Focus on believing in yourself  

Your health and energy in your electrical business Your health and energy really matter when running an electrical business. I have touched on this subject before, but it is such an important topic that it deserves a dedicated blog. So, I am going to talk about how low energy levels and not feeling 100% can impact your success and give you some simple tips and advice to boost your health and energy in your electrical business. I have said before (okay, many times!), that achieving a successful business is a process, it isn’t something you can do overnight. Because it takes time and energy, you need really look after yourself because risking your health is a threat to your business too! If you are in tip-top condition, getting enough sleep and exercise and eating properly, you will have the physical and mental energy and strength to deal with those everyday little niggles that crop up. And they will crop up, that is one thing you can be certain of when running an electrical business! Your health and energy in your electrical business Make it a priority! Your health and energy in your electrical business should be a priority. If you are not operating at your best, your focus, creativity and concentration will suffer and could lead to problems, such as: Safety: We all know that lapses in concentration for an electrician can have dangerous consequences Staff problems: Taking out your frustrations and negativity on your team can lead to problems with absenteeism, retention, and your reputation. Dissatisfied customers: Nobody will offer repeat work to a bad-tempered, unfriendly workman and this could be reflected in reviews, even if you did a good job! It could damage a good reputation that has taken you years to build. Missed opportunities: Your creativity and ability to think ‘outside the box’ will suffer if you are fatigued, so you may miss solutions and new opportunities. If you feel your health and energy in your electrical business is not as it should be, you may like to join my Facebook Electrical Business Community . This group of like-minded people provides support to fellow electricians with tips for success and inspirational quotes to make you focus on why you are doing this. If you need more practical advice for running an electrical business, why not download my free FLOWING Guide , which is filled with techniques to help you make your business a success. Your health and energy in your electrical business Tiredness Everyone knows that when you work for yourself you tend to work more and more hours to try to make your business a success. Staying late in the office to catch up with admin, fitting those extra little jobs in during the weekend. Before you know it, you are working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. You cannot possibly keep this up! I know this because I have been there and done that. You need to understand that time is a finite resource and the more of it you spend in your business, the less time you have for those things you promised yourself you would do when embarking on this journey: · Spend more time with family and friends · Go to the gym/get fitter · Take a few more holidays · Cut down on takeaways and eat better · Achieve that all important work/life balance Constant tiredness will affect your mood and your ability to concentrate and may lead to you becoming run down and susceptible to cold and flu viruses. You can get caught up in a cycle of tiredness and illness that can lead to lots of bad habits as you try to stay on top of things, for example: · Eating sugary foods for that instant energy hit · Drinking too much coffee · Turning to alcohol to ‘switch off’ · Doing less exercise · Craving carbohydrates · Being less social Does this sound like you? If it does, you have to prioritise yourself and your health and energy in your electrical business. Block time off in your calendar every week to do some exercise, preferably outdoors (see more below.) Make sure you eat regular healthy meals and snacks to avoid that instant sugar high and the inevitable tiredness that follows. Make sure you develop a good bedtime routine so that you get enough high quality sleep. You may like to read this article from Crafted Beds on how to establish a good bedtime routine . Your health and energy in your electrical business Exercise Outdoors We all know the benefits of exercise, don’t we? Regular exercise can increase energy levels and combat tiredness by reducing tension in your body, as well as boosting your mood. But you need to prioritise it as part of a daily (or even every other day), routine. Although going to the gym has become more popular recently, research published in Sciencedaily.com showed that exercising outdoors was better for you than indoors and had a greater effect on anxiety and self-esteem, especially if near water. So, if you are lucky enough to live near the sea, a reservoir, river or canal, take advantage of it and the double whammy of an energy and mood boost. What’s more, if you can manage it during daylight hours, you will top up your levels of vitamin D (a lack of vitamin D causes tiredness.) Exercising outdoors is good for you physically, psychologically, and emotionally. It will help to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety from running an electrical business and will improve your energy and mental resilience. Your health and energy in your electrical business Combat Stress Once you have established a bedtime routine and prioritised outdoor exercise a few times a week, it is a good idea to think about your mental health. Building a successful electrical business can be stressful, so you need to think how you can free your mind from your business problems for a few minutes every day. We all get stressed from time to time, and practising techniques to reduce it will benefit both your business and your family life, because it is those closest to us who tend to feel the brunt of our low moods and negativity. Exercising regularly and eating well will give you a good start, but you may need something extra, just to help you to let go. Tai chi, yoga, breathing exercises, mindfulness or even individual or group therapy can give you the techniques to reduce your stress levels. I hope that this blog has encouraged you to think about your health and energy in your electrical business and shown you how they are linked to your success. If you need help getting back on track, sign up for a 30 day trial membership of Business Transformer for just £1. My online courses are packed full of useful materials and tips to help you focus on why you decided to go-alone in the first place, along with step-by-step instructions showing you how systems can help you to manage your time successfully.  Enjoying the Blog Posts? Sign Up to our Emails ...

How do you earn as a local electrician in the UK? The issue of pricing and how much to charge is a thorny one for local electricians. It crops up in social media posts as a frequent topic for discussion in groups and forums. So, how do you earn as a local electrician in the UK - in a small town or a large city? It has always been a reasonable assumption that to make more profit and earn more money for yourself, you need to raise prices and charge more for jobs. But, when you look at your local competitors and see they are charging less than you, the fear kicks in that customers will choose cheaper quotes, and you may end up with no work at all! The problem with undercutting competitors’ prices is that it can become a ‘race to the bottom’, and this is a race nobody wants to win, right? The only prize for the winner of this race is stress from not earning enough to cover costs, and you will end up with nothing to show for all your hard work – if your business survives, that is! How do you earn as a local electrician in the UK and avoid winning the race to the bottom? This blog explains how to position your electrical business to stand out from the competition and make sure that you are the preferred electrician in your area, even when your prices are higher and there is a lot of competition for business! Put in the groundwork! Of course, you can’t just pluck a price from thin air! Before you can decide what to charge, you need to work out how much money you need from your electrical business, on a personal level. Although this will be different for everyone depending on personal circumstances, the first step is to work out how much you need to earn for: Essentials – monthly survival. This will decide your basic monthly earnings. Nice to have – regular treats you don’t need to survive. Once your business starts to make a profit, add a figure for treats. Luxuries – things you promised yourself you would have when your business became successful. When your business becomes a roaring success, add a figure for luxuries. At the end of this task, you should know how much you need to earn annually, monthly, weekly and daily at these three stages of your business, determined by how many weeks per year, days per week and hours per day you want to work (I use spreadsheets for this). Please remember to be realistic but at the same time don't think too small! You have set up your business to provide you with a nice life. Nobody wants to be a busy fool who never gets a break and can’t retire when they should have done so long ago. Once you have decided your worth and what you need to do to achieve it, an amazing thing happens! Suddenly, competitors’ prices don’t matter anymore . You are standing out as a local electrician, with your own pricing. Yes, this is scary, and you may think that you will never be able to charge more or afford those luxuries, but don’t worry, I will show you how later! How do you earn as a local electrician in the UK - Advantages of a pricing strategy You will be amazed what happens as a local electrician with a pricing strategy in place. You will find: · You can charge more than competitors · People will pay your prices · They will be nicer people than those who haggle Over time, you will see patterns emerge of what customers to search for, the type and value of their home, their profession, their age, etc. By uploading your customers on to Google Maps or viewing the jobs you have completed in ServiceM8 (or alternative Apps), you will see how to target similar customers whether by social media groups, magazines, postcards, paid adverts or videos. NOTE that you'll be duplicating more of who convert already (rather than just those that enquired but never went ahead!). Higher paying customers tend to be nicer, less stressed, and more loyal than those angry customers who constantly haggle on price and don’t appreciate your worth. They are also more likely to recommend you to others and give you positive reviews on Google or other platforms. This will increase your reputation and ranking and raise your profile both as a local electrician and on the internet. Quote techniques There are things you must do and things you must avoid when providing a quote. Do Be clear (using a proper, repeatable format which is quick to create) Upsell – bundle products together such as EICR and PAT testing at a special price or offer AFDDs on socket circuits or domestic fuse board upgrades for slightly less. This is your version of "would you like fries and a drink with that?". Stick to the quoted price. If you discount, it will look like you were trying to rip them off! Don’t Automatically discount the price when someone asks if it can be done cheaper. Just ask what item they would like to remove, or if they would like you to complete the job in stages to suit their budget. Don’t fret if they say no. Some people might, but others will say yes. Trust the system and fill your schedule with work that meets your needs as well as those of your customers. How do you earn as a local electrician in the UK? Certainly not by reducing your prices, not making enough money, working long hours, and getting stressed out! How do you earn as a local electrician in the UK – Customer experience Okay. So you have done all of the above and now your electrical business is profitable, you are no longer exhausted and have free time and money for family activities. Woohoo! The next step is to double your prices (Incrementally). If you do this, you only have to work half the hours, or halve your customers to make the same money. How can you do this? By focusing on the customer experience. Happy customers are the key to a successful business, so make small changes wherever you can, such as: · Working clean · Tidying up · Smoothing out the enquiry and quote experience · Acknowledging customer enquiries · Make payments super-easy · Look professional (branded vans/clothing etc.) You will be doing exactly the same job as your competitors but making the whole experience from initial enquiry to job completion a breeze for customers. This is where you can really raise your electrical business above the competition , and customer reviews and recommendations will reflect their positive experience. How do you earn as a local electrician in the UK – Tried and tested results I tested this out in both a small town where I was one of five electricians, and in a large city with more than 300 accredited local electricians! Guess what? In spite of pricing at the higher end of the spectrum and with an imminent recession, my diary is full of profitable work that earns five star reviews from loyal customers. For those of you that don’t know me, I am Simon Barker and I have been an electrician since 1988 , with the first 19 years’ experience in the car industry, semiconductors, and with other world-class manufacturers. I then started my own company in 2007 and spent some time as a software developer after achieving my maths/computing degree. I love systems and how they can make my business so much easier to run. Systems give me free time during evenings and weekends to spend with my family, rather than doing admin! As you can see, I have a long track record and I would love to give you some completely free resources, so you can learn even more pricing techniques that enable your business to stand out. You can get my free FLOWING guide to setting up and growing your electrical business. What’s more, you can sign up for my email updates (See bottom of Page) , which will let you know when I post new blogs or videos, as well as making sure my tips for running a successful electrical business find their way into your inbox. For even more tips and tricks of the trade, you can also check out and subscribe to my YouTube channel and Facebook Group . I would love to hear from you and find out other issues you would like me to talk about. I hope that this blog has given you some answers to the question how do you earn as a local electrician in the UK?. I would love to help this industry grow because the pool of people within the industry is shrinking and I believe that there will alwyas be many opportunities to prosper as an electrician , whether as a job or with your own business. So, come and join me and let’s do this. Let’s make a difference to our industry together. Let me help you to get your electrical business FLOWING! 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Have you fallen out of love with your electrical business? Focus on your WHY Do you feel like it is Groundhog Day, and you are facing an uphill climb every week? Let’s face it, we have all been there and felt like that at one time or another. All businesses have ups and downs, and it is impossible to be 100% positive, 100% of the time! When you have been running a business for a long time, sometimes things can get stale. The frustrations take over your working day and you start to feel helpless and stressed out by the smallest problem. Or if it’s a new business it can sometimes feel a little overwhelming. This is when you need to focus on your WHY. Why you started out on your own in the first place and what it is about running your own electrical business that you love so much. If you feel you have fallen out of love with your electrical business, joining a group of like-minded people may help you to focus on your WHY. Why not head over to my Facebook Electrical Business Community , which offers positive support and has lots of tips for success, including inspirational quotes to help remind you of the important things in life and why you started on this journey. Or, if you are finding the day-to-day running of your electrical business a struggle, you can download my free FLOWING Guide which is filled with practical techniques to help your business be successful. Focus on your WHY We all have different reasons for doing what we do. Maybe you became interested when you were a child and were fascinated by how electricity worked? Or perhaps you wanted to create your own working environment, rather than working for someone else? Or you could have been seeking a better work/life balance and more time to spend with your partner and family? Whatever the reason, taking time out to focus on your WHY is a bit like hitting the reset button on a device. It takes you back to your original vision, your reason for starting out on your own, your inspiration for making that leap of faith. You are reminded of why and how it all started, your drive, passion and vision. When things start to feel a bit repetitive and more of a grind than a pleasure or when things have been challenging and you have found it difficult to keep going, it is time to reconnect with those original feelings. If you focus on your WHY, it will help to motivate and re-energise you when you are down or struggling. It will: • Restore your sense of purpose when your resolve is flagging • Renew your passion for reaching your long-term goals, and help you to commit to them • Take away the stress and ‘fog’ in your mind, giving you clarity on what you want to achieve, so you can let go of distractions • Remind you why you started and bring back the enjoyment of running your own electrical business • Help you to see how far you have come and restore your faith in your own ability • Give you the strength and determination to learn from any challenges you are facing, rather than being defeated by them If you feel you have fallen out of love with your electrical business, there are a few practical steps you can take, which should help you to reenergise physically, as well as refreshing your focus on your WHY: 1. Make sure you eat properly 2. Get enough sleep 3. Exercise regularly 4. Set time aside for friends and family 5. Schedule time away from the business for you to relax and recharge You have come a long way from where you started to make your business a success, through sheer hard work, commitment, determination, focus, and great decision-making. Renewing your purpose will give you energy and positivity, putting a stop to that jaded feeling. If you feel bombarded by negativity at the moment, read my blog about focusing on positivity in your electrical business here. Focus on your WHY - Personal Vision It is very important to set out your personal vision, right from the start. It’s also very important to realise that your WHY and your vision may well change over time. So, revisit it regularly. By taking some time out and writing down how you see your dream life in each of the following areas: Family and friends: How do you picture your family life and friends in an ideal world? Personal finance: What assets do you have? What do you earn? How much do you have in savings? Health and fitness: What health problem would you make right? What physical activities do you see yourself doing? Are some of these with family and friends? Education and development: What formal education would you like to complete or undertake? Personal development, spirituality, business development courses? How do you see yourself improving and learning? Home and property: What does your home look like? Right down to the number of rooms, wall colours, where your home is located. Do you want a portfolio of properties to rent out? Business: What is your vision of your electrical business? Will you have more than one business? Holidays and travel: What kind of holidays do you see yourself enjoying and where will you travel to? Material possessions: Gizmos and gadgets. What would they look like if you had them all now? Cars, bikes, clothes, gadgets, etc. Write down the components of this personal vision in great detail within each category, as if everything had already happened – what they consist of and how they make you feel. It is important that you undertake this exercise with pen and paper, because it gives you that physical connection to your vision. It may take some time to complete, but you can go back and amend bits of it over a week or so until you feel it is right. The final task is to rate the life you are experiencing now against your personal vision with marks out of ten in each category. This allows you to reflect on where you are now, shows clearly what is lacking in your life and where you need to improve, and where you are doing well. Focus on your WHY – Vision Board Your vision board is a visual or graphic representation of everything you wrote down in the previous exercise. Search for images that depict your goals and collate them on to one sheet of paper or one digital image you could use as your onscreen wallpaper. This page is a snapshot of everything you are aspiring to, your future goals, your ideal life. You need to make sure you place your completed vision board somewhere you can see it every day. Every time you see it, it will visualise your WHY, reminding you of your personal vision and providing the motivation and purpose for you to achieve your ideal life. If you feel like things are getting stale and you have lost your way, you can sign up for a 30 day trial membership trial of Business Transformer for just £1. Whether you are just starting your journey as an electrician, or whether you are ready to grow your electrical business, there is a whole host of materials to help you along including step-by-step advice on writing down your personal vision, putting together a vision board and why you should focus on your WHY.

Focus on positivity in your electrical business Okay, I get it, you are wondering what an earth a ‘woo-woo’ subject like positivity has to do with running an electrical business. But whether you are thinking about it, have just started your journey or want to grow your business, having a positive mental attitude is crucial to its success. I always say that building a successful business is a process, something that takes time. In this blog, I am going to share with you some advice along with practical steps you can take to make sure you focus on positivity in your electrical business. Who you hang around with matters My first piece of advice may sound callous, or even calculating, but the truth is that you may need to let go of some relationships. You should make sure that all your team members are a good fit for your business and that they are working with you to build both your business and a good reputation. For example, do you have employees who constantly moan, drag down the rest of the team, and no matter how hard you try, they always focus on the negative rather than the positive side of things? And you certainly don’t want them being negative in front of customers! You don’t really have the time or the energy to cheer them up as well as run your business – it is exhausting! For example: You ask one of your employees to take on something new because you need their help in this area, or you may feel that they are ready to take on a bit more responsibility. Do they: A. Immediately say that they have never done it before with a shake of their head or say that it looks too complicated? This would be the response of a negative person. B. Say it is an opportunity to learn a new skill or task or look at it from a different perspective? This is a positive response from someone who is willing to help you achieve your business goals. Who you hang around with matters, so if you feel people are holding you back or if spending time with them undermines your confidence or makes you feel bad about yourself and what you are trying to achieve, then it may be uncomfortable, but you need to move away from those relationships. It is important that you surround yourself with go-getters, hard workers and positive thinkers who are supporting you in your business goals. If you focus on positivity in your electrical business, you will feel that your employees are on your side and that you are working together as a team to make your business successful. Focus on positivity in your electrical business - your health and wellbeing It is not easy to focus on positivity in your electrical business if you are feeling tired and stressed out or are working too many hours just to keep your head above water. You need all the energy you can muster to plough back into your electrical business, so it is important that you focus on your health and wellbeing. Try not to let your hobbies slide and make sure you fit in 30 minutes of exercise at least five times a week to help you: • Have the energy you need to grow your business • Release ‘happy hormones’ to combat stress and fatigue • Boost your mood • Clear your mind • Give you a break from working • Have social interaction away from your business Hand-in-hand with exercise is a good diet, so make sure you eat well. Relying on sugary snacks or energy drinks to get you through the day puts nothing of any value in your system. Good food can boost both your mood and energy levels, enabling you to focus on positivity in your electrical business Are you getting enough sleep? Sleep provides both body and mind with a ‘reboot’ and is invaluable when combatting stress and negativity. If you find it difficult to sleep or are prone to being overtired, try to establish a bedtime routine and do a brain-dump before you get into bed. Writing down everything that is in your head may sound a bit silly, but it stops your brain from whirring around during the night. You don’t have to put your thoughts in order of priority, just get them out of your head so you can relax and get a good night’s sleep. Of course, your thoughts will still be written on your notepad the next morning, but you will feel well-rested and in a positive frame of mind. Focus on positivity in your electrical business - Positive support Of course, we are all human and no-one feels on top of the world all the time. We need and rely on support from those around us. Your family is a constant source of support and empathy, so make sure you have time for them. Block off time in your weekly calendar to spend with your family and friends. Create that work-life balance that you have been striving for all your working life. Relaxing and taking some time out of your business will recharge your batteries, giving you the energy to cope with those bumps in the road that are bound to happen from time to time. Sometimes, realising that you are not on your own, that there are others out there who have the same questions and challenges can put a positive slant on things. If you are seeking some positive support for your electrical business, you may find it beneficial to join a like-minded community, like my Facebook Electrical Business Community . My posts are packed full of advice, inspirational quotes, tips for success, useful links and much more! In addition, there may be a local business association or trades’ group you can join. You can hear from business experts and meet tradespeople and business owners like you, who are trying to take their company to the next level. This networking group can provide positive support for your electrical business, a place where you can share your success and that of other members. The main tips I have outlined in this blog are: • To surround yourself with positive people • To look after your health and wellbeing • To seek positive support for your electrical business from like-minded people in networking groups or on social media If you can achieve these three things you will be able to focus on positivity in your electrical business and find a good work/life balance. If you would like to know more about avoiding stress and negativity from a fellow electrician who does just that, sign up for your 30 day membership trial of Business Transformer for only £1 today.

How to get customer reviews for your electrical business In my last blog, I gave you some pointers on how to get more enquiries in your electrical business . Of course, one great way to get new and repeat business is by word-of-mouth and/or customer reviews, which has the added bonus of costing your business virtually nothing. But, as we all know, it is one thing for customers to say you have done a great job and that they are happy with the service you provided, and quite another when it comes to them writing a review! In this blog, I will outline some simple but effective actions you can take to get customer reviews for your electrical business. Customer opinion carries a lot of weight when people are searching for a trustworthy electrical business and the benefits of positive reviews can lead to: • More leads/opportunities for new business • More repeat business • Higher ranking for your website on Google (via Google reviews) • Creation of trust/enhance reputation • Local recognition There are one or two things you have to do before your customers can leave a Google review: 1. Make sure you have read Google’s policies regarding reviews. Reviews are meant to give a true reflection of the level of service you offer so you cannot ask for good reviews or offer your customers rewards. 2. Your business needs to be shown on Google Maps for customers to leave reviews. 3. You have to have a Google Business Profile to give you control over your business and maps listing. 4. Verify ownership of your electrical business on your account. Here is a useful link to take you through the steps above. (Link to: https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2020/06/10/create-google-my-business-account ) Okay, so now you have your Google Business Profile set up, there are a few simple actions to take to make sure you get customer reviews for your electrical business. Use your social media pages and website Do you have social media account for your electrical business? If not, why is that? Although you do not have control over what other people say about your business, you can control what you say and how you address any problems. Use your social media accounts positively to enhance the reputation of your business. Rule number one is - always reply to comments, even the bad ones! • Put a positive spin on any negative comments, for example, offer to investigate the complaint, do a site inspection, post before and after pictures – anything you can think of to turn the negative into a positive. This will show that you care about your customers and the quality of service you provide. • If customers post positive comments, say thank you! Ask them to post their comment on Google Reviews and include the link in your reply (more about links later in this blog.) • Write a post featuring a positive review and explain how other customers can leave one too! • Shout out and promote it when you are recognised as a good business or have a 5 star average! Make sure you feature reviews on your website, either separately or on the homepage. Once established, make sure they are updated regularly. Provide customers with a clear call-to-action (CTA) that goes straight to Google reviews e.g. in the footer of your website: Click here to read or add a Google review Get customer reviews for your electrical business - Ask! If you are anything like me, and you pride yourself on going that extra mile to make sure you provide a good service, just ask! Don’t leave it too long after the job has been completed because customers are more motivated immediately after completion. If a customer calls or emails you, or even stops you in the street to tell you what a good job your company did, say that you really appreciate their feedback and would be grateful if they could leave a review on Google. Make it sound easy and let them know that they would be helping others to find a reputable company. Invite feedback from your customers The benefits of positive reviews for your electrical business cannot be underestimated, so invite feedback from your customers, listen carefully, and deal with any issues effectively and promptly. This will give you the chance to nip any negative feedback in the bud, so customers don’t dwell on things and vent their feelings on social media or by bad mouthing you to potential customers. Feedback is invaluable in showing you where your company can improve to ensure you get customer reviews for your electrical business. Make it easy for customers to leave reviews Unfortunately, reviewing your business on Google can be quite a process for your customers to go through. They have to go to Google Maps, search for your business listing and scroll to the review section before they start typing! So, take away these barriers and make it as easy as possible. Create a link to the review section, then shorten or customise it using a free link shortener like bitly.com. Put direct links (or the link address on printed materials) to your Google review section wherever you can: • Email signature • Website footer • Invoices • Business cards • Forms/paperwork that is sent to your customer • All marketing communications, both on and offline You can add live links to electronic communications like email updates or newsletters. You could even spotlight how to leave a review either in steps or via a short video. The easier you make it for your customers, the more likely they are to leave a review. As well as these customer-facing actions, there are also steps you can take within your company to get customer reviews for your electrical business. Include reviews in your work processes/training First, make sure that your team understands how important good reviews are for your electrical business and that they remember to ask customers to leave a review. Any training should be for office staff as well as employees in the field because they may take calls/emails from happy customers. They need to strike while the iron is hot and obtain a positive review. If you send an email or questionnaire after job completion, include your Google review section link, to make it easy for customers to leave a review. Obtaining positive reviews is invaluable free marketing for your electrical business. If you would like to read more tips and advice on how to make your company successful, I have written my free FLOWING Guide full of marketing and business tips to help you to get customer reviews for your electrical business and more! You may prefer my online Business Transformer course, which shows you techniques, videos, and practical examples of how to run a successful electrical business, avoiding the mistakes I made! And the best thing is, it only costs £1 to sign up for a 30 day trial membership . stay ahead with our email alerts ... 

How to get more enquiries in your electrical business When you are just starting out in business, any kind of business, it can be difficult to see where the next enquiry is coming from. Building a successful electrical business is a process. Likewise, having a trustworthy reputation does not happen overnight – it takes time and effort. That said, however, there are steps you can take to raise your business profile and get more enquiries in your electrical business right from the word go. In this blog, I will give you some practical advice about your branding, customer processes, and communications that should help to get more enquiries in your electrical business and at the same time, improve your professional reputation. Are you easy to find? One of the first things to tackle is how customers can find you. You have to understand that different customers will use different methods of contact. You need to cover all the bases to make sure that whatever their preferred method, your contact details are clearly listed. · Contact details should be on every page of your website, not just ‘contact us’ · Your website should include an enquiry form to make things easy for customers (preferably at the bottom of each page) · On your contact page, list every way a customer can contact you including social media pages · When listing phone numbers, include the hours the phone will be manned and when it will be an answerphone · Use your email signature to also provide your contact details and links to any useful information on your website or social media pages, e.g. introductory videos, the ‘about us’ section Branding Be consistent! You and/or your employees should wear matching workwear carrying your branding. Put your logo, contact details, and the type of jobs you do on company vehicles (If safe to do so in your area! More on that in our Facebook Group ). Make sure your website and social media pages match in design, logo, contact details and company profiles? Any paperwork, whether a quote, invoice, enquiry form, statement should be instantly recognisable as coming from your electrical business. Of course, there is a cost for branding, but once finished, it is free advertising, a tried and proven method for raising your business profile. Remember that customers will make a decision about you and your company before you have said a word, solely based on how professional you and your team look. Turning up on time, in a liveried vehicle, wearing branded workwear will elevate their opinion of your company. This is the first step for customers to know, like and trust you to do a good job. It helps to build a positive customer relationship, essential for repeat business and expanding your customer base through word of mouth recommendations. Make sure you highlight any awards or accreditations by featuring the logo on your website, social media pages, quotes, invoices and email signature. This is a way of reassuring customers of your professionalism and may guide them to choose you over any competitors. Website and social media pages If you are serious about getting more enquiries in your electrical business you need to spend some time assessing the online presence of your electrical business. We have talked about the importance of consistent branding, but there are other considerations too. For example, how long does your website take to load? Does your website instantly allow your customers to know they are in the right place and how to contact you? Also, make sure it’s obvious what geographical areas you cover. You may have a similar name to another electrical company in a different location. You don’t want customers from the other end of the country calling you and taking up your valuable time. Do you know which pages, services, or items have the most clicks? It is worth getting a professional to optimise your website and ask their advice about measuring customer responses, so you can see what is working, what isn’t, and how to tailor your content for maximum engagement. How do your social media pages look? Do they accurately reflect your professionalism, or do they show you having a good time with friends at the weekend? Do your profiles tell people that you are an electrician and are they consistent and professional- looking? Look at how you communicate and use a variety of content - pictures, videos, montages and short films. You can guarantee that prospective customers will look at your social media platforms, especially if they are linked from your website, so don’t lose them before they have even enquired! Customer communications When speaking directly to customers, you should empathise and listen carefully to their requirements. People buy from people, and if you build up that sense of trust from listening to their needs and being helpful, they will buy from you again. Try not to criticise how a job was left if its already been started, because it may be that a neighbour, relative, or even the customer has tried to fix the problem themselves. You won’t be doing your electrical business any favours by upsetting the customer from the outset! Speak their language! Try not to talk to customers in technical terms (unless they express an interest), because they may feel confused about your service offering. You can judge how to respond by listening to their questions – adapt your language and respond in an appropriate way. The second part of customer communications is about the process you use for handling enquiries and how to make sure you respond quickly and consistently. I talked about automated responses in an earlier blog called ‘how electricians can systemise administration and save time!’, which you can read here . Implementing a quick and consistent response to enquiries and having an online quote system can result in cost savings, fewer mistakes, and cut the number of hours you work, while reassuring customers that they are important to you. You need to follow up enquiries quickly, otherwise you may lose business to competitors, or gain a reputation for being unreliable. Customer Service A great way to obtain positive online reviews and word of mouth recommendations is to make sure the customer service in your electrical business is memorable. Attention to detail, being courteous and going above and beyond just doing the job often costs nothing, but it is this that you will be remembered for. These can be simple things like: · Wearing overshoes so your work boots don’t mark the carpet · Cleaning up after the job so the area is left the way you found it · Running a customer through how a new system works · Leaving a notebook and pen (branded of course, so your details are handy!) All the above are effective ways of giving your customer a bit of extra attention, nurturing a positive customer relationship and bringing in enquiries from glowing customer reviews and word of mouth recommendations. During my time as an electrician, I have faced exactly the same issues as you - including how to get more enquiries. I have written my free FLOWING Guide packed with helpful tips and advice so you can avoid the mistakes I made. If you are serious about making your business successful and want to learn practical techniques to get more enquiries in your electrical business, sign up for Business Transformer today. Tired of Spending HOURS visiting and then compiling Quotes? 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Reduce the time spent on quotes in your electrical business How long does it take you to put together quotes for your customers? I bet it feels like too long and that’s why I want to help you reduce the time spent on quotes in your electrical business. For example, do you still put individual quotes together, per job or per customer, using Word? Do you find it difficult to be consistent with your prices or realise while you are doing the job that you missed something off the quote? In addition, if you drop everything to write quotes as and when people enquire, you will leave the task you were doing originally, which means you are not using your time efficiently. Putting a simple but effective quoting strategy in place will help you to reduce the time spent on quotes in your electrical business. There are lots of benefits to putting a quoting strategy in place: • You save time creating the document • There is less chance of you missing something • You can provide good customer service by getting the quote issued quickly • Your pricing is consistent for every job/customer • You could pass this task to someone else, so your time is spent where it is most needed If you would like more tips for implementing simple systems to ensure your time is used to maximum effect, send for my free FLOWING Guide No one likes to be a busy fool and the FLOWING Guide is based on my own experience running an electrical business, containing lots of practical advice so you can avoid business pitfalls and making the mistakes I did. Block out time slots to write quotes I have talked about using your time wisely and systemising administration in a previous blog . Time is a limited resource, especially if you work on your own. So you need to make sure that you are using it as effectively as you can and not flitting from one thing to another, without completing either task properly! One way to make sure you are maximising your time is to block out time every week in your online diary for producing quotes. How this fits into a work and personal schedule will be different for everyone. You may choose to allocate an hour at the beginning or end of every day, or a whole morning or afternoon. It depends where the gaps are in your diary. Allocating time solely for quotes has many benefits: • You stop worrying when enquiries arrive, knowing you have set time aside to deal with them • Your customer/job gets your full attention - you aren’t distracted by quoting • You reduce the time spent on quotes in your electrical business because you are focused solely on quotes in your pre-planned time slot, and not doing something else at the same time • Your business will be more efficient Setting time aside for quotes can be powerful, especially when combined with automated responses to enquiries, helping you to avoid distractions and ensuring good customer service. (You can read my blog about automated responses here .) Quotes that require a site visit can be carried out when travelling to and from other jobs in the same area, cutting down on travel costs and making the most use of your time in that specific location. If you are not sure where to start with an online diary or what you should put in it, Business Transformer membership can help you to get started and show you how you can work more efficiently. Sign up for a 30 day trial membership for just £1 to find out how to reduce the time spent on quotes in your electrical business. Using quoting templates If your electrical business is new and you haven’t set up specific systems yet, a good starting point is to put together a quoting template. I did this myself when I first started, getting them printed into A5 pads that I carried around with me. They are relatively simple to set up and should include: • Date • Contact details of the customer • Where did you hear about me? (Useful information for marketing purposes) • Due date of the EICR or PAT • Brief job description • Columns listing job/service, quantity or type, any additional information This information can then be used to create a spreadsheet or table listing job types by service, for example installations, rewires, new/replacement sockets, etc. When your list is complete, you can collect the requirements your customer needs by ticking boxes and detailing quantities on the quoting template. You now have a description of the job by service and parts to form the basis of a quote. Implementing a quotation system in your electrical business You can take the quoting template one stage further by adding prices for each component into the spreadsheet. Every job consists of a set of tasks that you have done before. Therefore, you know from experience how long each task takes and what parts you need to buy for it. You can use this information in your spreadsheet, listing fixed prices per job component, with and without parts and administration time (certificate completion, induction time for commercial jobs, etc.) You can also include fixed price or package services. When putting together a quote, all you need to do is pull over or copy the relevant lines from your spreadsheet and add on your travelling time. It is important to provide a written detailed quote to the customer for several reasons: • So the customer knows exactly what they are getting • So the customer know what is not included • To make sure you haven’t missed something off the quote • To avoid ‘scope creeping’ where other little extras not included in the quote are added • To avoid payment disputes – you can include your terms and conditions • A detailed quote is for your reference too, so you know the full scope, what parts to buy etc. Reduce The Time Spent On Quotes In Your Electrical Business - In Summary Using a spreadsheet, or even quoting templates (Tutorial Video here ), will help you to reduce the time spent on quotes in your electrical business. However, if you are ready to invest in technology and want to save even more time by streamlining the process further, there are readily available software packages like Xero to help you. If you need practical help implementing a quotation system, or using software packages like Xero to automate your quotes and invoices, why not sign up to Business Transformer? A 30 day trial membership costs just £1 and the online course is packed with tips, practical advice, videos and examples to help you make a success of your electrical business. stay up to date with our email alerts ...

How to overcome a lack of profit in your electrical business I am sure that, like me, you started your own business to make a good life for you and your family. But sometimes the route to success is not as easy as it first appears! You work long hours, determined to make your business profitable, but at the end of the month you have precious little money left to pay yourself a decent wage for all that time and work. Not only that, you are exhausted, with no time to spend with your family. In this blog, I will outline a few simple steps you can take to overcome a lack of profit in your electrical business and to make sure you pay yourself a decent wage. The basics There are a few things that all business owners can do to make sure they are using their time both efficiently and effectively. A good exercise to show how you spend your time is to monitor what you do each day. This will show you how much time you spend doing electrical jobs for clients, and how much time you spend on other things like admin, chasing payments, collecting supplies, putting together quotes, etc. It will enable you to make decisions about: · Deskilling jobs with tools and gadgets · Deskilling jobs with apps and software · Simplify admin procedures and/or whether to hire a virtual assistant to help with admin · Removing tasks that drain your time for little reward My free FLOWING guide contains lots of tips to ensure your business is successful. Based on my own experiences, the FLOWING Guide outlines some basic steps you can take to steer clear of common mistakes and obstacles ensuring you overcome a lack of profit in your electrical business. But read on for more explanation… Master your personal cashflow When first starting out, you may have to accept that you will not earn much money, because profits will be ploughed back into the business. Personal situations can vary – married, or not; spouse working, or not; with children, or not; mortgage or rented accommodation? The amount needed to survive will therefore differ depending on your personal circumstances. So, how do you know how much you should pay yourself? This is not a trick question! It is amazing how many electricians don’t know how much money they need to make to cover their own personal essentials. In order to set prices, you first need to know how much money you have to earn to survive. Go through your bank statements and put together a simple spreadsheet for your personal cashflow, entering an amount for every item. This exercise shows you how much you need to earn during each stage of your business to cover your personal needs: 1 Essentials: These are the outgoings you have to cover to keep as roof over your head e.g. Mortgage/rent, council tax, utility bills, insurances, loans/debts, food. This is the amount you need to pay yourself each month just to survive. 2 Nice to haves: Are the treats that you have either regularly or occasionally but are not essentials to survive e.g. Birthday treats, health/dental plans, clothes, restaurant meals, day trips, TV entertainment packages, personal and/or family hobbies. You can add a monthly figure to your essentials total to cover treats when your electrical business is more established. 3 Luxuries: These are the things you are aiming for, the things you dreamt about and promised yourself when you become really successful e.g. luxurious holidays, new car, new home, designer clothes, investments, funding your kids (university, travelling or weddings, for example.) When your business is at its peak of success, you will be able to add another monthly figure for luxuries. Master the business cashflow in your electrical business Once you have an overall picture of your personal finances and how your business needs to grow in order to fund the lifestyle you want, you can then go on to do the same thing for your business: 1 Overheads: These are the things you have to pay every month for your business to exist, even if you don’t do any work e.g. office/workshop rental, utilities, insurances, telephone/broadband, vehicle leasing, loan repayments, accounting software subscription, etc. 2 Job Costs: Are the items you need to take on and complete jobs e.g. parts and equipment, consumables, fuel, etc. 3 Scaling costs: Also known as asset costs because once the business can run without you, it becomes an asset. These are the costs for when you can step out of your business (whether for a holiday, time off or more permanently), and the business will still operate as normal. Examples of scaling costs are: · Networking/training (where you can get lots of work or joint projects) · Travel and accommodation costs for events · Additional full time staff and associated costs · Extra equipment, etc. · Business coaching/mentoring (because electricians don’t necessarily know how to run a successful business) · Increased marketing and systems costs · Building a financial buffer to cover bigger job costs/higher overdue payment costs. When you have finished mapping out your personal and business cashflow spreadsheets, you will know the basic figure you need to earn every month to cover your personal essentials and the overheads/job costs for your business. Knowing these costs plus studying pricing information from competitors will help you to price your services properly. In my previous blog subjects, I have written about dealing with price undercutting in your electrical business and not getting paid in your electrical business . In these two blogs, I give you lots of tips so you can decide on your price and payment strategies. Maximise profit in your electrical business In order to maximise your profit, you need to assess what is going on with your products and services. You may have some services, customers, and locations that make you a good profit, and some that don’t. You need to maximise profit in your electrical business to pay for those ‘nice to haves’ and ‘luxuries’ you have put on your personal cashflow spreadsheet and to enable your business to grow. In order to maximise profit, you need to know: · How to simplify procedures to increase efficiency · How to systemise administration to save time · Your costs · Your most profitable services · How to upsell and/or cross-sell your services · How to get repeat work · Your most profitable customers · Your most profitable work locations I have given you just a brief outline in this blog of a few techniques and assessments you need to do which will help you to overcome a lack of profit in your electrical business. If you would like to know more, why not sign up for your Business Transformer 30 day trial membership for £1? The programme covers everything you need to know to run a successful business and is packed full of techniques and practical examples so you can avoid some of the many pitfalls I encountered when I started my own electrical business. Want to know how to get more HIGH PAYING Customers? This BLOG goes through the steps needed

Not getting paid in your electrical business? Customers who consistently pay late, or those who do not pay you at all, can cripple the cash flow of your electrical business. Not only that, they can also negatively affect how you pay your employees and suppliers, which may damage your reputation as an employer and customer and could even result in you being chased for late payments yourself! Going down the route of an expensive court case takes a lot of time, energy, and money, but there are easy ways to tackle the problem of not getting paid in your electrical business, and I will outline a few simple processes and solutions in this blog. Make it easy for your customers to pay you This sounds very simple and straight forward, and to be honest, it is! In today’s technological world, customers probably pay all their bills either via electronic payment or via a debit/credit card. However, if you only accept cash or cheque payments in your electrical business, you are making it difficult for your customers to pay you by putting the responsibility on them to find time to go to the bank to withdraw cash. Add details of how to pay electronically by bank transfer to all your invoices. Even better, get a payment app where customers can pay you at the time you complete the job using a card or by Apple or Google Pay. Be very clear and set out your payment terms right from the start, especially when working with new clients, so they know whether they have to pay on completion, or 30 days from the date of the invoice, etc. Your invoices should also detail your policy for late payment including fees and interest charges. Sometimes, this is enough to ensure you are paid on time. You could also add an incentive to make sure customers pay your invoice immediately, such as an early payment discount or a discounted rate on future jobs. Of course, knowing your target customers will help to make sure you only attract those who pay on time, reducing the likelihood of non-payment. Deposits Of course, not all jobs are equal. Some are more complicated than others and require the purchase of expensive parts, so it is good to think about having a policy in place for this type of job. You could set a limit, above which you will require a deposit. For example, all jobs over £500, or £1,000. Knowing your predicted weekly/monthly cashflow will help you to decide on a realistic limit for your electrical business. This is especially useful if you are just starting out, when securing a deposit will help you with ongoing job costs. Asking for an upfront deposit has many advantages: • Gives you a level of confidence when doing the first job for a new customer • Helps you to sort out genuine customers from timewasters (you can read my blog with tips on how to avoid time wasters here .) • Provides some financial protection against not getting paid in your electrical business • Gives you confidence that the customer will not go somewhere else • Helps towards buying materials and overheads Once again, remember to be clear from the beginning, so include the deposit amount in your quote. You could also use the fact that you require a deposit to reassure the customer that once paid, their job is automatically booked into your schedule. This will give them the peace of mind that you will turn up when you say you will. Staged payments If you are splitting a job over a number of days or looking at a first and second stage fixes, then you may want to consider putting staged payments in place to cover each completed phase or service. This kind of payment schedule is especially useful if you deal with a lot of builders or project managers, or if the majority of your work is industrial or commercial. In addition, you could also get your work signed off at each stage by the site foreman, project manager, or plant manager. This will give you written evidence that you have completed each stage to the required standard, leaving no grounds for complaint for uncompleted work, or work not finished to the time agreed. The key thing with staged payments is to make sure that the details are included in your terms and conditions, the contract, and the quote, so the customer is clear about how much you expect them to pay (or what percentage of the total), and more crucially, when they should pay it. There is a common misconception that if a company sets their payment terms at 90 days, that is when your invoice, as a contractor to them, will be paid. However, if your payment terms are 30 days, and this was clearly set out in your quote/contract/terms & conditions, they have accepted your payment terms by giving you the job and should, therefore, pay accordingly. Its just worth noting here that in legal terms, which ever party provides their terms and conditions last has the upper hand. So, even if you have included your terms in all the right documents, but the company you’re doing the work for then issues you a Purchase Order with their T&Cs on it, theirs are legally in force, not yours as these were the last T&C’s issued. Use automated systems to help you Using automated accounting systems like Xero and ServiceM8 can help you to keep on top of invoice payments and avoid not getting paid in your electrical business. Automated systems can easily turn quotes into invoices at the click of a button, so all the relevant job information is already included. You can make sure invoices detail the procedure for payment – how much and by when – and insert your bank details so customers can pay electronically or via a link to systems such as PayPal or Stripe. Some automated systems may also give you the ability to set up different payment terms for individual customers and the option to add automatic reminders for those who have not paid on time. Remember that your customers lead busy lives too, and sometimes they genuinely forget to pay you – they are not withholding money maliciously. Therefore, sending them a reminder will probably prompt them to pay your invoice immediately. Getting paid late or not getting paid in your electrical business can impact your business, time, confidence, cash flow, employees, and suppliers, but putting a few simple procedures in place will ensure you are paid on time and in full. Completing everything set out in your quote to the standard required and within the stated time frame means customers have no grounds for withholding payment. My free FLOWING guide contains load of advice and tips for running a successful electrical business. Or, if you would like to learn more about automated systems and how they can cut down on admin and help you to avoid not getting paid in your electrical business., sign up for your Business Transformer 30 day trial membership for £1.