Time is a valuable asset – and unlike most salaried positions, tradies work on a per-job basis, so any second not on a job is time where you aren’t earning any money!
As such, time is even more important for tradies!
Unfortunately, there are only 24 hours in a day – cross out 8 for sleep, and the remaining 16 are starting to look very limiting.
Thankfully, there are several ways tradies can reclaim their time, including…
Learning to delegate
Tradies are a hands-on bunch – that’s just the nature of the beast.
Unfortunately (for many smaller tradies in particular), that also means that many tradies insist on looking after every part of their business on their own.
Needless to say, this isn’t exactly the best use of your time!
Even if you’re proficient in bookkeeping and administrative work, if you ask us the best use of your time is out there, working with your hands and plying your trade.
Simply put, you can’t do everything on your own – especially if it’s taking time away from attending callouts and jobs.
Even if you can’t justify hiring a full-time admin support, taking on a part-time or casual assistant can work wonders.
Focus on the jobs that give you the best bang for your buck
It might sound obvious, but you’d be surprised how many tradies struggle with this one!
This advice is particularly relevant to small-time, solo tradies. As a sole operator, taking on every single job that comes your way (especially if you have the choice) can mean passing over a better-paying job.
If you have the choice, we suggest focusing on the jobs that give you the best bang for your buck, whether that’s uncomplicated callouts that can be completed quickly like blocked drains for plumbers, or high-paying ones like emergency after-hours electrical work.
That also means identifying and avoiding any jobs that suck up your time. For example, if possible try to avoid jobs that can go off the rails, or time-consuming jobs that don’t offer a big enough payout to warrant accepting them.
Of course, if it’s a quiet period, you’ll have to take hat you can get. If not though, this is a piece of advice you’ll want to take to heart!
If not carefully noted, such time wasters will go unnoticed leaving tradies unproductive and missing on other important tasks.
Time wasters can be in the form of unplanned work days and abrupt errands that is not included on your list of priorities.
Get organised
Planning and scheduling – when it comes to managing your workload, it’s your number one weapon.
No doubt you’ve had times where you’ve had booking clashes, or your schedule has left you with only a handful of minutes to get between jobs.
It’s cases like this where organisation tools come into the picture.
Modern time-management programs take the humble daily planner to the next level. On top of organising your calendar, these programs can also help you:
- Track customers and clients
- Organise invoicing
- File quotations and contracts
- Organise project documents
- Schedule jobs
One program that we’re quite fond of is Tradezquote, a program which is specifically designed with the needs of tradies. There’s even a handy mobile version, meaning you can keep organised even while on the road!
Ask for help from a Melbourne tradie marketing agency
One of the hardest parts of being a tradie is finding jobs. You’ll have to spend considerable time raising your public profile, and talking potential callers into choosing you for a job.
In particular, you may have to:
- Balance multiple advertising channels
- Approve brochures and flyers
- Organise sponsorships and partnerships
- Keep your social media updated
Each of these can soak up considerable amounts of your time. That means less time doing what you do best!
Handing part of this off to a tradie marketing agency can save you a considerable amount of time.
Take us for example.
At iformat, one of our strengths is tradie marketing – in particular, tradie digital marketing.
We’re all about building you a digital marketing strategy that gets people through the door, so to speak. We ensure that you’re receiving a steady supply of bookings and jobs, meaning you won’t have to spend any of your time chasing after calls!
Take your tradie marketing to the next level with iformat!
Being busy is NOT the same as being productive. Just because a lot of your time is being taken up, doesn’t mean that you’re getting results for it.
Luckily, we know a thing or two about results.
As a tradie marketing agency, our focus is all about getting results for you. We build strategies tailored for the needs of tradies, with a focus on:
- Getting you found
- Convincing people to call you
- Raising your business’ profile
… all of which can help your tradie business grow to the point where you might even be able to put down the tools yourself!
Let our tradie marketing strategies save you time – give us a call today at 1300 886450, or click here to enquire about our time-saving tradie marketing packages.
