¶ Building Industry Reflections and Future Growth
Since investing money and energy into myself , everything else around has become better .
Okay , guys , welcome back to another episode of level up . We are back in the shed this afternoon for another cracking episode . This one's another group podcast , because the last one we did went pretty well . So got a couple of great builders here this afternoon . We got some Eric from VL constructions he's a local Brisbane guy .
We've got Nathan from newfound building solutions that's come up from Sydney , and our good mate Brett I think he's back for about his bloody fourth or fifth podcast . How are you guys ? Yeah , good mate , thanks for having me so . Let's just have a bit of a .
Well , we're gonna chat about all things building , I guess , building industry and stuff so let's kick it off , boy . I guess what do you guys think , like , how do you think the year 2023 is panned out ? Like things seem to be leveling out a bit and price increases are backed off . We seem to be don't know about you guys , but like things seem to be .
We are get materials and those types of things . So how you guys ?
fine , in the year , yeah , I reckon it's probably been our best year yet . I think all the struggles we went through in sort of late 21 or 22 , 20 in early 23 sort of set us up to run a lot Better businesses , to be across it a lot more than we had been in the past .
It sort of was a bit of a bit of a kick up the arse that I reckon a lot of us needed . Yeah , it's really covered period . So , yeah , 2023 has been a good year .
Yeah , well for me 2022 was pretty bad , so couldn't have got much worse . But yeah , I think , just to kind of jump on what Brett said , learning through all the challenges and struggles through covert Definitely made us stronger . And then , yeah , like materials , being able to be more readily available has been something that's been a lot better for us this year .
So , all in all , like so far this year has been really good for us .
Yeah , awesome , yeah , you may yeah , same with us .
So is what Breton nice is saying . It's yeah , we're looking next year and this year it's gonna be our biggest , probably biggest year in a long time and most profitable year , probably . And yeah , but inquiries of just are not slowing at the moment , so it's been really good . I'm got good subbies now and everything , so which is , yeah , really good .
So it is . Sometimes you got to go through some hard times . I mean you to know or appreciate and point you in the right direction . I get it .
Yeah , I feel like through covert , it's not gonna . I don't think you can get more challenging than what we went through .
Well , yeah , how can ?
it get more . How can it get worse , even with the rain that we had last year , like I don't know ? Yeah , but the main we had in 22 was it felt like it rained every day the whole year .
Yeah , and it just it does make you Like . For me , anyway , I think every time you have a little bit of a I know a stressful period , if you can look back on those harder times and think , fuck , that we've actually done really well .
Yep , yeah , I think it makes a little bit more . It's just more resilient , isn't it , once we're used to operating them real tough times where we all got through it Luckily us here . And the summer learn is lucky , but yeah , the one , I think . What if you could put the work in in them ? Real tough times ?
Definitely you appreciate the times when things are starting to come back to a bit of normality .
Yeah , I think it helps to those times Grow your systems and processes behind the scenes and that sort of helped us like that's what's making our life a lot easier now , because we've got all that stuff in place . So I think that's yeah . Having having that time just to go , well , no , I need to fix all this back-end stuff , was a game changer for us .
I think the ones that knuckled down and owned it and took control of their business are gonna see Massive growth these in the next couple years .
The ones that sort of sat around pointing fingers lot this old-school mentality they're the ones that are gonna find it really hard and , yeah , probably not have the fruits of the labor that we have , that we've put in already .
I think that's an important point because it like I'm in the mindset now , like it doesn't matter at the end of the day if you watch the news and read the papers , like there is always shit going on , so . But the building industry is gonna continue to have ups and downs and fucking bad times and whatever Horizons that exist .
So Go to the news it's just for me , it's just negativity that I don't need and it's helped help me with my mindset , because it's just , you know , here Building permits have decreased by 50% . Everyone's you know shit . The building industry is gonna collapse , but they were so inflated for that to period before that that they've just gone back down to normal .
Yeah , it's really hard to know in what they're , what they're reporting on to . They're reporting on the big entity and the volume builders when they see so much , but we've never had more inquire than we've had having at the moment . Yeah , we're the same we are .
Our inquiries are flat out . You know which ? Yeah everyone thought it was gonna come down and I think it's just . As Brett said , it's gotten rid of all the people that didn't have their businesses Set up properly and didn't have their systems in place , so they've gone out the door probably highlights what you talk about a bit .
The building industry needs to be two separate industries .
Mm-hmm , the bigger volume guys and and the custom 100% my mind that we're all thrown in the one basket like it's just . To me it's absolutely crazy . Like you get to a like weird Chris on here from Homes by CMA a couple of weeks ago Like he's he just turned over .
He's turned over 92 million for the year , 300 odd homes and like just a quality business , but very , very different .
Like I said to him , you're a custom builder on steroids , like we're so different and I just I think that would really help solve a lot of the issues that we all of us smaller custom builders have If they did separate it , especially when it comes to the cost of building , because it's chalk and cheese , like yeah , you're literally nice we were talking about
before , like it's literally like the project volume builders are like the highlights , the custom builders are Lot of . Bentley . Like it's . It's so different , it's not funny . Like the supervision , the level of supervision , the level of quality , the materials that get used , like it's chalk and cheese .
I think it really helped the client expectation , if it was separated because it's such , it's such a blurred line what people think they're gonna get just from from seeing a lot of these project homes that are built on scale . But but then they want to , they want to customize it , build how they want it , and it's just completely different industries .
Yeah , everybody , you think the number one thing is , like you touched on before , like your , your systems and processes and things Like why do you ? Well , you might not want to answer this question , but like why do you , do you have any idea why , or a or a thought or opinion , why lots of volume builders are falling over ?
Yeah , probably because they don't have the systems and processes in place , probably , and they're not .
They're not Supervising their jobs a lot of times and they they just leave their subbies just to go , just to keep going on site without any supervision and the quality I think of this like the subbies just get away with a lot more stuff with their guys , and then it's really based on volume in it .
Yeah , not quality or profitability .
Yeah , like you go and have a look at some of those homes and it's just like this stuff just wouldn't even pass like and we've done Renault's on some of these jobs and it just none of it meets code . So yeah , I think a lot of that is just and speed to the guy and they're not getting paid enough . Yeah , it's the other thing , the subbies .
So they're just , they're drawn , they're stuffed with these Um , small metering rates and stuff like that , which yeah it just doesn't work when you put them to a price like that , such a Tight price . They can't live off that Mm-hmm .
So yeah , they screw over on down . So all the subbies just try and do it as quick as they can , because then I'll get paid for it . So then the quality goes out the door .
Yeah .
I think , a big thing with them . They work on such fine margins . When we went through that stage of how quick Price is inflated and how far out they sign up contracts , mm-hmm , that's where they've shot himself in the foot . They've overcommitted , they've got . There's so much margin in it already . There's no time to adjust , there's no time to .
You can't pay their jobs back anymore than they already are and and and . You've seen with a lot of them they had to get out of contracts . That and so many have gone under .
Just highlights , doesn't it like you ? Like ? They rely on cash flow so much that they're signing contracts for homes that they might not even get a Slab down for six , eight , twelve months .
Well , we've seen a lot of slabs on the ground . I mean especially , I know around Brisbane there was hundreds of slabs that just sat there poured for , especially through that Government grant , through Kovat . A lot of the slabs hit the ground and nothing happened for six , nine , twelve months .
Yeah , so attacking the money again .
Well , they had to make a start
¶ Grants' Impact on Construction Industry
to get their their grant and a lot of them are marketing that . Look , they were advertising that they Would guarantee you to get you the grant and things like that , like it's just the complete . It was not designed to Be incentive to yeah , it wasn't incentive to design as an incentive to get people building . But we didn't need it .
The industry didn't need it at that time .
But do you think it just ? Do you think it highlights how poor the industry is because , like so many , like they bring out those grants , like I sort of feel that they use our industry to prop up the economy and so they come out with these grants and they don't understand how our industry operates , so they they bring out that grant it does .
It did exactly what it was meant to do . It boosted the economy , but all it did was throw businesses that weren't understanding how to run the business anyway in the even worst position , like I know so many built even custom builders that were like signing contracts before plans were even drawn .
Like basically given a contract based on a client wanted to build a 300 square meter home at $2,000 square meter .
Like we had two clients get the grant successfully but they were in design for six months before that even come out it was just lucky , the good timing for them . Yeah , there was no In and in custom . As you know , in custom building there's not that . I think we had three , or there was .
There's a real short time frame from when they announced that to when it had to be signed . The preliminary process takes for as long as that .
Yeah , can I ?
just ask you , boys , was the grants the same as what it was in New South Wales ?
I think it was Australia . What ?
Yeah , I think it was more than that . I think it was 50 it went into went into stages . There was one and then they reduced it I'm pretty sure it was 50 and then they reduced it to 25 after about .
I think they did do that up here as well , yeah because we we had people calling us .
Yeah , like , when can you start ?
Yeah , I haven't even looked at your plans ?
Oh yeah , we need to get the grant . It's less . I haven't looked at your job .
But I know builders that jumped on that . Like I know like we have people ringing us the same thing , like oh , I need to get this grant . Like or filling out inquiry form , and like every question was blank , like do you have plans ? No , Like when you want to build , not sure . Like they just wanted the grant .
Like nothing was in place , nothing was organized . And like I know builders that ran with those people and signed them up Like it's just a recipe for disaster .
It really put a lot of added stress on the industry at a time . It just wasn't needed . It was a really poor timing . I didn't think they could have foreseen how everyone thought the industry was going to slow down over COVID and it went berserk . People were stuck at home and spending more time at home .
Now I'm going to have to spend more time at home wanting to renovate . Yeah , like that was when and it's often sort of feel quite bad about it Our business went from strength to strength through COVID . We know lots of friends and family , so his businesses in retail and stuff like that went out the window .
Yeah , and I do feel bad for a lot of guys down south , like especially Melbourne and that like Dave .
Well , there were stories about trade is in New South Wales , in Sydney , like I know one particular story of a plasterer that I think it was the second or third lockdown , like because if the government locked us down like you're overheads , your business didn't stop yeah we had a different story .
Did you guys get locked down ? No , not once .
We had a period where we could have five people on site . Yeah , that was only a couple of weeks masks and I think it was real like we were really lucky .
So how's this for crazy ? Like before . So we're living in Wollongong , which is about now south of Sydney , when there wasn't even a COVID . A single COVID case in Wollongong was all in Sydney and then obviously it filtered everywhere . I went out and I wasn't doing quotes because we were just trying to limit interaction with people .
And then I come in contact with a guy that I did a quote for . That was COVID positive . He was the second case in Wollongong . So I got locked down in my own house for two weeks . I had the police rocking up to my front door to make sure I was staying home .
So , this is just in this time period where it was just like and that happened to me three times . One of my apprentices contracted it . He was like the fifth case because he's in his apartment block in Wollongong . This lady had come down from Bankstown in Sydney and the whole unit block got locked down and he was in one of our jobs .
The clients were living in there so I had to get these terminated guys in there and clean the whole house while these clients were living in there .
Like it was crazy . Yeah , it was crazy times , wasn't it ? But it's like moving forward , it's , it's well , we touched on it . Like you've got to run your own rate . Like there's always going to be ups and downs . Like you've got to put time , energy and money into your business and yourself .
The things you can control . I think that's the thing to focus on , anything you control .
And one of the like . That's what you can do in your own time . Isn't it Like spending some time and money on improving your systems , your processes ? But do you guys think it's more what's well ? Let's go around Like what's what's more important ? You're working on your business or working on your personal .
Our personal is number one , that's for sure . I know I've lacked in the last couple of months for just being that busy and stuff , but I know when I've , when I'm on top of my personal stuff , the business just flows so much better . And the guys see that on site too .
So what sort of like exercise , just all journaling For ?
me . Yeah , I do do journaling . I like that , but I do . I used to do yoga I've missed out the last term , doing yoga but I've noticed not doing yoga is sort of I felt that . And then the other one for me is just taking time out , like I do woodwork and stuff like that and that's my sort of outlet just to get away from work .
But I know , if I don't do it I just even my home , like even at home the family sees it that I'm not , I'm not myself and I don't have my own time just to just to release .
Yeah , you know yeah , I think personal for me would definitely come first . I think it's definitely important to work on the business , and I've kind of learned that in the last 12 months that you need to be doing something . But if you're not right in yourself and if I'm not right in myself , then my brain and my energy is not into working on the business .
So for me , I need to be in the best shape mentally , and then everything else around follows from that . So I guess , yeah , that's that's where we're at .
Yeah , awesome .
Yeah , same , definitely personal . That's where it all starts . I'm massive on the morning routine . I think if you can start the day well , the rest of the day just flow yeah .
Yeah , I think I fully agree with that . So little routines that set your day up . You know , like if I don't do them or if I have something that comes up , then I notice how much it affects the rest of my day .
It sounds simple and stupid , but if you can set a routine and get something ticked off first thing in the morning , then the rest of your day should flow from that .
Yeah , it's getting those those couple little hits of winds in the morning , like just ticking , like just ticking tool three boxes . Yeah well , putting a line through three little tasks to do , like just it's amazing how that sets you up for the day I'm tired .
At least Stay with the task completed , yeah , yeah .
Well , I find the mornings the best time for me . That's where I get everything done . So I just I start early and just smash out a heap of stuff . Then I do my like meaningless tasks or thing like the easy stuff . So the hardest stuff in the morning , yeah .
So it's actually just a good one to get on to . So like the number one thing I hear like constantly , just however people get in contact with me , is I've just got no time . Like the amount of people that reach out and ask advice or help or like the questions always what's the one thing that like got you to where you are now ?
And like they think there's this magic , magic and . But everyone says like I'll give them a few examples and the first thing everyone says I don't have time to do that . Like let's go around the group again . We'll go start with you , brett , this time . Like what , what's ? How have
¶ Mastering Time Management and Productivity
you managed to schedule your time to make sure you have time to do things ?
I've got . I've developed a little bit of a system of my own , whereas I have two weeks ahead of where I today . So I have the next two weeks in just a listing to do's in the notes on my phone and that I have that matched up with the calendar .
So everything I do every once , every hour of the day , but all the important things go in and everything else gets worked around . That so just got to have . I have to have things in a list .
I have to be able to refer back to it really quick because I'll get , I will get off task through the day and especially like the phone or ring you just lose , you train a thought of . I naturally just go straight back to the list and it brings me back to where I need to be and just knock through that list .
Any , anything , any meetings that involve other people , that like a site meeting or the sub-meeting that goes in the outlook calendar but that always double up with my list on my phone .
How did you get started Like because you had it when you were one of those ?
people that asked you how you done it with the scheduling and how you fit so much into your day . I think it was that it was . It was a few things that happened where we moved a little bit further away from where we work . That made a big difference , because I couldn't just run to side or I couldn't just run out and get some gear for guys .
I used to be shocking for that . I'd waste a lot of time just running around where I really didn't need to be . I just just because I wasn't organised that I had to do it .
Do you reckon that's also got a bit to do with that ? In your mind , you think you're doing a good task of picking shit up for the boys because in your mind you don't like doing the off-spoke .
Yeah , yeah , yeah , you definitely cash for me .
Yeah , I can't do that , I'll pick that .
Yeah , that's a good . Yeah , definitely . I think there's a bit of element to that putting off the things you don't want to do . I know when there's still . I've always got a list , I'm on the whiteboard of the things that I just know . They're things that are really important , but they're things I just really don't really want to do .
I've got to keep them in front of me all the time because it's something that I'll find an excuse to avoid .
Yeah , it's something very similar to all trade and builders , or a lot of people Like man , we have whiteboards on site . I haven't . We got two in the office . I got my journal , I got my diet , like you've got to have your list , but what about ? You know what's ? What's the what is one thing that made you get focus and get you time to do thing .
One . There's so many , but one . One thing that's helped me has been journaling . Second thing has been having a solid calendar that's linked . So we use Google Calendar and there's multiple people within our business that have Google Calendar so we can see what's going on across everyone's day . And then lists is one thing for us . Whiteboards .
We've got them everywhere downstairs in the factory for the boys to see if we need anything . They write it up and then I see that goes in the ordering . We've got whiteboards in our office as well , and then I'll write a hit list every single day .
Even if I only cross two things off and I've got 12 things , the next day I'll write the same list out , because if I keep going back to the old list it doesn't get done . But if I write it down , there's something about doing it each day that I actually know what I need to do when it gets into my head and then that's how I get stuff done .
Yeah , but like , how did you get started , Like like 10 months ago when you were at rock bottom ? Like what made you put it an hour aside or half an hour aside to work on yourself ? I just I needed some structure .
Even our filing system was so all over the place . We , you know , dad , come into the business six or I think it was 12 months ago , and he said where's your filing structure ? So it's a fucking shit show . He's like you got to set some sort of structure up for your jobs and that's why he's like you . You put in fires out .
That's what he's saying , because I was running around putting fires out and I'm like I can't do it , dad , I gotta do this , I've got to go do this , I've got to go do this . And so we set up a system that has job files and then everything gets tracked . So things go in . Emails got sent now to admin , which goes into Alex and then she files it .
So we had a system in that and then everything else kind of flowed from that . I was able to get more time and then I allocated time for scheduling for myself and then everything else kind of stemmed from that . It's just like a snowball .
It was my go . But one thing I remembered what really jogged me into making sure I took control of the time and valued it was when we in the Live Life Bill we say about doing the yearly planner and setting the , putting the things in the calendar , your big rocks , yeah , that you wanted to work things around that minimized the time . You find .
You found you had less and then that made it . There was a sense of urgency , Like I've got to get all this stuff done into that so that I can go on holiday , I can do whatever it is .
I think that's actually that's probably the biggest thing that was locked to our home when I got that yearly calendar on the wall , put it all on there and I was like , doesn't leave a lot of days .
Yeah , such a simple task to do as well . I think I did the same thing and it's up on the glass window of next to my computer and I blocked out in highlighter . I've got in highlighted different things , you know date , night , holidays , work time , work events , whatever .
Yeah .
And then every time I sit there , it's just there .
It gives you that sense of urgency to not wait , not muck around , not waste any minute of your day , and it's like .
Like when you do I've had so many conversations the last three weeks about this like when you start with your big rocks and you fill your holidays and then your long weekend and then your date nights , or you're taking the kids to school , picking them up or whatever it is . It could be catching up for lunch with the boys or whatever .
But when it's in your calendar and you're looking at , like I know now like every day and Camilla and I share a calendar , but like every morning I wake up , the first thing I do is like come downstairs and scroll through my calendar and in my mind my day's set .
Like I know every meeting I'm going to have , the phone calls I need to make and I know when I've got spare patches of time . So I just focused , like you're so focused . What about you , eric ?
Yeah , so the big one was for me was similar , like we just started using a calendar , for I never had anything scheduled , I just run between jobs all the time and started using a calendar and putting everything in all the meetings and where I had to be , every task and stuff like that , which was good , and then did a to-do list as well , like for every day
. But the other one we also use is Microsoft Planner , so every job will have a task for me to do in there and it's got due dates . So we go through that and that sort of sets me up as well , because I drag stuff from that and then every Sunday I'll go through and plan that out each the week before .
So then I know exactly what I'm doing that week , because otherwise I just get lost . I sit in the office , I'm just like what am I doing ? I don't have a direction or anything , but if it's written in the calendar , I know what I've got to do by certain times .
I'm bad for what I just said to Brett before . Like I used to just think that if I was doing something , it was I was busy and that if it was just my way of getting out of doing something that was a bit hard or something I didn't really want to be doing , but that takes time to learn to know what you shouldn't be doing though that's how I find .
I'm starting to get that now where I just gotta go . No , the boys can do that , I don't need to do that . I don't need to micro manage them . They can do it and they can do like the concrete pours and stuff . That's a hard thing to let go , but isn't it ?
I think everyone that's even been on this podcast . It's a builder , is a micro manager , because it's just you go from working with yourself .
That's your name on the line .
And it's your product . You want to make sure that it's done , but you need to have trust so that everything else can follow , otherwise you won't be able to guess . Work on the business .
Yeah , trust is a massive thing . That's what I tell my team that's . It might seem like I'm not on site as much anymore , but that is purely because I trust them 100% to do things the same or better than what I would do for them . So , like , how have you guys dealt with building ? Like getting that trust ?
I think it comes from having guys on the team for a long time You've got to have . It would be hard if you were chopping and changing guys a lot , but I found having a really clear system
¶ Building Trust and Streamlining Communication
of where they know to go and get the information . So when we build a trend and everything's linked to our schedule so that the guys can see the schedule on their app , all the information's in there , all the processes are linked in there with attachments , so just them knowing where to go to get the information .
I think that was the biggest hurdle for me with being able to let go . Everything was in my head that I had to tell everyone how to do everything every time .
When we have something written down that they can refer back to and that's consistent from job to job , that's when they get into the rhythm or the system continuity there from time to time , from job to job . I think that was the big thing when I could see every job .
They were doing it better , they were asking less questions , and then I just slowly step back further and further .
It's a big part of the job , that early stage though , like we do the same thing , like one note , like we pump so much information into it . But then we ask the guys all the time , what else do you want ? And then we just keep updating it all the time , putting more and more information into it to get me out of it .
So all the details are drawn up , like we'll take a detail from one job and then paste it into the next job so it's ready to go , so they can see it . They don't have to try and find it , they go . Oh no , that's what he wants , it's already drawn .
There comes a stage where you've got to let them do a bit that you've got to give them a bit of right , because You've got to let them do it . Every time you do something for them or you're third to thinking for them is one less opportunity to learn and think for themselves .
They might come up with better ways , and they often do come up with better ways doing things actually , now especially now that they've been on the tools for a while . Yeah , my team .
My lead chip is in particular . Well , yeah , my team , and especially my server . They even just like before when you turned up , it's like I was tied up with my server . We've been talking through some flashing today and he'd come up with a better solution of what we talked about and I think that's fantastic , like encouraging that . But what did you say ?
You upload and stuff onto Eric .
So we upload . Like we use all Microsoft stuff . So we use Teams is a great one for us . So we have everything listed as files across the top of Teams and then we have like a planner linked at the top . So we use Microsoft Planner for the jobs . And then OneNote is probably our biggest thing .
Like we dump a lot of information so all our purchase orders go in there . We have a set of plans in there , like we have one for electrical and one for plumbing and stuff and the guys can draw on those . So we draw all where everything is located . Like if we've got a meeting on site , we'll draw all that on there .
So yeah , we just find we're trying to simplify it so there's one place for them to go and all the information's there . They can draw on their surface pros and stuff there on site and it's just getting rid of the paper . Like I used to carry around , oh mate , like big folders full of stuff and I'd just lose stuff and nothing was filed .
Like similar to you , I'd had to file an assistant . It was terrible .
Right , and now it's just so much easier .
When it's all online , you can get everything .
How do you deal with like a bit of an issue we have is some of the team want everything and others only want a little bit of bits and pieces , because they get overwhelmed by it all . How do you deal with that ?
Yeah , I think you just At the moment we're still in the development stage with all the one-note stuff , but you sort of You've got to . We do it the same on every job and it's just they're getting . They just got to get used to it .
Like we've got older guys in the team and then younger guys , and the younger guys are just like oh no , give me all this information . They love the technology , but the older guys it's harder for them to take on sort of thing we find , yeah , but we just sort of make it as easy as possible for them .
So like even simple things like you were saying to us , like putting your systems , sending them the systems , like a week ahead of whatever they were doing , the on-site system . So we started doing that and we think that sort of started working for us .
Yeah , we found I do a still bit of a double-up . We've got it all in Build-A-Trend but I still print every system . So when we start Framer we'll do a toolbox on and we'll go through the whole process of Framer and that stays on the whiteboard . And we've got it set up . It's a checklist . The systems are checklist as well .
So , joel and Dave , they'll check it off in Build-A-Trend , but the guys will check it off on site .
That's a good idea .
And just so that they can have something to reference back to , and I've even started laminating them .
People like seeing a visual , Like I'm still like having plans every meeting . I still take a set of plans because I still like the paper A3 .
And I don't know how , I'd probably print 10 sets of bloody plans through a job .
Yeah , the iPad mate , You're right on the iPad .
Yeah , I should .
That's how that too much , people aren't going to find it .
Yeah , but even that like using the iPad for doing the meeting notes and stuff so easy compared to . Like I never did meeting notes back in the day and I paid the price for that and I never . To be honest , we never did meetings that often , I think with all these systems .
It's got to work for you and your business .
Yeah .
One bloke could have the best set of systems , but if it's not , You're not comfortable using it . You guys aren't interested in using it . It's not going to work .
Yeah , what I'm saying with the ones from Elevate , that we get that like Duane's a different tomorrow and like we had to change all ours and stuff like that .
But just to go back on what you said , eric , like we don't get taught that stuff . No , how are you meant to know ? Like you get taught how to build , you build houses . That's what you get taught how to do . Like you do your building court , you do your set of four and there's like there should be more , like there needs to be more .
I think something I've come to realize is that there's only going to be more if you look for it .
You've got to want to learn .
You've got to learn . You've got to get to a point in your business or your life where you're like fuck this , it's too hard , there's got to be a better way or something .
But I know I think one of the reasons that I took so long like I try to ask another builders for better ways and I was just like that's the industry , harden art , fucking deal with it . Like you go to TAFE , but nothing against TAFE teachers . A lot of them are teaching you how to swing a hammer and set out walls and things .
They're not teaching you how to run a business .
Well , when we went to TAFE , they were old school tradies teaching us .
Yeah , they didn't know .
They weren't up to sort of the cutting edge of the technology and things like and that's another thing Like the technology and the systems and things that are out there now are growing so quick . Yeah , none of this stuff was around when I started my , even though I started the business . Yeah , yeah , anything online Like we were still all paper then .
And even though Still use water levels Like I don't know yeah , don't get me started .
I love a water level . Yeah , Never lie Mate like everyone on site now Count Bracum , can you ? Couple of thousand
¶ Challenges and Advancements in Business Systems
bloody dollar lasers . Like my boss , had the old FJ45 Land Cruiser rack on the back and on each side of the back was two grand to the top .
Like every day it was young and get the water level . Never let you down , but would it ?
But , um , like even Well , we're almost finished . We're in a house , mate .
We had a bit of a cleanup on the weekend and I found this old association folder that I won't name , but like it was back from when I did my builders ticket and it had a lot of stuff in there that like I looked through it and I was like fuck , why didn't I take more notices at the time about that ?
Had a little bit of stuff about understand your overheads and finances and things , but anywhere that it mentioned margins and things , it was all 10% . And like I think to myself , like when , when did 10% ever make sense ?
Like so you like there , there is things out there for our industry , but it's it's like the people that are teaching and putting it together and doing it have never actually done it successfully . So all the shit that's out there is wrong .
Do you think it takes a little while for them to prepare the training ? Is it nearly outdated by the time it gets put into place ? I don't know .
I just think it's especially in the last few years .
How quick things have progressed . That's what just blows me away . Every , every time I turn around , there's a new software , there's a new something to do things better , and it'd be really .
We've had to really focus and sort of hold ourselves back from trying all these new things and set in the realize what we need out of our systems and our like software stack and make sure we stick to it and just get good at using it . I think that's worked .
I think the other one too , is you got to get other people in to help you , like I had no idea .
So I my sister started my sister coming into my business and she totally changed it and set up all this back end stuff which I'd never had and I never learned , like I didn't have like same thing , I didn't have the time to learn it and till you have someone , just go bugger it . I'll just pay someone to come in and help me with the admin stuff .
And that's what turned us around , Like it's that was exactly the same as us when my whole being jumped on board , even Alex when she said my wife jumped on board after my first daughter was born . She had a mat lead for 12 months and then she decided she was going to work with us , which is a decision in itself Bit similar to your story .
It's a massive change for them . But then her going from an organization that was so structured to then coming into me by myself and all the guys on site doing all this stuff and it's all in my head , it was just , it wasn't working , so we had to . We had to do something so that everyone was on the same page , because it's just , you need more , yeah .
But look , we've talked like , we've talked about a lot , the you can't do it all on your own and you yeah , you've got to get people in to help you . And it can be like .
I think that's probably one of the biggest contributors to people getting in the situation where they're running a terrible business and struggling , like because they're so they just don't know the numbers and so they just constantly trying to keep the wheels turning .
They're lowering their price to win jobs and I think the perception of our industry when it comes to what it takes to run a business is just worlds apart from where it needs to be . Like you think of any other business retail , lady , hospitality , like anything , like the margins they have on things are enormous and I don't know .
I feel like people think because builders build houses and then , like they just look at the thing that's getting built on the site , they just completely have no understanding of what it's taken behind the scenes to keep the wheels turning .
But that's what they need to . They need to teach how to work at your overheads and stuff like that at TAFE or at the builders course and stuff , but they don't teach . They didn't teach any of that stuff .
I reckon I was even naive to what well I know it was , to what was required behind the scenes . I the building bit was that was easy and that always is the easiest bit for us . But , yeah , I did not know what I was getting into .
And then , yeah , and then when you are committed and you generally , and like these margins that we got taught that we should have been charging as soon as you do a job like that , you're chasing your tail .
From then on , and while you're in the thick of it and you're generally on the tools and end stages , you haven't got the time to learn anything else or build on anything in the back end . You already committed an offset at a few times . You'd be more successful as a businessman and you could
¶ Seeking Help and Self-Investment Importance
. We could employ , employing carpenters and leading hand suit visors to run the site stuff . You knew the business stuff . I think we'd be more successful and we wouldn't have that treadmill at the start .
Sometimes I think the guys have to go . You just got to realise you're going to go backwards for a year or so while you employ someone else to help you . That's what I'm with us . So we went backwards and then now I've gone a long way forward now by just changing things , and that's totally helped us .
You've got to take at some point in time you've got to make a decision to , yeah , take a step backwards and that nine times out of ten , that's with what you're earning . Like this I think I've talked about before , like this podcast wouldn't happen if I didn't take a pay cut so that I could employ a shade of work in our business .
Like you've got to make a decision long term Like but I don't know like whether it's an EGAY thing . Like you see so many builders and tradies all driving around with the new dual cabs and the jet skis and the tinnies and like whatever it may be , or a youth load or a trial load .
Like it blows my mind now how many chipies and builders are driving around with 20 and 30 thousand dollar building trailers . Like like sometimes you need to make a decision Like imagine imagine , Imagine thing .
they want to look good .
Hold off on the new trailer or the new dual cab or the new tools and fucking invest money in yourself .
Yeah , you need to . I can't talk about this . They want the short term gains Like . They want it quickly . They don't want to wait , and I did that for years .
Like , I think that's .
I think that's where I really and you guys are probably the same I actually think that's where we really power forward now , because I would rather cut something back , live lighter for 12 months , knowing that after that , 12 months of spending money somewhere else and implementing it will be five steps ahead , but your life will be easier to .
I look on the animal for ease and comfort in our lifestyle . Instead of the money isn't . I've lived on , however , many years of 50 , 60 grand . When I started the business , Like for years , I was paying our carpenters more than I ever got , and so the money side of it's not a big issue for me . I really want that .
I want to not be under stress 24 seven . I want to feel organized , I feel in control and and that's something that live life bill , since we joined live life build , is something that , once you understand how you need to run your business , the confidence and the stress that comes off your shoulders Massive it's life change .
You know , yeah , you definitely need to invest the money and , as I said like it's not a sales pitch to you guys , because I was in the worst financial position ever . But since investing money and energy into myself , everything else around has become better .
And if you had had told me that , I wish someone had had told me that nine years ago , because I would have saved a shitload of stress , a shitload of money and a shitload of lack of sleep and damaged relationships .
so you would have heard it like I know . I heard it . Yeah , maybe I was just blocking it out , I don't know .
I just feel like I maybe I was just Something happens where something clicks and and in this stuff sinks in look , there's a use . I think most people have this moment . Or whether it's like a lot of us hit rock bottom and I think there's Something that says , no , like you've got it , you've got to take control of it .
Then , once you , once you made that commitment , I think a lot of that information sinks in and you got to get a bit of momentum With it , like you've got to have the little .
Hustling to get the value , because that was the same as me .
Yeah .
I had to get a rock bottom to realize that I needed to change . Like what does it need to be like that ?
I think Like as much as I hate Instagram . Like it's just a constant scroll to find something that you like , but like Instagram has so much power to it . You look at all the motivational stuff on there like and I guess it's no different what we're talking about . Like if you actually focus on the good stuff there is actually yeah and a lot of it .
There's actually a lot that's free like what one good thing with that is , if you Instagram free any example , if you get rid of all the shit that's not relevant , you know . Hmm , it's not saying only you know like so on our feed . I'm pretty , I'm purely following builders , motivational people , and then dirt blocks .
That's not even that's not my personal , because it was taking me away from work . So , like on our work side , it's purely things that are gonna influence and influence our work . Yeah , so everything and the algorithm will then generate more that will help you . So you've got to get rid of all this shit videos that just waste your time , people .
Yeah this is funny , but it's like it's taking you away from something that's potentially good , so you shouldn't be following that shit .
Yeah , yeah everyone says we've got no time .
Yes , don't watch videos .
I've put this challenge out all the time . I think anyone needs everyone needs to look at the screen time on their phone and do a review , like , like each . Do it for four weeks in a row and add up the hours that you spend on social media and then come back and tell me you got no time . Like , well , show me , show me those hours .
Yeah , fuck , if you look , if people are saying they're not on Instagram for , or on some sort of social media YouTube or whatever for an hour or two Probably a day , like they're talking shit , I reckon it's a common day is all you need to change your whole life , I reckon yeah , you gotta be looking at the right stuff .
Oh , I mean like if you spend that time wisely , you know whether it's exercising or I love journaling . I'll spend it half an hour , an hour journaling , especially in the weekend when I'm not I'm having to go to work and stuff . But you spend that time wisely and you can change your whole life .
Hmm , yeah , and doing it in the morning , hey , that's , I think , what we didn't get to you on that before . But I'm the same as these two guys like the morning , get up 435 and that . That one hour of no Like , just knowing that the world's not really started yet and that I can smash through shit .
Yeah , that's what I do , my generally a night , usually before bed , some the other way around .
But I do the generally of a night but Exercise all the yeah , working on the business or listening to ? Yeah , something like that . It's always generally early morning .
Yeah , even the breath work and that sort of stuff in the morning's great .
Yeah , yeah , everyone else is asleep , so they can't annoy you , yeah it's a massive one up .
Hey , I never run , I love getting up early . I was going back . I was talking to a trader today and I had to refer back to an email I sent and I look back and said I was on Monday yet oh she , that was it like 10 to 4 . I said I usually set like I delay the sins on that time and I must have just forgot .
But yeah , like I think them early , them mornings on fresh , no one's hassling , your phone doesn't ring , that's right . The world isn't really happening .
Yeah , Brian is actually most active in the morning too .
You get to the afternoon . So much is going on .
Yeah , I think that's one of my biggest struggles now , like I keep telling myself , like I can't control when I wake up , like I'm an early riser , so as soon as something's chirping or making a noise or something , I'm awake . So it's probably my biggest struggle .
I need to get to bed earlier so that I'm I'm like I , whenever I wake up , I'm up and then I'm fresh and doing my thing by reclining my border , I hit it .
Yeah , when I hit , replace and man . That's the thing I'll be in that at 6 30 .
Sorry when we're Kingscliff , because the house that we just built they had a recliner in there and when we stripped all the old walls down , there was this nice recliner there and didn't even look that old . And I asked the con is so what are you doing that ? She's like oh , we're just gonna show up in the council cleaners .
They don't know you're not put on the back of the truck and took it to the factory . We've got it there and whenever anyone's there they sit in it . They call it the directors chair . And so that's in our , in our factory downstairs , and it's funny when my daughter's there too . That's her chair .
No one else can sit in it , so I got my three-year-old that over rules everyone , yes , so comfy .
He's to get one in the house more often . Let me have one big ugly thing . When the surgeon said you got to get one for your recovery . That was me chance .
I .
So let's , let's move on a bit like what's um I wouldn't want to talk about what's what's something that you feel our Industry or associations could do To make a big difference . Well , maybe not even to build a bit to homeowner , whatever . What's ? What's one thing you think could Accountability ?
to the people . That , I think , is the biggest .
Yeah , so what do you mean ?
I think holding trades and builders accountable to what ? To the standards that they should be working to . There's rules , there's plenty of regulation out there but there's very little Overriding bodies . I think it comes down to a little bit and a bit of the problems . This private certification thing .
I think that that builders can sometimes be and other trades can get away with a lot . I reckon that would nearly I reckon that would nearly fix 90% of the problems with the quality of building Accountability . How do we fix up ?
I think they gotta
¶ Accountability in the Building Industry
do checks like it needs to be , like it has to be . The customer or whatever pays for an external person to come in and do Inspections at certain points of the job and actually they say it's not right , then it's got to be fixed .
One of our leading hands from New Zealand . He's only been here a couple of years but they they have about 15 to 20 council Inspections per job .
Yeah .
Yeah , and that's the way it needs to go back .
It needs to be I don't even know how , if it's possible , but the private certification thing . It needs to be the count the I in my opinion that council need to take that back on .
Yeah , it's gotta be .
Bodies would need to overhaul it , and I'm not sure how they go about . They can't . They haven't got the manpower to do what they mean . But even if it's , independent .
There's an independent like the certifier does it and they come in as . But they come in , they just have to know all the rules . Like you see these guys on Instagram and that doing videos of these project homes where they're just not even to . The problem with the certification thing is they're running a business .
They're running a business to . That's got to be profitable as well . That's the problem , I think , because they've got to just get they . If they run the business and we all know how to run a bit , how you're gonna run a business to make a profit They've got to get a lot of jobs through . I don't think there's the room for the quality control .
It's it comes . It's probably . I don't mean to shoot any of them in the foot or anything like , because , like our certifier that we work with is , as tar has knees , always rodents , but that just makes us build better and makes us more accountable for what we .
Do I do ? I do think you'd you just end up with the same situation , where there's big players that are like paying lots of money and they don't want to stir the boat .
So I don't know , but I think the code needs to change more than what it has .
That would oh , the building code definitely .
That would help even if we just got things , even if we got 99% of things built to that code , we'd be well , yeah , well , to hit .
Yeah , even though the building code is shit . Yeah , if people actually built to it , I am okay . I'll do a thing on ABC radio every now and then and long story through some videos I did on socials and stuff of association and stuff doing a bit of investigation , whatever that , we're going to go into it , the .
But after that I got to work on Monday One of my boys said to me I there's someone that he knows , or the family , or someone had heard it . And then they'd said to him like hundreds of Dwayne's , a hundred percent , like you just said , there's no accountability .
So this person friend , family member , whatever it was has had a house built and there's all these defects and the builders basically not even turn it up anymore .
Or he's passed on the contact details for the tradies and I can't remember the story exactly but there's some issues with the brickwork and the brickies turned up to this home and basically said to this person fucking , like , what are you gonna do about it ? I'm not fixing that . Like fuck , go for your life , don't me in .
Like Well , I know there's not gonna be any any ramifications from it . Yeah it's just a toothless tiger there . They yeah . I'm not sure if I'm even probably well educated enough to comment , but in my opinion it's accountability . If we could get everyone up to even just to be a minimum standard of the building code , We'd be laughing .
Well , how about they do like a you have to do , is it see those ?
compulsory Extra learning on some shit .
Yeah , why don't they bring all that back in Tasmania ? And you have to do so many , so for us to do it and trades to do the same .
There's no accountability for it . So you have to have your points , but there's no on it .
Does it's easier , license get suspended if you don't ? Well , no one checks it .
I actually think that is the answer to it and I know I think Queensland's trying to do something with the marmot master builders are doing something . That's not gonna be I'm not sure the full ins and outs of it , but um , I think that's the answer , like I think every builder needs to do .
I know , let's say it's a hundred points and and I know just raising math let's say it's 90 points and like this is my view anyway like 30 points should be business and like running your show , 30 points should be quality and understanding .
Needs to be broken up . It can't just be 90 points on materials , or new , new material , because people are just gonna go to these seminars .
Yeah , that's where the systems for the new show . It needs to be a test , though as well .
Yeah , you'd think like that , they're tested on it . It's like if you just have to go back to school and do it , like doctors and stuff have to do all this stuff .
But that's the thing like every like accountants have to do to keep their license . They've got to keep updating their financial education . Like doctors , nurses , like builders , can get a license and run a business of 40 years and never have to do anything . We'll try , and trade is like it's pretty pretty shit .
I think the tradies have to do it as well , not just the builders .
Yeah , they need to be accountable .
Yeah they have their own section of it .
That's the thing . Like we're all licensed , yeah , but everybody is paying a license fee and has a some sort of associational body Licensing us , so where ?
does that money go ? It doesn't . We don't , I don't , I don't seem to do anything for us . We just pay the money and yeah we'll make .
Go back and listen that ABC radio interview . I'm not with me . After my interview they got the yeah , they got such and such on there and they were talking some dollars and it's , they got massive dollars sitting in the bank . Again I know what they're using it for but um , yeah , that that money should be like .
To me that's not a hard thing , like if every licensing body scheduled out through the year , like once a month , there was some sort of educational thing on and , like you , I know it could be as simple as if you turn up , you get two points . If you complete a questionnaire or an email like they could send you an email .
Yeah , and do it after after the event or at the event or whatever . Like yeah , it doesn't . Like yeah , I don't know it doesn't have to be that hard , but there's got to be something to to .
Yeah hope you're right the standard season it's got to raise the same even like with the NCC ?
Why can't they do videos on every part of that and explain it Like instead of having , just because I find it hard to find ?
information . It's so ancient to interpretation , isn't it ?
Yeah , and it changes all the time . Like you're trying to read and he's like , well , no , but I can't do that , I've got to do that . But then my thing doesn't even comply with any of it and it just gets . Yeah , it gets . You get lost in this thing .
And then you , like you end up doing it Like well , I overdid it , I didn't even have to do that , yeah .
So it's . But even with that , like a lot of that is completely based on a volume build . Yeah , but there's so much stuff in there that like to try and make suit a custom build Like you literally have to rewrite the rule book .
Yeah , Like Deena satisfy stuff yeah .
Yeah , right , guys , so we'll move on a little bit . Eric , you just bought up a good topic , so I wouldn't mind getting your opinions on , like the building industry moving forward when it comes to like , yeah , healthier homes , more high performance homes , what's your thoughts on that ?
Yeah , I'm definitely keen on it . I don't know too much about the passive house stuff but I'm definitely keen on all the like changes coming through the NCC and that and I'm big on the low VOC stuff just to keep in the off gassing and stuff and having a healthy home and getting rid of all those chemicals and stuff which is pretty big for us .
So we try and find as many products as we can , but it's easier nowadays than like 10 years ago it was a nightmare to find products .
Because it's in everything in it , like a lot of the maldehydes , the joinery products , all the glues , like it's pretty substantial , but it isn't hard to find stuff that's healthy . Yeah , it's getting a lot better .
It was interesting when Matthias was talking about Yellow Tongue and how .
In Germany it's banned .
Yeah , Like you know not many people would know that , but there's so many chemicals in it that they banned using it because it's cast nickname . Yeah , and it's bad for your health .
Well , we've got a podcast . Actually , it'll be out by the time this one's out , but we did a podcast with Zara Dakota and she's all about the healthy home . She's actually a really good online course and some of the stuff she was talking about , mate , was unbelievable .
Like the shit that like , yeah , like the quality , air qualities and the chemicals in lots of products carpets and shit . Like you're literally sleeping on top of carpet . That's like giving you all this shit .
We went to the Passive House Conference in Sydney , which was for maybe two , three months ago , Feel . The guys from Live Life Build went there and for us , we want to learn more about it , we want to educate ourselves .
We know that there is a marker for it because we've had clients that have , you know , openly discussed about it and I've been open with them to say that we aren't educated enough yet . But we are on that journey . So I'm currently booked in to do Passive House Tradesmen course through APA , which was actually meant to start a few weeks ago but they delayed it .
So I think it's going to be starting in two to three weeks but once we do that , just getting a better understanding of building science and healthier homes .
But at the actual conference it was really interesting to see , you know , like designers and builders and consultants from across the board and the actual industry , and it's definitely growing , there's definitely movement there .
Yeah , we've actually got a really , really good podcast coming up Again , just through someone that I've reached out to on social media David from ECOWise Homes .
Yeah .
Not sure if you guys follow him , but I did my Passive House course last year and like I'm still sitting on the fence with it , I think it's a great idea . To me , a lot of the products that get used to create Passive Homes are just terrible for the environment .
There's lots of PVCs and plastics and things , but I don't know like everyone's going to have their different views , but I'm really interested in the healthy home side of things and like talking to David about it him and his architect I think he's down in Victoria somewhere , but they've actually come up .
Anthony Outlaw Studios .
Yeah , I think that is yeah , so he's coming up . I met him at the conference .
He's a really good guy .
Yeah , awesome , so he's coming up . We're going to do a podcast with him and David . But they've done a lot of research from products out of the states and they've actually created a Passive Homes by a method
¶ Exploring Healthy and Sustainable Home Construction
just using plasterboard .
Yeah , Anthony's got his own podcast .
Yeah .
So he's . I literally started listening to it a few days ago . It's worth worth listening .
Yeah .
He's really , he's really knowledgeable , he knows his stuff , so I think it's one of those things that you got .
There is all this , these fads and things that come and go , but you've got to really put in a bit of time and effort and educate yourself so you can make your own decisions .
But yeah , we're really trying to cut back on in our jobs with yeah thing like materials , plywoods , well , any types of products that admit bloody , chemical gases and things , and really trying to cut back on the PVCs and stuff like can't remember off the top of my head , but there's , we've actually said to our plumber now that we only want you using this type
of pipework because it's it's a hundred percent recyclable , like . So I think there's a lot of things we can do as builders . I think we have to like . I think it's we have a responsibility to do more to be healthy .
Yeah , it's something that I've wrestled with for a while too , but the type of homes we work on predominantly being Queenslanders there probably couldn't be a less passive type of construction , like they designed to breathe and be , and up off the ground and all this sort of this thing .
It's sort of a lot of the passive house stuff and I haven't done the course yet so I'm not , or far definitely , an expert in it . I think getting them homes to a passive level is next to impossible . And then the other thing I sort of wrestle with is getting to get all them practices into our business and do that in a profitable way too .
I think that's going to be such a process for us because we have a lot of processes set in the way that we build . Now , once we start introducing all these new products that they're definitely they've been out , the cost increases to build like that .
But I think it's like it's as simple as small steps .
So that's what we've been doing .
Just doing little bits , like even like even the building wrap thing , like we're slowly starting to change that and get onto a better building wrap and just do little things at a time , I think , you can't , you can't do it all at once , and I don't think it's even going to the full passive house . Like for me for me .
honestly , I don't know . People might shoot me for this , but I don't Well , not in our climate anyway but all the everything I'm doing . I don't think passive house is the answer . Like I was actually having to talk about this the other day . My supervisor one of my lead chippies and my supervisor made a really good point . He's like we do with quite often .
We're just we're creating the problem Like by all the materials and the way that we start to build causes more problems . And , like he said , like the Queen , like you go back to an old Queenslander . Like , yes , there's improvements , they need to have to them , but like they were designed great ventilation , big verandas , big suites , lots of shade .
Probably a lot of the passive design element . A lot of some of the passive design elements . I'd imagine the natural shading and and cooling and things . But I think it's .
I think the answer is a combination . I think , like , and depending on the climate you're in and where you're building . Like it's got so much to do with orientation and I'm a firm believer now in designers everything Like a couple of the architects we're working with are really really good . Teach me a lot about this stuff .
Like it's orientation , it's shading , it's natural airflow and ventilation and circulation and those types of things .
You could build the same house and turn it 180 degrees and it's half as effective . Yeah , yeah , that's something that I think that would , and not to have another dig at the project , home style stuff . But they'll build any house on any's place in any direction .
No , matter what .
Yeah , there's no thought put into that .
Yeah , like I think the passive or the healthy home . For me that's sort of the direction we want to go , Like just being more sensible with the materials we use , reducing our waste . I think it's being aware , yeah .
Like passive gas is an association so you don't have to . And that's where at the conference there was a few people that kind of butted heads a little bit and I'll have to tread carefully because there's guys that build healthy homes , because we still have to be considerate of people's budget .
For passive gases to stand it , it costs X amount to get it certified , which is not it's realistically only a certification . You can still build a really high performing home in a cool climate .
I think that's a better way to call it high performing time . Yeah , yeah , I think that's a better way to . Well , that's what it is .
It's about being aware of what materials you are using that lower the embodied energy and the carbon footprint . That's what a lot of the principles are based around . So there's different industry bodies and when you talk to Anthony about it , I had a good chat with him because we went out for dinner that night .
I stayed up in Sydney with Dean and he was saying that you don't have to build passive houses .
Yeah .
A lot of designers that are in that field like it because it's the Holy Grail , but you can still build a healthy house to a high performing standard if you have the principles considered from the start .
But it's almost like , like I said , we're creating the issue because a lot of the stuff they talk about is about reducing energy usage and all these types of things . But I think I just I don't even think back to the house we were building when I was apprentice . Like you had one bunker light in a bedroom . Like there was two lights in the .
Probably one bathroom back in the small asses . Yeah , so we grew up in a one bedroom , and these are the I don't know .
I like staring things up and I believe these are the things people aren't talking about . Like we touched on it before , like I'm going , smaller is better , like we're really keen to change our marketing and really hit that more sustainable , lower energy usage or better thought out , better products , all those types of things .
But you think about the houses we're building , like every bedroom's , four downlights and a ceiling fan most of the time .
A lot of my 100 downlights in these houses .
Yeah .
He's like wow . You don't I always tell you , show them . You're like , there's 100 downlights in this house , so this is the thing .
If you , so everyone talks about all this stuff , we can do . What about actually having a thing about how ? About cutting back your wands ? Simplicity , yeah , yeah .
Like , really that's the answer . Well , there's so many wasted spaces in homes , like some of the architects we've worked with , that they're so good on just finding , making every spot work Like there's no wasted space . Everything has a use like every part of the room . But you pay for that . But people aren't willing to pay a designer for that .
Some of the time let's go oh no , we'll just pay a draft in to draw something up . But you get what ?
you pay for . Yeah , everyone wants a bedroom with the four downlights , the ceiling fan , the two double power points each side of the bed , the USB chargers for the phones , like the on suite that then has IXL , two more downlights and exhaust fan , two more double power points , another USB because they want to charge a phone while they're sitting on the shit .
Yeah , we haven't had that in a question .
Yeah , Charge the raises the electric shavers and that that's what they're , yeah a bit like that you can take it in the bathrooms .
Do you guys think about that sister ?
Yeah , I think footprints as Australians , like everyone , wants this big house . And then go around and look at some of the subdivisions . They're on 500 square blocks and it's probably got 400 square as a house .
Yeah .
And in Anthony's podcast and again I'm referencing it back to him it's between Australia and America that have some of the biggest sized homes in the whole country , and on his podcast is a lady that's from Germany and she said when she came out to Australia she felt like she'd been living in shoeboxes a whole lot , because that's how their homes are designed , but
they don't use energy because there's more Mate .
there is so much awesome stuff on YouTube . I get sucked into YouTube with a lot of the stuff from Germany and Europe and all those sorts of things like that .
Yeah , they're miles away miles ahead of us and even as close as New Zealand . I think the way they build over there is just miles away . We've been since Jarl's come on board . He really struggled at the start because he's being used to building to this standard .
That really does trump the way we build here and he's like well , we can't do it , at least we haven't probably got , it's not priced into the project .
That's what we've priced it as well .
Yeah , we've been adding these little things , every job , and he's having a lot more input on how I estimate the things we are left with and , like he's touched on raps before , that's something that on this last job , we put a heap of work in , a heap of effort into taping and making sure and I'm going to do a lot of videos on it because I think that's
probably one of the most important parts of making a house sound perform as well . But , yeah , being able to just raise . You can raise your own standards , Like we don't need it to be a certification or anything Like you , just try them . Every house you build is better than the one before .
Yeah , you've got to be willing to do that . A lot of guys aren't ? They just go , oh no , I've just got to do as cheap as I can to win that job as well , and then go to the next job .
It's like , well , if you don't do it that way , if you try and just concentrate on just getting good clients , it also goes back to not running a good business , doesn't it ?
Yeah , yeah .
If you're running a good business and you know you've got your overheads , you know your structure , you know you're planned ahead . So when you're planning jobs because we're often pricing now 12 , 18 months at an advance you need to be planned ahead . You need your overhead structure to suit where you're going to be at that stage .
And the guys that can't go that extra mile , they can't . Well , maybe they're not even tracking their jobs well enough to know if they can afford to do it . That's where the downfall is . I think it all comes back to education .
So on the end of your bed , have a talk to yourself .
Well , guys , look , we'll wrap it up . I really appreciate your time this afternoon coming into the shed and having a chat , and I do honestly feel that as builders we have got an important role to play with taking some responsibility and educating ourselves and offering our clients quality products . So and I think you guys are given lots of value this afternoon .
So , for everyone that listening , if you love what you're hearing like , subscribe all that sort of stuff . Check these guys out on their socials Brett from Soldash , nathan from Newfound Building Solutions and Eric from BL Constructions . They're all doing great things , so look forward to seeing you on the next one . Are you ready to build smarter live ?
better and enjoy life . Then head on to livelightbuildcom forward slash elevate to get started .
Everything discussed during the Level Up podcast with me , dwayne Pierce , is based solely on my own personal experiences and those experiences of my guests . The information , opinions and recommendations presented in this podcast are for general information only , and any reliance on the information provided in this podcast is done at your own risk .
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