Being a tradie is an unforgiving job. Seeing a tradie toil under the blistering summer heat is a common sight to behold. It is a labour-intensive, back-breaking role far outside the creature comforts of an air-conditioned office.
But behind the scenes, tradies have to self-manage and organise their ledger of projects on their own! Contrary to popular belief, tradies behave more like independent entrepreneurs; they are their own bosses. The downside of being your own maverick is being expected to be a jack of all trades. In reality, they are a master of none, spreading themselves across mundane tasks such as:
- Managing an increasingly packed schedule
- Managing multiple client relationships and ongoing correspondence
- Managing your social media presence
- Copywriting, and creating original marketing materials
On first glance, these deliverables aren’t so different from what entrepreneurs do. In the H.I.P.P.O. Bullseye, this is what we call dispassionate tasks; repetitive but necessary evils that have to be fulfilled. It is mentally exhausting, and commands your attention away from the things that matter. Imagine working on a construction project on-site, and having to contend with an onslaught of ill-timed calls from irate clients. Back-breaking labour is tiring as is!
Inevitably, you sacrifice precious hours of your workday trying to navigate your backlog of tasks. These are time-wasting practices that are not beneficial to your business, and your welfare in the long haul. Any time spent is time lost. In the words of the Frank Zane: “The present won’t stay, as time slips away”. Spend too much time on perfunctory tasks, and you lose out on emerging, potential opportunities to take your business to the next level. These are unwanted variables that distract you from the work that truly matters.
In addition, all work but no play makes you a dull person. This sentiment is far worse if there is little joy to be found in your work! In fact, in a workplace survey, over a third of respondents cited boredom as a strong motivation for quitting! Boredom, and dispassion are strong demotivational factors that hinder your dedication to your craft. Once your interest starts to diminish, alarm bells are starting to ring! This is a huge red flag.
Things do not need to be that way
Picture these tasks as a patchwork of functioning cogs working harmoniously together, allowing your business to run seamlessly as you focus on the heart of your business. As a tradie, the heart of their trade, is the trade itself! Why be a master of none when you could be a master of one?
Picture the following scenario: you are a renowned car-mechanic with an extensive portfolio. As a result, you have a huge clientele to attend to, but you have a finite amount of time and resources. Would you choose option:
- A: Self-managing it on your own, handling all client correspondence (from phone calls to emails), and tidying up your schedule all on your own. Doing so results in losing out on future opportunities due to lost time.
- B: Outsource back-end tasks so that you can focus on your trade, allowing you to focus completely on repairing, and diagnosing damaged cars?
It is starting to become apparent that B is the superior option. A huge myriad of these tasks could be easily outsourced to readily available virtual assistants, well equipped to perform back-end tasks. Why perform all of your business tasks sub-optimally? Realistically, no entrepreneur is expected to optimally perform every business-related task by themselves; so why should tradies?
Two is better than one
That is where Hippo Business Services fits in the big picture!
At Hippo, our S.O.S Framework definitively captures our businesses main offerings. The S.O.S framework is highly adaptive, each solution tailored to match your expectations.
The first letter, S, stands for Systemise. Here, our team performs a business-health check, identifying time-wasting areas. This insightful analysis highlights time-wasting practices or chores that do not help you achieve your core deliverables.
It is crucial to remind yourself that time is money, and money is precious!
The second letter, O, stands for Outsource. As discussed earlier, it simply entails our recruitment process for viable candidates that best satisfy your needs and wants. Hippo prides itself on its strict adherence to professionalism. From managing lengthy excel spreadsheets to maintaining healthy customer relationships, we promise our clients that each of our virtual assistants are fully trained to tackle the challenges discussed with gusto!
The final letter, S, stands for Scale. During the final stage, our prolific team at Hippo organises and expedites communication between you and the designated virtual assistants, helping your business take off by scaling beyond your current capacity.
The cost-to-benefit ratio of employing virtual assistance is huge; the long-term benefits reaped from outsourcing mundane tasks are not limited to business scalability, a highly- satisfied customer base and increased profits! Focus on the long-term, not the short term. Don’t let the initial cost-to-entry deter you from seeking external assistance from us.
As Franklin D Roosevelt once said: “Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort”. You don’t have to begrudgingly perform all those tedious, rote tasks by yourself. Why spread yourself so thin when living life as a tradie is hard enough? No one is an island; an extra pair of hands is always better than one. Let our team at Hippo do the heavy lifting for you! Systemise your operations with us today!
