If you’re still starting jobs without taking a deposit, you’re carrying all the financial risk yourself. Materials bought, time committed, diary blocked — and if the customer turns difficult or disappears, you’re the one out of pocket. Taking a deposit before you start work is standard practice across the trades. It protects your cash flow,…
Every tradesperson has a story. The customer who queried the invoice after the job was done. The one who went silent when payment was due. The one who asked for a quote, had you round for an hour, then never replied. It’s one of the most frustrating parts of running a trade business — and…
Finding new customers takes time, money, and effort. Getting an old customer to book you again costs almost nothing. Yet most tradespeople spend all their energy chasing new work and do very little to hold onto the customers they’ve already got. If you’re a sole trader or running a small trade business in the UK,…
You don’t need a £2,000 website to get work from Google. You need a website that loads fast, looks professional on a phone, clearly states what you do and where, and has enough content for Google to understand what searches it should show up for. Most tradespeople can build something that does all of that…
Your Google Business Profile is the single most powerful free marketing tool available to a UK tradesperson — and most tradespeople are using it at about 20% of its potential. A basic claimed profile with a phone number and a handful of reviews is a start. But there’s a significant gap between a profile that…
Checkatrade is one of the most recognised names in UK trade directories and has been around since 1998. It spends heavily on TV and radio advertising, which does genuinely drive customer searches. But in recent years, trade forums and review sites have filled up with tradespeople complaining about price hikes, poor lead quality, and difficulty…
Checkatrade is one of the most recognised names in UK trade directories and has been around since 1998. It spends heavily on TV and radio advertising, which does genuinely drive customer searches. But in recent years, trade forums and review sites have filled up with tradespeople complaining about price hikes, poor lead quality, and difficulty…
Ask ten tradespeople whether they need a website and you’ll get ten different answers. Some will tell you they’ve never needed one — they’re fully booked on word of mouth and referrals. Others will tell you their website is their best source of new work. Both can be true depending on where you are in…
Getting MCS certified or OZEV approved is only half the job. The other half is making sure the customers who are actively searching for qualified green energy installers in your area can actually find you. Most tradespeople who get certified don’t update their marketing to reflect it — and then wonder why the enquiries aren’t…
Pricing green energy work is one of the areas where tradespeople most commonly get it wrong — either leaving significant money on the table by undercharging, or losing jobs by quoting in a way that confuses customers about grants and net costs. Both mistakes are avoidable once you understand how the pricing and grant structure…