Tradie Avant Garde

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Jane Challinor, Chief of Strategy, Real Business Group.

Jane Challinor is one of Australia’s leading business advisors and trainers, with more than 30 years’ experience in business strategy, growth and execution across all industries ranging from motivated start-ups to working with businesses in excess of $100M turnover. She has founded, developed and sold over 12 successful businesses to date, using a proven methodology that has transformed hundreds of her clients’ businesses in Australia, USA and UK.

The foundation of Jane’s success lies in practical strategies that get results fast. At a certain stage of growth, many Tradie business owners find themselves caught in a classic bind between managing everyday operations and securing long-term, profitable growth. When you’re struggling through a sea of daily firefighting tasks, it’s easy to forget one uncomfortable truth: unless you have a business that can already work without you, it’s essentially worthless. Jane has an outstanding track record of helping company owners avoid this trap and secure a path to sustainable long-term growth and ongoing profitability.

Jane’s recipe for long-term success is simple, drive rapid iterative improvement across every operational aspect of the Tradie businesses, boosting customer loyalty and radically improving service and product quality along the way. Her clients often double or triple the profitability of their business in less than 12 months, without pressure on internal resources. She has a laser focus on strategy, with plans that keep business owners accountable and help them develop the skills they need to achieve their goals.

Jane’s depth of knowledge is unparalleled, with training in every area of business including sales, marketing, leadership, human resources, business strategy and finance. Whether it’s a start up or established business, Jane works with business owners to refine every detail from the ground up, to ensure the business is both efficient and profitable.

You will enjoy the insights that Jane shares around current and emerging trends impacting the industry and how these may be influencing Tradie businesses with great tips and tricks to encourage you and your business to be better prepared to build a stronger Tradie business foundation and set yourself up to be operating a spectacular and profitable Tradie business into the future.

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

We have the pleasure of having David McGarGill Managing Director,  Luke Robertson Directors of Mortgages join us again for our first Toolbox Talk.

During our catch up in show #15 we discussed current trends impacting financial services and the real benefits of using experts in helping you with personalised solutions for your individual and business finance. Talk through the types of loans and services that will best meet your needs, some great tips and tricks to getting your personal and business finances in order. How change has transformed the finance industry and really focusing on the importance of setting up your finances from the very start.

During this show we really focus on the most current situation and the emerging trends in the financial environment.

Private Client Services Australia Pty Ltd is a well-established company with over 100 years of combined experience among the team. This experience will give you the satisfaction of knowing you are dealing with professionals who know their industry.

They have been assisting Tradie businesses, individuals and companies with their financing needs for over 15 years and have built a company with a compelling reputation that can be relied upon.

All Tradies that run their Tradie business need to hear what David has to share around the most current trends in the financial and loan market that might help you make better decisions on what steps you might want to take and encourage you to get advice that is best for you and your needs.

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Craig Herden, Strategist De Jonge Read - Specialist Business Consultants. To start with Craig, explain how financial pressure can be debilitating. The stress, the pressure, the fear of losing everything - it can be hard to think clearly. The way forward can look so confusing, so many different unfamiliar terms and jargon, it can seem like people are talking a different language.

A Tradie businesses it is all about managing cashflow and this is one the biggest issues facing Tradie businesses when the working capital and cashflow is not as it should be and does lead into problems that can escalate quickly if not addressed.

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Craig then goes into detail about how insolvency advice with De Jonge Read works when facing financial difficulties, it is important to get comprehensive advice that is practical enough to act on. We understand all the options you have available and will give you clear, independent, no-nonsense advice. Everything from small business debt restructuring, business restructures, creditor negotiations, liquidation, voluntary administrations to personal asset protection and bankruptcy – we can help you navigate the minefield of insolvency to ensure you get the best outcome possible.

It all starts with a conversation about what you want to achieve so a comprehensive strategy to address your individual circumstances can be tailor made – all at no upfront cost and with no obligation.

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Dealing with insolvency matters can be like playing a game where everyone knows the rules except you. Our team are here to help level the playing field. We will guide you every step of the way and provide that personal support that people need when facing difficult circumstances.

All Tradies that run their Tradie business need to hear what Craig has to share business set up, business restructure, debt restructure and DOCA, controlled exit, informal negotiations, finance options and asset protection strategies. You will be impressed with the relaxed way Craig talks us through all the options and how and why they exist.

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Radmila Desic AM, Past NAWIC National Director and National Vice President, currently NAWIC QLD – Women on Tools and NAWIC Life Member and was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day 2021 Honours List for her significant service to women in the construction industry, and to unemployed youth.

We have an outstanding catch up with Radmila (Rad) and start out hearing about Rad’s story about her journey as a Tradie in carpentry and joinery and the experiences she had as a woman in this Tradie environment. Rad shares the feeling of empowerment and positivity of seeing the results of the hard work as a Tradie on those job sites. As Rad matured during the trade apprenticeship and sharing her story with other women found many wished they had made similar decisions and didn’t realise it was an option and found so many thought it wasn’t a career for women and the start of her passion and motivation for driving positive change and encouraging more women to enter into building and construction careers.

Rad also shares how she and her husband come from non English speaking backgrounds and tradies who worked hard in the beginning before starting their family and Rad by choice leaving the trade to raise their family but stills holds the passion for the tools, trade and helping out family and friends still today. We talk about the amazing passion and commitment to voluntary work with NAWIC to make a real difference, opening more doors for women, encouraging women to take up the opportunities in Tradie roles, breaking down the stereotypes and advocating across government and industry in the mission of increasing participation.

Rad takes us through all the initiatives, support and activities that she and NAWIC are doing to promote, encourage and engage women into building and construction roles. We also talk about the mentoring and support that they are providing women and the diversity and culture initiatives to help change the fixed mindsets. They are also working with men in the trade with programs to help drive the change, diversity and create new thinking about the recruitment and support in being inclusive leaders in this important change program.

We cover to much to mention here, but promise you will love the insights Rad shares and you will find her passion, enthusiasm and energy is infectious. You will also quickly come to understand why she has been recognised with the Order of Australia medal earlier this year. If you are looking for a role-model in building and construction, you’ve just found it.

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Suzi Cengarle Senior Associate of Bambrick Legal

Suzi shares her journey in various business roles that ultimately led to her completing her Law degree we briefly touch on the successful services Suzi has completed for her clients. For those of you thinking about studying as a mature aged student there is sure to be some inspiration from Suzi has to share.

When then focus on the Law and what that Bambrick legal as a firm covers all service including commercial and civil litigation. Suzi takes us through what these services are and why you might need to use them. We chat about migration law, family law, estate planning and Suzi explains that they cover all aspects of law.

We then look at the more specific needs of Tradies and the legal options for how you might need to consider setting up your business and the protections you need to consider to protect you and your assets. Bambrick give some specific options for how you might structure your business and protect assets in the event things go wrong. Suzi also shares how setting up the right paperwork and flow is important for Tradies including contracts and how you use these within your business including Terms & Conditions , employment contracts, Service contracts etc.

When then explore companies versus trusts and how this is a conversation you need to have to ensure you set up the business in a way that best meets your current and future needs. Bambrick legal cover the country and can help tradies with their individual and business needs as well as offering Innovative Tradies Club members with a great service. You will enjoy Suzi’s clear and relaxed insights into the law and how Bambrick Legal can help.

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Matt Downie, Director and Founder of iElectrical and Communications

We have an excellent chat with Matt about his journey from apprentice electrician through to award winning business owner with iElectrical based in Adelaide, South Australia.

Matt talks about how he almost become a carpenter before accepting and apprenticeship with Watters Electrical who were the major sponsor of Matt’s Footy Club, Sturt at the time. We talk about how owning a business was something Matt always had the motivation and ambition to achieve and with the support of his wife decided to make the jump from employee to business owner. You will hear a familiar story of Matt subbying in the start for a few days a week as he built his own customer base and operating as a sole trader.

Matt shares the important lessons and experience he gained form Watters and the other Tradie businesses he worked with before making the jump and how his internal drive was a big factor in giving it a crack. iElectrical has been operating for just 5 years and currently employs 18 Tradies with a focus on 2 teams supporting Projects & Service.

Matt shares great insights into managing the current business environment, impacts to growth, supply chain and material costs in the current market. We spend time talking about the importance of people, recruiting, the right people and culture needed for iElectrical. Matt shares how nurturing and servicing the iElectrical customers needs are important to success and the team need to be able to bring value to those needs. Being organised, motivated, having pride and loving what they do have been a real key to identifying and bringing new employees into the business.

Matt continues to provide great insights into brand, image and social media as critical success factors for iElectrical and how this has evolved over the last 5 years. Matt and iElectrical has recently been recognised with Awards including Top 40 businesses under 40 and then awarded South Australia’s Top Sparky by the Advertiser News Group. Matt explains how these awards are really recognition of the entire team and that Jack their apprentice was awarded Apprentice of the Year in the recent NECA SA Awards of which Matt is most proud. Matt does share how these awards are good for building business confidence and creating awareness with clients and prospective clients.

If you are Tradie looking to start your own Tradie business or have been in business for a few years you will get some great tips, tricks and insights from what Matt has to share and sure to help you with Marketing, Branding, People, Customers, Relationships, Networking, Operations and even more.

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Tanya Meessmann, The Chief Executive Officer of UNIQ YOU Jack Hutchinson Associate Director at Hutchinson Builders and Mark Kucks National Indigenous Manager & Social Responsibility, Hutchinson Builders.

The theme for this one is around increasing the participation of women in building and construction trades careers. We get to understand what UNIQ YOU are setting out to achieve in supporting a pipeline for talented women to be attracted, recruited and trained in the trades of construction. UNIQ YOU has identified the current concerning participation numbers of women in construction and is addressing the early pipeline of young women by creating increased education and pathway programs with high school girls at 50 schools in SE Queensland in stage one, with the ambition to scale the rollout across the country. This initiative will connect with 600 – 2000 girls in year one and ramping up to over 10K into the near future.

We also hear about Hutchinson Builders and how they are fully invested in supporting this progress of more talented women into their organisation and what they are doing to correct this under representation of women in construction careers. They have recognised they can make a real difference and as a leader in the industry are committed to making this change real. Jack shares how he sees this approach more aligned to success than just applying a quota without being fully supported with the education and promotion of these career opportunities with young women.

Tanya explains how the UNIQ YOU platform is the key introduction for young women to peruse the advisors, mentors and career options they might like to explore and book in a call with an advisor to start the conversation and the beginning of an exciting journey in a Trades career. The value of the data uncovered in the process will also help UNIQ YOU to fine tune and improve the service and provide greater results as they better understand the needs.

We hear how great Partners like Hutchinson Builders are also critical to driving the ambition and providing the environment for more talented women to enter into the industry. Mark explains how Hutchies is committed to building this foundation to enable those women to enter into roles and building the pathways for them. Hutchies is running “Try Trades” days inviting schools to bring the student to visit sites and experience the opportunities on-site and the chance to get curious and ask lots of questions with some practical exercises to actually using the tools for those trades.

UNIQ YOU and their partners like Hutchinson Builders are opening doors for young women to be attracted to careers in building and construction and helping to build the pipeline to improve gender equality within the industry and improving the numbers of participation.

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Genevieve Bruzzese, The Chief Operating Officer of “The Vaccaro Group“

Genevieve has a lifetime connection to the Vaccaro Group as she grew up within the family business started by her parents Sam and Rose Vaccaro. We hear about those early memories and experiences growing up in a family business environment. Genevieve trained as a Lawyer specialising in employment law and practiced law and policy advising at both state and federal levels. Genevieve shares how having experience in a family Tradie business gave her valuable experience when applying those insights into her role as an Employment Lawyer.

Genevieve talks us through the decision to join the family business and how this career change came about. Genevieve helps us understand the motivation and transformation she and Cameron have taken the Vaccaro Group through with a big focus on digitising processes to drive higher quality and productivity, improving communications within and outside of the business. Building the business around an operating system that helps to drive better processes, tracking, job management, accounting, transparency and customer satisfaction amongst many other business benefits.

We discus how Genevieve has taken Vaccaro Group through the ISO accreditation process in Quality and Health Safety and Environment. We gain insights as to why this accreditation is so important to the Vaccaro Group, to their employees and to their customers. As you will hear it is a thorough and detailed process in gaining the ISO accreditation that has significant advantages once it is achieved in ensuring constant quality improvement.

We move onto understanding how Vaccaro Group go about bringing value to their customers with a significant part of this is in being a “start to finish" approach that makes it easy for the Builder and the Home Owner with all the complexities of the build process. This includes electrical design, upgrades, connections, security, air conditioning, EV charging, home theatre, entertainment options plus more . Vaccaro Group have built quality process around all the steps from concept to completion, they take away all the worries.

Vaccaro Group are also committed to training their staff and we chat about what has been set up to ensure the team are skilled in all areas of the businesses offer and customers expectations. They also offer a design studio and design consultants who take the home owners through all the options and upgrade solutions they can consider for each of the spaces in the home or environment. We talk about V Design and the showroom experience that Vaccaro Group offer.

Genevieve provides a great insight into the journey Vaccaro Group have started and how many other Tradie businesses might need to consider as they strive to be relevant to their core customers and markets by creating a competitive advantage, being different to ways others try to operate. The industry is changing and simplifying, digitising and modernising processes and operations is key to long term success.

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Ben Fewtrell , Co-Founder of Max My Profit

Ben starts by telling us about how he started out as a Tradie in the automotive industry before spending some time trying to find the job and career that really excited and motivated him and the start of his learning in building and operating businesses.

In this show we speak with Ben to get a better understanding of what business coaching is and isn’t. Ben describes business coaching as similar to the personal trainer in a gym, business coaching set up the workout you need and holds you to account. That is the first key, business coaching is about accountability. The second key is that qualified business coaches have done it and they know the short cuts, they have an idea of what will work and what might not. Ben shares that there are many disciplines in business and the coach can work with you on them. An example is People, typically the biggest investment in your business and managing people is a skill in its self. Business coaches help you to hone those skills.

Ben does say that business coaching is not for everyone, If you don’t like being accountable, being open minded or have the right attitude, maybe just keep doing what you do as your job (Just Over Broke). Ben goes on to say business coaches don’t have to sell themselves to you but the other way around, why should they coach you and this is all about the mindset and attitude you are taking into the relationship. A business coach will challenge you, get you focused on your goals, want be there to tell you what you want to hear all the time and when your paying them, will be honest with you and keep your focus (Follow One Course Until Successful).

Ben tells us about the difference between business consulting and business coaching. The business consultant looks and tells with advice, whilst the business coach asks and challenges to help you learn and teaches you. Coaching is about challenging you, making you think, improve those skills that will build and grow a better business.

Ben then takes us through the attributes you should be looking for in finding a business coach, the high value of experience, don’t go for an industry specialist, someone you feel comfortable with that you get on with, a coach that has systems and resources you can access. Coaches that cover multiple disciplines, avoid group programs if you can avoid a one on one coach.

Ben then shares with us the more specific tips and trick for Tradies to consider in the fundamentals such as planning, financials, KPI’s, budgeting, cash flow forecasts the very basics. Then move onto to marketing and systems and structuring the business for growth. Ben then takes us through the advantages that Max My Profit can provide Tradies looking to engage with a coach and talks about The Business Exceleration® Coaching program supports you on your business growth journey like no other program. In addition to working one on one with your highly skilled Business Excelerator®, they’ve established a panel of trusted partners to help grow your business, created a detailed and comprehensive e-Learning platform and built a “members only” hub with hundreds of tools and resources making it easy for you to implement strategies as you go.

You will enjoy listening to Ben’s informative chat about business coaching providing some real clarity to help Tradies better understand the potential benefits of engaging a business coach.

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Harry Karefilakis, Managing Director, Kare Group Australia

Harry takes us through Kare Group Australia, a diverse Electrical Contracting business covering construction, service, Maintenance, electrical auditing, security and air conditioning. Harry gives us an early lesson on social media and how using the self described Electrical Extraordinaire and how this has been a springboard to engaging with more potential customers and converting them into clients. Harry shares how LinkedIn still allows organic reach as compared to other platforms that required paid advertising to get a greater reach. We talk about the early resilience that Harry developed before finally getting a chance to start in the industry and received a call from DESA to begin his journey as a sparky.

Harry was awarded the 2020 Winner Melbourne Young Entrepreneur and he takes us through the process that led to being honoured with this title. Harry shares his insights to what it takes to really make it in a Tradie business including hard work, networking, building strong relationships, learning, good people and marketing.

We explore the things that keep Harry awake at night and off course during the Covid lockdowns the real focus on his team of 34 and looking after them with rotating rosters and keeping them going. We also touch on recruitment and Harry shares his insights into attributes that Kare look for and their approach to find people that fit the Kare Group mold ,culture and values. You will hear Harry genuine passion for people and the value his places on his people. Harry invest time into training, supporting and learning for each of his team and shares these stories.

We explore what is happening when the business is performing at its best and what needs to happen to keep this growth and momentum going forward. Structure, organisation and process are the real keys to the success of the KARE Groups success. Process is at the core of everything they do and helps the team to deliver on the businesses needs and customers expectations. Harry shares his passion for business, how as an entrepreneur, he loves the game that is business, loves the challenge and winning. Harry gives an honest view of the challenges that those in the building and construction industry have created with many having cut-throat pricing strategies due to their lack of understanding and business acumen.

Harry tells us about his and Kare Groups “Why” and the rewards that have come from having clarity in the “Why”. We touch on leadership, people, authenticity, empathy, assessing success, processes, growth. You will enjoy Harry’s passion and entrepreneurial approach to business and an amazing focus on the value of his people.

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Owen Finegan, CEO of The Kids Cancer Project

Owen is the CEO of The Kids Cancer Project and starts by taking us through his story from Tradie to CEO with Rugby being a highly influential part of that journey. Owen started out when rugby was still an amateur sport, so having a career outside of sport was essential and how Owen saw locking in a trade was the obvious choice. Rugby has been a big part of Owens life with a distinguished career as player and coach that saw him transition from amateur status to professional sportsperson. Owen earned 55 Caps for the Wallabies from 1996-2003, playing club Rugby with Randwick and is an ACT Brumbies legend.

Our focus for this show is on The Kids Cancer Project and Owen talks to us about his last 6 years as CEO including how it all started on an ordinary day in the late 1980s when Col Reynolds AOM was driving his empty tourist coach past the Children’s Hospital in Camperdown, Sydney. After stopping to let two youngsters with bald heads cross the road, he parked and went into the hospital on the spur of the moment. Touched by the spirit of everyone he met that day, Col started his personal mission to help kids with cancer in any way he could. Early on, he learned the only way to improve outcomes for these children is through advances in medical research.

We discuss how The Kids Cancer Project is essentially all about funding important research into Kids Cancer, with a research advisory committee providing the insights into where they can make the biggest difference and are currently supporting world leading and groundbreaking research projects with many charities and like-minded organisations.

Owen tell us about some of the specifics of what The Kids Cancer Project is doing in making a difference to the lives of kids living with cancer because they can imagine what a world without suffering from cancer looks like for children and their families. Owen share their Mission - To support bold science that has the greatest chance of clinical success to improve childhood cancer treatments. Their Vision - To see a one hundred per cent survival rate for children with cancer while eradicating the harmful impacts treatment can bring.

Owen shares with us that 3 children a day, 90 children are diagnosed with cancer each month in Australia. As many as 90% of kids who survive will develop one or more chronic health conditions. This September The Kids Cancer Project initiated a better way to help them with the introduction of The Better Challenge. The way to get involved is simple, run, walk or roll 90km and help raise money for cancer treatments that are kinder, gentler and more effective. You can help create a better future for kids with cancer.

We close out this insightful catch up with Owen by discussing how he has brought the learning from professional sportsperson into the workplace around teamwork, ownership, contribution, strategy, ideas, innovation, new and better ways, technology, tools and valuing people.

It is still a great time to support The Better Challenge and The Kids Cancer Project with a donation to help create a BETTER future for kids with cancer.

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Andrew Osborn, Website and Digital Marketing Owner of Bloomtools

Andrew has rich experience in business development, sales and marketing that has progressed into a passion for supporting Tradie businesses to capitalise on and gain greater success online.

We talk all thing websites and get to understand the important things to consider in having a really effective website presence. The first reason for the need foe a website is to develop credibility as a business, sharing your expertise, your brand, what you do, where you do it, including the products and services you offer. It is the showcase of your business, sells your story 24/7, creates enquiries and more business.

One of the main reasons Tradies should have a website is for your business is to increase your business’ credibility. Having a website is an opportunity to make a great first impression to potential customers and gives them comfort that you're a professional and expert business who can meet their needs.

Andrew takes us through some on the key aspects of the how websites work including Key words, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Page names, URL, Google My Business, Google ratings, mobile friendly, software updates etc. This is the real expertise that Andrew and the team at Bloomtools bring to Tradie businesses to ensure the user experience gives you the best chance of attracting customers that need you. We discus the importance of the customer journey and how the ads, links or posts need to be a good experience for the customer and each click takes them to right options, aligned to their needs, quickly and simply.

Content is king in a good website, and we talk about how Bloomtools are helping Tradies set up their website in achieving the best results, support, service and advice in achieving your ambitions. Bloomtools see this as a partnership and work through the process all the way while training you to become proficient in using the website and setting you up for success as your business grows.

We close by understanding the very user-friendly system Bloomtools offers unique outcomes , provides simplicity, easy editing, easy updating, complete services, extensive web tools, plus more to give you the best results.

Andrew and the Bloomtools Team are committed to making a difference for you and your Tradie website and digital marketing strategy.

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Justin Geange an RUOK? Community Ambassador.

Tradies face a range of challenges across their working lives – from job uncertainty to financial pressures, intense physical demands and workplace culture issues. In an industry where stigma is high, these pressures can build up and impact mental and emotional wellbeing for tradies if they don't feel they can talk to others about their struggles.

Justin who is a Tradie, a plumber, speaks openly about the experiences and struggles he had back in 2012, how his boss noticed a change in him and took the steps to help him to get help. This experience led Justin to joining with RUOK? to help others who are needing their story being heard and that it is OK not being OK. We explore some of life pressures that lead to Tradies not travelling so well and dealing with the struggles of life. Justin talks about some of the signs his boss noticed during his struggles and how being out of character led to the conversations that changes his life.

Justin also shares how when his boss was asking RUOK? He would say “yes I’m OK” knowing that he really wasn’t and how persistence made the difference and got to the point that he could say yes I’m NOT OK.

We discus what Justin really loves about this new Tradie Campaign and how it focuses on the strengths that exists in the building and construction industry. We get to understand that its about asking the question, checking in and having the conversation, Ask, Listen, Encourage, Action and Check in. Things can happen so quickly so the importance of checking in cannot be underestimated. The old mindset of keeping it to ourselves and changing that culture is critical to making a difference and having the conversations that can change a life.

R U OK? is calling on Australian tradespeople to add conversation skills to their toolkits and has released ‘Tradies Tools to Talk’ to help them know when and how to ask their workmates ‘are you OK?’.

The R U OK? Tradies resources provide practical tools and tips for family, friends and workmates to spot the signs that someone on their work site may be struggling, to empower them to spark a meaningful R U OK? conversation and to help them find support if needed.

When we genuinely ask ‘Are you OK?’ and are prepared to talk to a mate about how they’re feeling we can help someone who might be struggling to feel connected and supported, long before they’re in crisis.

Justin’s story, passion and commitment to making a difference is infectious and a genuine industry role-model that is having the conversations that change a life, RUOK?

Find out more: https://www.ruok.org.au/tradies

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Sue Yeates from PSC My IS Insurance

We seek to find out what insurance cover Tradies and Tradie businesses need to ensure they are well protected. Sue talks about her experience in all thing's insurance, before focusing on the most common covers that all Tradie businesses need to consider. Sue describes the general insurance maze and the complexity that comes with trying to work out what you need?

We start with “Public Liability Insurance” and what it covers. We then move onto “Product liability Insurance” and why this is also important to consider in your cover. When then move onto “Professional Indemnity Insurance” and the circumstances when you might need this coverage and what it protects. Sue then helps us to understand the other covers that Tradies should consider in their cover including “Tools of Trade Insurance”, “Motor Vehicle Insurance”, “Trailer Insurance”, “Portable electronic equipment insurance”, “Tax Audit insurance”, “Contractors or Risk insurance”, “Personal Accident insurance”, “Workers compensation insurance "and “Cyber insurance”.

Sue takes us through the process in selecting the right policies with you and your business needs and building a solution that protects you correctly. Sue shares some of the trends that Tradies experience with gaps in their insurance protection and thoughts on what they should consider to get the best cover including recording and marking all your assets. We look at why it is important to review your insurance cover every 12 months to make sure it is aligned to your needs.

Sue and the team at PSC My IS are ready and waiting to support you in getting the best solution and best cover.

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Lauren Fahey from the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC)

We get to hear Laurens's journey to becoming the General Manager of NAWIC. Laurens vast experience in behaviour change programs has positioned her well in taking the opportunity to lead the goals and ambitions of NAWIC. Lauren is married to a Tradie and successfully running their Tradie business. Lauren shares her passion for NAWIC and particularly to amazing work all the volunteers are doing with NAWIC which started in Australia in 1995 and has chapters right around the country. We discus what the organisation does, the services, events and functions they provide for their members in the construction industry.

NAWIC is led by a team of passionate volunteers who all strive to help champion and empower women in the construction and related industries to reach their full potential. With Chapters in every state and territory, we are also part of a global network of NAWIC organisations, including those in the United States, New Zealand and Canada.

NAWIC provides a forum for its members to meet and exchange information, ideas and solutions. We also offer our members an opportunity to expand personal and business networks, maintain awareness of industry developments, improve skills and knowledge and contribute to other women in the construction industry.

Laurens talks about the change NAWIC is achieving through advocacy & lobbying, education for individuals, companies and industry as a whole, Connection, Celebration and Support for all women in construction through our membership Community and how diversity is so important to them achieving their mission and vision. We look at some of the industry role models that come to mind and Lauren shares 3 specific role models that have stood out within NAWIC. We look at their stories and what they are doing to make a real difference in the Industry.

We move onto some of the key statistics around the women Tradies currently working in the construction industry and the variations in the numbers and that only 2% of Tradies are women. NAWIC has the vision that more women become Tradies and the industry and have set the goal that 25% of the Tradies in construction will be women by 2025. To achieve this education is going to be the most powerful weapon in driving this change and encouraging more women into the Trades. Initiatives engaging school kids in a big focus to get the positive messaging and encouragement required to create the awareness and opportunities for more women in construction.

For this change to occur we talk about the need for mindset, gender and stereotyping needs to shift and opening up to new thinking around recruitment, training and retention of more women in those Tradie roles.

You will enjoy the real passion and enthusiasm Lauren shares in leading NAWIC and the ambitions to achieve 25% minimum female participation across all of the construction industry by 2025

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Clinton Cowin & Scott Simpson from TradiePad

Clinton tells us the story of how TradiePad started and how TradiePad has evolved over the last 10 years. Clinton shares his genuine curiosity around how technology could help the Tradie business he was working in, plus the launch of the iPad that occurred during that time. Scott talks about his journey into TradiePad and a passion for the benefits of software and the opportunities for improvement and benefits that certain software can bring to Tradie businesses.

Clinton talks about how the introduction of iPad really changed the game and the research he did to find options that could be combined with the iPad to build a solution that could simplify the paper-based administration into a digital solution that helped their Tradie business save time, money and a new way of doing business. Clinton talks about how this revolutionised the way their Plumbing business operated and how he saw the potential to takes this to many other Tradie businesses. In his experience it increased their professionalism in front of customers, enabled quoting and invoicing on the spot, taking payment while on the job which improved cashflow dramatically as well as the overall business efficiency.

Clinton talks about the TradiePad of today and how it is essentially a training organisation helping Tradies and Tradie businesses in implementing individual technology solutions that are best suited to their needs and into their business processes. Scott shares insights into the challenges with technology and how TradiePad supports Tradies in finding the right solutions and partner with them in the full implementation to ensure success.

Both Clinton and Scott share their experience and expertise in insights as to why all Tradies and Tradie business needs are not all the same and as such the critical need to really understand their current position and develop a solution that is fully aligned to the business needs at that time. They talk about how they get an understanding of the overall Business Technology Platform when working on the best solutions for their clients. 

Tradie businesses have so many different types of software for the operations and functions of their business. In most cases, these are not integrated, connected or compatible and TradiePad are the experts in changing this situation quickly and support Tradies in driving improvement, productivity, life balance, profitability and other potential life changing outcomes for Tradies and Tradie business.

You will enjoy the passion, enthusiasm and expertise that both Clinton and Scott share in making a difference with Tradies and Tradie businesses on the technology journey.

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Daniel Palumbo, Director of “Trade Up Consulting”

Daniel brings a wealth of corporate experience in the Plumbing Industry with a 22+ year career with Reece Group, the leading Australian distributor of plumbing, waterworks and HVAC-R products to residential, commercial and infrastructure customers through 800 branches in Australia, New Zealand. Daniel takes us through the great experience and learning that this career provided and how it led to Daniel becoming the Chief Operations Officer.

With such an impressive career in the industry Daniel talks about the change that he has observed in the market over that 22 years around technology, innovation and product development. The mobile phone being the biggest change to the way Tradies connect, communicate and order with the branches. Product Innovation has driven productivity and efficiency such as the hot and cold press systems for water and gas, highlighting the fact labour rates are so high in Australia and time saving is such a critical advantage for Tradies. We discuss in detail how Digital innovation is the other major change driver in the industry with smart phones, business software, access to information and connectivity being so important to the operations of Tradie businesses.

We move into the challenges Tradie businesses have with their operations, running their business. Tradies are well trained in the skills and knowledge of their trade, but there is a gap with most not having that formal business training when starting out and this is a huge opportunity to help Tradies and Tradie businesses. The micro businesses (1-- 5) are the ones that are spending many hours on the job and then many hours on the admin and the gap between the best and worse highlighting the need to be able to reach out and support them in changing this situation.

Daniel has worked with thousands of Tradie businesses over the years and shares some thoughts into running a Tradie business including; marketing, differentiation, technology, digitisation, developing value, your purpose and the “Why”, business planning, the numbers, operations, communications, relationships, suppliers, partnerships and many other high value insights that will help Tradies to think about what they do and how they do it.

Daniel’s experience and expertise in the Industry provides outstanding insights that we know you are going to enjoy.

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Joanne Farrell, Director of “Build like a Girl” & General Manager of Kane Constructions (ACT).

Joanne takes us through her experience as a young woman who chose a career as a Tradie and the real challenges that this decision presented in finding opportunities the traditional fixed mindsets that had to overcome. This experience has fueled Joanne’s passion and commitment to working within the industry to drive change and create opportunities for more talented women to enjoy Tradie careers in building and construction.

We explore Joanne's role as General Manager of Kane constructions in the ACT and the work they are doing in projects and with people to stand out from others. We discus the value of resilience and the essential ingredient of a strong and positive network around you to push through and develop the strength, resilience and support to build on the career.

Joanne recalls her Tradie experiences and network that has led to starting “Build like a Girl’” with the involvement with NAWIC & Master Builders a big part of in taking this step in creating “Build like a Girl”. The statistics reflect that women's participation in the Trades is as low as 2% and the pipeline for women to enter Tradie careers is nonexistent and with researching industry and training bodies highlighting the opportunity to finding a a way of doing it better. Joanne talks about the core being education and starting the conversations at schools and the need to remove gender as part of the selection process and make all decision made on merit, attitude and potential. The need for government and industry support to provide the incentives and encouragement to change the mindsets and a genuine drive for positive change.

Joanne shares some of the great initiatives that “Build like a Girl” is doing within the industry to engage, encourage, educate and train more women into opportunities in Tradie careers. This effort is already creating a great pipeline of women seeking more information and support in finding and starting Tradie careers.

This is a great Tradie Tale and outstanding insights into a passionate, committed and focused Tradie role model

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Cameron Bruzzese, The General Manager of the Vaccaro Group.

We start out with Cameron sharing his journey from studying a Business Management Degree at UWS and during this time did part time labouring with the Vaccaro Group amongst other part time jobs to get through those Uni years. Cameron became part of the family when marrying his wife Genevieve with Sam and Rose Vaccaro becoming his in-laws and asked Sam for the opportunity to become an apprentice electrician and completed his trade with the company. Cameron quickly built trust and respect within the business and moved into the office of the business before finally becoming the General Manager of Vaccaro Group with Genevieve the COO of the Group.

Cameron talks through the changes, challenges and struggles that the transition of the successful business that Sam & Rose started in 1984 and the need to align with the current needs including technology, process, modernisation and the mindset shifts required to move the business forward. Cameron talks about the value and importance of the business coach and the role they played in mediating some of those tough conversations and different points of view.

We have a great discussion about the importance of business process, digitisation, operating systems, technology, communication flow, efficiencies, operations and job management. We then move onto the importance of being a family business, people, culture, motivation, performance and rewards in keeping the team engaged, happy and productive. The Vaccaro Group is a great story in the journey for a Tradie business to simplify, modernise and digitise and the value that comes from that investment.

Cameron takes us through the insights in what the business wanted to stand for and define the business. They knew that great service to home builders was respected and well established, Cameron talks about some of the strategies that they put in place to take this service to a new level for their customers. We close out with a discussion on the value of strong partnerships and the contributions from both sides that make a difference. The Vaccaro Group has a very strong and long-established relationships with the Clipsal, Daikin & Panasonic Brands and the value these relationship bring to them and their customers.

This is a great Tradie Tale and insights into a great Tradie business.

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Renee Boardman, The Founder and Director of Trade-O. We get to hear Renee’s journey and experiences as an automotive refinisher Tradie in New Zealand and the move to travelling and living in many parts of Australia before identifying the opportunity to improve the Tradie recruitment process and the launching of Trade-O to help Tradies connect.

Renee takes us through the conversion of this idea into a platform that could meet the needs of Tradie recruitment and the changes that are occurring during the beta stages of the Trade-O platform. We explore the gap in the market that Renee identified, the existing recruitment process limitations, more effectively identifying skills, knowledge, experience and qualifications in this process as the inspiration for starting Trade-O.

Renee talks to us about how finding a job or skilled workers in the construction industry can be tough, which is why Tradie-O is 100% for direct recruitment. With Trade-O there is no middle-man taking a cut and both Tradies & Employers are free to negotiate their own terms! Renee take us through the whole process and some of the unique features that are focused on giving Tradies and Tradie businesses a better option and better outcome.

Trade-O helps Tradies and Tradie businesses including; search for a job, find a Tradie, list a new job vacancy or get a job quoted.

If you’re a Tradie looking for a new opportunity or a Tradie looking for more Tradies then what Renee has to share about Trade-O is well worth the listen.

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Tracey Wyber, Managing Director of Trackie Industries. We start out by getting an understanding of Tracey’s journey in becoming part of the Tradie world and now the Managing Director of Trackie Industries. This story will be quite familiar to the many, many thousands of wives, husbands, partners, families that are operating their Tradie business together. Tracey talks about the transition from Teacher, Mum to four children and the leap of faith into a Tradie business.

Tracey talks about the great opportunities and potential gold mine that Tradie businesses can provide and how their business coach was such an important part of the start out journey. Tracey shares the interesting story on how the name Trackie was introduced as the businesses name and the fondness that has come over time before talking more specifically about the important role Tracey plays in the business and the real focus on the financial aspects of business success. Trackie Industries has grown from Sole-trader to a team of 7 over 3 years and we look at this growth phase.

Tracey talks about their passion and focus on sustainability and energy management, but shares the insight how their customers didn’t necessarily buy into their passion and value just on energy management and sustainability alone. The buying decision of the customers have other considerations that may override their importance placed on environmental concerns at the point of purchase. This led to repositioning the marketing back to their core as Commercial Air Conditioning, Fire Compliance & Electrical Experts.

Tracey then talks about an event that really impacted both Tracey and Brad and the outcome from this situation. This is one of the more powerful stories about life, business, family and adversity that is all to often experienced with Tradie businesses and is sure to get you rethinking your WHY? Tracey shares in detail how they worked through this challenging time, together they invested in refocusing and identifying their Why, built the plan to get to the Why and how they have implemented strategies to make the transition to this important business destination. Tracey talks about how having the WHY back, builds the excitement, joy, motivation, happiness, fun and energy needed to take on the challenges of running their Tradie business.

There is no doubt that many Tradies and Tradie business owners, will connect with this “all to often” heard Tradie story and maybe help you to catch yourself a little earlier to get the balance back and put plans in place to fix it before it escalates to a much more challenging and serious situation.

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Rex Redden, Founder and Director of Groundplan. Rex takes us through Groundplan from start to finish and explains how Groundplan enables Tradies to simply and easily design, measure and estimate their plans online, collaborate with their team online to create visually stunning takeoffs, while Groundplan accurately estimates materials and labour. Rex talks us through how Groundplan is a cloud-based takeoff software serving all Tradies working in the construction trades.

We start out at the top of the show hearing Rex’s extreme story as a young man, which saw Rex winning 3 world titles in his unique Trade background and travelling extensively in those younger years. Post that career, Rex take us through how he moved his focus into business and as a start up company developed Simtrac which was later sold. Rex tell us about the learning from that early business experience and how this led into working with Tradies through his curiosity in the estimating world. He talks about the discovery stage of understanding how Tradies were designing, measuring and estimating plans and how this insight helped him and the team in developing a software to improve the accuracy and fast track that process for Tradies. The lack of utilisation and the benefits of technology, opened the opportunity to simplify the business part of estimating

Rex describes how Groundplan is a purpose-built estimating Software for Trades Subcontractors, General Contractors and Suppliers, and has them all covered. Groundplan is a takeoff and estimating software for any Trade which is easy to apply to any Tradie business. Rex also shares how Groundplan can easily integrate with other systems, programs and processes such as SimPRO. AroFlo, Xero etc. Rex describes how easy it is for Tradies to learn how to implement and run Groundplan as well as the training and support that Groundplan offers Tradies who are looking for that additional peace of mind.

Now would be the ideal time to get curious and transition from the old way of doing your design and estimating, If you can invest 30 minutes to speak with Groundplan, you will be sure to better understand how you and your Tradie business should invest and make Groundplan part of your Tradie business process.

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Bruno Efoti, Founder and Director of Tradies in Sight. Bruno is an inspiration as you will hear in this show. Bruno is a Tongan born and moved to Australia from a small village of 200 people to be now based in Dubbo, Western NSW. Bruno shares a very personal family story, becoming a chippy and the amazing contribution he and his wife have made in caring for kids.

We talk through how “Tradies in Sight” was created and the very real experiences that Bruno has had, that led to his commitment to making a difference and starting this journey to help others that might have challenges with mental health. Bruno shares how the loss of close Tradie mates through suicide, impacted him and his family, acknowledging his lack of understanding and awareness of this problem at the time and a real desire in better understanding the contributing factors to how and why this happens.

Bruno’s cultural values from his Tonga upbringing, talks about the importance of family, community and the coming together around food. This became the motivation for Bruno to be able to provide this experience with Tradies who find themselves trapped with mental health struggles to come together and experience of joy of the preparation and cooking of food and using this valuable time to talk, shares stories and bringing people together. Tradies in Sight goes out into Tradies communities in the western region to provide the chance to join around food, talk, laughter and sharing.

Bruno and Tradies in Sight have developed this unique model and have started to take this important message into the schools of the bush and have developed a program called “5 Steps Back” to help create the awareness and fixing the problems with mental health before it becomes a problem. Bruno has a vision for expanding this important work to a broader audience and is passionately committed to making a difference.

In the time that Bruno and Tradies in Sight have operated they have served more than 7000 meals and generated the funding for this effort through their own means and travelled thousands of km’s through the western region to help make a difference. Bruno left the tools and his Tradie business to one side for 12 months when he and his wife went to study mental heath and suicide counselling to gain better skills and insights into mental health and be best prepared for making Tradies in Sight valuable to those in need.

From the start to the finish, this is an outstanding example of people that care and determination to help others with Bruno and his wife an inspiration to all of us, they don’t talk about it, they do it!

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Chris DeVoy, Founder and CEO of Contraco. Chris shares his journey from the Tamworth to Canberra to study business management before working in a large commercial furniture company in the procurement, importing and exporting of furniture. This led Chris into project management and starting his own construction fit-out company dealing with large contracts and projects. Chris found himself in a situation where the business was not paid by a builder on a large project and identified the gaps in his understanding of the complexities of contract terms and the hidden risks of not having enough experience in this area of business.

This experience motivated Chris to build a procedure to ensure other subbies didn’t have to go through the same situation and help them to interpret and be fully clear on the terms of the contract and compliant to that contract. Chris worked with IT gurus to build an App that would enable sub-contractors to be in a better position for all future contracts they chose to enter. This was the birth of “Contraco” the digital app that helps subbies to be in the best position by reducing the risk of non-payment due to the lack of clarity in complying to that contract.

Contraco is The modern, flexible contract compliance solution for builders and subcontractors that helps you to manage complex contracts across your business with their innovative contract interpretation system, manage your compliance and project obligations anywhere in real time and reduce admin time and costs by going digital with best practice procedures.

Contraco also provides transparency of the building process by evidencing due diligence of the entire project by capturing essential build data to ensure due diligence has been met by each trade, providing a single platform to deliver transparency of all process including a live compliance progress score and harvesting all critical construction information from each stakeholder making it commercially available for the rest of life management of any facility.

Chris and his team have built a technology that can help Tradies save their livelihood by reducing risk and increasing compliance and assurance whilst also reducing time in admin and duplication, saving many valuable hours to be invested in other parts of your business or with your family and friends. By investing a little time to listen to Chris now, could save you and your Tradie business a lot of time and savings in administration plus potential business saving insights into the importance of contract compliance.

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Kimberley Smyth, Founder and Director of Hey Sista Plumbing. Kimberley shares her journey from a night shift machine operator to Tradie and her fascinating commitment to achieve this dream of being a Plumber. We talk about the early challenges and experiences of being a female apprentice moving into in a male dominated industry. Kimberley also describes her experiences in the juggling of family and career in the ambition in becoming a Tradie.

Kimberley speaks openly about the importance of confidence and how important it is, to support and encourage this confidence for other women dreaming of moving into trades roles within our industry. We explore those challenges Kimberley discovered in starting her own plumbing business “Hey Sista Plumbing” after working with her husbands plumbing business from apprentice through to qualified Plumber. 

We talk about the important niche that Kimberley identified in the market and how she has positioned “Hey Sista Plumbing" in meeting this need, particularly with supporting venerable women and providing a service that is aligned to their needs. Kimberley explains how the business name “Hey Sista Plumbing” came about and why it was important to give the right message to the market and is designed to meet the needs of those customers.

Kimberley and “Hey Sista Plumbing” are also award winning in recognition of the unique business model and services that they provide and for the focus on the attraction, training and retention of more women plumbers into the business and industry. Kimberley is also investing back into the Tradie industry with keynote speaking at industry events and extensive school presentations, informing, encouraging and educating young women to consider careers in the Trades as a great option with all of its rewards and opportunities.

After 9 years as a successful Tradie business owner, Kimberley’s passion, enthusiasm and insights are not to be missed and a real inspiration for all Women, Mums and Students to enjoy the experiences that being a Tradie can offer.

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Steven “Bomber” Hamilton, Founder and Director of Honeyweb. Steven starts by talking about his career and experiences as an AFL Footballer prior to starting on his journey into the world of social media and on-line marketing.

Steven explains the importance of articulating a value proposition that gives a clear message that differentiates your business from your competitors. In simple terms, what are the problems that people have and what are your solutions to fix those problems. Steven talks about developing a strategy that ensures you get found during the search stage and then converted into leads once they find you. Steven highlights the fact that people are spending more time on social media than they are watching television, highlighting the importance in having a good social media presence for your Tradie business.

Following the eyeballs is the secret to getting the attention of potential customers and this is the expertise that a good social media strategy can help to get you connected with new business and customers. To get this attention we talk about the importance of content, the right content and the frequency of content to increase the impact of your result. We talk about the science behind the timelines and the repetition and resilience required that is most effective in capturing attention. Steven explains the blend of content that best supports the outcomes you're looking to achieve.

Steven then takes us into more detail about setting up your social media pages, the mix of content and the scheduling to get the best social media impact. The data is such an important part of the decision-making process, and we delve into how to analysis that data and then into calls to action and communicating with those customers you need to connect with including chatbots that help to engage and inform potential customers immediately.

If you haven’t started to use social media and on-line marketing in your Tradie business, then this will give you some great insights, tips and tricks to think about. If you are looking to get better results or a greater return on investment that you have already made in social media, don’t miss this chat with Steven and Honeyweb.

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by David Palummo, Executive Account Manager at BizPay. David talks about his time in recruitment consulting and specialising in SME Tradie businesses and the construction industry, during that time he noticed their need for more flexible purchasing options in making payment for those type of services. This led to David connecting with BizPay and it quickly became a natural fit to speak with Tradies about BizPay as a great option for their “business to business” transactions.

David explains that BizPay is “a buy now pay later option for B2B Transactions” David tell us how BizPay works for both getting paid and paying invoices in those B2B transactions and the positive impact it can have on the working capital as you get paid instantly for your products or services and conversely you have 120 days to make payments on your purchases with a small interest rate applied to that transaction. David also explains how simple BizPay is to use and a great payment option for your business to offer your business customers.

Have a listen to better understand BizPay and assess if it is an option for you and your Tradie business to consider.

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Eliza Carbines, Founder and Director of Tender Relief. Eliza is located in Karratha in the Pilbara region of Western Australia and brings a wealth of experience in sales, business development and has spent many years in big industrial industries with vast experience in tendering and bids of $750M plus contracts.

Eliza shares how her affinity with small business started early with her parents running their own small business and the appreciation of what it takes to run a small business and then shares the excitement and passion of working on tenders in a very large multinational business, the size of those deals and the bidding process that is involved. Whilst Eliza loved her work and time with the multinational businesses she noticed a lot of businesses have amazing products and services but didn’t have the skills, experience or knowledge to prepare a tender good enough to win, which has resulted in Eliza starting Tender Relief to help businesses become more successful in preparing and winning more tenders.

Eliza explains how a tender is just like a resume, it is designed to pique the readers attention and interest enough to want to speak with you more about what you offer and potential to engage with you. Eliza goes on the tell us that In simple terms the tender is telling them what you do and how you are going to do it and just like employment jobs are advertised tenders are the same, getting the right people or businesses for the job, they are seeking out your expertise or unique solution and services.

Eliza takes us through the tender process step by step and simplifies it in terms that makes it clear and easy to understand, what is involved, tips and tricks, do and don'ts and a host of other excellent insights that will bring great value to you and your Tradie business.

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/ 

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Matthew Cooper, Business Development Manager, Medibank.

Matthew is a health insurance expert with many years experience within the sector and a fitness fanatic, particularly running and has a passion for health and wellbeing. Matthew shares how health insurance is important to business owners in looking after the needs of their people, used to engage, attract and retain as well as support their employees.

We discus the considerations that Tradies should make in choosing the right options and inclusions for the best cover that will meet their needs. Being a Tradie can be quite physically demanding and some of those niggles might require Chiro, Physio, massage etc. to better manage the situation and to keep you or your team on the job whilst reducing down time. Matthew highlights the key points of difference between public health care coverage and the key advantages of Medibank's coverage which gives Tradies the peace of mind and priority treatments when you need them the most.

Matthew explains the flexibility Medibank provides Tradies with the tailored extras cover to build a policy that is fully aligned to the care and treatments most relevant to you and your needs. Medibank has implemented a central limit so that you can maximise the coverage in the areas you most need. We talk about the importance of not making your health coverage "set and forget" and that you can seek out Medibank’s experts to build the right cover for your current needs remembering we are all different, so your cover needs to reflect those of your individual needs.

Medibank make it easy to get the right advice, the right solution, the right coverage and at a fair price for Tradies and their families with Innovative Tradies Club members gaining their own dedicated special deals and support.

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Clint Hewish, Director and Founder of Concept Electrical Estimating with Jack Clarke, Director of CEE. They share their stories from stonemason and landscapers to Sparky’s to master estimators. They talk about their experience in working with large Tradie businesses and the expertise they developed in electrical estimating and structured processes during that time.

They identified the special skills required to be an effective estimator and an understanding that many Tradies either don’t enjoy estimating or don’t have the required skills to be able to estimate accurately and consistently. This led to the starting of Concept Electrical Estimating which is set up to support Tradies that wish to outsource this function to these experts and make CEE an extension of their Tradie business. 100% of all CEE Estimators are experienced Sparky’s who understand the intricacies of electrical installations and processes ensuring the accuracy and professionalism of the estimations you put forward in your tenders, quotations and submissions.

They talk about the challenges of design and construct and the risks associated to not having good drawings, documentation and experience in understanding the scope, variations and exclusions that may or may not be included in your submission.

They highlight the fact that estimating is a cost to business and with their expertise, the amount of time taken is reduced and the quality of the estimation increased making it a great option for those Tradie businesses looking to put their energy into the things that they do best. With CEE you have Tradies working with Tradies, which will give you the confidence and peace of mind in working with the CEE team.

Finally, they share the real tips and tricks that Tradies need to be aware of when dealing with estimating and the importance of good documentation including the risks and dangers of ignoring these, as well as the need to build relationships with the people you are planning to work with. Clint & Jack's passion and enthusiasm provides a great insight into the estimating process.

In this show Ash & JW are joined by Jeremy Thornton, Director of Trade Business Training. Innovative Tradies Club is very fortunate to have Jeremy leading the business training focus for our members and brings a rich history of working with Tradies and Tradie businesses. Jeremy takes us through his beginnings as a land surveyor, civil engineering and project management working with small business and in his search for basic business models and plans, found there wasn’t one that met his needs and was simple to implement. He developed his passion and his extensive experience in business training and insights while working within his family's small business and then into many other SME & Tradie businesses.

He quickly discovered that a large amount of Tradie businesses had great experience on the tools but less knowledge and understanding in business principals and processes which has led him to creating Trade Business Training and working with Tradies to upskill in the key areas of those small business essentials such as the importance of knowing the numbers, pricing for profit, seeking out the right expertise and support, developing good people, effective operations , developing a routine and shifting from Tradie mindset to business owner mindset.

All Tradies are sure get some great tips and tricks from what Jeremy shares during this podcast and for Innovative Tradies Club members the chance to understand and use the framework, process and learning that Jeremy and Trade Business Training has developed to fast track Tradies success in some of those key elements of running their Tradie business. Its not a case of telling Tradies what to do, but supporting them in setting up a business foundation that is sustainable and profitable.

Join us @ https://innovativetradies.club/

In this show Ash & JW are joined by the Director and Owner of Office Shed, Jay McClure. Jay explains how Office Shed provides a specialised outsourced admin support solution for Tradies which includes daily admin support, bookkeeping, job management software set up, reception services and more.

We delve into how Office Shed have been working with Tradies for over 7 years developing a deep understanding of how Tradies work, the best job management systems like SimPRO, optimal admin processes and trades customers’ needs. 

Jay helps us to better understand how many Tradie businesses would be much better off focusing on managing their business rather than spending hours on time-consuming administrative or customer service tasks? Outsourcing will free up time to focus on other parts of their business, helping them grow and delivering a better work life balance.

In this show Ash & JW are joined by the Director and Founder of ePlumbing Estimators, Lynton May. Lynton began his Tradie career as an apprentice plumber in South Australia back in 1972 and spent time with several Plumbing businesses before developing his passion for estimating and spent a lot of his time estimating for those businesses and picking up on their systems and processes. Lynton decided to go out and start his own plumbing business where he continued to utilise what he had learned from the experience he gained within the industry. A family issue led to Lynton reconsidering his role in the industry and how he could continue to generate revenue during these challenges.

Lynton had learned from all his industry experience that successful businesses needed a good process and the need to be methodical in their adherence to that process, so he founded ePlumbing Estimators. ePlumbing Estimators can handle all plumbing and drainage estimating needs. They have experience in all facets of the market including Hi & low rise residential, Commercial, Industrial, Shopping Centre's, Health Care Projects, Civil drainage projects and Infrastructure works.

ePlumbing Estimators have invested in the latest estimating software technology to be able to provide fast and accurate takeoffs, to ensure that their clients can submit accurate and competitive tenders. All Projects are measured using an on-screen take-off system, which ensures a high level of accuracy.

Lynton goes on to share many tips and tricks that will really resonate with Tradies and he shares his experiences in a context that all Tradies will get value from, particularly around how important estimating is in the success of Tradie businesses and the additional focus on project management to ensure it comes in on time and on budget. Lynton also shares why SimPRO is so valuable in the Tradies business processes and seamlessly integrates with ePlumbing Estimators software.