Make Money Psychology | 55

Electricians... Struggling to pay your tax bill? Feel like you’re working hard but not actually making money? You’re probably not charging enough—and this episode will shift your mindset on why you need to be making more. I break down hourly rates, tax, cash flow, and profit, plus the simple pricing changes that can guarantee you take home a proper wage. If you’re sick of scraping by, this one’s for you.

Chat GPT - https://openai.com/

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Transcript

Get away from me, tax man, you greedy f***er—I don’t have that money.

Welcome to Simplified Sparky Marketing.

Before I begin this podcast, I just want to stress—this isn’t me flexing. This isn’t me being Billy Big Balls. This is purely me educating those who are on the fence, unsure of what they’re doing with their business. I was once there. I was clueless when it came to running a business. It wasn’t until I got educated on the backend of things that I realized—this is how I make money, and this is why I need to make money.

So, what does this have to do with marketing? Everything. You market your business so your business can make money. This podcast is going to focus heavily on psychology—the mindset shifts I made that allowed me to start making more money, becoming more profitable, and taking home a fat wage. Let’s get into it.

Before we dive in, I want to be clear—I am not a numbers guy. I focus on marketing—how to attract, convert, and retain leads in your business. Numbers? I know mine, I can crunch them, but I’m not the guy to sit down and go through spreadsheets with you. That’s what business coaches are for, and there are plenty of them out there. Just choose the right one.

That said, if you want a quick hack to work out your numbers, go to ChatGPT. If you haven’t heard of it, ChatGPT is an AI language model, and a lot of people still haven’t played around with it. They’ve heard of it but never actually used it. And if you are using it, listen carefully: garbage in, garbage out. If you feed it s***, it will give you s***. You need to be specific when using ChatGPT. The better the prompt, the better the answer.

Here’s what I’d do—tell it: "You are the best accountant in Australia. You specialize in tradie businesses. You are a guru in calculating hourly rates." Then ask it to calculate your hourly rate and be realistic. Tell it how many staff you have. How many hours you actually work. Factor in time off—don’t lie to yourself and say you work 52 weeks a year. Take out two months for holidays, breaks, or downtime. When ChatGPT spits out that real hourly rate, I guarantee it will scare you. But that’s the reality check you need.

One of the best things I ever did was calculate my actual hourly rate. I figured out how much I wanted to take home. I worked out how many hours I actually worked. I realized I had to charge X to make Y. When I saw that number in black and white, it was a wake-up call. And here’s a pro tip—ask ChatGPT to explain everything in a way a 12-year-old would understand. It makes the answers way easier to process. If it gives you a number and you’re unsure if it’s right, ask it more questions. Where did you get that figure from? How can I adjust it? What happens if I work fewer hours? What do I need to charge to hit my target? Keep refining it until you get an accurate hourly rate. And if you want to get even more specific, you can upload your P&L or activity statements and ask ChatGPT to analyze them.

If you want to run a profitable business and pay yourself a proper wage, I’m talking upwards of $180K, you need to start thinking differently. And before you say "$180K is a lot," let’s put it into perspective. If you’re on an EBA job, cruising from 7 to 3 with zero responsibility, you’re probably already making $140K–$150K. And as a business owner, you’re busting your ass way harder than that. So if you’re still paying yourself $70K–$80K a year, and you’re just getting by, it’s time for a mindset shift.

The problem is, most business owners get stuck in a rut—they set their wage at a low number and never increase it. That was me for years. I paid myself two bits of f*** all and thought it was normal. Then, I raised my wage significantly. At first, I was worried the money wouldn’t be there. But something interesting happened—when you need that money, you find a way to make it. It’s a strange shift, but it works.

When I went back to Ireland last year, I took two months off. I clocked off for Christmas on October 25th. I didn’t go back to work until January 6th. And every single week, I still paid myself my full wage. I could have turned off my wage, but I left it running on purpose. Why? Because I wanted to hit the new year motivated—knowing I had to rebuild that money. It’s a psychological shift—if the money isn’t there, you need to go find it.

Now, let’s talk about tax. If you’re quoting a job at $5K and someone else quotes it at $7K, and you win the job because you’re cheaper, that’s not a win. Because a few months later, when your BAS bill lands, you’ll realize—you don’t have the money to pay it. Meanwhile, the guy who quoted $7K? He factored in his tax from the start. He knew he needed that extra $2K for the taxman. If you don’t have enough money in your bank account for tax, you are not charging enough. Maybe I’m a weirdo, but I always have money put aside for tax. Either that, or I’m running my business properly.

Cash flow is king. I see it all the time with tradies working for builders and commercial clients—their cash flow is horrendous. But whose problem is that? Are you too slow to invoice? Are your payment terms too loose? Do you need better clients? This is why I stopped working for builders and commercial clients. I now only do residential service work—mums and dads, same-day payment. My invoices are paid on the spot, next day at most, three days worst case. That’s why I was able to take two months off without stress.

Final point—profit. Your business must be profitable every year. If you’re not making a profit, something is wrong. People say, "I didn’t make a profit, so I don’t have to pay tax." I’d rather pay tax than be unprofitable.

So here’s your wake-up call. Raise your prices. Pay yourself properly. Stop working for clients who screw you over. If you need help attracting, converting, and retaining better clients, I’ve got a free guide below. But if you’re happy not having money for tax or chasing invoices, don’t bother. Thanks for listening—subscribe, leave a review, and I’ll catch you next week.