293 - Tradies Avoid This Christmas Pitfall episode artwork

EPISODE · Feb 21, 2026 · 5 MIN

293 - Tradies Avoid This Christmas Pitfall

from Toolbox Talk · host Jon Dale

Every year at this time, the same pressures show up:“Needs to be finished by Christmas…”“We need to hit lock-up before the break…”“We’re behind — can you catch us up?”It’s all pressure to cram work in before the holidays. It helps them, and it usually costs you — overtime that trashes your margins, a wrecked schedule, inefficiencies, and lost opportunities. And often it’s not even fair; they want you to fix their problem.Here’s the pitfall: if you cave to the pressure, you compromise your profitability.In the old days, behaving like a tradie, you might’ve copped it and taken the hit. But now, as a businessperson, you know better.Your job is to ensure every job stays profitable. Any scope change — including schedule changes and hurry-ups — changes the cost.So you either raise a variation and get it approved in writing… or you say, “No, not happening.”It’s a scary one. Then you get used to it.This is what good coaching is about — helping you resist other people’s bullshit because you know your numbers and the impact of rolling over.And if you want help with that, come find me.--------------------------------------If you want more money (profit), more time (off work), and more freedom (from work, stress, responsibility), Book a Money Call: smallfish.com.au/tradies/money-call/FOLLOW US AT:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smallfishcoach/Twitter: https://twitter.com/smallfishcoachInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/smallfishbusinesscoach/YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/smallfishau

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Feb 21, 2026

Every year at this time, the same pressures show up:“Needs to be finished by Christmas…”“We need to hit lock-up before the break…”“We’re behind — can you catch us up?”It’s all pressure to cram work in before the holidays. It helps them, and it usually costs you — overtime that trashes your margins, a wrecked schedule, inefficiencies, and lost opportunities. And often it’s not even fair; they want you to fix their problem.Here’s the pitfall: if you cave to the pressure, you compromise your profitability.In the old days, behaving like a tradie, you might’ve copped it and taken the hit. But now, as a businessperson, you know better.Your job is to ensure every job stays profitable. Any scope change — including schedule changes and hurry-ups — changes the cost.So you either raise a variation and get it approved in writing… or you say, “No, not happening.”It’s a scary one. Then you get used to it.This is what good coaching is about — helping you resist other people’s bullshit because you know your numbers and the impact of rolling over.And if you want help with that, come find me.--------------------------------------If you want more money (profit), more time (off work), and more freedom (from work, stress, responsibility), Book a Money Call: smallfish.com.au/tradies/money-call/FOLLOW US AT:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smallfishcoach/Twitter: https://twitter.com/smallfishcoachInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/smallfishbusinesscoach/YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/smallfishau

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This episode was published on February 21, 2026.

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Every year at this time, the same pressures show up:“Needs to be finished by Christmas…”“We need to hit lock-up before the break…”“We’re behind — can you catch us up?”It’s all pressure to cram work in before the holidays. It helps them, and it...

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