Most of you already know — one of my rental properties was recently turned into a full-blown cannabis farm. Five bedrooms trashed. Carpets ripped up. Roof damaged. Kitchen destroyed. Total mess. But fine. It happens. Comes with the territory. So I got to work on fixing it, which meant six straight weeks of dealing with tradesmen. And let me tell you — it’s been absolutely excruciating.
Let’s start with Tree Guy. He was due six days ago. Still hasn’t shown up. No call. No message. Just vanished like he never existed. Then there’s Cash Guy. He asked for cash. I told him no, it needs to go through my property business. His response? “I’ll have to charge VAT then.” Fine — except he’s not even VAT registered. That tells you everything you need to know.
Mystery Price Guy is next. He started work without ever giving me a quote. I chased him. Repeatedly. Nothing. I had to physically tell him to stop working until he could tell me what I was actually paying for. Then we’ve got Wrong Job Guy — did the job wrong, had to come back to fix his own mess. And finally, Inadequate Guy. Bless him. Just couldn’t do the job at all. No skills, no plan, no idea. Out of his depth from the jump.
And in between all of this? Radio silence. No confirmed start dates. No updates. No real invoices. No follow-through. Everything is scraps of paper, dodgy WhatsApp messages, and vague promises. It’s maddening. And it doesn’t have to be this way.
Here’s the truth: these guys aren’t “too busy.” That’s just the excuse. If you’ve got time to text me at 8:30pm to cancel last-minute, you’ve got time to send a quote or run your business properly. The real problem is they’re stuck in what I call tradesman mode. Living job to job. Spinning plates. Flying by the seat of their pants. No systems. No strategy. Just chaos. They think being busy means being successful — but all they’re doing is running themselves into the ground.
And this right here is exactly why I do what I do. I take the guy who’s drowning in his own disorganised mess and help him turn into a proper business owner. It doesn’t take much. A few small tweaks. A couple of systems. Better communication. Some simple structure. And suddenly, everything changes. You charge more. You get your evenings back. You stop chasing invoices. You earn more, work less, and finally get to enjoy the life you thought you’d have when you first went self-employed.
This isn’t magic. It’s just business done right.
So if you’re reading this and thinking, “That’s me” — good. That means you’re finally seeing the problem. You can either keep winging it, staying part of the circus, disappearing on jobs, undercharging, overpromising, and burning yourself out. Or… you can raise your standards. Step up. Start running your trade like a business. Build a reputation you’re actually proud of. And finally enjoy the rewards of your work.
You choose. Just don’t say no one warned you.
