening course to learn how to use a computer. The course ran for one night a week for 13 weeks. It was literally basic stuff like here is the power cord, plug it into the socket, turn on the computer, this is the keyboard. However, this was the best $395 investment I had ever made. From that moment, as I started to learn about things that had previously scared me, I began to love learning. I began to understand that once you opened yourself up to the learning process, it became easy and very enjoyable. I became hungry to learn, and I wanted more.

Over the next 10 years I immersed myself in learning as much as I could about business and personal success. I had the opportunity to be exposed to the boardrooms of several multinational organisations in general management roles, accountable for delivering $100 million in revenue and inspiring teams of 200. At the same time, I challenged myself to complete my formal studies, earning a Bachelor of Business and Commence Degree from university, and an advanced business diploma. On a daily basis I also loved listening to or reading performance and success thought leaders such as Jim Rohn, Stephen Covey, Michael Gerber, Jack Welch, and Richard Branson. It totally opened my eyes. Awesome.

ABOUT THIS BOOK

This book shares all my business experiences and learnings gained over some 25 years. Throughout my journey I discovered a ‘Blueprint for Success’ that I developed into a four-stage framework. Since 2007, the Blueprint for Success program has been delivered to successfully help over 5000 tradie business owners build a business that successfully generates profit and provides for a great lifestyle. The step-by-step framework educates and guides business owners how to successfully make the transition off the tools and onto the business by working smarter not harder. The four stages of the Blueprint for Success framework are Clarity, Control, Confidence and Connection, and these stages also form the framework for this book. The first part of the book looks at the five most common mistakes tradies make, including giving into what I’ve termed the ‘tradie mindset syndrome’, working harder not smarter and avoiding change.

The next four parts of the book are aligned with the four stages of the Blueprint for Success framework. Here’s a rundown of what each part focuses on, and how each stage leads to the next:

•Clarity: The important question a business owner must ask is, ‘What must the business deliver my family to ensure the investment provides adequate returns?’ In other words, what is the longer term vision or objective of the business? With clear vision comes clarity relating to what the business must stand for in terms of culture, behaviour, values and beliefs. I sum all this up with ‘the way we do it here’ – the nonnegotiable operating DNA of the business. With this clarity comes focused effort, which in turn guarantees profit goals are achieved through the business investing in the right systems and attracting the right type of customer and team members.

•Control: Clarity helps you identify the key areas of the business that must be recorded and reported on, on a regular basis. If a process cannot be reported on, it cannot be measured. Without measurement, you can’t control the business. This part helps you identify the required reporting tools and measurement to give you the necessary control across finances, marketing, team and processes. Put simply, like any sporting team, you need to check the scoreboard and review your stats to understand what areas are working or not working. This knowledge drives continual performance improvement, a prerequisite for survival in the competitive and brutal landscape all businesses operate in today.

•Confidence: With control comes the confidence to make educated decisions quickly. You don’t experience procrastination, second guessing or, importantly, lack of belief. Confidence gives you the power to make great decisions. Your decision-making framework relates to how to price for profit, when to hire and fire, when to say no to dodgy customers, and when to reinvest into the business. Your confidence then flows through the entire business into team members, customers, suppliers and partners. All stakeholders have the confidence and the belief that the business will deliver a consistent customer experience and a consistent financial return.

•Connection: Businesses that radiate confidence attract great...