Collaborative Post
A tradie (or tradesman/tradeswoman) is someone who offers a specific set of services to others for payment. Their services usually require a very high level of training and can span from hairdressing to plumbing and much more. It’s one of the oldest professions out there and an excellent way to make money while running a small business. People love this concept as you don’t need to depend on anyone else – so the operating costs are low – and the earning potential is seemingly limitless.
With that being said, how do you make more money as a tradie? This line of work is highly competitive, but we’ve got a handful of tips to ensure you pocket as much cash as possible.
Pay less tax
Everyone assumes that paying less tax is illegal or dodgy. It’s not. If you go about things the right way, you can minimise tax payments without doing anything wrong. In fact, it’s encouraged as you may end up paying way more tax than necessary when filing tradie tax returns every year. Work with a tradies accountant to understand tax returns and reduce your payments as much as legally possible. This can be the difference between you making an extra few thousand dollars every year!
Build more trust
Tradies rely on trust more so than anyone else. Customers need to feel like they can trust you before they purchase your services – especially as most tradies provide pretty personal services. If you’re an electrician or plumber, you’re going into someone’s private home. If you’re a hairdresser, you’re dealing with a key part of your customer’s appearance. There must be a strong degree of trust or you’ll never find work.
Focus on upskilling and getting loads of accreditations or certifications to prove your worth and build trust. It’ll come through positive reviews as well – perhaps consider doing voluntary work just to build up a good review portfolio that establishes your trustworthiness and draws in more customers.
Establish a loyalty scheme
Constantly finding new customers is a challenge in itself. It’s far more effective to focus on previous customers and bring them back for more. Do this by establishing a loyalty scheme that rewards returning customers. They earn points or tokens for returning to you, which can eventually be transferred into discounts.
Even better; reward them for recommending your services to others. It’s more of an affiliate scheme than a loyalty one, but the effect is the same. You get a strong base of repeat customers, plus an influx of new ones.
Boost your marketing efforts
You can’t make money as a tradie unless you’re marketing your services to the right audience. Develop a great marketing campaign to be sure the local community is aware of you. This should revolve around local SEO, but some social media marketing won’t hurt either. Don’t be afraid to invest in marketing – it feels like you’re spending a lot of money at the time, but it pays off!
And there you go; some simple tactics to ensure you make more money as a tradie every year. Stay consistent with everything and always stay on top of marketing to ensure you’re the main tradie people know about.