The Site Shed | #1 Podcast For Tradies & Contractors

🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 Book a Free Strategy Call with Tradie Web Guys: https://tradie.wiki/tssyt Your business has added staff, vehicles and bigger jobs. Has anyone checked whether the insurance has kept up? Matt Jones sits down with Jake Ward from East West Insurance Brokers to look at the gaps that can appear when a sole trader grows into a team but keeps renewing the same cover. They cover the changes worth raising with your broker, how to question a recommendation and why claims support matters long before you need it. Jake also explains why cyber risk belongs in the conversation, even if most of your working day is spent on the tools. If your last insurance review was a payment rather than a conversation, this is a good place to start. 🎥 Watch the full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81fgrT-3pDY KEY CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction 01:10 - Meet Jake Ward 01:43 - When Business Outgrows Insurance 02:36 - Core Covers For Tradies 03:35 - Management Liability And Growth 04:49 - Choosing A Trusted Adviser 07:10 - Who Handles Your Claim? 08:02 - Warning Signs To Review 10:18 - Cover For Different Trades 13:54 - Questions To Test Your Broker 16:18 - Finding Brokers Through Referrals 17:15 - How Often To Review Cover 18:16 - Access To Specialist Insurers 19:10 - Insurance As You Scale 21:37 - Cyber Risks And AI 22:50 - What Cyber Cover Can Include 24:20 - Cyber Cover And Business Interruption 25:15 - Closing Remarks And Resources About the Guest: Jake Ward Jake Ward is an insurance broker with East West Insurance Brokers. He helps business owners understand their insurance options, keep cover aligned with changing operations and navigate the claims process. Website: https://www.ewib.com.au/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/east-west-insurance-brokers-pty-ltd/ CONNECT WITH THE TRADIE WEB GUYS! Website: https://www.tradiewebguys.com.au/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TradieWebGuysOfficial?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TradieWebGuysOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tradiewebguys/ LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/company/tradie-web-guys Matt's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamthemattj/ If you enjoyed this podcast, please take a moment to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed #podcast #thesiteshed #tradiewebguys #tradebusiness #businessinsurance #insurancebroker #businessgrowth #cyberinsurance Your Next Step: Join Tradie Academy , our free community packed with templates, checklists, and resources shared by podcast guests, coaches, and successful tradies. 👉 Join free and grab your next growth tool here: https://tradie.wiki/pod Follow The Site Shed: Facebook: The Site Shed Instagram: @thesiteshed LinkedIn: Matt Jones Website: thesiteshed.com YouTube: @TheSiteShed If you enjoyed this podcast and the series, please take 5 minutes to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed

Rent, Lease or Buy? The Real Cost of a Work Ute | ft. Tim Cullen | Ep. 522 🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 Book a Free Strategy Call with Tradie Web Guys: https://tradie.wiki/tssyt Your ute keeps costing you money between repayments. Matt Jones sits down with Tim Cullen, CEO and co-founder of TradieSpec, to work through the costs of running a commercial vehicle, including servicing, insurance, depreciation and the time spent managing it. Tim explains how rent-to-own and flexible rental arrangements work, shares his Hilux SR5 cost example, and discusses the effect resale value has on a fleet budget. They also look at Chinese vehicle manufacturers, battery development and why Tim still favours Hilux and Ranger for commercial work. If you're replacing a ute or adding vehicles to your business, this conversation gives you more to compare before you sign. 🎥 Watch the full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s9QxcCL_CQ KEY CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction 01:03 - Meet Tim Cullen 02:10 - TradieSpec's First Rental Disaster 03:40 - Renting Versus Buying A Ute 04:31 - Running Costs And Fleet Administration 05:14 - Interest And Total Vehicle Costs 06:49 - Comparing Vehicle Finance Options 07:53 - Who Uses Managed Fleets? 10:11 - The Hilux SR5 Cost Example 11:52 - Rent-To-Own And Ownership Transfer 14:16 - Comparing Costs And Contract Flexibility 16:01 - Chinese Vehicles Enter The Market 19:54 - Toyota Resale Value 21:22 - Battery Technology And Market Change 25:29 - Commercial Vehicles And Support Infrastructure 29:27 - Australia's Commercial Vehicle Market 33:59 - Tim's Ute Buying Recommendations 37:08 - Closing Remarks And Resources About the Guest: Tim Cullen Tim Cullen is CEO and co-founder of TradieSpec, which supplies fit-for-purpose commercial vehicles to trade and construction businesses. He started the business with his business partner in 2019 and, at the time of recording, described a fleet of more than 1,400 vehicles across Australia. Website: https://tradiespec.com.au/ CONNECT WITH THE TRADIE WEB GUYS! Website: https://www.tradiewebguys.com.au/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TradieWebGuysOfficial?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TradieWebGuysOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tradiewebguys/ LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/company/tradie-web-guys Matt's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamthemattj/ If you enjoyed this podcast, please take a moment to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed #podcast #thesiteshed #tradiewebguys #tradiebusiness #fleetmanagement #workute #vehiclefinance Your Next Step: Join Tradie Academy , our free community packed with templates, checklists, and resources shared by podcast guests, coaches, and successful tradies. 👉 Join free and grab your next growth tool here: https://tradie.wiki/pod Follow The Site Shed: Facebook: The Site Shed Instagram: @thesiteshed LinkedIn: Matt Jones Website: thesiteshed.com YouTube: @TheSiteShed If you enjoyed this podcast and the series, please take 5 minutes to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed

🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 Book a Free Strategy Call with Tradie Web Guys: https://tradie.wiki/tssyt Fast growth looks great from the outside. On the inside, it can nearly put you out of business. Matt Jones sits down with Daman Grewal from LogisticsSales.com, who helped take a trucking company from $1M to $24M in a couple of years, then watched safety violations, stretched teams and broken promises catch up with it. Daman started as a safety manager at 18, training drivers twice his age, and learned the hard way that growth only holds up when the systems underneath it do. Daman breaks down the three pillars that held the business together: honouring every commitment, even when a better-paying job comes along; making sure your people are paid fairly; and knowing your numbers. He explains how a strict disciplinary plan, onboarding that sets expectations from day one, and SOPs simple enough to actually get read kept the business on the road. Matt and Daman also dig into why the real game is won after the click, and why the quote you lost last month could still turn into your next job. If your business is growing faster than your systems, this one's for you. KEY CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction 00:45 - Meet Daman Grewal 01:20 - The Accidental Entrepreneur 04:04 - Why He Stopped Working for Others 07:04 - Growing From $1M to $24M 08:03 - Honour Every Commitment 11:04 - Fair Pay and Knowing Your Numbers 12:03 - Building the Team as You Scale 15:03 - Growth Driven by Reputation 16:52 - When the Promises Disappeared 21:02 - Violations That Nearly Ended It 24:04 - Setting a Disciplinary Plan 27:02 - Training That Sets the Standard 31:04 - Faster, Paid Onboarding 33:00 - Continual Education and New Policies 38:03 - Getting SOPs Actually Adopted 42:01 - Keep Your SOPs Simple 45:00 - The Tradie Is the Best Sales Rep 49:02 - The Game Is Won After the Click 54:02 - Why After-Service Matters 57:04 - Lost the Quote? Follow Up Anyway 1:00:04 - Stay Front of Mind, Not Pushy 1:02:30 - Closing Remarks and Resources About the Guest: Daman Grewal Daman Grewal is the founder of LogisticsSales.com, a free education platform for people getting into business and sales, based in Vancouver, Canada. He started in transport and logistics as a safety manager at 18, then as COO helped grow a trucking company from $1M to $24M. He brings practical lessons on compliance, training, team culture and sales to any business trying to grow without losing control. Website: https://logisticssales.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/logisticssales-com/ CONNECT WITH THE TRADIE WEB GUYS! Website: https://www.tradiewebguys.com.au/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TradieWebGuysOfficial?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TradieWebGuysOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tradiewebguys/ LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/company/tradie-web-guys Matt's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamthemattj/ If you enjoyed this podcast, please take a moment to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed #podcast #thesiteshed #tradiewebguys #businesssystems #scaleup #businessgrowth #safetyculture #salesprocess #tradiebusiness Your Next Step: Join Tradie Academy , our free community packed with templates, checklists, and resources shared by podcast guests, coaches, and successful tradies. 👉 Join free and grab your next growth tool here: https://tradie.wiki/pod Follow The Site Shed: Facebook: The Site Shed Instagram: @thesiteshed LinkedIn: Matt Jones Website: thesiteshed.com YouTube: @TheSiteShed If you enjoyed this podcast and the series, please take 5 minutes to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed

🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 Book a Free Strategy Call with Tradie Web Guys: https://tradie.wiki/tssyt Heaps of leads on Monday, panic by Wednesday. If that sounds like your week, Matt Jones from Tradie Web Guys says you don't have a mood problem, you have an exposure problem. When most of your work comes from one ad platform, one builder or one big client, you're renting your lead flow, and the rent goes up every year. Busy is not the same as safe. Matt walks through eight quick exposure tests you can score yourself on: paid ad dependency, demand diversification, relationship concentration, pipeline confidence, database follow-up, reputation, website authority and AI visibility. He shares the story of a Sydney plumber who lost two builders and most of his work in a single week, explains why two businesses can pay for the same click and only one wins the job, and makes the case that content is still king. If you want your actual score, take the free Liberator test and get your three priorities. 🎥 Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/eIPkCxpBDz0 KEY CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction 00:23 - Busy Is Not the Same as Safe 01:15 - Rented Leads vs Owned Leads 02:50 - The Eight Exposure Tests 03:02 - Paid Ads and Demand Diversification 03:52 - The Plumber Who Lost 60% in a Week 05:09 - Relationships, Pipeline and Your Database 06:09 - Reputation and Website Authority 08:47 - Are You Visible in AI Search? 09:10 - What Your Liberator Score Shows 10:03 - What Happens After the Click 12:59 - How AI Picks Who to Recommend 14:43 - Answer the Questions Customers Ask 16:12 - Don't Tell Me, Show Me 19:30 - Why Content Is Still King 22:28 - Where to Start First 24:37 - Create Your Own Economy 25:26 - Why We Built Liberator 27:10 - Closing Remarks and Resources About the Host: Matt Jones Matt Jones is the founder of Tradie Web Guys, a marketing agency built specifically for trade and home service businesses, and the host of The Site Shed podcast. His team runs millions of dollars in paid advertising for trade clients every year, and he works daily with tradies and contractors on building lead flow that doesn't depend on a single source. Take the free Liberator test: https://liber8r.tradiewebguys.com.au/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamthemattj/ CONNECT WITH THE TRADIE WEB GUYS! Website: https://www.tradiewebguys.com.au/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TradieWebGuysOfficial?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TradieWebGuysOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tradiewebguys/ LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/company/tradie-web-guys Matt's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamthemattj/ If you enjoyed this podcast, please take a moment to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed #podcast #thesiteshed #tradiewebguys #leadgeneration #tradiemarketing #aivisibility #contentmarketing #tradiebusiness Your Next Step: Join Tradie Academy , our free community packed with templates, checklists, and resources shared by podcast guests, coaches, and successful tradies. 👉 Join free and grab your next growth tool here: https://tradie.wiki/pod Follow The Site Shed: Facebook: The Site Shed Instagram: @thesiteshed LinkedIn: Matt Jones Website: thesiteshed.com YouTube: @TheSiteShed If you enjoyed this podcast and the series, please take 5 minutes to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed

🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 Book a Free Strategy Call with Tradie Web Guys: https://tradie.wiki/tssyt Most trade business owners talk themselves out of the bigger job before they even price it. The competitor looks too big, the paperwork looks too heavy, and staying at the size that feels safe starts to look like the smart call. Matt Jones sits down with Rafael Diaz from Diaz Group LLC in Chicago, who started out on his dad's landscape crews and has grown the business from residential patios to City of Chicago municipal contracts, a national subcontractor network and now maintenance contracts in Mexico. His view is blunt: the risk was never winning the contract. It's whether your systems and your leadership team can handle what comes after. Rafael walks through the four checks he runs before bidding on any contract (pricing, understanding the contract, capacity, and leadership readiness), how he breaks a won contract down into crews of vendor partners and keeps quality control across them, why "always hiring" is the only way to have people ready when the bid lands, and the four-step onboarding process every new hire goes through, from field worker to office lead. If you've been circling a tender that feels a size too big, this one will tell you whether it's a real capacity problem or just fear. 🎥 Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/RPY-nZLaY-U KEY CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction 01:09 - Meet Rafael Diaz 02:00 - From Residential to Municipal Contracts 04:06 - Going International Into Mexico 06:16 - Everything Starts With a Vision 08:49 - Community Service as a Growth Strategy 12:03 - Owner Operator to Business Process Mentality 16:05 - Getting Subcontractors to Follow Your Systems 20:05 - Breaking a Contract Down Into Crews 21:22 - Quality Control Across Subcontractor Crews 24:48 - Taking the Model to Mexico 31:27 - The Four-Step Onboarding Process 34:08 - Field Training and Safety Standards 37:17 - Four Checks Before Bidding on a Big Contract 41:43 - Always Hiring: Building a Recruitment Pipeline 43:12 - Is Your Leadership Team Ready? 46:14 - Promoting From Within and Career Paths 52:23 - Closing Remarks and Resources About the Guest: Rafael Diaz Rafael (Rafa) Diaz is the co-founder of Diaz Group LLC, a Chicago landscape maintenance, vegetation control and snow removal business he started with his brother Ruben in 2007 after growing up working on his father's crews. The business has moved from residential design-build to commercial work, City of Chicago municipal contracts, regional Midwest contracts and a national footprint delivered through subcontractor "vendor partners", and is now six months into its first contract in Mexico. Around the main business Rafael has built an ecosystem of support companies, including Master the How, a training and systems implementation business, and an equipment rental company that helps his subcontractors deliver to standard. Website: https://diazgroupllc.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafael-diaz-840aba13/ CONNECT WITH THE TRADIE WEB GUYS! Website: https://www.tradiewebguys.com.au/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TradieWebGuysOfficial?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TradieWebGuysOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tradiewebguys/ LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/company/tradie-web-guys Matt's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamthemattj/ If you enjoyed this podcast, please take a moment to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed #podcast #thesiteshed #tradiewebguys #commercialcontracts #tradiebusiness #businesssystems #leadership #subcontractors #scaleup Your Next Step: Join Tradie Academy , our free community packed with templates, checklists, and resources shared by podcast guests, coaches, and successful tradies. 👉 Join free and grab your next growth tool here: https://tradie.wiki/pod Follow The Site Shed: Facebook: The Site Shed Instagram: @thesiteshed LinkedIn: Matt Jones Website: thesiteshed.com YouTube: @TheSiteShed If you enjoyed this podcast and the series, please take 5 minutes to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed

🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 Book a Free Strategy Call with Tradie Web Guys: https://tradie.wiki/tssyt The guest booked for this episode did not show up, so Matt Jones sits down solo to unpack something he sees inside trade businesses every single week: decisions that get stalled for months and quietly cost far more than getting them wrong ever would. He calls it decision debt, every decision you are carrying and not making is not a cost you have dodged, it is a cost you have deferred, and it comes back with interest. Matt walks through the five decisions he sees trade business owners stall on most (getting off the tools, putting on more crew, sacking the client who wrecks the week, committing to marketing, and confrontation) and the three-stage cost curve behind every one of them: the interest, the compounding, and the balloon payment where the decision eventually gets made for you, on someone else's terms. If you have been sitting on a call for six months telling yourself you need more information, this episode is built for you. 🎥 Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/AYMLRkhMdY4 KEY CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction 00:30 - Why This Episode Almost Didn't Happen 01:03 - The Five Decisions Costing You Money 02:37 - What Decision Debt Really Costs You 04:36 - Decision One: Getting Off the Tools 06:33 - Decision Two: Putting On More Crew 08:49 - The Real Cost of a Late Invoice 10:36 - Decision Three: Sacking the Client Who Wrecks the Week 12:01 - When to Trust Your Gut and Say No 13:11 - Decision Four: Committing to Marketing 15:50 - Why One Lead Source Will Burn You 16:55 - Building a Marketing Ecosystem That Can't Fail 17:58 - What's Actually Stopping the Decision 18:51 - Identity: Who You Become at Work 20:03 - Confrontation: Naming the Real Bottleneck 21:14 - The Quality of Your Decisions Is Your Business 21:39 - Closing Remarks and Resources Your Next Step: Join Tradie Academy , our free community packed with templates, checklists, and resources shared by podcast guests, coaches, and successful tradies. 👉 Join free and grab your next growth tool here: https://tradie.wiki/pod Follow The Site Shed: Facebook: The Site Shed Instagram: @thesiteshed LinkedIn: Matt Jones Website: thesiteshed.com YouTube: @TheSiteShed If you enjoyed this podcast and the series, please take 5 minutes to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed

🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 Book a Free Strategy Call with Tradie Web Guys: https://tradie.wiki/tssyt Most tradies do not want to be on camera, and most of the ones who try give up when the first few videos get 200 views. That is the wrong scoreboard. Matt Jones sits down with Dalton Fisher from Fisher MultiMedia, a Phoenix video producer who spends 99% of his time getting camera-shy contractors to talk, to unpack why authority content keeps winning through every algorithm change, and why the plumbers, sparkies and builders who show up on video are so hard to compete with. Dalton and Matt cover the top five questions framework, why your first 30 videos will be bad and why that does not matter, the three second hook that decides whether anyone watches a short, and the gear you actually need (a phone, a lapel mic and a $35 ring light). They also get into which platforms convert, why content is a multiplier for your ads and sales funnel rather than a replacement for them, and why the business that stays human as AI slop floods every feed will be able to charge a premium. If you have been meaning to start filming for two years, this is the nudge. 🎥 Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/gpmZRqNCaW0 KEY CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction 01:34 - Meet Dalton Fisher 02:44 - Why Authority Content Always Wins 05:48 - Faceless Corporations vs Local Trust 08:15 - Educating Leads Who Are Not Ready Yet 11:02 - What Happens After the Ad Click 14:34 - Your Boring Jobs Are Interesting 16:50 - Passing the Mum Test 18:32 - You Do Not Need to Go Viral 22:20 - Answer Your Top Five Questions 23:59 - Your First 30 Videos Will Be Bad 27:52 - Real Beats Polished 29:23 - The Only Gear You Need 32:18 - Structuring Videos and Hooks 38:46 - Which Platforms Actually Convert 45:38 - Content Is a Multiplier, Not the Engine 49:51 - Why the Future Belongs to the Trades 52:22 - AI Slop and the Human Company 57:54 - Closing Remarks and Resources About the Guest: Dalton Fisher Dalton Fisher is the founder of Fisher MultiMedia, a Phoenix, Arizona video production company that makes content for home service companies and contractors. He shoots most of the videos himself, which means the bulk of his job is directing plumbers, landscapers and other service techs who would rather be anywhere else than in front of a camera. His approach is built around educational content that makes a trade business look real, local and worth trusting rather than chasing views for their own sake. Website: https://fishermultimedia.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalton-fisher-90334224b/ CONNECT WITH THE TRADIE WEB GUYS! Website: https://www.tradiewebguys.com.au/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TradieWebGuysOfficial?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TradieWebGuysOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tradiewebguys/ LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/company/tradie-web-guys Matt's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamthemattj/ If you enjoyed this podcast, please take a moment to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed #podcast #thesiteshed #tradiewebguys #videomarketing #contentcreation #tradiebusiness #socialmediamarketing #authoritycontent #tradiemarketing Your Next Step: Join Tradie Academy , our free community packed with templates, checklists, and resources shared by podcast guests, coaches, and successful tradies. 👉 Join free and grab your next growth tool here: https://tradie.wiki/pod Follow The Site Shed: Facebook: The Site Shed Instagram: @thesiteshed LinkedIn: Matt Jones Website: thesiteshed.com YouTube: @TheSiteShed If you enjoyed this podcast and the series, please take 5 minutes to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed

Can You Deliver What You Sold? | ft. Nathan Owen | Ep. 516 🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 Book a Free Strategy Call with Tradie Web Guys: https://tradie.wiki/tssyt Winning a building job creates a promise. The quote and contract matter, but so do the conversations, timeframes and expectations set before the client signs. Matt Jones sits down with Nathan Owen from Ground Floor Building Coach to unpack the costly gap between what a builder sells and what the team can actually deliver. Nathan shares practical ways to document pre-contract changes, separate them from post-contract variations, plan realistic labour and lead times, and keep clients and subcontractors informed when things shift. You’ll also hear why software cannot fix a broken process, how small schedule milestones expose problems earlier, and why the client’s experience is the real test of the promise you made. 🎥 Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/Tvoy8AH2wOg KEY CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction 02:06 - Meet Nathan Owen 02:51 - The Sales-Delivery Disconnect 04:16 - How Expectations Become Scope 06:26 - Build a Variation Procedure 11:00 - Pre-Contract Changes vs Variations 13:09 - Document Every Agreement 15:15 - Capture Every Client Conversation 17:12 - Carry Changes Into Delivery 18:43 - Build Systems Before Automation 21:30 - Stop Repeating Mistakes 22:14 - The Risk of Time Creep 24:24 - Plan Labour and Lead Times 26:43 - Communicate Delays Immediately 31:54 - Build Time Buffers In 33:15 - Manage Work Through Micro Goals 36:10 - Keep Subcontractors Informed 38:29 - Closing Remarks and Resources About the Guest: Nathan Owen Nathan Owen is the founder of Ground Floor Building Coach and has around 30 years of construction experience, including nearly 10 years running his own residential building business. He now coaches Australian builders to strengthen the systems, communication and commercial thinking behind the building work. Website: https://www.groundfloorbuildingcoach.com/ LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/nathan-owen-590453337 CONNECT WITH THE TRADIE WEB GUYS! Website: https://www.tradiewebguys.com.au/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TradieWebGuysOfficial?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TradieWebGuysOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tradiewebguys/ LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/company/tradie-web-guys Matt's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamthemattj/ If you enjoyed this podcast, please take a moment to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed #podcast #thesiteshed #tradiewebguys #builders #constructionmanagement #businesssystems #clientexperience #projectmanagement Your Next Step: Join Tradie Academy , our free community packed with templates, checklists, and resources shared by podcast guests, coaches, and successful tradies. 👉 Join free and grab your next growth tool here: https://tradie.wiki/pod Follow The Site Shed: Facebook: The Site Shed Instagram: @thesiteshed LinkedIn: Matt Jones Website: thesiteshed.com YouTube: @TheSiteShed If you enjoyed this podcast and the series, please take 5 minutes to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed

🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 Book a Free Strategy Call with Tradie Web Guys: https://tradie.wiki/tssyt When margins tighten, cutting staff can feel like the fastest way to steady the business. But if your best people are sitting behind broken handovers, unclear scopes and clunky processes, reducing headcount does not fix the cause. It makes the same bottlenecks harder to carry. Matt Jones sits down with Nils Vesk from Ideas With Legs to unpack a more resourceful way to lower costs and protect profit without damaging your team or reputation. Nils explains how to run a friction hunt, diagnose behavioural, logistical and environmental causes, and turn the knowledge in your head into processes the whole team can improve. You will also hear his SCRAMBLE framework for generating practical alternatives, why substitution should come before elimination, and how to turn every mistake into a checklist, script, photo guide or training asset. If the business feels busy but the margin says otherwise, this conversation will help you find what is actually getting in the way. 🎥 Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/rzyCL6nOQo8 KEY CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction 01:56 - Meet Nils Vesk 03:23 - Finding Hidden Business Bottlenecks 04:37 - Cutting Costs Without Cutting People 07:03 - Create Your Own Economy 11:05 - Focus on Higher-Margin Work 14:52 - Substitute Before You Eliminate 15:43 - Run a Team Friction Hunt 26:01 - Becoming a Resourceful Tradie 31:18 - Leverage What You Already Have 36:18 - Solve Causes, Not Symptoms 37:41 - Three Types of Root Cause 41:48 - Shift Your Business Perspective 43:32 - The SCRAMBLE Thinking Framework 46:16 - Get Knowledge Out of Your Head 48:12 - Document and Improve Processes 57:12 - Turn Mistakes Into Assets 01:02:07 - Closing Remarks and Resources About the Guest: Nils Vesk Nils Vesk is an innovation expert, author and the founder of Ideas With Legs. He helps organisations identify bottlenecks, improve processes and turn practical ideas into stronger commercial results. His work spans global brands and trade businesses, giving him a clear view of how resourcefulness can improve output while reducing unnecessary cost. Website: https://www.ideaswithlegs.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nilsvesk/ CONNECT WITH THE TRADIE WEB GUYS! Website: https://www.tradiewebguys.com.au/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TradieWebGuysOfficial?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TradieWebGuysOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tradiewebguys/ LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/company/tradie-web-guys Matt's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamthemattj/ #podcast #thesiteshed #tradiewebguys #tradiebusiness #businesssystems #profitmargins #processimprovement #innovation #operational efficiency Your Next Step: Join Tradie Academy , our free community packed with templates, checklists, and resources shared by podcast guests, coaches, and successful tradies. 👉 Join free and grab your next growth tool here: https://tradie.wiki/pod Follow The Site Shed: Facebook: The Site Shed Instagram: @thesiteshed LinkedIn: Matt Jones Website: thesiteshed.com YouTube: @TheSiteShed If you enjoyed this podcast and the series, please take 5 minutes to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed

🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 Book a call with Tradie Web Guys: https://tradie.wiki/yt Google changed how target-based bidding behaves, and an account that looks completely normal could quietly produce fewer leads at a higher cost. Matt Jones sits down with Ethan Carter, Ads Specialist and Account Manager at Tradie Web Guys, to explain the August 17 change, why campaigns marked “Limited by budget” carry the most exposure, and how a gap between your target cost per lead and your actual result can now work against you. They break down a real $1,000-a-day plumbing account, the three checks to run inside Google Ads, and five possible responses, from resetting targets to changing bidding strategies or increasing budget. You will also learn why a cheap lead is meaningless without your close rate and job value, what to ask your agency, and why the worst response is leaving the account to drift. 🎥 Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/g43-VItf72Q KEY CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction 02:06 - Google Changed the Rules 03:10 - Meet Ethan Carter 03:49 - A Real Trade Business Example 06:00 - The New Target CPA Behaviour 07:53 - Which Campaigns Are Affected 11:02 - The Limited by Budget Risk 15:32 - A $1,000-a-Day Case Study 17:10 - Monitor Before You React 21:44 - Three Checks for Exposure 27:21 - Option One: Reset the Target 28:52 - Work Backwards From Job Value 31:54 - Alternative Bidding Strategies 35:27 - When More Budget Makes Sense 36:27 - The Cost of Doing Nothing 40:13 - What to Check This Week 42:21 - What to Ask Your Agency 43:31 - Know Your True Acquisition Cost 46:25 - Closing Remarks and Resources About the Guest: Ethan Carter Ethan Carter is an Ads Specialist and Account Manager at Tradie Web Guys, where he manages paid advertising campaigns for trade and contractor businesses. He works directly with campaign data, bidding strategies and lead costs to help clients generate profitable opportunities rather than simply buying more traffic. Want help understanding what this change means for your campaigns? 🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 Book a call with Tradie Web Guys: https://tradie.wiki/yt #podcast #thesiteshed #tradiewebguys #googleads #leadgeneration #tradiebusiness #paidsearch #digitalmarketing Your Next Step: Join Tradie Academy , our free community packed with templates, checklists, and resources shared by podcast guests, coaches, and successful tradies. 👉 Join free and grab your next growth tool here: https://tradie.wiki/pod Follow The Site Shed: Facebook: The Site Shed Instagram: @thesiteshed LinkedIn: Matt Jones Website: thesiteshed.com YouTube: @TheSiteShed If you enjoyed this podcast and the series, please take 5 minutes to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed

🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 Book a Free Strategy Call with Tradie Web Guys: https://tradie.wiki/tssyt Every tradie and contractor is being sold an AI robot to answer their phones right now, and most of them are about to waste their money. Matt Jones goes solo on this one to explain why the missed call was never the real problem. Leads do not die on the phone, they die in your inbox, and bolting AI onto a fractured system just helps you lose jobs faster. Matt covers where AI genuinely wins for trade businesses, speed to lead, after hours call capture and inward facing reminders that push humans to follow up, and where it consistently backfires, deep qualification, quoting and papering over a sales process that was never properly defined. He then maps the full lead management flow the agency runs with clients, capture, respond, pursue, qualify and nurture, including the Sydney solar business that went from 2% to 77% conversion once humans went back on the phones. If someone has told you AI is the answer, listen before you sign up to anything. 🎥 Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/EFsiq892xlE KEY CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction 01:40 - The AI Robot Pitch Every Tradie Hears 02:32 - Leads Die in Your Inbox 03:29 - Where AI Wins: Speed to Lead 04:53 - After Hours Call Capture 05:33 - Follow Ups and the Eighth Touch 06:41 - Where AI Backfires: Deep Qualification 08:25 - Quoting Chaos and Price Shock 09:27 - Why a Broken Process Stays Broken 11:03 - Solar Case Study: 2% to 77% 13:07 - Mapping Your Critical Client Flow 15:29 - Capture: Every Lead Into a CRM 16:55 - Respond: The Five Minute Rule 18:26 - Pursue: Twice a Day for Five Days 22:00 - Qualify: The Discovery Call 24:28 - Nurture: Useful, Relevant, Frequent 27:03 - Get Your Impact Roadmap 28:37 - Closing Remarks and Resources About the Host: Matt Jones Matt Jones is the founder of Tradie Web Guys and the host of The Site Shed. He works with tradies and contractors every day on the sales and marketing systems that turn leads into booked jobs. This episode is a straight read of what the agency sees working and failing across client accounts right now. Website: https://www.tradiewebguys.com.au/ Impact Roadmap session: https://www.tradiewebguys.com.au/ Matt's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamthemattj/ CONNECT WITH THE TRADIE WEB GUYS! Website: https://www.tradiewebguys.com.au/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TradieWebGuysOfficial?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TradieWebGuysOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tradiewebguys/ LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/company/tradie-web-guys Matt's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamthemattj/ If you enjoyed this podcast, please take a moment to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed #podcast #thesiteshed #tradiewebguys #aiforbusiness #speedtolead #leadmanagement #salesprocess #tradiebusiness Your Next Step: Join Tradie Academy , our free community packed with templates, checklists, and resources shared by podcast guests, coaches, and successful tradies. 👉 Join free and grab your next growth tool here: https://tradie.wiki/pod Follow The Site Shed: Facebook: The Site Shed Instagram: @thesiteshed LinkedIn: Matt Jones Website: thesiteshed.com YouTube: @TheSiteShed If you enjoyed this podcast and the series, please take 5 minutes to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed

You're the CEO of Your Health (Most Men Find Out Too Late) | ft. Dr. Stephen Sanders | Ep. 512 🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 Book a Free Strategy Call with Tradie Web Guys: https://tradie.wiki/tssyt You can run a business on four hours sleep, servo food and caffeine for a while. Then your body sends the invoice. Matt Jones sits down with Dr. B. Stephen Sanders, founder of Whole Men's Health, a physician who hit the wall himself in his late 30s with brain fog, fatigue and low libido at the exact point his career and family life were going well. His conclusion after ten years in primary care and years running men's health clinics is blunt. Most blokes normalise exhaustion until their performance, their relationships or their health force the issue. Stephen breaks down the foundations that drive about 80 per cent of the result, which are sleep, nutrition and training, then covers what baseline blood work should actually include and how to read testosterone labs alongside symptoms instead of chasing a script. Matt and Stephen get into magnesium, vitamin D, zinc, omega 3s and creatine, why there is no one size fits all nutrition plan, the 3pm crash, peptides, and why trying to fix ten things at once collapses after 30 days. If you have been using your age as the excuse, this conversation takes it off you. 🎥 Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/6seUic6paUw KEY CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction 01:49 - Meet Dr. Stephen Sanders 02:41 - The Wall He Hit in His Late 30s 04:08 - Why the 40s Hit Different 07:13 - Ageing Is Not an Excuse 11:28 - Training at 40 Versus 20 12:53 - The Foundations Are 80 Percent 16:20 - Relationships and Mindset 18:14 - Sleep, Training and Nutrition 19:33 - There Is No One Size Fits All 22:58 - Supplements Worth Taking 27:07 - Get Baseline Blood Work 30:11 - Testosterone, TRT and Symptoms 31:43 - The 3pm Crash 35:02 - You Are the CEO of Your Health 36:21 - Habits Beat 30 Day Sprints 43:16 - Health Scares and Second Chances 46:14 - Phones, Kids and Presence 49:21 - Closing Remarks and Resources About the Guest: Stephen Sanders Dr. B. Stephen Sanders is a board certified family medicine physician and the founder of Whole Men's Health, with clinics in Florida and Alabama plus nationwide telehealth. He spent his first ten years in traditional primary care before hitting his own wall in his late 30s, then rebuilt himself from the inside out. He now works with entrepreneurs, business owners and high performing men on energy, hormones, recovery and long term vitality. Husband and father of four. Website: https://www.wholemenshealth.com Work with Dr. Sanders: https://www.wholemenshealth.com/provider/b-stephen-sanders-md-mph LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephensandersmd CONNECT WITH THE TRADIE WEB GUYS! Website: https://www.tradiewebguys.com.au/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TradieWebGuysOfficial?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TradieWebGuysOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tradiewebguys/ LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/company/tradie-web-guys Matt's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamthemattj/ If you enjoyed this podcast, please take a moment to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed #podcast #thesiteshed #tradiewebguys #menshealth #burnout #tradiebusiness #testosterone #longevity Your Next Step: Join Tradie Academy , our free community packed with templates, checklists, and resources shared by podcast guests, coaches, and successful tradies. 👉 Join free and grab your next growth tool here: https://tradie.wiki/pod Follow The Site Shed: Facebook: The Site Shed Instagram: @thesiteshed LinkedIn: Matt Jones Website: thesiteshed.com YouTube: @TheSiteShed If you enjoyed this podcast and the series, please take 5 minutes to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed

🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 Book a Free Strategy Call with Tradie Web Guys: https://tradie.wiki/tssyt Most plumbing businesses are losing jobs before the technician even picks up a wrench — because they're selling when they should be diagnosing. Matt Jones sits down with Chris Fresh from The Plumbing Sales Coach to break down why the traditional hard sell is costing trade businesses revenue, reputation, and repeat customers. Chris spent seven years inside a plumbing operation — first as a customer who hated the experience, then as the person who rebuilt it from the inside. Now he coaches hundreds of plumbing companies across the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK on a service-first approach that's turned $238 average tickets into $1,400-plus. This episode unpacks Chris's four-step diagnosing framework (symptom, cause, connections, and what else works just like it) and the three-option system that's pushing some of his clients past 96% close rates without a single pressure tactic. You'll hear why every call should trace from the fixture to the main, how to present repair-replace-upgrade options that let the customer decide, and why call-out fees become irrelevant when your conversion rate is high enough. If you've ever wondered how to increase your average ticket without feeling like a used car salesman, this one's worth your time. 🎬 Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/-Yky8V4j4iw KEY CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction 01:54 - Meet Chris Fresh 02:37 - Looking for Problems Is Your Obligation 07:31 - Maximising Customer Lifetime Value 09:23 - Unreasonable Hospitality in Plumbing 12:22 - The Four-Step Diagnosing Framework 14:25 - Natural Progression vs Checklists 16:40 - Photo-Based Diagnosing Process 19:16 - Increasing Average Ticket Size 21:26 - Spend More to Win the Customer 23:49 - The Seventy Thousand Dollar Lifetime Value 25:24 - When Customer Retention Falls Away 29:04 - Lessons from Car Dealerships 34:18 - The Call-Out Fee Debate 35:34 - Fixing Conversions With the Three-Option System 41:31 - Memberships That Actually Work 45:04 - Closing Remarks and Resources About the Guest: Chris Fresh Chris Fresh is the founder and CEO of The Plumbing Sales Coach, based in Indianapolis, Indiana. A former carpenter turned home service operator, he spent seven years running and rebuilding a plumbing business before launching a coaching programme that now works with hundreds of plumbing companies across the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK. His approach centres on diagnosing over selling and giving customers the information they need to make their own decisions. Website: https://www.theplumbingsalescoach.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-fresh-2a375076/ CONNECT WITH THE TRADIE WEB GUYS! Website: https://www.tradiewebguys.com.au/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TradieWebGuysOfficial?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TradieWebGuysOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tradiewebguys/ LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/company/tradie-web-guys Matt's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamthemattj/ If you enjoyed this podcast, please take a moment to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed #podcast #thesiteshed #tradiewebguys #plumbingsales #salesprocess #customerexperience #tradesbusiness #serviceoversales #closingdeals Your Next Step: Join Tradie Academy , our free community packed with templates, checklists, and resources shared by podcast guests, coaches, and successful tradies. 👉 Join free and grab your next growth tool here: https://tradie.wiki/pod Follow The Site Shed: Facebook: The Site Shed Instagram: @thesiteshed LinkedIn: Matt Jones Website: thesiteshed.com YouTube: @TheSiteShed If you enjoyed this podcast and the series, please take 5 minutes to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed

🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 Book a Free Strategy Call with Tradie Web Guys: https://tradie.wiki/tssyt Most trade business owners are running flat out, grinding through 12-hour days, and wondering why nothing ever seems to get easier. Matt Jones sits down with Matthew Jones from Cube Performance to unpack why no business will ever outperform the person running it. Drawing on 35 years in the business space — including running his own plumbing business and coaching thousands of trade business owners — Matthew lays out the real reason so many owners hit a ceiling: they've accidentally become the engine of their business instead of its architect. This episode breaks down the Personal Operating System — a structured approach to protecting the three things that matter most: energy, focus, and priorities. You'll hear practical takeaways like auditing your sleep for seven and a half hours a night, scheduling 30 minutes of movement daily, blocking deep work into your calendar three times a week, and identifying the one question your team keeps asking you (because that's where your biggest dependency sits). If you've ever told yourself you're "too busy" to work on the business, this conversation will challenge that — and give you a framework to change it. KEY CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction 03:15 - Meet Matt Jones: Cube Performance 05:35 - Why Owners Neglect Themselves 06:40 - Running A Business Is Brutal 08:57 - The Personal Operating System 09:54 - Why You Need To Step Away 11:23 - More Hours Is Not The Answer 19:10 - Energy, Focus And Priorities 22:58 - Sleep As The Foundation 29:28 - Food, Supplements And Balance 34:44 - Movement As Non-Negotiable 36:09 - Clear Start And Finish Times 39:16 - Focus As Competitive Advantage 41:38 - The Pomodoro Deep Work Hack 48:08 - Finding Your Vital Few Priorities 60:42 - Three Audits To Start Tomorrow 65:33 - Cube Performance's Annual Conference 67:06 - Closing Remarks and Resources About the Guest: Matthew Jones Matthew Jones is the founder of Cube Performance and the Institute of Trade Professionals, based in Australia. A former plumber turned business coach, he's spent over 20 years helping trade business owners shift from being enslaved by their business to building operations that run without them. His background includes working with Olympic athletes in sprint kayaking, and he brings that same performance-driven discipline to business coaching. Website: http://www.cubeperformance.com.au/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewjonesthecube Catch Matt's previous appearances on The Site Shed: From A to B , Mastering Business Mindset , Pricing for Profit , Brand Planning , Managing Guilt and Planning a Profitable Business Exit . CONNECT WITH THE TRADIE WEB GUYS! Website: https://www.tradiewebguys.com.au/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TradieWebGuysOfficial?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TradieWebGuysOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tradiewebguys/ LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/company/tradie-web-guys Matt's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamthemattj/ If you enjoyed this podcast, please take a moment to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed #podcast #thesiteshed #tradiewebguys #businesscoaching #personaloperatingsystem #tradiebusiness #highperformance #mindset #energymanagement Your Next Step: Join Tradie Academy , our free community packed with templates, checklists, and resources shared by podcast guests, coaches, and successful tradies. 👉 Join free and grab your next growth tool here: https://tradie.wiki/pod Follow The Site Shed: Facebook: The Site Shed Instagram: @thesiteshed LinkedIn: Matt Jones Website: thesiteshed.com YouTube: @TheSiteShed If you enjoyed this podcast and the series, please take 5 minutes to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed

🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 Book a Free Strategy Call with Tradie Web Guys: https://tradie.wiki/tssyt 80% of businesses that go up for sale never actually sell. Shayne Connolly is one of the ones who did, and even he wasn't ready for what came after. He thought he'd be popping champagne. Instead, on the day the money hit the bank, he says he's never felt so deflated in his life. In this episode, Matt Jones sits down with Shayne Connolly, a returning guest who spent the last few years turning his trade business into something he could actually sell, then went through the process of doing exactly that. Shane walks through the mindset shift from "business owner" to "asset owner," why the emotional side of exiting gets ignored in favour of the mechanics, what he wishes he'd asked himself before signing anything, and why he's now building a platform to help other owners see the asset sitting in front of them before it's too late to plan for it. 🎥 Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/WGlussL7LIg KEY CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction 01:56 - Meet Shayne Connolly 03:38 - Two Life-Changing Events at Once 04:38 - The Emotional Side of Selling a Business 06:43 - Knowing Your Exit Number 07:55 - From Business Owner to Asset Owner 09:48 - The Golden Handcuffs Problem 12:00 - Why He'd Rather Build Than Run 23:12 - The Conversation With His Wife 25:16 - Selling to Someone He Already Trusted 34:52 - Did He Even Need to Sell? 37:47 - Why Brokers Were a Waste of Time 45:11 - The First Chapter Is: Do You Really Want This? 46:26 - Closing Remarks and Resources About the Guest: Shayne Connolly built his trade business into a genuine asset, one that could run without him, then sold it to a trusted team member rather than going through a broker. He's the author of Exit Plan and is now building OwnerHQ, a platform designed to help business owners understand the real value of what they've built and plan their exit long before they need one. Website: https://exitplan.au Software (in beta): https://ownerhq.biz CONNECT WITH THE TRADIE WEB GUYS! Website: https://www.tradiewebguys.com.au/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TradieWebGuysOfficial?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TradieWebGuysOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tradiewebguys/ LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/company/tradie-web-guys Matt's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamthemattj/ If you enjoyed this podcast, please take a moment to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed #podcast #thesiteshed #tradiewebguys #sellingbusiness #exitstrategy #businessvaluation #tradiebusiness #mindset Your Next Step: Join Tradie Academy , our free community packed with templates, checklists, and resources shared by podcast guests, coaches, and successful tradies. 👉 Join free and grab your next growth tool here: https://tradie.wiki/pod Follow The Site Shed: Facebook: The Site Shed Instagram: @thesiteshed LinkedIn: Matt Jones Website: thesiteshed.com YouTube: @TheSiteShed If you enjoyed this podcast and the series, please take 5 minutes to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed

🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 Book a Free Strategy Call with Tradie Web Guys: https://tradie.wiki/tssyt Being good at your trade is the price of entry now, not the point of difference. Every customer already assumes you can do the job, so it's the stuff underneath that decides whether they hire you, refer you, or quietly go looking elsewhere. Matt Jones sits down with Justin Herald, entrepreneur, speaker and the man behind Service Rebellion, to unpack the eight things every customer is silently weighing up every time they deal with a trade business, most of which have nothing to do with how good the work actually is. Justin built his first business on a $50 loan and $1.25 in the bank, grew it into a licensed brand sold in more than 180 companies worldwide, and has spent the years since studying why customers stay loyal to some businesses and quietly vanish from others. In this one you'll get the eight invisible evaluations customers make (importance, emotion, expectation, effort, certainty, understanding, personalisation and consistency), the phone call that cost four different trade businesses a job before they even picked up, and the emotional bank account concept that decides whether your business survives its next stuff-up. If a technically brilliant job still isn't winning you repeat customers, this is the missing piece. 🎥 Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/nfpOojSuPf4 KEY CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction 02:02 - Meet Justin Herald 02:23 - The Eight Invisible Things 04:21 - Expectation, Effort And Certainty 07:52 - Personalisation And The Phone Test 10:05 - Consistency Across Your Team 11:58 - From $1.25 To A Global Brand 16:18 - Why Service Rebellion Exists 19:13 - Say Something, Even Nothing 23:37 - The Reason Behind The Form 29:16 - Hiring For Personality 31:34 - Paying For Referrals 34:02 - The Market You're Not Tapping 37:21 - Letterbox Drops And QR Codes 45:22 - Websites Are For Storytelling 48:46 - The Emotional Bank Account 54:18 - Service Rebellion, The Book 55:52 - Closing Remarks and Resources About the Guest: Justin Herald Justin Herald is an entrepreneur, speaker and the author of nine books, including his latest, Service Rebellion. He built his first business, the Attitude clothing brand, from a $50 loan into a licensed brand sold in every country through more than 180 companies, before selling it and moving into speaking and writing full time. He now speaks at more than 100 conferences a year and works with businesses, plenty of them trades, on the customer experience standards that keep clients loyal and referring. Website: www.ServiceRebellion.com Referral system mentioned in the episode: www.ReferUsNetwork.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinherald/ CONNECT WITH THE TRADIE WEB GUYS! Website: https://www.tradiewebguys.com.au/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TradieWebGuysOfficial?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TradieWebGuysOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tradiewebguys/ LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/company/tradie-web-guys Matt's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamthemattj/ If you enjoyed this podcast, please take a moment to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed #podcast #thesiteshed #tradiewebguys #customerexperience #referralmarketing #customerservice #wordofmouth Your Next Step: Join Tradie Academy , our free community packed with templates, checklists, and resources shared by podcast guests, coaches, and successful tradies. 👉 Join free and grab your next growth tool here: https://tradie.wiki/pod Follow The Site Shed: Facebook: The Site Shed Instagram: @thesiteshed LinkedIn: Matt Jones Website: thesiteshed.com YouTube: @TheSiteShed If you enjoyed this podcast and the series, please take 5 minutes to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed

🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 Book a Free Strategy Call with Tradie Web Guys: https://tradie.wiki/tssyt Free payment processing scorecard & consult: https://flobizsolutions.com/ Most tradies can tell you their hourly rate and their material margins off the top of their head. Ask what it actually costs them to take a card payment, and you get a shrug. That shrug is where the money leaks. Matt Jones sits down with Jimmy Moore from FLO Business Solutions to pull apart the machinery behind every transaction: where your fees really go, why the "3.4%" on your statement is often the least of your worries, and how proprietary software quietly inflates what you pay year after year. Jimmy has worked with more than 20,000 businesses and helps oversee over a billion dollars in annual processing volume, so he knows exactly where trade business owners bleed cash. You'll learn how to work out your true effective rate in under two minutes, the three compliant ways to pass fees on to customers without copping a fine, and why chargebacks and "friendly fraud" might be costing you 2 to 4% of revenue a year. If you take card payments, and you do, this one pays for itself. 🎥 Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/m3SqkAHOzuk KEY CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction 02:04 - Meet Jimmy Moore 02:29 - The Payment Topic Nobody Covers 05:26 - Still Keying Cards By Hand 08:10 - Pay Links Speed Up Cash Flow 09:08 - Surcharge, Discount or Dual Price 11:54 - The Compliance Crackdown 14:21 - Three Hands In The Cookie Jar 16:05 - The Million Dollar Fee Bill 16:56 - Know Your Effective Rate 23:53 - Staying PCI Compliant 26:55 - Card Not Present Risk 33:47 - Breaking Free From Software Lock-In 37:13 - Start With Your Statements 40:54 - The Rewards Card Maths 43:46 - Chargebacks And Friendly Fraud 49:42 - Jimmy's Free Scorecard 51:24 - Closing Remarks and Resources About the Guest: Jimmy Moore Jimmy Moore is the driving force behind FLO Business Solutions in Columbia, South Carolina, where he helps field-service businesses get paid compliantly, at a fair cost, without the fee creep. Across his career he's worked with more than 20,000 businesses and helps oversee over a billion dollars in annual processing volume. He knows the payments world from the inside, which is exactly why he's good at spotting where trade business owners overpay. Website: https://flobizsolutions.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moorejimmy/ CONNECT WITH THE TRADIE WEB GUYS! Website: https://www.tradiewebguys.com.au/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TradieWebGuysOfficial?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TradieWebGuysOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tradiewebguys/ LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/company/tradie-web-guys Matt's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamthemattj/ If you enjoyed this podcast, please take a moment to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed #podcast #thesiteshed #tradiewebguys #paymentprocessing #cashflow #merchantfees #chargebacks #tradiebusiness Your Next Step: Join Tradie Academy , our free community packed with templates, checklists, and resources shared by podcast guests, coaches, and successful tradies. 👉 Join free and grab your next growth tool here: https://tradie.wiki/pod Follow The Site Shed: Facebook: The Site Shed Instagram: @thesiteshed LinkedIn: Matt Jones Website: thesiteshed.com YouTube: @TheSiteShed If you enjoyed this podcast and the series, please take 5 minutes to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed

🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 Book a Free Strategy Call with Tradie Web Guys: https://tradie.wiki/tssyt There is no shortage of people online telling you to let AI answer your phones. Matt Jones reckons it is quietly costing tradies jobs, and he has tested it enough to know. Matt sits down with Shelby Anderson from ServiceForge to unpack why a panicked customer with a flooded basement does not want to talk to a bot, and why the human touch still wins when it comes to closed jobs. They dig into where AI genuinely helps, where it falls over, and why so many trade businesses are leaving money on the table every time a call slips to voicemail. You will walk away knowing how to qualify leads without burning your own hours, why the KPI most owners chase is the wrong one, and how to get your call handling ready for seasonal surges before they hit. Shelby breaks down what ServiceForge actually does with 24/7 live answering, booking and lead qualification, and Matt runs the old model versus new model maths on why a full-time in-house receptionist rarely stacks up. If you have ever lost a job to a missed call, this one is for you. 🎥 Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/av3NCaE8SvQ KEY CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction 02:02 - Meet Shelby Anderson 02:37 - The AI vs Human Debate 04:04 - Where AI Falls Short 05:04 - The New Sales Model 07:01 - How ServiceForge Qualifies Leads 1 0:48 - Why Discovery Wins Jobs 12:12 - The KPI Tradies Get Wrong 13:59 - In-House vs Outsourced Costs 15:27 - The True Cost of a Missed Call 16:18 - Preparing for Seasonal Surges 18:56 - Local Agents and Conversions 20:49 - Where AI Is Headed 23:17 - Using AI Without Losing Your Voice 28:51 - Managing Sales Pipelines 33:08 - Training Agents and AI Coaching 35:30 - Final Advice for Tradies 37:44 - Closing Remarks and Resources About the Guest: Shelby Anderson Shelby Anderson is the Operations Leader at ServiceForge, an all-in-one service provider that helps trade and home service businesses get found, get booked and get paid. Based in Texas, her team handles 24/7 live answering, booking and payment solutions so no call goes unanswered and no opportunity is missed. She is passionate about building reliable customer experiences that turn inbound demand into booked jobs. Website: https://www.serviceforge.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/serviceforge/ CONNECT WITH THE TRADIE WEB GUYS! Website: https://www.tradiewebguys.com.au/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TradieWebGuysOfficial?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TradieWebGuysOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tradiewebguys/ LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/company/tradie-web-guys Matt's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamthemattj/ If you enjoyed this podcast, please take a moment to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed #podcast #thesiteshed #tradiewebguys #answeringservice #missedcalls #leadqualification #tradiebusiness #customerexperience Your Next Step: Join Tradie Academy , our free community packed with templates, checklists, and resources shared by podcast guests, coaches, and successful tradies. 👉 Join free and grab your next growth tool here: https://tradie.wiki/pod Follow The Site Shed: Facebook: The Site Shed Instagram: @thesiteshed LinkedIn: Matt Jones Website: thesiteshed.com YouTube: @TheSiteShed If you enjoyed this podcast and the series, please take 5 minutes to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed

🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 Book a Free Strategy Call with Tradie Web Guys: https://tradie.wiki/tssyt 60% of business transitions fail — and it's rarely the tax strategy that kills them. The real culprit is the stuff nobody wants to talk about: unclear expectations, poor communication, and the relationships between the people involved. Matt Jones sits down with Andrea Carpenter from The Transition Strategists to unpack why so many family business successions fall apart, and what trade business owners can do to make sure theirs doesn't. Whether you're thinking about stepping back in 2 years or 20, Andrea breaks down the three generations of transition thinking, the Transition Compass tool, and why starting the conversation 7 to 10 years out isn't too early — it's just smart. If you've ever thought about selling, handing down, or stepping away from your business, this one's for you. 🎥 Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/LCu3zgBwLho KEY CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction 00:55 - The Site Shed Hits 500 Episodes 02:00 - Meet Andrea Carpenter 02:20 - What Is a Business Transition? 03:20 - Internal vs External Transition Options 04:10 - Why Trade Businesses Are Now Sellable Assets 07:00 - The Real Reason Transitions Fail 10:30 - Transition 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 Explained 14:00 - Fairness vs Equality in Family Business 19:00 - Designing the Transition With Your Successor 22:00 - The Transition Compass Tool 26:00 - How to Start the Conversation Early 30:00 - Working Yourself Out of Your Own Role 33:00 - How Long a Transition Really Takes 37:00 - Why 75% of Owners Regret Selling 41:00 - Closing Remarks and Resources About the Guest: Andrea Carpenter Andrea Carpenter is the founder of The Transition Strategists and specialises in business succession and transition planning. She works with family-owned and privately held businesses — including trade and home service operators — to help owners design exits that actually work. Her focus is the human side of transition: the relationships, conversations, and structures that determine whether a handover succeeds or falls apart. Website: https://transitionstrategists.com/ Free resource: https://beforebuysell.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreakcarpenter/ CONNECT WITH THE TRADIE WEB GUYS! Website: https://www.tradiewebguys.com.au/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TradieWebGuysOfficial?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TradieWebGuysOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tradiewebguys/ LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/company/tradie-web-guys Matt's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamthemattj/ If you enjoyed this podcast, please take a moment to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed #podcast #thesiteshed #tradiewebguys #businesstransition #familybusiness #exitstrategy #successionplanning #tradiebusiness Your Next Step: Join Tradie Academy , our free community packed with templates, checklists, and resources shared by podcast guests, coaches, and successful tradies. 👉 Join free and grab your next growth tool here: https://tradie.wiki/pod Follow The Site Shed: Facebook: The Site Shed Instagram: @thesiteshed LinkedIn: Matt Jones Website: thesiteshed.com YouTube: @TheSiteShed If you enjoyed this podcast and the series, please take 5 minutes to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed

🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 Book a Free Strategy Call with Tradie Web Guys: https://tradie.wiki/tssyt Your customers are already using ChatGPT to research contractors before they ever call you, and if you're not showing up in those results, you're handing jobs to your competitors. In this episode, Matt Jones sits down with Paul Redman from Contractor Commerce to break down exactly how AI is reshaping the quoting and lead generation process for tradies worldwide. Discover the tools and strategies top contractors are using right now to get found, build trust online, and close more work without ever picking up the phone. KEY CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction 01:54 - Meet Paul Redman 02:23 - The Shift in Consumer Behavior 03:04 - Overcoming the Fear of Online Pricing 04:17 - The Growth of Contractor Commerce 06:22 - Positioning Yourself as the Go-To Expert 09:29 - The Strategy of Upfront Pricing 11:56 - Improving Conversion Rates with Transparency 14:07 - Competitive Pricing vs. Dealership Models 16:45 - Shifting KPIs for Better Business Results 19:02 - The Impact of AI and LLMs on Search 22:01 - Optimizing for AI Search Results 25:16 - AI as the Ultimate Virtual Salesperson 28:45 - The Future of High-Touch vs. AI Interactions 33:23 - The Value of Human Connection in Sales 37:46 - Educating Customers Through Transparent Pricing 41:43 - Closing Remarks and Resources About the Guest: Paul Redman Paul Redman is the founder of Contractor Commerce, a platform that helps home service businesses and contractors sell fully installed pricing, memberships, and services directly online, including through AI-powered buying journeys on their websites. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Paul grew up around the trades and has spent years helping contractors adapt to the shift in consumer behaviour, from in-home sales to fully digital, self-serve purchasing experiences. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-j-redman/ CONNECT WITH THE TRADIE WEB GUYS! Website: https://www.tradiewebguys.com.au/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TradieWebGuysOfficial?sub_confirmation=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TradieWebGuysOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tradiewebguys/ LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/company/tradie-web-guys Matt’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamthemattj/ If you enjoyed this podcast, please take a moment to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed #podcast #thesiteshed #tradiewebguys Your Next Step: Join Tradie Academy , our free community packed with templates, checklists, and resources shared by podcast guests, coaches, and successful tradies. 👉 Join free and grab your next growth tool here: https://tradie.wiki/pod Follow The Site Shed: Facebook: The Site Shed Instagram: @thesiteshed LinkedIn: Matt Jones Website: thesiteshed.com YouTube: @TheSiteShed If you enjoyed this podcast and the series, please take 5 minutes to leave us a review: ⭐ https://lovethepodcast.com/TheSiteShed Love the audio version of this podcast? Subscribe to the link below: ⭐ https://followthepodcast.com/TheSiteShed