Aussie Painting Contractor October 2018

Avoid Business Decision Blunders The 7 Key Questions you should know!

Shine a Spotlight on your Star Performers The reason why you have to...

Set yourself up to succeed with a Solid Plan Achieve your company’s greater success

Understanding the Value of Good Administrators Your own effort is all you can get done and you can only do so much...

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CONTRIBUTORS • Angela Smith • Anthony Igra • Dan Buzer • Jim Baker • Leo Babauta • Louise Thornthwaite • Lucy Taksa • Mary Tate • Monroe Porter • Robert Bauman • Sandra Price

EDITOR Nigel Gorman EXECUTIVE EDITOR Caroline Miall GRAPHIC DESIGNER

From the Editor Hey Everyone, Welcome to the 82nd edition of the Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine!

I would like to begin this month by announcing that Mandy from our office is retiring from APN to travel around the country. She has been an integral part of our organisation for almost 4 years and we wish her the best in all her adventures and future endeavours. She will be sorely missed by all the APN family. If you speak with her in the next couple of weeks make sure you say goodbye and wish her well. We look forward to hearing her stories from the road! Before Mandy sets off, she will be introducing our newest staff member, Rinny, to the ropes. Please join us in welcoming Rinny to the team and give her your support while she settles in.

There are some major changes afoot for APN, as our training delivery grows and we explore more ways to provide assistance to the industry. As mentioned over the last couple of months we have been working with MPA NSW, and are now in discussions with MPA QLD talking about how we can collaborate in meeting the needs of local painters.

With our focus so firmly on training and expansion, we are considering changing the publication of the Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine to a bi-monthly (that is, every two month) release. By scaling back to 6 editions a year we will be better placed to provide greater substance of content as well as concentrate more of our efforts in other areas, guided by your feedback. We think this will enable us to produce an even greater quality mag, albeit less frequently, as well as a more effective service on a day to day basis. We wish to thank everyone involved in getting the magazine out each month to date over the past 7 years; those of you who have contributed regularly know how quickly each month comes around, and how much effort went into the monthly release.

If you would like to chat about what is happening in the industry, give us a call or drop in to our new premises at the Construction Training Centre!

Until December, Happy Painting!!

J. Anne Delgado Nigel Gorman

nigel@aussiepaintersnetwork.com.au

07 3555 8010

Contents TOP 5 MISTAKES Tradies make with Car Insurance HOW TO LET GO of Any Possession

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9

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Before making a decision, identify “why” you are making it

TRAINING WON’T END DISCRIMINATION

Start a positive performance culture by creating a simple review

Dirty Deeds: Insulting payment offers and Deeds of Release

Become a certified minimalist by following this guide!

The 7 Key Questions To Avoid Business Decision Blunders

18 Why it’s Good to Shine a Spotlight on your Star Performers

17

Noisserped Your colleagues are not dinosaurs

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30 Set yourself up to succeed with a SOLID PLAN Take Your Business For 33 A Regular Tune-up & Service The Value of Good Administrators

36

24

Industry Idiots

38

27

Important Contacts

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it’s workplace routines that make innovation difficult

Opinions and viewpoints expressed in the Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine do not necessarily represent those of the editor, staff or publisher or any Aussie Painters Network’s staff or related parties. The publisher, Aussie Painters Network and Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine personnel are not liable for any mistake, misprint or omission.

Information contained in the Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine is intended to inform and illustrate and should not be taken as financial, legal or accounting advice. You should seek professional advice before making business related decisions. We are not liable for any losses you may incur directly or indirectly as a result of reading Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine. Reproduction of any material or contents of the magazine without written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited.

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TOP 5 MISTAKES

Tradies make with Car Insurance Do you consider the insurance on your work ute or van to be business insurance? Plenty of tradies don’t, but they should…

We’ve put together a list of the top five traps to avoid when insuring your work vehicle.

when working for someone else, then when they switch to running their own business they keep using the same ute without updating their insurance.

If you need to make a claim and the insurer finds that you’re using the vehicle for business purposes without telling them, they could deny your claim and leave you thousands of dollars out of pocket.

So if you’re using your ute, van or other vehicle for business, tell your insurance company!

2 – Assuming your car insurance covers your trailer Tradies Ute & Trailer

1 – Not telling your insurer about the business use This is potentially the most common mistake, but it’s easier to make than you think.

Whenever you insure a vehicle you need to tell the insurer that the vehicle is being used for business purposes, even if you own the vehicle in your personal name.

This mistake can happen quite easily for tradies in the early part of their career. They might have purchased and insured their ute

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Many tradies tow a trailer around with their ute, and some assume that their car insurance will include anything they tow.

Whilst many insurance policies do include some cover for a trailer, it is generally quite limited.

We checked out a few common policies and found the following levels of cover: AAMI – Will only cover two-wheel trailers up to $1,000.

Budget Direct – Covers trailers up to $500.

NRMA – Covers trailers up to $1,000.

Youi – No cover unless you pay an additional premium.

The above information is current at 30 July 2018, based on information from the Product Disclosure Statements accessed from the relevant insurer’s website.

A proper commercial motor insurance policy will generally provide a greater level of cover (up to $2,000 for one of the policies we use at Trade Risk) however if your trailer is worth more than a couple of grand we recommend a separate trailer insurance policy.

3 – Not properly insuring your fit-out A typical tradies ute is a lot more than just a ute off the showroom floor. The same goes for a van.

Often the ute or van will be decked out with ladder racks, canopies, checker plate boxes, shelving, drawers and all sorts of setups.

Tradie Ute Such setups can sometimes cost many thousands of dollars on top of the cost of the vehicle itself.

So you buy your new ute for $40k, insure it for the purchase amount, then spend another $5k on the fitout without telling the insurer.

If your vehicle is stolen or written off the insurer will give you $40k for the vehicle, but you’ll still be $5k out of pocket for the fit-out.

Tradies Ute Most of the common car insurance companies we looked at (as listed earlier in this guide) had no specific mention of signage in their product disclosure statements. We suspect you might be able to have the signage added as a modification, but we haven’t called to ask.

Either way, if you insured your vehicle for its purchase price or market value without telling the insurer about your $4k wrap, you could be well out of pocket in the event the car was stolen or written off.

A proper commercial policy may also provide better coverage for a hire vehicle, as well as replacement windscreens with no excess.

Of course this all depends on which policies you are comparing, and that’s the benefit of using an insurance broker like Trade Risk who can do the comparisons for you.

Using a commercial motor insurance policy may be a little more expensive than a standard policy through someone like NRMA or AAMI, but you may find that the cover is far more appropriate for a commercial vehicle.

5 – Not using a proper commercial motor insurance policy

It’s not uncommon for a full wrap on a van or dual cab ute to be around $4k, which is not an amount you’d want to risk losing.

Toby Price Triton SuperUtes

One of the commercial motor policies we use at Trade Risk has a specific clause providing cover of up to $5k for repair or replacement of signage on work vehicles.

It’s not that the insurer won’t cover that extra fit-out, it’s just that you need to increase the value you are insured for.

4 – Not insuring your signage Vehicle signage is a massive part of your local marketing for a trades business, especially for electricians and plumbers.

Better trailer coverage and coverage for your signage is just a start.

If you’ve chosen to take out an online or over-the-phone policy through one of the mainstream insurers, it’s great that you at least have some cover in place!

But if you’re running a business and rely on your vehicle for that business, you really should be using a proper business insurance policy.

Some of the benefits of doing so have already been detailed above.

To find out how Trade Risk could help with insuring your ute, van or truck please call us on 1800 808 800 or contact us online.

www.traderisk.com.au 2018 October Issue | 7

Public liability insurance for painters, from just $407 - Includes cover for spraying - Unrestricted heights option* - Cover from $5m to $20m - Monthly payment options - Easy online application

Premium of $407 is based on $5,000,000 public liability insurance policy paid annually for a painting business in QLD with one manual worker. * A 15m height limit applies, but can be removed for an additional premium.

Tradesman Insurance Services Pty Ltd t/as Trade Risk (CAR 422847) is a Corporate Authorised Representative of 8 |Westcourt Aussie Painters General Network Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd, Australian Financial Services Licence No 238447. ABN 81 009 401 772.

HOW TO LET GO of Any Possession Over the years, I’ve come to be very good at letting go of just about anything.

key to understanding how to let go — understanding what you believe the possession does for you.

In fact, I’ve come to relish the joy of letting go of possessions. It’s liberating and delicious!

For example, here are some common things we think possessions give us:

But most people I know struggle with letting go of the possessions they hold onto most tightly. There’s nothing physical that keeps us from letting go of possessions — it’s just our attachment that gets in the way.

SECURITY: Having items that keep you safe, or that you keep “just in case,” give us the illusion of some kind of security. When we’re feeling uncertainty, we run out and buy things. The truth is, even with a house full of safety items and emergency preparation items and backup everything … we still have insecurity.

We could get blown up by a nuclear missile, demolished by a hurricane or raging fire, or die of a heart attack or cancer, despite our best preparations. Security is an illusion.

I’m going to share how I let go of attachment to possessions (other kinds of attachment, I’m still figuring out!) in this short guide.

If you follow this guide, you will become a certified minimalist!

So what stops us?

COMFORT: We keep a lot of things because we think they give us comfort or pleasure. For example, snack foods, video games, anything else you find pleasurable or comfortable. They might seem to give you temporary pleasure or comfort from stress … but it’s like scratching an itch that just keeps being itchy, and that gives you sores from scratching it so much. Eating junk food (and all the other forms of pleasure and comfort we all indulge in) only gives you more pain and less comfort over the long term.

Every possession gives us something beyond pure practicality. Or at least, we believe that they do. This is the

SELF-IMAGE: Most items fall under this category — we keep things because we feel they give us a certain

The Guiding Principle In theory, we can let go of every single possession. Sure, for practical purposes, we’ll need at least one outfit and shelter and a way to eat and use the bathroom. And even more practically, we’ll need a house and things to wear for a job and so on. But letting go of a possession that you don’t need for practical purposes is theoretically possible.

self-image. For example, a leather jacket might make you feel cool (or maybe if it has metal studs, you feel tough), or having certain books on your shelf might make you feel educated or smart. If you have a lot of expensive stuff, you might feel they give you the image of success. Most of the things you have that aren’t 100% practical give you a certain self-image. Except … they don’t. The self-image is completely generated in your head. It’s not real, but to the extent that it’s in your head, it wasn’t created by possessions — it was created by you.

LOVE: If you have something given to you by a grandparent, or other loved one … you might think that item gives you certain memories, certain emotions. In essence, you think that cherished gift gives you their love.

But their love isn’t in the thing. It doesn’t come from the thing. In fact, the love is in you. You generate the love and memories. The item is unnecessary for this process.

You get the idea. There might be other things you think that your possessions give you … but they don’t really give you those things.

They come from within you.

You give yourself a sense of security, comfort, self-image, memories and love. Not any item.

2018 October Issue | 9

Letting Go of the Most Difficult Possessions to Release

over the place, and won’t need the books on your shelf in a year.

Of course, we don’t have to get rid of everything … but what would it feel like to let go of your most tightly held attachments? Could you discover a new sense of self, a sense of liberation, a world full of new possibilities?

Photos, mementos. I’m not saying you need to get rid of all photos and mementos. But they don’t give you what you think they do — the love for your loved ones is in your heart, not in the photos, and the memories of your trip to Greece aren’t in that trinket you got in that store in Santorini. Instead, why not just snap photos of everything using your phone, and put them in a folder you use for a rotating screensaver? You’ll still have the reminders of your experiences and loved ones, but without the possessions you don’t need.

What would it be like if you let go of everything you didn’t absolutely use and need on a regular basis?

Sure, keep your car, phone, computer, basic clothing and toiletries.

Keep your most essential dishes and cookingware. Keep your couch and bed and dresser drawer. But see what it would be like to get rid of most of the other stuff — I bet you’ll find it as enlightening as I do.

that is received as soon as the gift is given, but the love isn’t in the gift itself. And the love certainly isn’t in the sense of burden and obligation.

Instead, snap a photo of the gift, and give it to someone who will actually use and treasure it.

Clothes that make you feel a certain way. Maybe your clothes make you feel cool, trendy, beautiful, badass.

Maybe it’s not clothes, but shoes, a bag, a pocket knife, or some gadget you carry around. We wear or carry these things to give people a certain image of ourselves, and to feel a certain way. In truth, we create this feeling and self-image, not the things. And we can’t control

With the Guiding Principle from the previous section in mind, let’s look at how to let go of the possessions that most people have difficulty releasing: Books. If you love books, you probably have a hard time letting them go. You might not even question the need to have so many.

It’s part of who you are. But instead of solidifying who you are, consider who you’d be without all of them.

What if you had zero books?

Who would you be? It’s an open question. You can reinvent yourself, and you don’t need books to find out who you really are. Try this: pick the books you’re actually going to read in the next 6 months. Base the number on how many you’ve actually read in the last 6 months.

Now let go of everything else, because you don’t need them. You can usually get them at the library, if you ever really want it again. But you can find free or cheap books all

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Gifts. Often we keep these for the same reason as photos and mementos — they remind us of loved ones who gave us the gifts.

Deal with those in the same way as photos and mementos above. But often we hold on to gifts because of a sense of obligation, as if we owed it to our loved ones to hold on to every gift they have given us. No! Gifts aren’t an obligation, a burden to carry for the rest of your life. They are a gesture of love, one

how other people will see us. Even better, let’s let go of that worry, and just be as true to our hearts as we can be, without posturing or pretending by dressing a certain way. Imagine if you just wore minimal, functional clothing, and let people form their impression of you by interacting with you, by experiencing your raw open heart.

What a world that might be!

2018 October Issue | 11

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Exercise or outdoor equipment. Do you actually use the equipment?

I can’t tell you how many people I know who have bought a treadmill, elliptical machine, rowing machine or nautilus weight set and then used it only three times. The machine sits there for years, gathering dust. Let it go! You can still get fit without it — try going for a walk, adding in a few running or sprint intervals if the walk is too easy. Try doing some pushups, lunges, squats, chinups.

Try some sun salutations for 20 minutes. Try pliometric exercises if those are too easy. We barely need anything (if anything) to get fit and healthy, to enjoy the outdoors.

Items for hobbies you’re not actually doing. Over the years, I’ve gotten into a few hobbies that I was into for a month or so, and then fell out of interest with them. I kept thinking I was going to start them again sometime soon. And I kept not doing it. Finally I let go of all of those items, and it was a huge relief. I didn’t have to keep feeling guilty that I wasn’t doing those hobbies. I could just do the things I love doing right now, without some kind of placeholder for the future.

Just-in-case items. These are things you might need someday, but

haven’t used for years. Let ’em go.

Ask yourself, “What are the chances I’ll really need this?” And also ask, “In the slim possibility that this need actually arises … how hard would it be for me to make do without, borrow the item, or find a cheap replacement for it?” For most things I’ve let go like this, I’ve never once needed it again. For others, I could get at a thrift store, borrow from a friend, or buy a cheap version at a big box store if necessary. I have never regretted letting go of these items. The security they give you is an illusion anyway — why not try living without any of that false sense of security? Why not embrace the uncertainty of life, and trust that you’ll be able to deal with whatever comes up? You always have so far.

Things you spent a lot of money on.

There is the guilt of getting rid of that item because you spent hundreds (or thousands) of dollars on it. The feeling that you’re wasting that money by giving it away. But you wasted the money when you bought it … holding onto it for longer and not using it doesn’t change that fact. Let go of the sunk-cost fallacy and just cut your losses. Forget about what you spent on it in the past (that’s gone)

and think about what benefits you’ll get going forward … and what the costs are going forward. Most likely the costs of holding onto these items is much more than the (non-existent) benefits of holding onto them.

You might have other aspirational items (see the sections above on books and hobbies) or items that make you feel a certain way (see the section on clothing above) … but it all boils down to this: You don’t need possessions to give you a feeling about yourself or your life. It all comes from within yourself — you yourself are the creator of who you are.

With that in mind, try letting go of that which you don’t absolutely use and need, and explore what happens. It’s one of the things I savor the most.

Leo Babauta

a successful ‘simplicity’ blogger and author from California, the creator of top 25 Blog,

ZEN HABITS

2018 October Issue | 13

The 7 Key Questions

To Avoid Business Decision Blunders...

As a painting business owner, you’re making decisions daily most of which are likely to be “small” decisions; decisions that you make regularly and decisions that have a predictable result.

But, what about the “bigger” decisions? These are the decisions concerning the purchase of expensive equipment, the hiring or firing of an employee, the investment of money into marketing or how to deal with a serious customer issue.

Such decisions can carry greater consequences. So how can you avoid business blunders and ensure that you are making well educated decisions? Quite simply, you have to ask yourself the right questions.

Before your next big decision is finalised, consider the following 7 questions…

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1. Am I doing this for the right reasons?

Before making a decision, identify “why” you are making it. Many painters expand their team because their mate has, or because they think that “bigger is better” (when it isn’t necessarily). So you need to ask yourself, am I making this decision out of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), driven by ego or because this decision is genuinely the right one for my business at this point in time.

2. Is this a priority?

It’s important that the decisions you are making are actually the decisions you should be prioritising. It’s easy to avoid making hard decisions by wasting time on insignificant ones.

The priority tasks you must consider are ones addressing major issues or

challenges in your business, ones that will heavily improve you teams performance or will assist your well being (never undervalue your health!).

3. Can I afford this?

Next, you must consider the affordability of your decision.

Look at your financial statements with the help of your accountant and assess the costs and benefits of your decision. You may decide that the rewards you reap from a decision outweigh the costs. Keep in mind that these rewards may be financial rewards, or perhaps they could be well-being benefits.

For example, if you’re struggling with your admin work, it’s causing you a large amount of stress and costing you time with your family,

then outsourcing your admin tasks may be well worth the cost.

4. What could go wrong?

With every decision you need to consider the risk involved.

What could possibly go wrong? what could you do if this were to happen? List what these could be, whether you are willing to accept these implications, and whether these implications are really as bad as they appear.

5. Am I too emotionally connected to the outcome?

As a business owner it is really easy to make an un-biased decision simply based on what you ‘want’ the outcome to look like. In the decision making process you can therefore easily seek out opinions and

proof that support your decision, affirmation that what you want is the right decision. What’s important is to see the decision in its entirety.

Remove yourself, emotionally, from the decision at hand, and give consideration to all angles.

6. Am I being over confident in my decision?

You’ve been working in the painting industry for a long time. It goes without saying that at times we are super confident about our predications. But is your prediction an opinion or fact? Do you know it for sure? or just a hunch?

The thing is, ‘we don’t know what we don’t know’. It is therefore critically important to conduct the research before making any decision.

7. Is my decision guided by education?

Like every industry, the trade industry is ever-evolving and it can be difficult to keep on top of the latest marketing and business strategies. Continue to absorb information (like you are right now!) by reading this article, or do so by attending educational events such as our Next Level Tradie Tradie event

(Click HERE for info) Angela Smith

Co-founder – Lifestyle Tradie

“Helping Trade Business Owners Fast-Track Financial & Lifestyle Success”

2018 October Issue | 15

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TRAINING WON’T END DISCRIMINATION,

WE HAVE TO HOLD PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE Efforts to address discrimination and lack of diversity in the workplace often focus on unconscious bias and unconscious bias training.

While this sounds fine, it can be problematic in offering the perpetrators an out.

Unconscious bias is bias we are unaware of. It is said to be outside of our control. Training to recognise it has become widespread. Starbucks recently closed 8,000 stores in North America for unconscious bias training after one of its managers called police to arrest two African-American men who had been sitting at a table but not ordering while waiting for a friend.

But training to recognise something can also normalise it. Unconscious bias training, in effect, side-steps accusations and blame, by creating the impression that everyone is biased, making it possible for people to avoid being accountable for their biases and biased behaviour.

Equating discrimination with mental states The concept of unconscious bias emerged from the field of social psychology during the 1990s. It is commonly associated with an Implicit Association Test that asks people to assign an adjective such as “pleasant”

or “unpleasant” to an entire group, such as males or females or blacks or whites. The speed with which people assign the adjective is said to measure the strength of the association.

The test had reportedly been taken over 17 million times by 2015. It has helped legitimise a link between unconscious bias and discriminatory behaviour, even while scholars question its assumptions and the reliability.

Of more serious concern is that it legitimises bias by spreading the idea that most people are biased.

The concept made its way to American employment discrimination lawsuits in the 1990s. The idea that it was possible to unconsciously discriminate removed the need to prove an intention to discriminate and increased the possibility of successful claims.

But Australian discrimination law has never required proof of intention. Here, it is illegal for employers to discriminate or allow harassment, regardless of what they intended.

Australian workplace health and safety laws operate on the same principle. It is illegal for someone

with a duty of care to be reckless without a reasonable excuse.

Yet despite the workings of our law, Australian organisations have embraced the concept of unconscious bias with almost as much fervour as the Americans, and are spending immense amounts of money on training to recognise it.

The goal of reducing discrimination is, of course, laudable. But attributing bad behaviour to unconscious causes deflects blame away from the perpetrators, and also away from the organisations themselves.

They can market themselves as “valuing diversity” while blaming discrimination on employees and managers who ‘fail to learn’.

The alternative would be to actively use performance management and disciplinary systems to ensure discrimination didn’t take place. And to make sure the law didn’t permit it.

---------------------------------------------Lucy Taksa

Professor and Associate Dean, Macquarie University

Louise Thornthwaite

Senior Lecturer, Department of Marketing and Management, Macquarie University

2018 October Issue | 17

Why it’s Good to Shine a Spotlight

ON YOUR STAR PERFORMERS This month our article series about high performance organisations puts the spotlight back on one of the most important business management topics: How you monitor your staff performance in line with the goals you’ve set out in your business plan.

From recruit to star performer When you recruit a new staff member you generally know why you are recruiting them. Using solid HR recruitment practices like writing a Position Description for the role you’re recruiting for is also important. A Position Description should define the expectations and performance standards you will be applying. In this document you set the scene and it’s important that you write it specifically to attract the right kind of person for the job. The position description also informs the development of Key Performance Indicators (KPI), so it’s essential for creating a high performing business culture.

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When you’ve got the new staff member on board,it will take some time for them to get familiar with your business systems and what they need to do to be successful in their new role. You can help them with induction programs and handover meetings from previous role occupants. However, the most important job for you as a Manager is to encourage them to become active participants in their own performance review processes. They should also be in place for every other staff member.

What to focus on when creating your Performance Management System

The key to making sure that your performance standards are being met is to review them regularly and effectively. By that I mean to use a communication strategy and performance review system that shines a light on your star performers, as they hit the targets you’ve set for your business goals and milestones. Positive feedback is one of the most powerful motivators for employees to keep striving for excellent performance.

Your performance management system should allow you to establish goals and targets for each month as well as high priority projects. The system you select should also allow for allocating goals and targets for each staff member. It should include a section for recording major successes and obstacles. The nice part about this is that it becomes a system. We highly recommend that you use online systems where you have complete version control.

It’s best to use an online performance management system, and there are plenty of those available these days, so take advantage of the technological advances. Remember also to put an emphasis on performance improvement and learning and development to achieve the overall business strategy and create a high performance workforce.

Creating the right performance culture from the word GO Besides using a performance management system you ought to encourage your employees to present once a month on their performance.

In doing so, ask them to participate in developing Key Performance Indicators (KPI) pertaining to their role, dovetailing with your overall business goals. Set up a review schedule that allows staff to measure and track their outcomes on a weekly and monthly basis, so they know when they’ve hit the targets.

Unfortunately, all too often performance management meetings are viewed by staff with a bit of anxiety about how you might judge their performance. That’s why it is super important to pay attention to the kind of performance culture you are establishing. An aggressive approach rarely works, so careful tone and wording of performance conversations are super critical.

Make sure that you create several avenues to talk about performance with your staff and any issues that arise and need to be resolved. Set up 1-on-1 meetings, project meetings and general staff meetings. At the end of each month have your key employees make a presentation to the group on their achievements and performance. At the end of the presentation they discuss their commitments for the next month. When all staff have a shared understanding about what is to be achieved at an organisational level your overall business performance will markedly improve.

You can also start a positive performance culture by creating a simple review process that captures weekly and monthly performance into a

score card type format. And if you want to create a really powerful system and build a high performance organisation encourage your employees to be accountable to each other.

If you’re looking for help to establish a performance management system that works for you, please contact us. If you need more straight performance talk and business advice that works, feel free to arrange a FREE No-Obligation Meeting with me. Call my office on (07)3399 8844, or visit our website at www.straighttalkat.com.au and complete your details on our Home page to request an appointment.

Copyright © 2018 Robert Bauman

2018 October Issue | 19

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Dirty Deeds: Insulting payment offers and Deeds of Release I wish I had $20 bucks for every client that called me up telling me he had just received a Deed of Release from the builder or developer with a curt request that he sign and return it.

What is a Deed of Release? Basically it is a legal agreement where both parties agree to release themselves from further performance of their contract for an agreed payment.

The most typical situation we have seen is a subcontractor who is owed (let’s say) $350 000 by the builder and one day receives a Deed of Release stating that the Builder will pay $50 000 in exchange for the subcontractor ending the contract and making no further claims. Often a conversation follows where the Builder says that the subbie can either take the fifty grand now or spend months fighting and get nothing.

Many contractors feel fear and panic. This is a threatening ‘take-itor-leave-it’ deal with no warning.

The purpose of this article is to demystify this pathetic practice and let you in on what is really going on.

When you get a Deed of Release from your client that comes without warning and with a ridiculous and threatening offer in it, this tells you three things: a) your client is having financial difficulties, and b) your client has probably waaaaaaaay under-quoted the job and is trying to claw back some profit at your expense, and c) your client is fearful of how you might react.

day that you could not afford to continue on a project…. Could you just send your client a Deed of Release demanding that he agree to pay you 75% of what you are owed so you can just walk away? I don’t think so!

Think about that for a second….. in terms of relative power your client is the weak one, not you. So weak that he has to resort to this kind of pathetic practice in order to make a profit (which means that he’s also incompetent).

Think about it. For the benefit of getting just a small amount of cash that will not make much difference to your debtors, you are walking away from your entitlement to the true value of ALL the work you have done. That is a bad deal and if some one wants to try that on you it is better to fight like hell for what is yours.

I have run many claims for my clients where the debtor has threatened to sue for millions, start multiple court actions, Tribunal hearings, crossclaims, destruction, chaos, bla, bla, bla. The more of that talk you hear, the weaker your client actually is.

The reason I am suggesting you reject these Deeds is that they don’t offer you any benefit except to pay a small part of what you are owed.

So with the above in mind, what do you do when you get a Deed of Release?

There is no best pathway to dealing with Deeds of Release or low-ball settlement offers. But the best first step is to get some accountability. That is, get your client to explain himself. Not only does it make life uncomfortable for him but it gets you valuable information as to how your client will try to justify the move if it went to court.

It’s a two step process: 1) Tell your client what he can do with it, 2) Tell him where he can shove it.

Write back to your client asking some of the following as appropriate to your circumstances:

Low-ball Deeds are an insult to the value of your work, and your client thinks that he can simply walk away because your invoices don’t suit him anymore. Imagine if the roles were reversed? What if you decided one

The valuation of my work is (let’s say) $86 000.00. How did you come to your valuation of (for example) $25 000.00?

2018 October Issue | 21

Can you please itemize my work and value each item so that I can see how your settlement figure was arrived at?

Is your company going into administration? If so, who is the administrator and what are their contact details?

Have you used any of the contract’s provisions to assist you in valuing our work? If so, which ones?

Now use the ones that are relevant to your project. Now you are of course thinking “There’s no way they’ll answer questions like that!”

And you’d be right. What we are after is what they do come back to you with. They may answer some of them but may otherwise give away good information will they are busy abusing you for asking. That’s what we want!

Why was I not consulted regarding this Deed?

On what basis did you think I would settle for such a low amount when the value of my work is far higher?

At what point in the project did you decide that you did not wish to complete our contract?

Clearly you are offering this Deed/ Offer because you have been unable to complete this project profitably; is this because you under-quoted or because you did not plan it properly?

Your offer is only for the work. What are you offering my company for the loss of profit due to not completing the balance of the work?

How many other contractors on the project have you sent a Deed to? Please send me their details.

22 | Aussie Painters Network

It will yield invaluable information about your client’s thinking. You can then use this to get your money… which brings me to my final point.

Refuse the offer!

And take some form of action to get your money: Either by adjudication or statement of claim. These Deeds are attempts to scare you off and if you come out fighting you stand a much better chance of getting what’s owed or else a much higher payout.

Finally you must regard the above as a general strategy that we have found works. It may not be appropriate for your situation or the contract you are working under.

Get professional advice when dealing with a Deed of Release or a final offer. There may be repercussions that are not immediately obvious.

The most important thing is not to just give in because you are desperate for money. Most of the time it is not enough to make a difference to your debtors, and you are throwing away the value of your work.

Anthony Igra

For more great articles and video information about dealing with payment problems go to

www.contractorsdebtrecovery.com.au

or call us on 1300 669 075

吀栀攀 瀀漀爀琀愀戀氀攀Ⰰ 椀渀攀砀瀀攀渀猀椀瘀攀 洀攀琀栀漀搀 琀漀 瀀爀攀瘀攀渀琀 瀀愀椀渀琀 眀愀猀琀攀ⴀ眀愀琀攀爀 瀀漀氀氀甀琀椀渀最 琀栀攀 攀渀瘀椀爀漀渀洀攀渀琀⸀

2018 October Issue | 23

Noisserped (During the past month, I have been reading some posts from painters which has concerned me. This is an article I wrote last year and feel the importance of mentioning it again. In case you missed reading it, please do so this time as it may relate to you or someone you may know).

Have I got your attention?

I thought if I spelt the word correctly, many of you would ignore the article and turn to the next page.

Why do I say this you ask? Because it’s a known fact that people who suffer from this have a problem admitting to it and don’t want to discuss the subject. It’s a health issue that affects more than one million Australians a year.

Still not sure what I’m talking about? Look at the word in a mirror. Yes, that’s right! I guess we all know someone that is, or has suffered from it. Maybe even yourself!

My first encounter.

Over 35 years ago I was sitting next to my wife’s cousin at a wedding function. Great bloke with a wife and a few kids. A couple of years later his wife came home, opened up the garage door and found him hanging from the rafters. Since then I have personally known others that have taken their own lives.

In fact, in the last few years I found out through Facebook, a couple of painters did exactly this. It’s so sad.

The problem can be solved, or at least reduced, if: Admit to yourself you have depression and talk to someone about it.

24 | Aussie Painters Network

Be able to recognize the signs of depression in others and either give them support or advise them who they should see.

At present, I know three people that are suffering depression; one being a close family member. So this has been a subject I’ve wanted to talk about for a while but wasn’t quite sure how to approach it, or how to write it. I feel the best way to get the message out there would be to leave it to the professionals and copy and paste an article from the ‘Lifeline Support’ website.

‘Everyone feels sad or down sometimes, especially during tough times. Feeling sad or upset is a normal reaction to difficult situations.

But, if you have these feelings intensely for long periods of time and are having trouble with normal activities, you may be experiencing depression.

Watch: Kate DeAraugo (Solo artist and winner of Australian Idol 2005) talking about her experience with depression. https://youtu.be/GdL9Tktgjkk

What is depression?

Depression is more than just feeling sad or low during tough times.

People with depression can have intense negative feelings for weeks, months or even years, sometimes for no good reason.

Unfortunately, many people with depression don’t recognize it or get help. But, it is treatable and most people with depression go on to lead happy, productive lives with the right treatment for them.

• Some causes of depression • Relationship problems or conflict – e.g. separation/divorce, difficult/ abusive relationship • Job loss, especially long-term unemployment • Loneliness or feeling isolated • Excessive drug or alcohol use • Having another family member who has depression • Having a serious physical illness • Changes in how the brain functions • Personality factors – e.g. anxiety, low self-esteem Causes of depression vary from person to person because of a mix of personal risk factors and difficult life events. It’s also common for people to experience depression and anxiety at the same time.

Signs of depression • Feeling sad, ‘flat’ or down most of the time (for two weeks or more) • Losing interest in activities you used to enjoy (for two weeks or more) • Feeling tired or lacking energy and motivation • Moodiness that is out of character • Increased irritability and frustration • Increased alcohol and drug use • Changes in your weight or appetite • Having problems sleeping or sleeping all the time • Feeling worthless or guilty • Feeling restless, edgy or slowed down • Having difficulty concentrating or making decisions • Thinking repeatedly about death or suicide If you are experiencing a number of these symptoms, you may have depression. It is very important to visit your GP or another health professional for a full assessment and to discuss treatment options.

Helpful tips for treating depression Taking steps to manage depression is important for your current and longterm health. Depression is an illness that can get worse if left untreated.

See your doctor - Talk to your doctor about how you’ve been feeling to find the most appropriate treatment for you. Your doctor can also refer you to a psychologist or other mental health professional for treatment, sometimes with a rebate through Medicare.

Talk to someone you trust - Talking to family, friends, a counsellor, minister or a crisis line, can help you develop an understanding of your situation and help you move forward. There are some very effective treatments through psychologists/mental health professionals that can make a real difference.

Look after yourself - Eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly and get enough sleep. Exercise has been shown to help reduce depression.

Take time out to relax and do things you used to enjoy, even if you don’t feel like it now. When you have depression it can be hard to get motivated, but it’s important not to isolate yourself.

Be aware of your feelings - Noticing changes in your mood and thoughts and identifying what situations make you feel good and bad can help to stop negative thought patterns.

Keep safe - You may be having thoughts about dying, that it may be better to ‘not be around’ or you don’t know how much longer you can go on. These thoughts are common when people feel very depressed. If you have these thoughts, get help straight away.

Call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or chat to us online’.

Jim Baker Mytools4business.com

2018 October Issue | 25

26 | Aussie Painters Network

www.lead.org.au

In many sectors, the disruptive changes now occurring are so major that they have been described as the “fourth industrial revolution”. In response, organisations are focusing on innovation – hackathons, innovation labs and design jams are popular. Unfortunately, many innovations do not make it through to implementation.

Many explanations are offered.

One is change resistance, but this is oversimplified and usually inaccurate. A more nuanced view is that implementing innovations is much harder than thinking them up in the first place.

An essential factor in being able to implement innovations is to diagnose the sources of resistance.

One major source is the routines we find in all organisations.

Read more: Three ways to build innovation into your organisation

Routine works at various levels An organisational routine is the collection of knowledge, systems, pro-

cesses and practices that form the fabric of “how we get things done”.

Routines can exist at several levels: MACRO – organisational, interorganisational and even national routines MESO – policies, processes, information systems, knowledge and ways of doing things MICRO – the way people perform their jobs from day to day.

Routines exist to enable the organisation to function more efficiently, and to help people carry out their jobs.

For example, school or university teaching is usually divided into terms of, say, 14 weeks and then into 50-minute periods. Students and educators organise their personal teaching and learning routines around this model.

This is supported by meso-level routines. For example, school terms are integral to the management of the institutions themselves, including hiring, holidays and timetabling.

At a macro level, teaching routines are part of the fabric of wider society. For example, legislation governs the number of days that schools are required to open each year.

Let’s imagine a university lecturer who wants to implement a seemingly trivial innovation. They want to make attendance at class optional; deliver course materials online in a series of 12-to-15-minute “minilectures” instead of 50-minute lectures; and allow students’ progress to be self-paced, so they are not required to complete the course within the normal 14-week term. This plan quickly runs into trouble due to the existence of organisational routines based on the term structure.

The disruptive effects occur even at a macro level. For example, if an institution is funded on the basis of the number of students who complete courses, then uncertain completion dates make this hard to estimate.

Full-time students might receive income support, and full-time status is difficult to determine if courses have no fixed completion time.

2018 October Issue | 27

At a meso level, staff workload management systems would be disrupted. Existing processes and information systems might not be fit for purpose.

At a micro level, staff would need to structure their course materials differently, and students would need to change the way they study.

All of these routines would need to be rebuilt for the innovation to be successful.

Even a seemingly minor innovation can pose implementation conundrums. Often these are legitimate and have nothing to do with resistance to change.

The good news is that routines can often be flexible. Compromises might be possible to achieve the benefits of the innovation without stretching routines to breaking point. In our example, a choice of 14-week and 28-week course completion options could be offered, rather than making the completion date entirely flexible.

However, “flexing” or redesigning organisational routines is probably not going to happen in response to every promising prototype that comes out of the innovation lab.

Read more: Working four-day weeks for five days’ pay? Research shows it pays off

28 | Aussie Painters Network

Five ways to promote innovation Based on our understanding of organisational routines, we have some suggestions to help implement innovations.

1. Analyse affected routines as part of the implementation plan. The scope should include microlevel routines (how people perform their jobs), meso-level routines (organisational systems, IT systems, processes, knowledge and shared understanding), and macro routines (inter-organisational or national policies and systems, legislation). Be realistic about the scale of the change required. Does the value of the innovation justify it?

2. Modify the innovation to reduce major disruption to routines. Can the innovation be modified so existing routines can be “flexed” rather than disrupted completely? Can you remove or limit macro-level disruption, as these routines will be the hardest to change?

3. Develop new routines to replace the old ones. Organisations need routines to function efficiently. The innovation implementation process needs to include the design of new or changed routines.

4. Create a separate organisational unit or brand. New routines can be developed and trialled before being rolled out to the whole organisation.

5. Aim for a more agile organisation overall. Many apparently promising innovations genuinely do not justify the effort involved in implementation. However, if there is a regular pattern of innovations never making it out of the lab, a wider examination of your organisation’s agility and change readiness may be required.

The very routines that make organisations great at the way they currently do things can also be major obstacles to change, and pointing this out does not mean your colleagues are dinosaurs. Being savvy about the role and importance of organisational routines is essential for successfully implementing innovations.

-------------------------------------------------------

Mary Tate

Research Fellow (DECRA), Information Systems, Queensland University of Technology https://theconversation.com/yourcolleagues-are-not-dinosaurs-itsworkplace-routines-that-makeinnovation-difficult-100889

䤀渀猀甀爀愀渀挀攀 昀漀爀

倀䄀䤀一吀䔀刀匀 䐀漀 礀漀甀 眀愀渀琀 琀漀 搀攀愀氀 眀椀琀栀 愀渀 椀渀猀甀爀愀渀挀攀 挀漀洀瀀愀渀礀 琀栀愀琀 栀愀猀 琀栀攀 戀攀猀琀 愀瘀愀椀氀愀戀氀攀Ⰰ 挀漀猀琀ⴀ攀û攀挀琀椀瘀攀 椀渀猀甀爀愀渀挀攀 昀漀爀 琀爀愀搀椀攀猀㼀

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吀栀攀 猀攀挀甀爀椀琀礀 昀漀爀 琀栀椀猀 瀀爀漀搀甀挀琀 椀猀 瀀氀愀挀攀搀 瘀椀愀 䰀氀漀礀搀猀 漀昀 䰀漀渀搀漀渀 愀猀 眀攀氀氀 愀猀 漀琀栀攀爀 䄀甀猀琀爀愀氀椀愀渀 愀甀琀栀漀爀椀猀攀搀 椀渀猀甀爀攀爀猀⸀ ㄀㠀 ㌀㔀㔀 ㌀㐀㐀 椀渀昀漀䀀愀甀猀猀椀攀瀀愀椀渀琀攀爀猀渀攀琀眀漀爀欀⸀挀漀洀⸀愀甀 眀眀眀⸀愀甀猀猀椀攀瀀愀椀渀琀攀爀猀渀攀琀眀漀爀欀⸀挀漀洀⸀愀甀

2018 October Issue | 29

30 | Aussie Painters Network

Set yourself up to succeed

with a SOLID PLAN The start of the year is the perfect time to dust off last year’s business plan and set some new goals for the future.

vices that become the foundation of innovative, successful companies.

While some of us love planning, others feel overwhelmed by the process. How do you decide on just a handful of goals that take priority, with so many moving parts that make up a business?

When it comes to goal-setting, thinking big is great, too. But in order to make those big ideas like “increasing market share” or “growing profits” happen, you need to break them down into smaller, specific goals and strategies tied to a budget and timeline.

These tips can help you get started brainstorming how your company can plan for greater success in the years ahead.

For instance, while your overarching objective may be to “grow profits by 50% by December 31”, your smaller goals might include:

Redefine your brand

- Launching a social media campaign the first week of March to attract 2,500 new prospects by months’ end; or

Is the elevator pitch you used a year ago – even six months ago – still accurate? Unless you are crystal clear on who you are as a company, whom you’re here to serve, and what you hope to achieve in the next one to three years, it’s going to be hard to come up with meaningful goals.

Take a look at your company vision, mission statement, and core values. If they need tweaking to reflect where your business is today and where you want it to go, start there. Then you can move on to setting some useful long and short term goals.

Big picture planning Entrepreneurs dream big—and they should! Thinking big can lead to ground breaking products and ser-

- Increasing total sales by 40% with the opening of an online store by July 1st.

The key is to define goals that are measurable and achievable.

Define smaller goals Thinking through how you’ll achieve your larger objectives can be a fun exercise – one you can turn into a group activity, including your entire team. Sit down and discuss what you know about your customers.

Review your historical sales data and look over your up-to-date budget and forecasting. With all the relevant information at hand and everyone at the table, you can come up with

strategies that align with your company vision, assign deadlines, and get buy-in on what everyone needs to do to see your ideas through to completion.

Final tips It’s worthwhile to take some time to reflect on your personal goals as you think through your business goals.

Maybe you’ve been wanting to get involved in mentoring, improve your networking skills, or attend more conferences. Self-development is, in a sense, professional development – and vice versa, so include them in your plans. Of course, coming up with business goals is just one part of the equation. You’ll also need to monitor your progress, noting milestones and sharing your company achievements with your team on a regular basis. Tracking your results will help your employees stay motivated – and it also gives you the chance to adjust your goals and strategies in time to achieve the best possible results by year’s end.

Sandra Price Phone: 07 33724554 VISIT US ON FACEBOOK 2018 October Issue | 31

32 | Aussie Painters Network

“Why Would You Take Your Car For A Regular Tune-up & Service,

But Not Your Business?...” business. The challenge with most businesses is the indicators aren’t easy to see.

Have you ever stumbled across a business owner that just seems to have the Midas touch when it comes to business success? What is it that these rare, relaxed and often life balanced people know that many other business owners seem to be missing? Do they use a business consultant or business coach?

The answer is … they have a process that gets the results that we all intended on getting when we started our business.

If you don’t tune-up your car and get it regularly serviced, it will lose performance, become dangerous to operate or even stop working altogether, right? So why don’t people take their businesses for tuneups? Here are the top 3 reasons we regularly see…

1. They don’t know their business is performing badly or even that it’s actually broken.

2. If they do know there’s something wrong, they try to ‘save money’ and fix it themselves.

They don’t know who to take their business to for a check-up or even worse, they go to someone they think knows what to do but they actually don’t!

One of the biggest lessons to learn about business is the science of how to see exactly how it is performing. Not just the big picture, but all the smaller operations that contribute to the total results.

Successful business operators are good at identifying and measuring exactly what should be happening and what is or is not happening in a

Building a profitable business is a skill that can be applied to any product or service, once you understand the process that leads to making more profit. When someone shares with you what steps to take you’re on your way to getting better results. A good business consultant or business coach will ask for information to work out how much profit your business is making because this is the outcome of all the business activities.

With training, understanding and some tools (often as simple as a spreadsheet), you can start tweaking functions of your business and clearly see the results on your bottom line and most importantly, in your bank account!

2018 October Issue | 33

The amount of profit in your business is directly linked to you taking the right steps in the right direction. But what are the right steps?

What is the ‘right’ direction? Some businesses just go around in circles!

Without a clear road map it’s easy to get caught up and not realise what you’re doing.

WHAT ARE THE PROFIT MECHANICS OF YOUR BUSINESS? There are 3 components of business that form the base to its profitability. Understanding how to generate quality income, manage databases and have systems in place to consistently attract the best customers for the business. Successful business operators monitor and nurture the drivers of these areas constantly.

Some activities are neglected or considered ‘not as important’ as other

activities and this often has a compounding effect on the profitability of the business.

The key is to learn how to measure and identify how each area is performing and to have the results fed back to the manager with facts, not opinions.

Learn the mantra … “What you measure we manage and what you manage improves”.

If you would like to experience a complimentary review of your business, call Profit Mechanics on 1800 838 767 and we’ll rush an easy to understand Business Diagnostic Tool to you!

Dan Buzer

www.profitmechanics.com.au

Construction Industry Mentoring Flyer BUSY At Work and Construction Skills Queensland (CSQ) have teamed up to offer a new and exciting mentoring program for apprentices and trainees in the construction industry.

Industry Specialist Mentoring for Australian Apprentices (ISMAA) provides individual support to Australian Apprentices and Trainees in the first two years of their apprenticeship or traineeship.

The program is aimed at industries where automation, robotics and other new technology or influences are changing the future roles of apprentices and trainees, and tradespeople.

BUSY At Work are proud to be delivering the ISMAA program on behalf of the Australian Government.

We will work intensively with apprentices to help them stay engaged, complete their training and achieve great things in their careers and to become the great tradespeople of the future.

Our ISMMA mentors have a wide range of experience and understand the changing nature of your industry.

Our Industry Specialist mentors will engage with the mentee to create a specific and individual mentoring plan to be implemented over a 6 month period.

Visits will focus on workplace and industry changes, future career options and new skills that may be required.

BUSY At Work believes this program will benefit all involved and help improve the retention rate of apprentices and trainees in the construction industry.

Tim Gillespie ISMAA Mentor - BUSY At Work 0438 869 227 Tim.Gillespie@busyatwork.com.au Visit busyatwork.com.au/ismaa

34 | Aussie Industry Painters Network Specialist Mentoring for Australian Apprentices (ISMAA) is funded by the Australian Government Department of Education and Training.

䴀礀 倀愀椀渀琀

䌀漀猀琀椀渀最 䴀礀 䠀漀甀爀氀礀 刀愀琀攀 䌀愀氀挀甀氀愀琀漀爀 䜀甀椀搀攀

眀眀眀⸀洀礀琀漀漀氀猀㐀戀甀猀椀渀攀猀猀⸀挀漀洀

UNDERSTANDING THE VALUE OF Good Administrators Contractors are notorious for being disorganised. Many a contractor’s truck dashboard looks like a bomb went off in the front seat. Younger contractors tend to use smart phones and tablets but many still suffer; just because you are strong electronically does not mean you have good administrative practices in your business.

If you are a disorganised person start by accepting your fate. It is part of your personality and you will live with it your entire life. Disorganised folks buy diaries they never use and put reminders on their phones that just get ignored. If you are disorganised the best way to organise yourself is to hire someone to do it. Organisation starts with a strong admin person who can help organise you. ADD is said to be a genetic trait. America was founded by folks who were a little ADD. When settling Jamestown, 144 people boarded 3 ships for 4 months that were little more than overgrown cabin cruisers. You had to

36 | Aussie Painters Network

be a little compulsive, disorganised and wacky to take that risk. Accept your restlessness and disorganisation and embrace it. Hire someone to help you with it. Discipline and organisation are your friends.

As business grows and owners have more than they can do, many will hire another salesperson or production manager to help them. The problem is if you had a poor or no admin, adding another body is just going to make the situation worse.

As you are building your business, the first and most critical step in the process is to hire a strong administrative person.

Many contractors wonder, well, what will this person do? A smart and strong person will find things to do. If you have to tell your admin what to do, you probably have the wrong person. A good administrative person will take duties away from you, help you get organised and keep things on track. They can:

• Answer the phone but more importantly set your sales appointments.

• Do all bookkeeping and payroll.

• Help order material.

• Call customers regarding the schedule.

• Schedule repair or warranty calls and manage the process.

• Help organise job colors and other customer information needs.

• Phone crews to ensure they have all the material that is needed.

• Organise insurance, employee records, and other non-daily admin duties.

Should this person be a family member? Probably not. Many contractors choose a family member and in some cases it works out ok but there are many disadvantages, especially with a spouse. First, how well does it work when you tell each other what to do? Secondly, if you and your spouse want to go on vacation, who runs things and sets appointments while you are gone?

If you do hire a family member, they need to have bookkeeping and office experience that qualifies them for the job. Worried about embezzlement? Buy insurance or have the person bonded. You can also have your family member or someone else balance the checkbook.

multi-function aspect of the job.

Frequently, people who came from big companies do not work out because of the hectic pace and diversity. You also need a person who enjoys a small office and is happy working alone much of the day.

So what kind of traits should a good office admin person have?

A good office admin is intelligent, computer savvy and willing to learn new technology; cooperative, loyal and a natural problem solver. Good admin people are efficient and it bothers them when things don’t get done. They are organised and their desk is usually neat and systematised. Their office is a little like Mum’s kitchen at Thanksgiving. She is the cook and is in control. You can help but on her terms. Again, a good office manager will take control and tell you what to do.

So what do you pay this person?

Good administrators are hard to find. A good guideline on their pay is that they are going to be paid what a top craftsperson or a junior foreman would receive. If you hire someone part time, make sure you offer a high enough hourly rate to make it worthwhile for them to work 4 or 5 hours a day. Sometimes you can find an executive secretary mum type who wants to work part time. Ironically, the pay does not matter if you have a really good person, as that person will do what two other people might do. The trick is to find the right person and pay whatever it takes.

A good small business admin must be able to deal with the chaos and

One of the hardest lessons to learn is that you cannot do everything

yourself. It is impossible. You may be 100% at task, but 100% of your own effort is all you can get done and you can only do so much. Even if someone else is only at 80%, together you are 180%. If you want to make $100,000 a year, that equates to $50 an hour. Doing tasks that you are not good at and don’t like to do does not make sense when it costs half as much to have someone else do them for you. Focus on selling work and managing production, not clerical tasks. Selling and producing one more job a week probably pays for a better admin.

Monroe Porter

is president of PROOF Management a firm that teaches seminars and runs networking groups for painting contractors.

www.proofman.com

2018 October Issue | 37

The Industry

Idiots

38 | Aussie Painters Network

Important Contacts Aussie Painters Network www.aussiepaintersnetwork.com.au

Ph. 0430 399 800

National Institute for Painting and Decorating www.painters.edu.au

Ph. 1300 319 790

Australian Tax Office www.ato.gov.au

Ph. 13 72 26 / Ph. 13 28 65

Award Rates www.fairwork.gov.au

Ph. 13 13 94

Fair Work Building & Construction www.fwbc.gov.au

Ph. 1800 003 338

Mates In Construction www.matesinconstruction.com.au

Ph. 1300 642 111

Workplace Health and Safety Contacts Comcare WorkSafe ACT Workplace Health and Safety QLD Victorian WorkCover Authority WorkCover NSW SafeWork SA WorkSafe WA NT WorkSafe WorkSafe Tasmania

www.comcare.gov.au www.worksafe.act.gov.au www.worksafe.qld.gov.au www.vwa.vic.gov.au www.workcover.nsw.gov.au www.safework.sa.gov.au www.commerce.wa.gov.au/WorkSafe/ www.worksafe.nt.gov.au www.worksafe.tas.gov.au

1300 366 979 02 6207 3000 1300 362 128 1800 136 089 13 10 50 1300 365 255 1300 307 877 1800 019 115 1300 366 322

www.actcancer.org www.cancercouncil.com.au www.cancercouncilnt.com.au www.cancerqld.org.au www.cancersa.org.au www.cancervic.org.au www.cancerwa.asn.au

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Cancer Council Australia ACT NSW NT QLD SA VIC WA

2018 October Issue | 39