Hey, I’m Daniel Fitzpatrick, business coach & creator of Next Level Tradie. I’m based in North Canterbury. Happily married, 5 kids.
I’ve been in business all my working life. And I’ve seen what an epic difference good business coaching & mentoring can make. And has made for tradies I work with, as well as in my businesses.
It takes guts to be in business & it’s hard work. As the owner, you carry the burden. You’re the one who loses sleep if you can’t pay the bills this week. You’re the last to get paid. It’s your reputation on the line when a job goes wrong. The buck stops with you when a job blows out & your quote won’t let you charge extra. You’re the one that everyone is counting on.
You have all the risk. My job is to help you get the rewards as well.
For me, I was always interested in business. Back in school, while my mates were on holiday, I was working in the family business – in the factory, doing accounts, serving customers. Learning how business works, why customers buy, how to make money. Why some businesses succeed while others fail. This fascinated me.
I decided to study business for 3 years at the Christchurch Polytechnic (now called Ara). I choose this because the subjects were more practical not academic. I learn from hands-on doing & getting amongst it, not watching from a distance.
When I was 20, the manager in the family business left for health reasons, so I was offered the opportunity to take over. It’s one thing to work as an employee, but as we all know, running a business & wearing all the hats, is a whole other thing. I was suddenly boss of guys 2-3 times my age & they knew more about some aspects of the business than I did. So I had to learn quick and earn their respect.
Through the up’s & downs of running a business, I got my real education.
27 years later (I know! I don’t look a day over 21) – after running the family business for many years (in manufacturing & retail) & two more successful (service-based) businesses after that – and learning off many mentors – I know from experience what works & what doesn’t.
I’ve been business coaching in Christchurch for the last 8 years with my company Business Solutions. And I realised that most of my clients were tradies & that we were getting great results again & again. So I’ve now developed the Next Level Tradie program (previously Successful Tradie), specifically to help those in the trades & construction industry.
I don’t know you yet, but if you are like many tradies I come across, your story goes something like this:
You work really hard. You’re good at your trade. You have plenty of happy customers. But something is missing – the business side.
This costs you. In lost profits, staff headaches, sleepless nights, cashflow stress, working way too many hours & utter frustration… to name a few.
If you are in your 40’s or over & still spending a lot of time on the tools, your body is starting to get worn out – it could be a knee, shoulder, hip, elbow, or maybe your back. The doc is telling you what you already know: you’re older now & the wear & tear on your body is taking its toll. You know you can’t be on the tools forever.
Or maybe you are off the tools now & much of your time is spent in sales, your day is juggling jobs & putting out fires & the paperwork is driving you crazy. To make anything happen it has to go through you, so you work late nights & weekends & can’t see the end of it.
You keep going, battling away, hoping it will get better. But it’s unlikely to come right if you do nothing. And you know the signs are already there – things need to change sooner rather than later.
You see other businesses that seem to be doing better & don’t seem to have all these problems, or at least not as many & it makes you a little envious, frustrated & at times even angry. You have doubts it can get better because you have done everything you know to change it. You’ve tried a lot of things & it hasn’t worked, so now you’re here, reading this.
The truth is, if you master the business side, it can get a whole lot better.
I know clients are winning when we see increases in profit & they have a business that is finally making them a good income; when they’re able to get rid of the heavy debt off their backs. When they’re enjoying their business again. When they have more time for family because they have good systems & staff that can manage things without the owners always being there.
Best of all, when clients tell me they’ve finally stopped working massive hours & have the lifestyle they’ve been wanting. When couples don’t have arguments about the business all the time, now that the pressure is off & they’re not missing out on their kids growing up.
When you’re self-employed, the pressure can be relentless & the stakes are high.
Is Next Level Tradie the answer for you?
If you’re experiencing some of the problems & frustrations we’ve covered & you want more profit, more free time & less stress, you are in the right place.
The next move is yours. Many see the answer in front of them but don’t take that final step. Years later they are stuck in the same old problems, except now they are even more frustrated. The only real way to know is to take the next step. Is it worth a small amount of your time to find out?
Contact me & see if coaching is right for you. No pressure – just genuine conversation to see if it makes sense to work together. If it’s not for you, that’s fine… coaching is not for everyone. There is work in getting good results (but not as much as you think!).
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