tradie business

Think You’re a Good Manager? Ask Your Team.

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Last week I asked a simple question: how good are you as a manager?

Most business owners can quickly tell me what their team needs to improve. But how often do you turn that around and ask your team what you could improve?

Your team sees your management from a completely different perspective, so I’ve put together a simple Manager Feedback Scorecard you can print out and give to them.

It asks your team to rate you across six areas:

People Management
Communication
Technical Skills
Leadership
Problem Solving
Training & Development

The important part is asking them to be honest, and being prepared to listen to what comes back.

If several people rate you poorly in the same area, don’t defend it. Use it. That’s probably an area where becoming a better manager could also help you build a better team.

Download the scorecard here, give it to your team and see how you go.

And I’d genuinely love to hear what comes back.

Hugh Bowman
ActionCOACH Geelong

How Good Are You as a Manager?

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It’s pretty easy to point out the things your team could be doing better.

They’re too slow. They don’t communicate properly. They’re not learning quickly enough. They struggle to work together. They need too much direction.

But here’s a question I think more business owners should ask:

How would your team rate you as their manager?

It can be a confronting question, particularly when you’ve spent years building the business and employing the people around you. But if there are ongoing problems within your team, it’s worth looking at management from both sides.

In this video, I challenge business owners to ask their team for some genuine feedback across six areas:

  1. People management
  2. Communication
  3. Technical skills
  4. Leadership
  5. Problem solving
  6. Training and development

You might score really well in some areas and discover there are others where your team sees things very differently to you.

And that’s the point.

Good management isn’t about assuming you’re doing a good job. It’s about being willing to find out, learn from the feedback and become better at leading the people in your business.

Watch the video below and then consider giving the exercise a go with your own team!

You might be surprised by what you learn.

 

Thanks
Hugh

Put AI to Work in Your Business at Our Next GrowthCLUB

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Our next GrowthCLUB is happening on Tuesday 15 September, and this one is going to be a little different.

We’re getting hands on with AI!

There’s plenty of talk about what AI can do, but I’m more interested in how business owners can actually use it. So during this GrowthCLUB, everyone will have their laptop or iPad open and we’ll work through it together.

We’ll start by training AI to understand your business, including what you do, your customers, services, team, competitors, challenges and where you want the business to go.

From there, we’ll put it to work.

We’ll use AI to help identify opportunities you might be missing, look at where your time is disappearing, find repetitive tasks it could help you complete faster and get it to challenge some of your thinking.

Most importantly, this isn’t about getting AI to run your business for you. It’s about giving it enough information to become a genuinely useful tool for helping you think, plan and get things done.

You don’t need to be good with technology and you don’t need a paid AI account. Bring your laptop or iPad, come ready to work on your business and we’ll take you through it.

If you’d like to join us at GrowthCLUB on Tuesday 15 September, please get in touch.

Thanks
Hugh

Your Business May Be More Valuable Than You Realise

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I often hear business owners say, “When I retire, I’ll just shut the doors. No one would buy my business.”

But is that actually true?

When we start looking at the assets, the profit the business generates and the years it has taken to build its customer base, reputation and operation, the conversation often changes very quickly.

The issue isn’t always that the business has no value. It’s that the owner hasn’t built the systems or documentation needed to demonstrate that value to someone else.

In this short video, I walk through a simple example I regularly use with business owners to get them thinking differently about what their business could actually be worth.

If you’re planning to retire or step away from your business one day, don’t wait until then to find out what you’ve actually built.

Hugh Bowman
ActionCOACH Geelong

Why the Tradies With Better Systems Will Win in 2026

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As the federal budget once again focuses on boosting housing supply, one critical issue keeps resurfacing. Australia does not have enough skilled tradespeople to fix and renovate existing homes, let alone build the new homes being promised.

This year’s budget included measures aimed at addressing the shortage, including funding for a new trade skills assessment system and programs designed to help overseas trained tradies become licensed and working in Australia faster. While these initiatives may help over time, the reality for many trade businesses right now is that skilled staff remain difficult to find.

This is exactly why I believe the trade businesses with better systems, stronger leadership and organised processes are going to be the ones that perform best through 2026 and beyond.

When labour is tight, every team member matters more. Good systems around communication, quoting, scheduling, follow up and accountability become critical. I see too many trade businesses lose work simply because quotes are not followed up properly, admin becomes overwhelmed or the owner is trying to manage everything manually.

The best trade businesses attract the best staff. People want to work in businesses that are organised, professional, well led and structured properly. Businesses with strong systems and clear expectations tend to retain good people longer and create better team culture.

The businesses that continue to grow are usually not the ones working the hardest. They are the ones operating the smartest. They have systems in place that help their teams perform consistently, improve customer communication and create a better experience from enquiry through to completed job.

At ActionCOACH Geelong, I work with tradie business owners to improve systems, leadership, sales processes and profitability. Because in a market where skilled staff are harder to find, the businesses that are organised and structured properly are often the ones that pull ahead.

Struggling in Your Business? Here’s How I Help Tradies Turn It Around

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If your business is struggling, the first thing I’ll say is this, you’re not alone, and it’s not unfixable. I speak to tradies every week who feel like things are harder than they should be, whether that’s cashflow pressure, not enough profit, staff issues, or just constantly feeling behind. With over 14 years in business and working with more than 140 tradies, I’ve seen these situations many times before and I know what to look for.

What I help tradies do is bring structure and clarity back into the business. Most are working hard, putting in the hours, but still not getting the results they want. That usually comes down to gaps in systems, sales processes, or understanding the numbers. Once we identify where things are breaking down, we put simple, practical strategies in place to fix them. That might be improving your conversion rate, tightening up your processes, or getting a better handle on your profit, but the goal is always the same, to get you back in control and moving forward.

The real shift happens when you stop reacting and start running the business properly. Instead of constantly putting out fires, you’re planning ahead, making better decisions, and building something that actually works for you. That’s when I see tradies start to grow, more profit, better systems, and a business that gives them time and control back. If things aren’t where they should be right now, reach out. A simple conversation is usually the best place to start.

Thanks
Hugh

Is It OK to Poach Employees? I say “Hell Yeah!”

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Is it actually okay to poach employees from other businesses?

It’s a question that comes up all the time, especially when good people are hard to find.

In this video, I share my honest view on it, and why the way most business owners think about hiring might be holding them back.

Because the reality is, the people you want in your business are usually already working somewhere else. And if you’re serious about building a stronger, more profitable business, you need to be thinking differently about how you attract them.

This isn’t about doing the wrong thing. It’s about understanding what it takes to build a great team, and why the best businesses don’t leave hiring to chance.

Watch the video for my full take on this and what it means for your business.

If you want to chat about how to bring the right people into your team, feel free to reach out.

Thanks
Hugh
0409 402 474