First Impressions Count
This is one that has endured through the age and will likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future. If you’re the type of tradie repeatedly arriving on time, with a bright smile, clean clothes, and immediately gets to work in an efficient manner, you will plant a positive impression in the mind of your customers. From there, you canreceive some free publicity as they tell their friends and family, or repeat work once they see you are reliable. In short, these simplest of steps can likely give you the greatest return on investment.
Metrics
Obtain a holistic representation of your operations by implementing systems in which you can receive timely, accurate metrics of your business’s performance. Whether this be comparing workload between months, costs of resources, or the effectiveness of employees, measuring what is going in and out of the machine that is your business will allow you to highlight all of your strengths, weaknesses, and most importantly, what you can alter to improve productivity.
Insurance
It is a known fact that tradies experience more risk in their work than most other occupations. Therefore, it is imperative you protect yourself with adequate insurance:
- Product Liability: protection against damage or loss to your client’s property, perhaps due to a lack of reliable materials or failure to follow official standards with the finished product
- Public Liability: Clients or even passers-by are possible to receive injury or have their property damaged when come into contact with your operations
- Workers Compensation: protect you if it is your employee who is injured
- Tools Protection: Your tools are essentially your livelihood, and if they are damaged, and you do not have the funds to immediately replace them, this will keep you afloat
- Income Protection: Similar to tools, if your body is put out of action by injury or illness, you can’t readily conduct work. For those who run their own business, they will not have the sick or annual leave afforded to employees, so need a steady stream of income whilst they recover
Online Presence
Today’s modern world has left our virtual presence just as important as our physical one. Roughly two thirds of the Australian public will first check a tradie’s website and social media accounts before deciding on hiring them. Potential clients want a closer look into what you will provide them, so be sure to go above and beyond in providing extensive resources to satisfy their research. High quality before and after photos, videos, and testimonials are some great ways to demonstrate your skills. By starting conversations around niche Facebook groups and Instagram pages will also drive new customers to your website, as well as creating valuable content through blogging, in which people will come to you for helpful tips and leave you confident you are an expert in the services they need.
