Tips for reducing the stress in your tradie business

Regardless of the size, shape, industry, and state of play of a tradie business, all business owners inevitably carry a great deal of stress. And that’s no surprise given the many roles and responsibilities that come with running your own small business.

Because stress is an inherent part of being a tradie business owner and can rarely ever be completely eliminated, it’s in the interest of small business owners to learn how to reduce and manage their stress levels. This isn’t just about managing your small business well, it’s also about tradie mental health and how to manage your overall wellbeing.

Learning how to do so can be great for your business, and also great for you personally when it comes to your own health and wellbeing.

As part of this tradies wellbeing guide, let’s take a look at some tradie stress management strategies that may help you to reduce the stress you may be carrying as the owner of your own tradie small business.

Carefully choose the jobs that you accept

While you’re undoubtedly eager to grow your tradie business, accepting every single piece of work that’s offered to you may not be the right decision when it comes to managing the stress you carry with you as a small business owner. So it may be to your benefit to become a little more selective with the jobs you decide to take on. After all, not every job may actually be worth your while.

Getting better at knocking back work when you feel that that is the best decision for you can be an effective way to manage your stress levels. Perhaps the prospect is haggling a little too much on price, or demanding unrealistic deadlines be met. Some jobs just aren’t the right fit and may be worth skipping over.

Learn how to best manage your time

Part of becoming a great tradie small business owner is learning how to be productive as a tradie. While not everyone has a natural talent for time management, everyone can learn how to get better at managing their time with a few simple steps. A great first step can be to plan each day of your week out in advance and spread your workload out throughout the week.

Using a diary or a calendar, make a to-do list using bullet points for each day of the week and set aside specific days for specific tasks. And don’t forget to embrace the digital tools to help here. Today there are numerous smartphone and tablet apps designed to help busy small business owners manage certain parts of their business, such as admin and invoicing, with much greater efficiency.

Reduce your risk

Regardless of what trade you specialise in or how much you emphasise safe work practices in your business, when working as a tradie risk in some degree may be a factor.While there will generally be risks involved in running a small business, it’s how you manage and reduce your exposure to risk that can make all the difference – for your business, and for your peace of mind.

One effective strategy for reducing your exposure to risk is via business insurance, such as insurance for tradesmen. Business insurance for tradies can provide your tradie small business with the level of protection that can give you peace of mind. Here are four examples of how tradie insurance can help tradie business owners actively reduce their exposure to risk:

• Protection against claims from third parties for accidental personal injury or damage to their property.
• Protection for your tools of trade in case they are lost, stolen or damaged
• Certain types of business insurances may be required when taking on a contract.
• Financial protection in the event you are faced with a claim.

Learn more about how insurance for tradesmen may play a role in your tradie business.

Empower your team

Small business owners can often feel like they have to personally tend to everything in their business. As your business grows, you’ll benefit from learning when to ask for a helping hand, and that may include increasingly delegating some tasks to the staff in your business who are ready to step up.

Train your team members to not only do their own tasks well, but to also step into new roles when your business needs them too. Gradually giving your most promising staff opportunities to stretch themselves and show their potential can be good for your staff and good for your small business.

BizCover helps tradie small business owners throughout Australia to reduce the risks to their business through tradie business insurance* made easy. Our customer-focused approach simplifies comparing tradie business insurance quotes and policies, giving business owners a quick and easy way to get their tradie business insurance online and move on with their day. If you prefer to pick up the phone, call us on 1300 920 864 to learn how we can help your business.